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Molly · 10-28-2004, 05:57 PM

I totally agree with KaVir on the matter of allowing imms to play the game. By playing as a mort you keep in touch with the game, with the players, the code and the zones from a different angle - the player’s perspective. It’s so easy, when you have been an imm for a long time and got used to the imm powers, to forget how it is to be a mort. It is so easy to lose track of what is regarded as fun, what players really like to do. Some features and code changes might look very cool from an imm perspective, but be nothing but annoying for the players. By playing the game you find out things about the balance, the problems, the obstacles and the bugs that you just never would have observed from the imm perspective.

I wish I still had time to play the game myself, but regrettably RL put a stop to it. It's either playing or building, and building is my first priority. I always encourage the staff to play however, and the input we get from those that do has helped us to improve the game in many ways. Staff members are also perfect as testplayers for new zones, since you can generally rely more on them to report any bug they come across than the average player.

There is also another aspect of the matter: Most imms work hard without any pay with either coding or building, and they need some time to relax, to blow off some steam and just have a fun time. For a mud freak, mudding is the obvious relaxation. You could of course play another mud than our own, in fact some of our imms do so, and we have several Admin from other muds playing with us. There are certain advantages to that too; for instance you can get some input and fresh ideas by seeing how another development team is dealing with the problems most of us share. But playing your own game is better IMO, for the reasons already stated.

I prefer the imms don’t to go PK on our Mud, since that has a tendency to raise more emotions than anything else, but I leave that to their own choice. If they think they can handle the heat, so be it. They are naturally under strict rules never to have their imm and mort on line at the same time, and things like that and some other basic things, like the use of the OLC or set commands, are of course logged.

But I definitely refuse to invade the privacy of my players and imms by constant snooping and spying on them. This is something that makes a game seriously NOT FUN, neither for the one that is spied on nor the one that does the spying. And having fun is still our main priority, right? I’d rather have a few players get away with some bug abuse for a while, than to turn my mud into some virtual ‘Big-Brother-sees-you’ form of Police State.

As for the members of my staff I expect them to be mature, loyal and honest enough to follow our rules, and to be able to separate their imm char from their mort. Just as I expect the players to be able to separate Roleplay from Real Life. Over the years there have been a few bad eggs, but these are really an exception. They have to be dealt with severely of course, but they usually show their true nature pretty fast. I doubt any imm would get along with cheating for very long in any Mud unless the imps were in on the cheating too. Muds with cheating imps probably exist, but I’d advice any player to stay well clear of them.

To me it’s mostly a question of trust. When you trust someone with greater responsibilities, they usually respond by acting in a more mature way. New imms you might have to keep a sharp eye on for a while, not so much because of the risk of cheating (because new imms rarely get enough commands to cheat with), but because new imms sometimes have a tendency to powertrip. But if you cannot trust your senior Staff, who can you trust?

The main problems we are dealing with have more to do with the other aspect that KaVir pointed out; when suspicions of cheating are raised just because the other party is successful. This happens a lot, and not only with the mortal chars of imms. A mud is after all a skill game, (at least it is when the balance isn’t affected by being able to buy advantages for money). Some players, (especially very experienced or unusually intelligent ones), are just plain good and tend to advance really fast, and other players sometimes have difficulties acknowledging that fact. If someone is kicking your ass, it’s so much easier to assume that the top player is cheating, than to admit, even to yourself, that he/she is a better player than you.

Not all allegations of cheating are false, of course.
But some are. Many enough for it to be wise not to act too hastily, and without full evidence.

10-28-2004, 05:57 PM	#9
Molly Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Sweden Home MUD: 4 Dimensions Posts: 574	I totally agree with KaVir on the matter of allowing imms to play the game. By playing as a mort you keep in touch with the game, with the players, the code and the zones from a different angle - the player’s perspective. It’s so easy, when you have been an imm for a long time and got used to the imm powers, to forget how it is to be a mort. It is so easy to lose track of what is regarded as fun, what players really like to do. Some features and code changes might look very cool from an imm perspective, but be nothing but annoying for the players. By playing the game you find out things about the balance, the problems, the obstacles and the bugs that you just never would have observed from the imm perspective. I wish I still had time to play the game myself, but regrettably RL put a stop to it. It's either playing or building, and building is my first priority. I always encourage the staff to play however, and the input we get from those that do has helped us to improve the game in many ways. Staff members are also perfect as testplayers for new zones, since you can generally rely more on them to report any bug they come across than the average player. There is also another aspect of the matter: Most imms work hard without any pay with either coding or building, and they need some time to relax, to blow off some steam and just have a fun time. For a mud freak, mudding is the obvious relaxation. You could of course play another mud than our own, in fact some of our imms do so, and we have several Admin from other muds playing with us. There are certain advantages to that too; for instance you can get some input and fresh ideas by seeing how another development team is dealing with the problems most of us share. But playing your own game is better IMO, for the reasons already stated. I prefer the imms don’t to go PK on our Mud, since that has a tendency to raise more emotions than anything else, but I leave that to their own choice. If they think they can handle the heat, so be it. They are naturally under strict rules never to have their imm and mort on line at the same time, and things like that and some other basic things, like the use of the OLC or set commands, are of course logged. But I definitely refuse to invade the privacy of my players and imms by constant snooping and spying on them. This is something that makes a game seriously NOT FUN, neither for the one that is spied on nor the one that does the spying. And having fun is still our main priority, right? I’d rather have a few players get away with some bug abuse for a while, than to turn my mud into some virtual ‘Big-Brother-sees-you’ form of Police State. As for the members of my staff I expect them to be mature, loyal and honest enough to follow our rules, and to be able to separate their imm char from their mort. Just as I expect the players to be able to separate Roleplay from Real Life. Over the years there have been a few bad eggs, but these are really an exception. They have to be dealt with severely of course, but they usually show their true nature pretty fast. I doubt any imm would get along with cheating for very long in any Mud unless the imps were in on the cheating too. Muds with cheating imps probably exist, but I’d advice any player to stay well clear of them. To me it’s mostly a question of trust. When you trust someone with greater responsibilities, they usually respond by acting in a more mature way. New imms you might have to keep a sharp eye on for a while, not so much because of the risk of cheating (because new imms rarely get enough commands to cheat with), but because new imms sometimes have a tendency to powertrip. But if you cannot trust your senior Staff, who can you trust? The main problems we are dealing with have more to do with the other aspect that KaVir pointed out; when suspicions of cheating are raised just because the other party is successful. This happens a lot, and not only with the mortal chars of imms. A mud is after all a skill game, (at least it is when the balance isn’t affected by being able to buy advantages for money). Some players, (especially very experienced or unusually intelligent ones), are just plain good and tend to advance really fast, and other players sometimes have difficulties acknowledging that fact. If someone is kicking your ass, it’s so much easier to assume that the top player is cheating, than to admit, even to yourself, that he/she is a better player than you. Not all allegations of cheating are false, of course. But some are. Many enough for it to be wise not to act too hastily, and without full evidence.