Good questions! So let's take them one by one in what I see as their order of priority:
@Tinuviel said in Armageddon MUD:
Though I am curious about what kinds of proactive steps you think one could take against random sexual harassment. How does one protect themselves from a normal conversation turning into one of sexual demand or manipulation, or indeed random sexually inappropriate messages? Sure, they can block the person after it happens, but that doesn't stop it from having happened.
Obviously people cannot take steps to prevent this behavior, but they can take proactive steps to make sure that such behavior is recorded. Mostly, this isn't entirely necessary on the platform that I am using, as things can be grabbed and flagged fairly easily. On other platforms, I would suggest: Turn on logging with timestamps (most MU clients allow this as an automatic feature, and many MU's have instructions for how to do so), drop the log of the activity in a job (with the timestamps), and we can go back and check server logs to see what all went down there, if necessary. Normally, I've found that people don't deny things that actually happen via submitted logs, but in the event that they do, there are tools for that.
That said, we also make sure to inform players about what mediums of communication we will and will not police (such as game-run Discord servers or the MU itself), and ask players to keep communication with other players to those enforceable mediums.
@Tinuviel said in Armageddon MUD:
While I agree that this is true, we're talking about a job rather than a criminal prosecution. If there are enough - whatever enough means - accusations of misconduct then perhaps it's worth considering letting the accused go. You're not locking them away, or revoking some freedom or right, you're firing them.
This one is largely a matter of policy. I believe in going through something like due process. I will absolutely bypass it if I think that a person has become a problem, and I don't need everything spelled out in letter-of-the-law terms in all things, but I'm also not willing to make fly judgments, or to run a popularity contest. It's a balance thing, and it's not a perfect one, but this is just personal policy. Other people are, naturally, free to pursue other methods in their own spaces. This is just the one I choose to employ in the spaces I control. YMMV.
@Tinuviel said in Armageddon MUD:
ETA: I would also add that though many systems may be available to capture evidence, there are as many systems available to falsify that evidence. If you're going to rely on evidence alone, it will just be he said she said. Especially if the accusations stem from places outside of your control.
Yes, which is why we make it clear that we will police actions only in certain environs. Nominally, the ones where we have some measure of control and ability to fact-check. We make it clear, up front, what arenas we're willing to step in to, what we expect of players, what the process looks like, and the steps that we feel are necessary. If you give someone your contact information in a medium that we don't control, and come back with something from that medium -- well. We asked you not to do that, but largely, that space is already under your control. If it bleeds over into areas we control, we'll take action.