nu.kanga.list.mud-dev

14138: [MUD-Dev] Reach out and bitch at someone

Here's something I've been wondering for a while.  Why do players feel
it is acceptable to abuse administrators of MUDs?

In many player complaints, they always seem to throw out the phrase "I
pay for this" or "I pay your salary!" when they talk to administrators
and CS representatives of commercial games.  This perplexes me, because
you rarely see this happening with sane people in other situations.

If I read a novel that I didn't like, I don't contact the author and
say, "Look, buddy, I didn't like that book of yours.  I bought it, so
I'm paying your salary.  Next time, you better darn well write a book
*I* do like!"  If I were to run up to a McDonald's employee and yell, "I
ASKED FOR EXTRA PICKLES.  GO BACK THERE AND BRING BACK EXTRA PICKLES,
BEEYOTCH!!!!1!!" my friends would have a special name for me: "asshole".

If I were to continuously call up Romero and whine about how I didn't
like Daikatana, I'd probably quickly be facing a restraining order. 
(Maybe this isn't the best example, because this might be
happening....)  Yet, players seem to think the above behavior all seems
acceptable when dealing with online developers.

Why is this?  Is it because of the relatively easy access to company
spokespeople/developers?  Is it because of the time and money investment
that players feel they need to make?  Is it because online anonymity
provides a buffer to be more rude to others?

Admittedly, the vocal rude people are in the minority in MUDs, but they
seem to be a bit more common than in other areas of entertainment. 
Wondering what other people think.

--
"And I now wait / to shake the hand of fate...."  -"Defender", Manowar
     Brian Green, brian@psychochild.org  aka  Psychochild
       |\      _,,,---,,_      *=* Morpheus, my kitten, says "Hi!" *=*
 ZZzz  /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_  
      |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-'  "Ritalin Cures Next Picasso" 
     '---''(_/--'  `-'\_)               -The_Onion_, August 4th, 1999



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