Thread: MUD Addiction
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Old 02-14-2006, 09:15 AM   #3
Valg
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Home MUD: Carrion Fields
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Valg will become famous soon enough
In the case of an adult player, I think it's intrusive and condescending to limit or restrict someone's access purely because you feel it is excessive. Allowing them to "lock" an account seems odd to me as well-- if someone asks you to lock it for a week, then later asks you to unlock it because something came up (maybe some plans got canceled, and now they have plenty of free time), why are you willing to honor their first request but not their second one?

If I own a large grocery store, and I start taking chocolate bars out of the carts of obese customers, I could argue I'm just trying to be medically helpful. I'd also be completely out of line, and I'd probably lose those customers immediately.

All in all, if someone in need of escape goes on the Internet and they end up spending a lot of time playing a free, interactive game with a high emphasis on literate creativity... that's pretty harmless. At least they're not completely isolated, emptying their bank account, doing anything illegal, or God forbid, discussing American Idol.

(The above paragraph argument goes double for a minor. We discourage minors from playing Carrion Fields, but we recognize that it's impractical to enforce a hard rule. But if your child is logging on the Internet and the most disturbing thing they see is our game, they got off easy.)

Running a MUD may make you a game designer, but it doesn't make you a medical professional. Are you trained in the psychology of addiction? If not, leave diagnosis and setting boundaries to someone with training. RL friends and family are in a much better position to decide if a referral or intervention is necessary in any event.
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