



                     Welcome To The Player Wimping Guidebook!
                      (or how to dry up your mud in no time)


   F
     uking up a mud is surprisingly simple. With a little bit of time and

   dedicated effort to your own stupidity, you too can ruin your mud for the

   players, cause strife beyond belief, and take your mud down a slow spiral

   to implosion from within. The two best ways to do this are Wiping and

   Wimping.


   For those of you new to being little tin gods, I will be using the

   following definitions:



   Terms Used Here:


       Imms, Immortals, Gods: Those who run a mud. These are the admins that

       build or oversee the mud. Sometimes called Dungeon Masters or GMs,

       DMs, or IMPs.


       Mud: Not the gooey stuff women wrestle in, but a multi-user dungeon.

       An online game where multiple players interact with each other and
       computer generated monsters.



       Mobs: No, not 100 middle-aged women in a store with a big shoe sale!
       Mob refers to computer generated monsters on a Mud.



       Trolls: People who simply like to cause problems and get off on
       watching the resultant fallout and fighting.



       Wiping: is the act of doing a player file wipe. This destroys all
       player information, including hours played, gold collected, equipment

       earned, and all other facets of the character. It may or may not

       include the player's name.


       Wimping: is the act of taking away from a player's skills, spells, or

       effectiveness in some other way, such as reducing weapon

       effectiveness or boosting mobs (computer generated monsters) to an
       incredible degree. It can also refer to the reduction of gold.

       Wimping is called nerfing or blunting in many circles.




                      Player Wimping A Critical Examination

   Generally done under the rationalization of "mud balancing" or "restoring

   the challenge" the act of wimping players or 'nerfing' is one of the most

   insidious acts one can undertake. Wimping results in more hurt players,

   and more shattered morale for a mud than anything any player could ever
   accomplish. What is worse is that it is done by those who ostensibly are

   tasked with protecting the game and making it a better place to spend your

   entertainment hours. Wimping has destroyed more than one mud that I have

   been on, and has hurt loyal mudders across the world.



   Best Intentions:


   Almost without fail, when a mud starts, it starts because a player decides

   the gaming world needs something "friendly and unique" and finds himself

   in a situation where he is not satisfied with how the mud he is on is run.
   The player, now a new Implementor (chief administrator) believes that he

   can do a better job than those whose mud he has left and so he simply

   starts his own. In many instances he is disappointed or sad at the way

   that players on his X-mud have been treated and thinks he can do it
   better, making an environment where people can feel wanted and safe.

   Indeed the ideal he starts with is to become for his players what he

   wished the gods on his X-mud had been for him. So he sets about the task.


   His idealism is in full bloom as he hires a staff of builders and coders

   and installs a couple of gods, (usually friends from his X-mud), and he

   then sets out to make a wonderful new place for people to come and enjoy.

   He goes to great lengths to find out what players want in a mud and does

   his best within reason to accomplish it. As part of this process he puts
   together an Alpha-Test team, (usually a group of players from his old

   mud), and later he opens the mud up for Beta-Testing. During these two

   formative stages, adventuring areas are built, weapons are made, gold is

   calculated, spells, skills and player attributes are decided upon and put
   in place. It is a hell of a lot of work.



   Of necessity Alpha and Beta testing are times of changes, massive equip
   and spell adjustments, boosting and reducing of mobs, gold and whatnot.

   The basics are balanced. Weapons are made to be effective but not insane

   in their power, spells and skills get the same treatment. Mobs are made to

   be a challenge but not suicidal - which is a demoralizer for players.
   During the beta-test time, all that is to come is set up, balanced, and

   put in place for the people who will come to play. When this Herculean

   task is finished the mud is opened up to the public. Sometimes a

   player-file wipe is done and all of the beta tester's characters are
   destroyed so everyone starts out on equal footing. Many times Imps give

   those kind enough to have been alpha or beta testers some incentive like

   leveling tokens or something for their efforts and the time they invested

   in beta testing. The new mud is on the air and everyone is excited!




   The Honeymoon:


   As the mud opens, the gods and builders are visible and helpful, they give

   freely of their time to players with little grudging. The Imms make

   attempts to get people to come try their mud and they are usually

   responsive to players requests. The Imms and builders PLAY their own mud,

   (as opposed to just RULING it) , leveling characters and grouping with
   those players they are there to serve. Imms will sometimes make it known

   who they are sometimes not so as to judge how well the players are

   enjoying their new creation. In short the Imms CARE about how the players

   feel about the mud, and they are more interested in the players than they
   are in anything else. This period can vary in length greatly depending on

   the personalities involved and just how idealistic the new IMP and his

   gods are about making players happy. It is a good time to be in the game

   for everyone.


   At this stage players are the reason for the mud. The Imms know why they

   went to all this work, it was to make the players happy! And by god they
   are there to do just that... for a while.



   As time goes on however, the mud begins to grow. As may be easily surmised
   so do player requests for interaction and assistance, requests for special

   favors or weapons, demands for change to the basic skill set, and a

   plethora of other demands and expectations that can be expected from the

   type of people drawn to mudding and role playing games in general. At
   first, the IMP and his gods do their best to keep people happy, sometimes

   giving in to truly bad or stupid ideas and even fringe-player demands. It

   is likely that they will give in against their own gut feelings when they

   do some of these things. In their rightly motivated effort to please they
   sometimes go further than they should thus setting themselves up to fail.



   After a while things begin to change for the Imms... not in the mud or
   with the players but within themselves.


   Midlife Crisis:


   Somewhere along the way the gods begin to feel pressured and they begin to

   withdraw. Slightly at first, simply going invisible, but they still talk

   regularly with players. But it does not stop, things slide more and more
   and they find themselves slowly cutting even simple player discussion

   down. Soon the Imms find themselves only talking to their peers. They

   start to see players as a bunch of whiney cheaters who are there simply

   there to take advantage of the generosity offered by the immortal staff.


   Another thing that seems to happen about this time is that the gods begin

   to re-examine things that a year or six months ago were just fine and were
   accepted as normal. For some reason they reach a point where they find

   fault with things that were okay just a month ago. Imms also begin to care

   less and less about the PEOPLE on the mud, those who the mud was

   originally built to serve, and they begin to think more in terms of the
   CREATION - that is their computer-code, damage-tables, or the fact that

   people seem to be actually having too much success by leveling in a

   quicker manner than the gods think is reasonable.


   In short the admins lose sight of the fact that people are having FUN, and

   instead choose to dwell upon the fact that the mud didn't evolve, and

   players didn't play in the way that they had pre-structured in their own
   minds.


   Danger Point:


   It is at the point where the players become secondary to the creation that

   the danger exists. Along with a select group of other gods, (generally the

   ones perceived by players as having earned the rank to satiate their power
   hungry or controlling natures), the IMPs begin to look at changing and

   blunting ESTABLISHED skills spells or weapons. They talk to people who

   will by their nature agree, asking little if any input from the players

   that will be most affected by their choices. After all this is "not their
   mud" and "they didn't work so hard to create it". The imms also tend not

   to ask others who might disagree. Like generals who believe in their own

   press-releases this self-serving time will cost them later.


   The Imms now go back and revisit some of the 'special favors' they did for

   people. The realize that they made mistakes in trying to kiss ass to those

   they tried to draw to their mud and they start to make adjustments to the
   things that they themselves fucked up in an early attempt to please. Many

   times this is somewhat justified, one or two spells might just be way

   overpowered. These are changed, and the predictable outcry from those

   affected occurs. The imms put up with this, attempting to justify their
   actions, and taking time to try to mollify the people who have been hurt.

   They even apologize and in some cases admit their own culpability. However

   at the same time there is an undercurrent of resentful feelings that the

   players would "whine" so much and "create so many problems" over something
   that was obviously so wrong.



   This sets them up for the mind set wherein the players become even more of
   an enemy. All later complaints are relegated to "whining" or "selfish

   bitching" and when the next round of wimping comes, with its predictable

   outrage the Imms don't try to explain it nearly as well, instead opting to

   be aloof and uncaring or they will blame it on players for 'overusing' an
   item or spell. Some will even blame it on builders or imms who have

   departed and can not defend themselves. The mindset does not abate even

   later when Imms are mucking with things they should not be. At that point

   they actively antagonize players and the 'my mud not theirs' mindset is
   fully realized. In short they set themselves up against the players and so

   their rationalization is that no matter what they do the players will be a

   bunch of whiners...


   What has happened is a marked shift from player centerdness to one of

   worshiping at the alter of their creation - the software program that runs

   the mud. Damage tables become more important than player satisfaction and
   they begin to seek out the most minor of things to change in what was once

   a well established world under the banner of 'making everything equal'.


   As time goes by pressures of all kinds, from the external player

   complaints about other classes to Imms own air-headed want to relegate

   players to a pre-structured jail cell of how the Imms expected people to

   play or level becomes much more important than player happiness and more
   and more things are slated to be wimped; weapons, gold, good-solid

   established skills or spells.. nothing is safe, nothing is sacred.


   Within the players, this produces a natural, rational, and predictable

   reaction. What they counted on today may not be there tomorrow. These gods

   that were so kind and helpful before have now become the adversaries, seen

   as tyrants or people not to be trusted because they have betrayed the
   implied and implicit trust that the players gave them when they decided to

   invest their personal time and play the mud on a regular basis.




   The Death Spiral:


   IMAGE As the immortals, (and yes I do place full responsibility on the

         immortals, because it is in fact they who have the power to

         ameliorate things, and the responsibility to the mud NOT to do it in

         the first place), continue to wimp players, boost mobs, drop gold
         gathering abilities, raise prices, and reduce weapon effectiveness,

         players begin to align themselves into two camps. One group who

         "backs the Imms, 'because they know best and wouldn't hurt us'", and

   one group who feels "betrayed and hurt" by the removal or destruction of
   that which they have worked so hard to obtain.



   The first group, the 'god-backers' seems to break down into three
   subgroups. Before determining how great you are for your wonderful

   wimping, consider the fact that the motivations of those players that

   appear to be backing you may not be as pure as you believe.


   Factionalization Of The Mud:


   Once the wimping begins the mud breaks into little parts. Myopia sets in

   and people begin to lose sight of the fact that once they were all friends
   and having fun playing together. Instead it becomes a power struggle and a
   political infight with groups breaking off into encampments trying to get

   their way. If the IMPS have foolishly surrounded themselves with "yes-man"

   type gods, then this won't carry over into the administration, but if the

   IMP had the forethought to install people as gods who would speak their
   own mind, this factionalization will also occur in the immortal camp as

   well.


   God backers seem to break down into one of these three groups:


   Self-Preservationists - Probably the largest group on the god-backers team

   are the self-preservationists. They are also the least loyal to your
   position as an Imm bent on wimping. These people are participating in a

   typical human reaction similar to that of the pre-war Germany where the

   populace allowed those in power to take rights and property from others,

   and even SUPPORTED it in the vain and stupid hope that the authorities
   would remember them, and not take similar action against their race or

   class at a later date. As with the people in Germany, this belief of

   course vanished as soon as the authorities turned their interest toward

   their particular minority. It is indeed gratifying to watch
   self-preservationists become enraged and vocal when they get the nerfed as

   the self-preservationists tend to be the ones that have the fiercest and

   most vociferous outcry when THEY are the ones being betrayed by the

   administrators of the mud. The already wimped players will see this as an
   ironic form of justice for not having stood by them when the imms were

   mucking up their stuff.


   Ass-Kissers - When an established skill or spell is taken from others, a

   very significant portion of those who back you as an Imm are doing so for
   the sole reason that they would blindly agree to any damn thing you did!

   You should already know the kind. These people likely want to ingratiate

   themselves to you because they have their own aspirations for immhood in

   the future and know full well that being buddies with a god, (especially
   when standing up for an unpopular action), will win them approval with you

   and subsequent favors or other consideration or bent rules. It is also

   important to remember that many people who want to cause strife to your

   mud, (See 'Bitchers' in the next section), will pretend to agree with you
   because its the best way that they can think of to be able to SAFELY (to

   themselves) stir the shit with arguments which they know will cause

   problems and hurt others in order to meet their final agenda. Online these

   people are known as trolls.

   Genuine-Believers - There will be a few people who will genuinely and

   honestly believe that what you are doing is right. A person is most likely

   to belong to this group if he agrees with what you are doing and it is

   being done to him. (Although its very important to remember that the
   Ass-Kissers many times will do this even to their own detriment.) Genuine

   believers may believe their points after rational and cerebral

   introspection, or they may simply be blind followers. The fact that you

   can find people to agree with you even if that belief is genuinely held in
   no way makes what you are doing right however.



   In the same way as the god-backers have subgroups, so too do the
   wimping-detractors.

   The Betrayed - Probably the largest group of those who would be labeled

   wimping-detractors are those who rightfully feel betrayed and hurt by the

   immortals. These players have invested very significant periods of time on
   the mud, and have raised themselves up to a certain level of skills and

   spells by hard work and initiative. They have gone to great lengths to get

   the equipment they feel is best, and they have developed a persona and a

   playing style around the items and rules originally supplied to them by
   the gods. They operate within the rules and use the equipment and spells

   to its fullest advantage - as well they should - and then some Imm notices

   it and BAM. These people have a genuine sense of betrayal. That which they

   were allowed to earn is stolen from them by the very Immortals that they
   counted upon to do right by them. They have lost abilities, or had them

   significantly blunted by those who once said "We made this game for you,

   and for your fun.". Instead those same immortals are now telling them "If

   you don't like it start a new character or your own mud... we know what's
   best". When the immortals take that attitude it simply reinforces the

   betrayed's feelings and proves him right.


   The Bitchers - There is a certain group of mudders who will always cause

   problems. Wimping is but another excuse for them to attempt to cause
   strife on the mud and to do the best they can to control other people by

   using the unhappiness of the situation to make them do things they might

   not ordinarily do. You will already know these people, as they never ever

   ever have anything positive to say, they spend no time whatsoever trying
   to make people happy or doing good, but instead always make it their

   business to cause shit. They are labeled as trolls in many communities

   because they do nothing more than spoil things for others. Though

   comprising nowhere NEAR the numbers of actually betrayed people, the
   bitchers do present a significant number of wimping detractors. These

   people should be completely ignored by both sides in this battle as they

   are there for the sole purpose of causing problems and inciting

   unhappiness.

   The Ethical/Moralists - Most certainly the smallest group in the

   wimping-detractors are those who have thought the issue through

   thoroughly, not having taken into account how they were affected, but

   instead looking at how things really are affecting people and determined
   that the wimping was just simply wrong or unjust. These people will make

   good directed arguments which show forethought and a care for players

   above all else, including the sacred damage tables or other garbage that

   the imps might trot out to justify their stance. Of course this pisses off
   the Imms even more because the damage tables and economy tables are now

   the imms sacred cows, not the players but they cant SAY that for obvious

   reasons. Hell maybe they don't even see that in themselves!


   Almost always the Ethical/Moralists people will find themselves ostracized

   or vilified simply for speaking out, and because their arguments make

   sense, they will be seen as a threat to the mud and to the mud by the
   admins. If the Ethical/Moralists are gods on the game they are usually

   removed or chastised for not being a "team player" rather than being

   allowed to speak out, as their arguments are compelling and well directed.




   The Effect:



   As you can see factionalization shatters the camaraderie and friendships

   that a good mud will have groomed and encouraged. This downward spiral has

   resulted in the death of more than one mud that I am personally familiar

   with and made a couple others totally not worth the time to play... unless

   of course you simply like to watch people fight. These actions pit friends
   and players against each other in the same way as a civil war pits brother

   against brother or adultery pits spouse against spouse. There can be no

   winners once this occurs, only those who have not lost as much as others.

   Is this what you want to have happen to your mud? Would you like a nice
   set of well balanced tables, damages, leveling times, and the other things

   you seek through wimping, or would you prefer to make 50 to 3000 people

   happy to play on your mud without infighting?


   The above described events comprise a circle where one screw-up feeds off


   of another which feeds off of another until a continuing and destructive

   downward spiral occurs. The spiral stops when one of two things happens,
   either the mud dies because someone with enough power pulls the plug on

   the mud itself out of disgust, or a large portion of the players and

   dissenting immortal staff are purged or quit leaving only those who were

   in blind agreement. The residual players and Imms are battered, bruised
   and wary from the fight. People in this condition are in no mind set to

   help newbies or to recruit new players and this apathy results in a

   feeling of morbidity that takes months to dissipate.


   Basically you've fucked yourself and your mud at this point.


   Solutions and Suggestions:


   So far I have presented the realities of what I opine happens when you

   wimp or wipe your players and/or their equipment. Almost without exception
   it results in pain, strife, fighting, factionalization, forced-deletions,

   players quitting, rules about free expression imposed, and many other

   negative repercussions. So what can you do? Your mud is unbalanced and

   players are whining, your mathematical formulas don't add up the way you'd
   like and you want to change something....


   First re-evaluate. WHY are you considering making these changes, is it

   IMAGE
         because players are bitching that one class is better than the other
         or can deal death out to mobs faster? Is it because you're bored and

         have nothing better to do and you feel change for changes sake is

         good? Is it because you have power, and just want to fuck with

         people? (If so don't bother to read any more, just mail me so I
         never go to your mud. :P)



   Second, look again at what you hope to accomplish and for whom. You likely

   created this game in part to make people happy. It wasn't an exercise in

   programming (well not in most cases anyway) it was to serve the public, do
   do a greater good wasn't it? Or was it so you could stroke your ego? Was

   it because you wanted to have power over people? Were you attracted by the

   hope of power to make them sad to ruin their free-time, and to make their

   efforts worthless? Naw, I didn't think so! If you don't do this wimping
   will your mud fail? Doubtful. Unless you are a total fuck up and put in

   dozens of things that were way to powerful from the start, and didn't

   sweep them out in beta, then your mud will survive without the

   unfriendliness that wimping will bring far better than after you
   participate in wimping.



   Lastly, is it worth the cost? You are about to lose players and maybe an

   immortal or two. Is this what you want to occur? Are players worth

   anything to you? Will you GET more players in return for the ones you lost
   when the game playing public hears of what a great job of wimping you have

   done? If so have at it, but think... few people come to muds because they

   have heard of how great the balance is, most people come because they hear

   the gods make it a FUN place to play and that the people are friendly.
   Nerfing begets the antithesis of a friendly environment.




   Last Logic:


   I am sure that I haven't covered all potential arguments with the

   following Q&A nor will I try, however you decide to ignore this, I do wish
   you and your player-base luck.



   But Tenny, some of my players are bitching that the classes aren't

   balanced!


   Yea? when have they not bitched? I know it seems rhetorical, but some

   players will ALWAYS bitch that the classes aren't balanced. Hell if you
   took all classes off your mud except say warriors, and then you copied all

   of the skill set into 4 other named classes, renamed the skills and

   classes, making no adjustments, people would STILL say they weren't

   balanced. Instead simply state up front, classes do not compare. Tell
   them, "Play the one you like best for you, don't judge yourself against

   others, and if the one class is much better make one of them". (don't then

   fuck that up by rebalancing another class).


   Now IF you are so damn interested in balancing classes, and you feel that

   this is of paramount importance, then they key is to GIVE and not to take.

   GIVE new skill-sets or powers to the ones you feel are weaker. There will
   be some bitching from those who are who don't get something new, or

   increased damage, but that will subside a lot faster and be far less

   divisive than if you steal that which the others have already earned. If

   you are worried about it making it easier to defeat mobs, then make a new
   area with bigger mobs! People will always go for a challenge.


   If you had two knives, one dull and one sharp, would it not make better

   sense to make them equal by sharpening the dull one - not by blunting the

   sharp one?


   Computer generated creatures don't get their feelings hurt if they are

   replaced or some new mob gets some special power. Players do.

   Tenny, I just found out that the Druid Spell 'stick poke' has been
   overpowered since we put it in!
   Lets see if I got this right: You have an established spell that people

   have come to rely upon that you just figured out all this time later was

   over powered? Well then in point of fact it can't be that overpowered can

   it? If it was, you would have seen this class just wiping the floor with
   the others long before this and you would have corrected it within a month

   of its inception. You did not. Therefore your assessment that this is

   going to mess up your mud is fallacious. Had it been that big a deal

   before, it wouldn't have gone for a period of months without being
   noticed.


   Tenny, I put in some new equipment that makes the other stuff obsolete and
   too high powered in comparison. Now I have to lower the older stuff so
   they will want the new or so that there is more incentive to get it.
   With all due respect, you are setting yourself up for failure. If your new

   stuff is too powerful the answer in not to hurt the players that already

   have the old stuff, its simply to lower the new stuff. You should have
   looked at this before you put in the new items! If you don't lower the new

   stuff, someday this new widget you put in today will look a lot like the

   old stuff you're about to wimp. As for incentive, people will go to great

   lengths to get that one extra damage roll or even just for bragging rights
   ("I got me a big mythril sword and I'm only the third person on the mud to

   have done so!") So don't worry about it... and if the players don't want
   to get the new thing... so what? Are you trying to stroke your equipment

   building ego or is your goal to make a fun place to mud where people have
   choices? Taking that which players have rightfully earned from them is

   simply wrong.

   Tenny, people are leveling too fast. I had envisioned it talking 3 months
   to make Avatar, and this one guy did it in 2 weeks!!

   So the players are having fun at the expense of how you perceived the mud

   would play? They aren't sticking within your little cage of expectations
   and are not blindly doing things in the way you had envisioned? Uhm, again

   with all due respect SO WHAT? Did you see Jurassic Park? It makes for a

   good analogy. Players are people - People, life itself, can not be boxed

   into your perception of how to act and how to play. Some people mud to get
   millions in virtual gold, some to attain levels, some want one Avatar

   (highest level player) of each class, some come solely for social

   interaction. As long as they are not maliciously hurting each other leave

   em be and let them have fun!


   To punish the average player for the success of your top ten percent

   players is ridiculous. Unless your mud is dropping in players because
   massive numbers of them are telling you 'this twink mud is too easy so I

   am quitting', let them be! They are enjoying your creation as is! You made

   this mud to be fun. People are having fun. THAT should be something you

   should sit back and be proud of not screw around with simply to somehow
   chase the unatainable ideal of making things appear fair, and never for

   some mathematical calculation.

   Tenny, I am in Beta test, and I don't want my players to keep all the
   stats and weapons from our testing period, it wouldn't be fair.

   This is the time where I agree that a Pfile wipe is appropriate. Also

   Alpha and Beta testing is the time for you to make all the mods, wimping,
   tuning and changes you're going to make on the basics. Beta testers should

   be told in advance that they can count on a Pfile wipe. The problem is

   that most IMPS look at normal mud life as an ongoing beta test and find

   themselves continually fucking with established skills and spells. Do it
   once do it right then leave it the hell alone. If you missed some moderate

   or small problem after beta is over and people have come to count on it

   leave it the hell alone. Nobody's gonna get hurt. Also you must give those

   nice people that beta-tested for you some cool incentive to come back when
   the mud opens, a few levels, or even a character that's half way up

   already, special personalized equipment or something else that reflects

   your thanks for a job well done.

   Tenny, I justput in the Mage Spell 'urine pool' and found out that it is
   too powerful, you cant say that I shouldn't reduce it are you?

   Hell no! Though some would argue the point I don't feel I am that stupid.
   When you have a brand new skill or spell make sure your players know that

   you will be making changes as they are warranted. But hold yourself to a

   limited beta period for each item. A month or two at the most. My thesis

   through this entire treatise has been that it is the ESTABLISHED skills
   and spells that you have a moral right not to mess with as people count on

   them. If you put in something new, and people know that its in testing,

   then they also know not to count on it. Once its in and relied upon, its

   too late.

   Fine Tenny screw you, I will just tell everyone that NOTHINGis stable or
   static and that I can change anything I want to anytime and that if they
   cant live with it then they should go to another mud.

   Good! Now were making progress! At least you're finally being honest and

   ethical with your players, even though you give them nothing to count on

   you for - with the exception of change, loss, and pain, at least it is a
   fully informed decision. You have given them all the consideration you

   morally need to at this point. If they bitch after this then too bad. But

   do know this, some people, (those who would be your most loyal

   'cheerleaders'), will be those who make a mud a long term home. Many
   measure this commitment in years. If you take a stance like this, you will

   also find the loyalty quotient to be fairly low. Nobody wants a long term

   commitment that fluctuates. How would you like to be married to someone

   that would fluctuate in how much they do drugs, commit adultery or beat
   you?


   Tenny, I am a player and this wimping is happening to my mud, what can I
   do?
   Hey! You are a PLAYER!?!?!? What are you doing reading this! Go away shoo!

   Shoo! This was written for people a lot better than you, people more wise

   and all knowing, people who KNOW that your ideas suck and that you have no
   right to protest or complain! Go on hit the back button!



   Seriously? Sadly my friend, it is likely you can not do not a damned
   IMAGE thing... I do NOT think that hiring a good sniper is a really

         prudent solution and no matter how much you are upset, remember this

         IS a game and it is completely insane to take any real life action

         of any kind against an Imm over something as meaningless as mudding
         or online gaming. Try to write well written notes to the Imps,

         complain publicly but not in a shrill manner. Make your arguments

         using all the facts you can, and include in your notes points that

   they make that you concede. Give them this URL if you like. Try to be
   direct and always be honest. In point of fact tho, its not gonna do a damn

   bit of good most likely. Decisions like this are made usually made by

   people with the idea that players are going to bitch and for whom the

   people who play their games are longer meaningful so their happiness no
   longer drives the Imm staff. If that was the case, they would have taken

   steps to avoid this sort of thing prior to your being upset.


   If it bothers you enough, on either a personal level or on an ethical

   level vote with your feet and leave the game. Let everyone know know why

   you are taking this action, but don't do so with the intent to take others

   with you... that's manipulative and wrong. When you go to your next mud or
   online game, ask to talk to a god or better yet an imp. If one comes to

   you that's a good sign. If they will talk openly and honestly with you

   about this topic that's even better. You're about to make a commitment of

   some months and many hours of your time, I don't think it unreasonable to
   ask a few pointed questions. If they do think it is unreasonable.... do

   you really wish to play there? I would not.






   Closing Thoughts:


   As I close this, it must be more than obvious where I stand on the issue
   of Wimping Players and why. I am empathetic, even sympathetic to a degree

   to what as a Mud-God you are trying to accomplish but I can not support

   that which causes people to be hurt or stolen from. As many are fond of

   pointing out, this is only a game, and as a good friend, Danilo's mother
   pointed out "Don't you play this game to have FUN?!?!". We as immortals

   are here for the players of our respective muds. We are no more real gods

   than Mao Tse Tung was, despite our power to cause hurt feelings and

   destroy hours of play on a whim.


   Because we posses dictatorial power does not mean we are obligated or even

   free to use it.


   Sadly many of us lose track of the real purpose of what we began our muds

   for. We lose sight of why we left our last mud, and begin to see our
   mortal players as the enemy. Is it any wonder why we offer so many times

   to quit or pull the plug? If the mud stops being fun for us because the

   damage curve has a little blip in it, or because when we try to correct

   that tiny mathematical anomaly and the PEOPLE we hurt complain, then have
   we not lost track of why it began at all.....


   I thought games were for the players to have fun, and for us to have fun
   in serving them.
   Was I wrong?

   Tenarius the Druid of RECTITUDE






   The folks at Maximum Everquest seem to do a hell of a nice job... I looked
   over their page and it looks pretty damn good! Check them out! I can't
   believe all the resources!



                                About The Author:


   This missive was written in 1997. It was tuned very slightly in 1999. The
   message and thesis remain the same as do the main supporting points.


   Tenarius mudded for many years and moved up through the highest ranks on a
   couple of muds. The two muds that he most often played were The Realms Of
   Despair Mud and The Dragon Swords Mud. Tenarius spent a long time as a
   well loved and respected Immortal on Dragon Swords Mud where he most
   enjoyed his player interaction where his style put people first. He made a
   conscious effort of never forgetting from where he started but was
   tenacious about administering things by the book. Tenarius also ran a
   website comprised of many hundreds of pages for The Dragon Swords Mud at a
   time when the world wide web was first starting to become widely known -
   having taught himself html in part to accomplish that supportive task.
   Because of wimping and what he saw as player abuse and refusal to allow
   free expression on the mud Tenarius resigned from Dragon Swords in protest
   and removed the Dragon Swords Mud website from his server. Tenarius
   remains veryactive in the gaming community and is now the Director of
   Operations of The Maximum Gaming Network, a network devoted solely to
   computer and online games. The Maximum Gaming Network is owned by another
   X-Player of The Dragon Swords Mud who had bailed on it for reasons having
   to do with the admin of DS a few months before Tenarius saw that there was
   nothing left for him. Tenarius no longer plays muds and has thus far
   avoided other online RPGs.

                                      IMAGE

                            Back To The Tenarius Page



             All opinions on this page are the personal opinion of the author.

                                  Copyright 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 by Tenarius
                                            Revised slightly in September 1999
                                                           All Rights Reserved
                                   In order to use this site you must read and
                                     agree to that which is on the legal page.
