Re: [Circle] [IDEA REQUEST] Transfer equipment command.

From: Jack Wilson (deejay@cu-online.com)
Date: 11/25/96


Daniel Koepke wrote:
> [XP caps don't] prevent the high level person from going in,
> killing everything, taking all the newbie eq and selling it.  Or
> maybe a real asshole putting a chokehold on all the newbies by
> not letting them have any newbie eq?  Or going in and charming
> a newbie monster, giving it better eq, casting strength on it, and
> sitting there invis, casting heal on the monster so that it
> eventually kills the newbie and the high level player can get what
> the newbie had (gold, etc.) without ever bothering to kill something
> themselves.

You can't asshole-proof a MUD in software.  The whole point of a MUD
is player interaction, which means that more powerful players are going
to affect weaker players.  Of course you can add all kinds of stuff
which isolates players from each other, at which point you don't really
have a MUD anymore.  Just a chat server with "private rooms" which
contain mobiles.

>>Yeah.  If you can't trust certain immortals to not cheat, delete them.
>>No amount of software is going to prevent them from cheating.  All the
>>software is going to do is inconvenience the people who just want to
>>build.
> 
>Yes, but not implementing some kind of code to prevent cheating, as
>well as specifically stating the rules that say they can't do it,
>is just tempting the immortals to try to cheat.

Well, I guess this is just a philosophical difference.  I'd rather take
a few good people and give them the tools they need, than hand out 
imm-hood promiscuously to anyone offering to create a few rooms.  Of
course, this is easier to accomplish on an established mud - a newer
mud has to take everyone it can get and hope some of them will be 
good.  

> You can't catch
> every immortal in the act, and I personally do not like going on
> third-person recallings, as they are often twisted from the truth
> and tainted with personal feelings towards the targetted person(s).

Of course not, that's what logs are for.  But even though God may
log everything, some things have to be brought to His attention.
Listen to imm/player complaints and do your own fact-finding...
(And if nobody is complaining, something is REALLY wrong.  Start
investigating!)

> Why bother punishing all of your staff and having to go seek new
> ones, instead of just making it so they can't do it, and hence you
> don't have to punish them, and thus they can continue to contribute
> positively towards the MUD, while unable to break the rules...?

Again, philosophical difference.  I'd rather put as few restraints as
possible on the good people.  And to be honest, the kind of imms you
are talking about (who have to be constrained or else they'll cheat)
are a dime a dozen.  You'll easily find more if you nuke the cheaters.

Probably a good compromise approach (if you have a bunch of bad apples
that you can't afford to get rid of just yet) is to add a large number
of levels at the top; disempower the lowest levels; and then promote
only the good builders.  The type of builder who's into cheating won't
notice anything because his level is staying the same.  :)

>Daniel Koepke

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