October 1997
- Carnage, scripting newbie guides Koster, Raph
- Carnage, scripting newbie guides Nathan Yospe
- Carnage, scripting newbie guides Chris Gray
- Carnage, scripting newbie guides ##Make Nylander
- Carnage, scripting newbie guides ##Make Nylander
- Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to clawrenc@cup.hp.com
- 101 Spells Not Worth Memorizing clawrenc@cup.hp.com
- more classes (Usability and interface and who the Brian Price
- more classes (Usability and interface and who the Matt Chatterley
- more classes (Usability and interface and who the coder@ibm.net
- Stranger in a Strange Land (was Usability and interface and Maddy
- Tablets. Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- Stranger in a Strange Land (was Usability and interface clawrenc@cup.hp.com
- Usability and interface ... Marian Griffith
- Usability and interface ... Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Usability and interface ... Broly
- Usability and interface ... Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Usability and interface ... Derrick Jones
- Usability and interface ... coder@ibm.net
- Usability and interface ... Derrick Jones
- Usability and interface ... coder@ibm.net
- Usability and interface ... coder@ibm.net
- Usability and interface ... Marian Griffith
- Turn-based Combat Jon A. Lambert
- Turn-based Combat Travis Casey
- Turn-based Combat John G.
- OT: I'm moving! coder@ibm.net
- (fwd) New mud release coder@ibm.net
- Riddles for games clawrenc@cup.hp.com
- Riddles for games Chris Gray
- Riddles for games coder@ibm.net
- The Trap Collection clawrenc@cup.hp.com
- Learning through failure Jon A. Lambert
- Learning through failure Maddy
- The Trap Collection - Volume II clawrenc@cup.hp.com
- THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO UNLAWFUL CARNAL KNOWLEDGE FOR FANTASY ROLE-PLAYING GAMES clawrenc@cup.hp.com
- (fwd) New MUD software wanted? coder@ibm.net
- (fwd) New MUD software wanted? Felix A. Croes
- (fwd) New MUD software wanted? coder@ibm.net
- META: File attachments as list postings. coder@ibm.net
- More Riddles... Jon A. Lambert
- More Riddles... Jon A. Lambert
- multiple intelligences Brandon J. Rickman
- multiple intelligences Travis Casey
- multiple intelligences Brandon J. Rickman
- multiple intelligences S001GMU@nova.wright.edu
- multiple intelligences Travis S. Casey
- multiple intelligences coder@ibm.net
- OT: Usability and interface and who the hell is suppo coder@ibm.net
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Derrick Jones
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Michael Hohensee
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) coder@ibm.net
- The Official T$R Book of Adventure Suggestions coder@ibm.net
- Mud governance Koster, Raph
- Mud governance Felix A. Croes
- Mud governance Mike Sellers
At 09:55 AM 10/20/97 PST8PDT, Felix A. Croes wrote:
>> Hi guys, I'm looking for documents on mud governance and
>> administration, and you're the best bunch to ask. Things like the
>> section of Javelin's PennMUSH document covering tips for mud admins,
>> or Amberyl's Wizard Ethics document (which I haven't been able to
>> locate, ftp.tinymush.org never seems to connect). This is for the
>> purpose of educating new admin staff... I also intend to salt 'em with
>> a few things like Dibbell's Village Voice article, Bartle's paper, and
>> the log of the Black Rose incident (as a negative example). Got any
>> other favorites?
>
>Sorry, can't help you there. In fact, I am very curious about what
>you might be able to tell us. How <does> one administrate a mud with
>a thousand of players online?
Well, I have to admit this is a difficult but very important issue... but
unfortunately I find myself unsure of how much I can or should say on this
subject. Clearly, having seasoned, dedicated admins is a necessary but
not sufficient part of the equation. In terms of educating your current or
potential admins, I think you're on the right track with the sources you
mention, Raph. I'd recommend Sherry Turkle's writings too, and probably
some of Howard Rheingold's. Make sure they read the Habitat papers.
Beyond that, I'm increasingly of the view that, wherever possible,
governance should be made part of the game, rather than separate from it,
and that admins should interfere with the game and the players as little as
possible. Incidentally, after my experience as Meridian, and having seen
the first-hand experiences of the individual Guardians on M59, I would take
precisely the opposite approach as "Lord British" in UO; in an online game,
celebrity is both a potent drug and, like so many drugs, inevitably
pathological from a personal and community perspective. In other words, I
would say that admins should be as anonymous as possible, so as to perturb
the player-community as little as possible.
>> ObDiscussionTopic: to what extent should mud governance be an issue in
>> server design? And related to that, what then needs to be implicit in
>> the server design to support governance by an administrative staff?
Both in-game governance and out-of-game administration are integral to
server design. For example, admins clearly need to be able to _safely_
access player-data, if for no other reason to forestall spoofing (is that
what you meant?). I would advocate limited and somewhat transferable
"special powers" for players for in-game governance, so as to handle
player-player disputes and that sort of thing (I've written more fully
about this elsewhere). These too, and the larger social structures needed
for player-governance, should also be designed into the server early on.
>If the goal is to reach an ideal mud, there are three factors involved:
>
> 1) that which can be enforced in code
> 2) that which the players can arrange for themselves
> 3) that which the administrators must impose
>
>A good design minimizes the third factor. The type of mud is determined
>by the balance between these three. For instance, if player killing is
>considered to be the ultimate form of harassment, it can be eliminated in
>code. On the other hand, player killing can also be considered a tool
>for a self-governing mud population.
Agreed. From my experience, I would say that player killing can be a great
tool, if properly handled (and I'm not saying we handled it entirely
correctly). As much as possible, outside of issues like _real_ and serious
harassment or cheating, I would say that the players should handle as much
of their own regulation as possible. It not only lowers your admin load,
it actually generates good game play too.
Mike Sellers Chief Alchemist
mike@online-alchemy.com Online Alchemy
Combining art & science to create new worlds.
- Mud governance Mike Sellers
- Mud governance Travis Casey
- Mud governance coder@ibm.net
- Mud governance Mike Sellers
- Mud governance coder@ibm.net
- Mud governance S001GMU@nova.wright.edu
- Mud governance coder@ibm.net
- Mud governance Koster, Raph
- Mud governance coder@ibm.net
- OT: Usability and interface and who the hell is su Jon A. Lambert
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Marian Griffith
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Derrick Jones
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) coder@ibm.net
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Nathan Yospe
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Marian Griffith
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Sauron
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) coder@ibm.net
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Marian Griffith
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) coder@ibm.net
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Brandon J. Rickman
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Derrick Jones
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Jon A. Lambert
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Adam Wiggins
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Derrick Jones
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Derrick Jones
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Derrick Jones
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) coder@ibm.net
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) coder@ibm.net
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Sauron
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Marian Griffith
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Marian Griffith
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Jon A. Lambert
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) coder@ibm.net
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Vadim Tkachenko
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Sauron
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Stephen Zepp
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Matt Chatterley
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Vadim Tkachenko
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Stephen Zepp
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) coder@ibm.net
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Matt Chatterley
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) coder@ibm.net
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Alex Oren
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Alex Oren
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Koster, Raph
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Chris Gray
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Richard Woolcock
- Fear of magic (was:Usability and interface) Stephen Zepp
- META: List burp coder@ibm.net
- To catch a mage (was fear of magic) Derrick Jones
- To catch a mage (was fear of magic) Matt Chatterley
- To catch a mage (was fear of magic) coder@ibm.net
- To catch a mage (was fear of magic) coder@ibm.net
- To catch a mage (was fear of magic) Derrick Jones
- To catch a mage (was fear of magic) coder@ibm.net
- To catch a mage (was fear of magic) Derrick Jones
- To catch a mage (was fear of magic) coder@ibm.net
- CODE RELEASE: [mush mux] Portable Space Engine v0.8.3 RELEASED! coder@ibm.net
- ANNOUNCEMENT: [graphical commercial] Mystic Realms coder@ibm.net
- CODE RELEASE: [server] New Mud Software (SunderMUD 1.0) coder@ibm.net
- string parsing Felix A. Croes
- string parsing Chris Gray
- string parsing Felix A. Croes
- string parsing Jon A. Lambert
- string parsing Felix A. Croes
- string parsing Chris Gray
- string parsing Felix A. Croes
- string parsing Chris Gray
- string parsing Felix A. Croes
- string parsing Chris Gray
- string parsing coder@ibm.net
- string parsing Felix A. Croes
- string parsing coder@ibm.net
- string parsing Chris Gray
- string parsing coder@ibm.net
- string parsing Chris Gray
- string parsing coder@ibm.net
- string parsing Jon A. Lambert
- string parsing Adam Wiggins
- string parsing Ola Fosheim Grøstad
- string parsing Chris Gray
- string parsing Felix A. Croes
- string parsing Nathan Yospe
- string parsing Felix A. Croes
- string parsing Nathan Yospe
- string parsing coder@ibm.net
- string parsing Chris Gray
- string parsing Nathan Yospe
- string parsing Chris Gray
- string parsing coder@ibm.net
- Idea: Hive-mind monster coder@ibm.net
- Idea: Hive-mind monster Adam Wiggins
- Idea: Hive-mind monster coder@ibm.net
- Idea: Hive-mind monster Sauron
- Idea: Hive-mind monster Derrick Jones
- Idea: Hive-mind monster Michael Hohensee
- Idea: Hive-mind monster Brandon J. Rickman
- Idea: Hive-mind monster coder@ibm.net
- Idea: Hive-mind monster Derrick Jones
- Idea: Hive-mind monster coder@ibm.net
- Idea: Hive-mind monster coder@ibm.net
- Idea: Hive-mind monster coder@ibm.net
- Skill Listing - Part II Jon A. Lambert
- Skill Listing - Part II Derrick Jones
- Skill Listing - Part I Jon A. Lambert
- Poison List - Part II Jon A. Lambert
- Poison List - Part III Jon A. Lambert
- Poison List - Part IV Jon A. Lambert
- Poison List - Part I Jon A. Lambert