The FTC and the local Better Business Bureaus (who handle most consumer complaints about deceptive advertising practices) have paid employees.
THE solution to MUDs that lie, cheat, and engage in other behaviour that a player may find unacceptable is right here on this board and others like it. Word of mouth has it's effect.
I will say that I do not give much creedence to rankings. Voting scams like rewarding players for their vote, vote bots and such are only a small part of it for me. The primary reason I do not pay much attention to rankings is because I am the only player qualified to judge wether or not a game is fun for me.
I will liken it to movie critics: Siskel and Ebert often gave thumbs down critiques to movies I enjoyed. Of course I wasn't picking them apart like them, I was just there to be entertained.
I would look at any pronouncements by any group or committee only for facts such as "This MUD claims to be 100% customized and we found MANY rooms where this was patently false." Any subjective content such as "This MUD claims to have a rich RP environment, that was non-existant for us," I would give much less consideration.
What makes me happy with a MUD is not necessarily the same as what another would find enjoyable. All we can do is share our opinions and try MUDs that sound appealing to us individually rather than some committee or group that may or may not share our notion of a great playing experience.
Just my two bits worth.
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