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<H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: "Jon A. Lambert" <<A HREF="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 02:14:59 -4</LI>
<LI><em>Comments</em>: Authenticated sender is <jlsysinc#popd,ix.netcom.com></LI>
<LI><em>Reply-to</em>: <A HREF="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</A></LI>
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<PRE>
On 3 Feb 98 at 12:41, Greg Munt wrote:
>
> Some points of clarification:
>
> This mud outlawed playerkilling, although it was allowed by the server.
> Playerkillers were marked '(KILLER)' after their entry in the who
> listing, and were considered 'fair game' to anyone. Killers of
> playerkillers were not marked in the who list.
>
I'm familiar with the system. It's one of those "stock" features. ;)
There is a large difference between not allowing killing and outlawing
it. The philosophy of this implementation is to allow it, yet make
anyone executing it subject to in-game penalties.
> The mud's 'gossip' channel was frequently filled with discussions
> concerning the real life of players, and I was well-known for engaging in
> political discussions when online. I agree that in PK muds, everything
> is fair game, including harassment and victimisation. This is ok, because
> all players know the score before they start playing. Going by the use
> of the 'gossip' channel, I would not assume that everything was in-game.
>
> The activities which I considered to be harassment and victimisation
> were NOT in-game activities. I had inadvertedly offended a female player.
> Her male friends sought to protect her, and 'punish' me for a crime that
> I was unaware of committing. They were not pursuing in-game PK fun, but
> instead were dealing out 'justice' to someone who had offended one of
> their number IN REAL LIFE.
This sounds more and more like a free speech issue, so along these
philosophical lines I ponder...
If one desires an active policy, one should clearly define what constitutes
harassment. Surely tell-spamming, repeatedly killing, and otherwise
rendering a particular character unplayable is, at the core, an attempt to
suppress that persons ability to communicate within a social environment.
Is suppression of speech harassment or victimization? Or only in some
circumstances? Or are some forms of speech harassment? Had the
administration been more active and had a clear policy, what form of
punishment would you have suffered for your inadvertant offense? Would
you have been "gagged" or banned? Is having your character rendered
unplayable by an administrator more desireable than by a group of players?
Is repeated execution of an in game built-in social, like "fondle", a form
of harassment? Is this just speech? Is calling someone a 'bitch',
'dickhead', 'asshole', 'stupid' or 'faggot' harassment or free speech?
Are some of these words considered RL harassment and some not? Would your
administration be more likely to intervene in a situation where a player
complains of being called 'stupid' or complains of being called a 'faggot'?
Are some victim's feelings more important than others?
Some hypotheticals:
Suppose I log in to mud X and gossip, "Women should stay at home and raise
babies." A Wizard-like person arrives, tells me I've violated the
mud's sexual harassment policy, calls me a bigot, slays me and banishes me.
Suppose I log in to mud Y and say the same thing. I am tell spammed by
dozens of irritated users, hunted down and killed, and generally "harassed"
as much as the server allows for my time there. There is an uncaring or
absent administration.
Finally, suppose I log in to mud Z and say the same thing. I'm
tell-spammed and attacked by users, yet I complain and all the users who
have committed these acts are "banned" from the server by the admins.
Then suppose I make certain individuals targets of these statements.
My own conclusions:
Harassment, within the boundaries of what can occur within a mud, is
a merely a form of speech. Mud X and Z above both suppress some forms of
speech. Mud X supresses political speech and Mud Z suppresses heckling.
Mud Y clearly does not suppress speech in any form. All of these muds may
or may not have design flaws. This depends on whether the capability
of other users to render a particular user's character unplayable is or is
not desired.
In my own project suppresion of speech by administration IS desired. This
is primarily because of the games RP nature. In some areas innocent RL
speech about any topic is considered disruptive and might be considered
harassment if you wish. There should be no mechanical means to disrupt a
user (hopefully). There are mechanisms available to prevent unwanted
output being sent to a user. Within the OOC rooms, there is little
control on speech. There is also strong user/character separation here.
--
--/*\ Jon A. Lambert - TychoMUD Internet:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com /*\--
--/*\ Mud Server Developer's Page <<A HREF="http://www.netcom.com/~jlsysinc">http://www.netcom.com/~jlsysinc</A>> /*\--
--/*\ "Everything that deceives may be said to enchant" - Plato /*\--
</PRE>
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<ul>
<li><strong><A NAME="00388" HREF="msg00388.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Adam Wiggins <nightfall#user1,inficad.com></li></ul>
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<LI><STRONG><A NAME="00375" HREF="msg00375.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</A></STRONG>
<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Jon A. Lambert" <jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com></LI></UL></LI>
<LI><STRONG><A NAME="00383" HREF="msg00383.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</A></STRONG>
<UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Greg Munt <greg#uni-corn,demon.co.uk></LI></UL></LI>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00372" HREF="msg00372.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</A></strong>,
Greg Munt <a href="mailto:greg#uni-corn,demon.co.uk">greg#uni-corn,demon.co.uk</a>, Mon 02 Feb 1998, 10:36 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00374" HREF="msg00374.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</A></strong>,
coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Mon 02 Feb 1998, 18:16 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00375" HREF="msg00375.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</A></strong>,
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Mon 02 Feb 1998, 23:07 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00383" HREF="msg00383.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</A></strong>,
Greg Munt <a href="mailto:greg#uni-corn,demon.co.uk">greg#uni-corn,demon.co.uk</a>, Tue 03 Feb 1998, 20:39 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00387" HREF="msg00387.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</A></strong>,
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Wed 04 Feb 1998, 07:12 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00388" HREF="msg00388.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</A></strong>,
Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:nightfall#user1,inficad.com">nightfall#user1,inficad.com</a>, Thu 05 Feb 1998, 03:28 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00395" HREF="msg00395.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</A></strong>,
Greg Munt <a href="mailto:greg#uni-corn,demon.co.uk">greg#uni-corn,demon.co.uk</a>, Sun 08 Feb 1998, 23:01 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00478" HREF="msg00478.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Administrative Responsibilities</A></strong>,
coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Mon 16 Feb 1998, 04:51 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</ul>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00365" HREF="msg00365.html">OT: Following in the footsteps of JCL</A></strong>,
Alex Oren <a href="mailto:alexo#bigfoot,com">alexo#bigfoot,com</a>, Sun 01 Feb 1998, 16:17 GMT
</LI>
</UL></BLOCKQUOTE>
</ul>
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