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In any environment there should be long term, short term, and immediate plot-lines.
Immediate lines are those things that can start and end in a matter of hours, or maybe a couple of days. The impact on the overall environment is usually pretty minimal, so there is little impact here as far as going from good to bad or bad to good.
Short-term lines might last a week or a few months, but they have a definite start and end to them. From what I've seen, people prefer to have these go from bad to good, but every now and then it is nice to have one that goes from good to bad and sets up a future short-term plot. Players get used to the whole "here's a problem, figure out how to solve it" RP that mixing it up with "here's a problem with no immediate solution, what are you going to do?" is a nice change of pace.
Long-term lines are the ones that are either tied to the IC history of the environment, or are ongoing plots that have a major impact on the entire population. There might not be a definable beginning or end. I think these should almost always be bad to good. Continually watching things get worse for a long period of time can make it depressing to log on. From what I've seen people like to feel like their RP is making a difference and having an impact on the world around them. While some people enjoy playing a villain and bringing everyone around them down, I think most people like to find solutions to problems and overcome adversity.
In other words: Overall the plots should be moving from bad to good, but throwing in some good to bad makes for a richer, more interesting environment IMO.
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