The Hysteria Project

The Hysteria Project: Hystory

Edhadeya

Part III: Crime and Punishment

It really is amazing how much your perspective on the game changes once you become involved with the actual creation and administration processes. It was a lot of fun. More fun, even, than running. It was great. You spend time brainstorming new ideas, helping with the implementation of code to make these ideas a reality, and you get to sit back and watch people enjoy what you've created. In the MUD world, there are few things so satisfying as someone saying "Man, that's really cool!" about a feature or zone you created.

But it's also your job to make sure everything runs smoothly. An unfortunate part of that is disciplining players who do not follow the rules. Hysteria is a complex game, so the rules are complex. As Fulk once said, "Checkers is a simple game with simple rules, but chess is a complex game with complex rules. Hysteria is more chess than checkers." And he was right. The rules were designed to make the game fun for everyone; so there couldn't be players who would spoil the game for everyone else.

Players who broke the rules were punished. Those who broke them repeatedly, or who performed particularly heinous actions in violation of the rules were banned. Banning players was never fun. It never is fun. The joy you get from the game comes from others enjoying your game. Banning someone means you're disallowing that person access to your game, which takes away some of your enjoyment as well. But sometimes, for the good of the game and its players, it is necessary.

Most often, a banned player will find a way to sneak back on the game. This isn't a big deal, if they've learned their lesson and no longer cause problems. Despite popular belief, this is the purpose of most bans. Not to keep the individual off the game for good, but to ban a specific character. This is for two reasons: First, the individual realizes they crossed a line. As punishment, not only do they have to start a new character, but they have to start a new character with a different name. Sometimes from a different host. And second, the negativity and previous behavior associated with that character name is now gone. The individual essentially now has the ability to start fresh. It's a great system, if it's not abused by either the Admins or the banned players.

Two types of players chip away at the enjoyment Admins get from the game: Those who constantly complain, and those who constantly break the rules. But the biggest challenge in running a game is not abusive players. The biggest challenge is time.