[shasarak]

I have very limited sympathy with people who get worked up about 'botting.

The main objection to 'botting seems to be that it is somehow "cheating" because someone who bots a lot is able to get to be a high level character "without doing the work" that a non-botter has to put in. The simple fact that the above phrase contains the word "work" should be enough to tell you that it is absolute BS. MUDs are not about work, they're about fun! Too many MUD admins seem to apply a bizarre protestant work ethic to their MUDs. "No!" they shriek, "you're not allowed to enjoy yourself on my MUD! You don't deserve to enjoy yourself! You haven't earned the right to enjoy yourself! You haven't done enough work to be allowed to have fun!"

If someone decides that they want to progress by 'botting, why the hell should you care? They've decided, for some bizarre reason, that your game is more enjoyable if they aren't at the keyboard while they're "playing" it. If they've decided to do that, they're only cheating themselves out of what should be an enjoyable experience. If they want to short-change themselves, let them.

And if 'botting is extremely prevalent on your MUD then you need to ask yourself some very serious questions about why that is. Why is it that so many people think that the game is more enjoyable if they don't play it than if they do? Is it, perhaps, because the game is actually boring as hell in the early stages and only becomes enjoyable when you're playing it as a high level character? If so, then that is your problem; and it's your problem, it's not the 'botters who are to blame. The solution is to make your MUD more fun to play.

And if your attitude really is that players should be forced to spend enormous amounts of time online doing stuff which is really, really boring before they "earn the right" to play the sections of the game that are actually fun, then you really, seriously need to consider a change of career: no sane player would want to play a MUD whose admin thinks like that.

If you really want to eliminate 'botting then Cratylus has it absolutely right: you need to make progression within the game work in such a way that 'botting doesn't help you to progress. Remove the incentive, and the practice will die out.