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KaVir · 10-11-2002, 10:09 AM

Mr X wasn't working on the mud, he was working on the website. The website exists outside of the mud, for the purpose of promoting the mud. Both Mr X and Mr Y put 10 hours of effort into something which helped promote the mud, and both of them received a reward for it. What you appear to disagree with is the fact that Mr Y used a middle-man (money) in the bartering system, while Mr X created the thing he bartered with.

If you were alive 10 thousand years ago, you would be the person saying "Sorry Mr Y, but you didn't bake that bread yourself - you traded for it. If you want to trade bread for this this basket I weaved, you'll have to bake the bread yourself". Some people are not very good at baking, so they do something they ARE good at, and then trade for it (usually through the newer invention of money). This is good, as it allows us to create a commodity that everyone wants, and thus prevents discrimination against (for example) someone who knows how to flip burgers, but doesn't know how to design nifty mud websites.

Your scenario does not address the matter at hand. The concept of a 100m race is to see who can run 100m the fastest. If you reduce the length of the race, then it is no longer a 100m race. If the concept of your mud is that people should compete purely based on time and effort put into playing the mud, then it would be equally inappropriate for you to give bonuses for time/effort put into something else (eg, giving people quest tokens for writing areas). Conversely, if the concept of your mud is that people should compete based purely on the amount of money they put into the mud, then it would be inappropriate for them to gain any bonuses through playing - they should have to purchase every advantage gained. However these are specific cases, and do not apply to the concept of mudding as a whole, which can (and usually does) consist of something in between the two extremes.

The appropriate question to ask is, should you be able to purchase better running shoes than the other runners, simply because you have the money to do so? Should you be able to purchase expensive training equipment, even though other runners cannot affort it? Should you be able to hire a personal trainer, even though nobody else is able to?

10-11-2002, 10:09 AM	#82
KaVir Legend Join Date: Apr 2002 Name: Richard Home MUD: God Wars II Posts: 2,052	Mr X wasn't working on the mud, he was working on the website. The website exists outside of the mud, for the purpose of promoting the mud. Both Mr X and Mr Y put 10 hours of effort into something which helped promote the mud, and both of them received a reward for it. What you appear to disagree with is the fact that Mr Y used a middle-man (money) in the bartering system, while Mr X created the thing he bartered with. If you were alive 10 thousand years ago, you would be the person saying "Sorry Mr Y, but you didn't bake that bread yourself - you traded for it. If you want to trade bread for this this basket I weaved, you'll have to bake the bread yourself". Some people are not very good at baking, so they do something they ARE good at, and then trade for it (usually through the newer invention of money). This is good, as it allows us to create a commodity that everyone wants, and thus prevents discrimination against (for example) someone who knows how to flip burgers, but doesn't know how to design nifty mud websites. Your scenario does not address the matter at hand. The concept of a 100m race is to see who can run 100m the fastest. If you reduce the length of the race, then it is no longer a 100m race. If the concept of your mud is that people should compete purely based on time and effort put into playing the mud, then it would be equally inappropriate for you to give bonuses for time/effort put into something else (eg, giving people quest tokens for writing areas). Conversely, if the concept of your mud is that people should compete based purely on the amount of money they put into the mud, then it would be inappropriate for them to gain any bonuses through playing - they should have to purchase every advantage gained. However these are specific cases, and do not apply to the concept of mudding as a whole, which can (and usually does) consist of something in between the two extremes. The appropriate question to ask is, should you be able to purchase better running shoes than the other runners, simply because you have the money to do so? Should you be able to purchase expensive training equipment, even though other runners cannot affort it? Should you be able to hire a personal trainer, even though nobody else is able to?