<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] [LONG] A slightly different perspective on Real money in Virtual worlds. --> <!--X-From-R13: "[begra Oaqerfra" <zbegraNztba.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 19:52:08 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: LOBBLCMBGNGLLPMOEDPGMEMKCBAA.morten#mgon,com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: NDBBKBHGBINDDPKLMPBHCELFCMAA.zak#voidmonster,com --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, RE: [MUD-Dev] [LONG] A slightly different perspective on Real </title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:morten#mgon,com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00236.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00238.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00220.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00211.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00237">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00237">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00237">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>RE: [MUD-Dev] [LONG] A slightly different perspective on Real money in Virtual worlds.</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A>></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: RE: [MUD-Dev] [LONG] A slightly different perspective on Real money in Virtual worlds. </LI> <LI><em>From</em>: "Morten Andresen" <<A HREF="mailto:morten#mgon,com">morten#mgon,com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 20:56:54 +0200</LI> <LI><em>Importance</em>: Normal</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Sender</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu">mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> On the 12th april 2000 Zak Jarvis wrote: > I bowed out, sold one of my old computers and made a trip out to Los Angeles to > visit some of the friends I'd met in the game. As it happened, I stayed with > Shinobu and I also had planned to meet with Anne while I was in LA. To condense > the story a bit, Anne turned out to not be Anne at all. Anne, in fact, was a > man. I learned this from another friend while in the car to meet 'her'. I wasn't > really bothered by that exactly, his characters were role-played really rather > well. The deception bothered me though, and ultimately, I ended up feeling > pretty good about the choice I'd made. (IE, not giving it to 'her') I'm sure this subject has probably been touched earlier in the MUD-DEV mailing-list history, but I think it's a very important topic: How people can change their social attitude completely depending on their enviroment. I think it's a part of human nature to adapt to any given enviroment, and in Zak Jarvis' description of the occurences surrounding this event, it's very clear, that "Anne" tried to exercise this ability to manipulate people to do what 'she' wanted them to do. With remarkably little social engineering in the form of friendly conversations, "flirtatious in a low-key but persistent and out of character way" you can get other people to trust you in a very short time, thus providing valuable info, which is needed to carry out your selected goal. This adapting to your enviroment is something that not only occurs on the internet, but in everyday life. Every person has several "masks", which he wears according to whom he is communicating with. With your family you act in one way, with your friends another. But it's especially on the Internet, that you can act much in the way you please. Because as several others have noted: The repercussions and ramifications are too small to be note-worthy. In Zak Jarvis' case "Anne" had a lot to gain. A position of stature - respect from other people (something we all need. To have our self-esteem confirmed), and this is enough to make our "mask" named greed step into effect. The visions of what is obtainable makes us willing to go to great lengths and even hurt other people's feelings in a game, which is supposed to be about having fun! There are several note-worthy historical events concerning this topic too: Adolf Hitler was perceived by the world as a facist. But his closest friends and family described him as a nice person - something everyone from the western world find very hard to believe, but I think this is exactly the point here. How our behaviour can change in less than a minute to fit the current situation. And especially people with a high charisma. Example: Millosevic from Serbia: We ask: "How can he gain such a large amount of support from the people when he's doing so much evil?". To the west he is presented as a vicious man, to the people of Serbia he's a man that isn't afraid to stand up against everything the western world stands for. But what does this have to do with developing MUDs you might say... This is not as much of an document on specific MUD players, as it is of human nature. In human nature lies the key to a successful MUD. By studying the human mind, you will also find the reasons for why players act the way they do. Ex.: Selling characters online. These are all basic human motivations behind the "masks": greed, need of respect, love etc. And these things can make people change "masks" yet again. We all have these masks. And all other masks are mixtures of those. Therefore ALL people behave different (on MUDs) according to: * which MUD it is they're playing * whom they're playing with * the general theme of the MUD Although the specific incident Zak Jarvis describes, brought with it bad events, I think that these "masks" are what makes the world colorful. In the ideal MUD, in which everything is player run (government, religions etc.), this treachery would even help roleplay along. It represents the real world's politics... Both the politics today and 2000 years ago. But the unfortunate part is, that some players don't know when it's time to stop, and this is where it gets dangerous. My policy is, that roleplaying is good - to a certain extent... When blood-feuds split up the MUD because half of the MUD side with one person over OOC reasons, and the other half wants to settle it according to the in-game rules (debates in the councils etc.), the MUD itself suffers. So generally I think it's good for people to change their "masks" once in a while, but then the question is: "How do you prepare a MUD for all these different masks people wear? How do protect it from OOC interference (If possible)?" Best Wishes, Morten Andresen MGON International AB _______________________________________________ MUD-Dev mailing list MUD-Dev#kanga,nu <A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev">http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev</A> </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00220" HREF="msg00220.html">[MUD-Dev] [LONG] A slightly different perspective on Real money in Virtual worlds.</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Zak Jarvis" <zak#voidmonster,com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00236.html">[MUD-Dev] MudDev FAQ part 2</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00238.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Sony to ban sale ... point of view of an eq veteran</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00220.html">[MUD-Dev] [LONG] A slightly different perspective on Real money in Virtual worlds.</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00211.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: [Meta] other activities</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00237"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00237"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>RE: [MUD-Dev] Sony to ban sale ... point of view of an eq veteran</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00230" HREF="msg00230.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Sony to ban sale ... point of view of an eq veteran</A></strong>, Jeff Freeman <a href="mailto:skeptack#antisocial,com">skeptack#antisocial,com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 17:49 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00238" HREF="msg00238.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Sony to ban sale ... point of view of an eq veteran</A></strong>, Brian Green <a href="mailto:brian#psychochild,org">brian#psychochild,org</a>, Fri 14 Apr 2000, 02:52 GMT </LI> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00249" HREF="msg00249.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Sony to ban sale ... point of view of an eq veteran</A></strong>, S. Patrick Gallaty <a href="mailto:choke#sirius,com">choke#sirius,com</a>, Fri 14 Apr 2000, 02:52 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00220" HREF="msg00220.html">[MUD-Dev] [LONG] A slightly different perspective on Real money in Virtual worlds.</A></strong>, Zak Jarvis <a href="mailto:zak#voidmonster,com">zak#voidmonster,com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 14:22 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00237" HREF="msg00237.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] [LONG] A slightly different perspective on Real money in Virtual worlds.</A></strong>, Morten Andresen <a href="mailto:morten#mgon,com">morten#mgon,com</a>, Fri 14 Apr 2000, 02:52 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00211" HREF="msg00211.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: [Meta] other activities</A></strong>, Jeff Freeman <a href="mailto:skeptack#antisocial,com">skeptack#antisocial,com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 05:50 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00209" HREF="msg00209.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: [Meta] other activities</A></strong>, Par Winzell <a href="mailto:zell#alyx,com">zell#alyx,com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 05:50 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00206" HREF="msg00206.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: [Meta] other activities</A></strong>, Dominic J. Eidson <a href="mailto:sauron#the-infinite,org">sauron#the-infinite,org</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 05:50 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00205" HREF="msg00205.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: [Meta] other activities</A></strong>, Jeff Freeman <a href="mailto:skeptack#antisocial,com">skeptack#antisocial,com</a>, Wed 12 Apr 2000, 05:50 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>