[MUD-Dev] Interesting dilemma

["Peck, Matthew x96724c1" <x96724#exmail,usma.army.mil>]

I am currently facing an interesting and complicated dilemma in my mud.  The
problem is what I call "Illegal Equipment."  This is equipment that is
unbalanced for normal gameplay in one way or another.  Most of this
equipment has a legitimate in-game purpose, whether it exists on mobs or as
artifacts.  However, I have discovered that several immortals will load
multiple copies of the items and distribute them for various reasons, from
quest rewards to level bonuses or other reasons.  In addition, they will
often restring the items to personalize it, yet also making the item
difficult to detect.

There are several issues that I see here.

1)  Trusting my immortals.  I have to trust them to conduct day to day
operations such as building and clan leadership.  They normally do excellent
work.  How do I restrict them from taking advantage of their positions?
They basically need to be able to load equipment at will as part of their
work, so I cannot restrict the commands.  I have posted rules, but they got
around it by using the quest equipment excuse.  (Somewhat valid, quests with
rewards are encouraged, but sometimes they go a little overboard).

2)  Restrictions on equipment.  I personally am against restricting
equipment from players.  It would have to be based on some arbitrary
standard, and I dislike arbitrary rules based on the fact that it conflicts
with immersion.  Why shouldn't I be able to pick up the sword?

3)  Restrictions on equipment stats.  This is the road that I am starting to
travel down.  On our development port I've written code that will
automatically generate stats for equipment.  While billed as a time saver,
it also serves to reduce equipment abilities to reasonable levels.  The
problem is that some equipment should just be better than anything else, and
I want builders to be able to construct such items.  But then refer back to
#1.

Another problem that I have is then confiscating these items.  Is there any
way to do it nicely?  I have one immortal who has taken it upon himself to
start clearing out these items.  While I approve of the effort, the mud has
suddenly taken a hostile turn.  Morts seem to have gained a distrust for
immortals.  How can I heal this rift?  No mud can survive with such conflict
for long.  The imms will win, only to find no players.

Any help would be appreciated.

--Matt Peck


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