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plamzi · 01-12-2013, 08:26 PM

[quote=scandum;48900...
Bug abuse is a silly accusation as well, that's like a government saying: Don't do anything we may consider to be unfair, even if it's not (as of yet) against the law.

Take North Korea for example, is the ideological prisoner at fault, or does blame lie with the system?

As most MUDs are ran as fascist marxist states there will be players that do not quite live up to their designated role as a sheep. As there are alternatives, MUDs which cater primarily to men, one must consider the possibility this 'problem player' engages in an intricate form of sadomasochism, maybe he desires to be a sheep out of a desire to fit in, but can never quite live up to the expectations. Perhaps he simply likes being around sheep, without being one himself...[/quote]

This post goes to show that if you pile up enough false comparisons, you end up with a ridiculous perspective. A MUD is not a country, and bug abusers are not political prisoners. Period.

MUD servers are a service (apologies to anyone who may think this is too obvious to point out). As any service, they can come with a Terms of Service attached. In that, you can specify pretty much anything having to do with the service that you would like people to abide by.

For example, I can try to enforce fair play by requiring people to report any world behavior that gives them a huge edge over others.

You, on the other hand, can flat-out tell people that your game is a free-for-all in which bug abusers will be rewarded, so that it becomes a meta-game of bug-exploitation for a few power users instead of people of all sorts enjoying a game together (hint: the people you think of as "sheep" are a vast majority, and they will leave if abusers go unpunished).

Either way of running a server is totally fine, as long as the terms are clearly stated in the ToS.

Sometimes, I jokingly tell players who want to 'overthrow' the admins that a MUD is not a democracy. But that doesn't mean it's a monarchy. If it was a monarchy or a totalitarian state, then I could be overthrown. But I can't be, because at the flick of a switch I can turn off the whole world. Does that sound like the power of a measly tyrant?

01-12-2013, 08:26 PM	#15
plamzi Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Home MUD: bedlam.mudportal.com:9000 Home MUD: www.mudportal.com Posts: 292	Re: DO NOT PLAY MATERIA MAGICA! [quote=scandum;48900... Bug abuse is a silly accusation as well, that's like a government saying: Don't do anything we may consider to be unfair, even if it's not (as of yet) against the law. Take North Korea for example, is the ideological prisoner at fault, or does blame lie with the system? As most MUDs are ran as fascist marxist states there will be players that do not quite live up to their designated role as a sheep. As there are alternatives, MUDs which cater primarily to men, one must consider the possibility this 'problem player' engages in an intricate form of sadomasochism, maybe he desires to be a sheep out of a desire to fit in, but can never quite live up to the expectations. Perhaps he simply likes being around sheep, without being one himself...[/quote] This post goes to show that if you pile up enough false comparisons, you end up with a ridiculous perspective. A MUD is not a country, and bug abusers are not political prisoners. Period. MUD servers are a service (apologies to anyone who may think this is too obvious to point out). As any service, they can come with a Terms of Service attached. In that, you can specify pretty much anything having to do with the service that you would like people to abide by. For example, I can try to enforce fair play by requiring people to report any world behavior that gives them a huge edge over others. You, on the other hand, can flat-out tell people that your game is a free-for-all in which bug abusers will be rewarded, so that it becomes a meta-game of bug-exploitation for a few power users instead of people of all sorts enjoying a game together (hint: the people you think of as "sheep" are a vast majority, and they will leave if abusers go unpunished). Either way of running a server is totally fine, as long as the terms are clearly stated in the ToS. Sometimes, I jokingly tell players who want to 'overthrow' the admins that a MUD is not a democracy. But that doesn't mean it's a monarchy. If it was a monarchy or a totalitarian state, then I could be overthrown. But I can't be, because at the flick of a switch I can turn off the whole world. Does that sound like the power of a measly tyrant?