@Pandora said in Armageddon MUD:
@L-B-Heuschkel said in Armageddon MUD:
Oh good lord, no. If it says 'contains sex and violence' on the label, expect it to contain sex and violence.
I wish. But no, if it contains sex anyone doesn't like, violence that isn't OOCly prearranged and agreed upon by all parties, and heaven forbid it mixes sex & violence together - you are bound to have a shitstorm or two because there really is no line of demarcation between IC action and OOC motive anymore, if MSB is to be taken as any indication of public sentiment.
This is where I want to argue that the human race has not had a collective lobotomy that I'm aware of, but I know how much effort certain people go to on some MMOs, to obtain screenshots and logs that might in any fashion appear suggestive, and the drama and uproar that follows in the wake of them posting these screenshots in public fora. Won't somebody think of the children, indeed.
I think I will maintain my previous stance. An OOC community and atmosphere intolerant of grooming, stalking, and abuse is a good start. Make it clear that rape jokes, threats of violence, verbal abuse and what have you is not acceptable -- unless it is indeed an IC reference, in which case anything within the game's rating goes.
But that's also all it is, a good start. There's always going to be somebody who thinks that the rules don't apply to them, someone who yells 'free speeeeech!' and thinks it means everyone else is obligated to listen to him, someone who posts a picture of a child posing in a supposedly sexy fashion on a police car.
Game mechanics are not the single answer to this, and neither is community atmosphere. But between them, they're probably the best answer we're going to get, because there is no way to solve this problem permanently and decisively.