Design notebook: Creeping conservatism

[evilhat]

This is part of a series of posts on MUSH (and by extension, MMO and LARP) design and administration. I wrote this a while back, never finished it to my satisfaction, and have decided to just go ahead and post it.
adamdray's past post on the "elder game" of FiranMUX made me think about the creeping conservatism of online game

Comments

[dpassmor]

I think the problem is amplified when some of your veteran players are also your veteran administrators, which I think is a pretty common occurance-- and much more difficult to manage.

[seraphsmorgan]

Dave pretty much nailed the point I was going to make, yeah.

The other side of it is the polarization that happens when a newer clique or faction forms in opposition of the 'stagnant' (or at least percieved as such) veteran/admin group and then things potentially become ugly - often resulting in a constant undercurrent of have vs have-not bitterness.

[crankygirlie]

Absolutely agreed. This is a particularly difficult thing to encounter and I still have no idea how to carefully and politically combat it. I have no wish to alienate or personally insult any of the administration that is steadfastly opposed to any and all change, but it's hard not to.

[rfrancis]

And, of course, many of us elders just sod off entirely after being too elderly.

[adamdray]

Right on