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A MUD is a place to play. From that standpoint, folks will always need a way of venting and communicating. Out of character communication needs a place, but it needs to be meetered in such a was as to not infringe on the atmosphere of the rest of the world.
Personally, I hate OOC. My disdain comes not from someone asking about syntax, or telling a story about how their day at work went.....its the frustraitiion of folks who flip-flop and finkle-fart back and forth between IC and OOC when it makes little sense. The classic example is the player who brandishes weapons, dons colors, and charges into battle....gets beaten and whines to the world about game mechanics.
How do you keep a reasonable guide on you OOC?
You can code it....level restrictions for channels, mana costs for gossips, or special rooms that prohibit chatter.
You can police it with Immortal hall monitors who hand out detentions.
You can try and lead it. The important part here is that your immortals and guild leaders themselves refrain from contributing to the spam, and that they pro-actively usher those types of things into quiet places once they begin to cause problems.
~Mandrake
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