I was 12 when I first joined BYOND. For as long as I have been on BYOND, people hop into games and the first thing they ask for is GM. I have long wondered why they ask this. At first I didn't know what GM even meant! Turns out GM means "Game Moderator", "Game Master", "Giant Monkey" or something of that sort. The answer is almost always no, so I wondered why these people thought that it'd be worth asking. I guess it works some of the time.
Then I began to host games, and sometimes the people would ask what it took to get GM instead. Here's the evolution of my answers.
1. Why do you think you deserve GM?
Usual Answer: Because I'm responsible and I know the game pretty well.
I once experimented and gave them minor mod powers. Immediately they wore these powers like a badge of pride! Then tried to lord over the other players.
2. When you earn my trust.
Usual response: When is that going to be?
You can immediately see the path this is going. These people who ask are immature, and really cannot be trusted with a position of responsibility.
GM has become a position of authority and rank within games, rather than the "Police Officer" job that it was intended to be. In fact, some people are advertising that their game is better than another game because "They have better Staff" rather than "They have better content!" This is what my post is addressing.
I believe that a total rework of what "GM" actually is is in order. GM is not some position to control the game like a tyrant. It should be an impartial position, it should be, "a job," essentially. Here's the rework to the GM system.
A GM should have 2 saves.
Save 1: The player. If you are playing some Bleach game, this should be your casual player. The one you use to interact with the players. There are no GM verbs on this character whatsoever.
Save 2: This should be your GM save. This has only GM verbs + the verbs to speak to the world.
The point of the 2nd save is to stress the fact that GM should have no effect in the gameplay. GMs should not have "Destroy Enemy" verbs or "Draw Blue Eyes White Dragon Now" verbs. They should only have what is necessary to police the server (As their job description says). If you want verbs used to debug your game, these should be given to testers, and this should be done in a private server so that no you can address these issues immediately.
ID:151333
 Jul 25 2011, 5:54 pm
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Unfortunately, you're preaching to the choir here. Most of the people who would do well to learn the difference between moderators and douchebags with instakill verbs don't read these forums.
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Even though said player goes through your essential trials, it does not necessarily mean the player will not abuse.
It can be a mere game to them, playing under your rules until they have gotten what they desire. You cannot completely trust anyone, most of the time, under any and all circumstances. | |
My view on this particular subject is that all forms of staff are trusted, and not trusted at the same time. They, like all humans tend to let emotions sometimes cloud their better judgement and on an online game with no seemingly life-threatening consequences from doing what fits their emotional thought pattern they do what they want accordingly time to time. That is why I feel all, if any you have should be on a short leesh at all times.
As far as those who ask "Kan I Has GM?!", I feel they just need to be ignored as if the text output never happened for that moment. ;) | |
If someone says "Kan I Has GM" just troll them. It's more entertaining that way. Immediately and always respond "yes."
Then come up with some reasoning for your answer. Keep them talking and have fun with it. I dunno. I do that all the time. | |
Another danger here, more subtle but also more common, is that the GM's and those players who have been around longer than anyone can remember start to form a clique that makes all other players feel like outsiders. I'm not sure the best way to deal with that problem, but it may help to make all GM's anonymous.
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You raise a good point. But then doesn't anonymity make the community feel as though the GMs are outsiders as well?
One thing I notice as well, is that people make GMs before they make their game! Joe: "What game do we want?" Bob: "I dunno, but I better be GM in it!" Joe: "Alright! I'll code you in!" And there's no game. There is only GM. I've seen several Dev forum posts on how to make someone GM, but they don't have a game. It's silly what GM has become. | |
I don't see this a problem, it only becomes one when the creators/owners let it become one. Of course I can see where your concern comes from, though you have to accept the fact that we can't really do anything about people's immaturity. Though I have to agree on the part, where the Administrative powers shouldn't give the wielders any advantage over other players.
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Neimo wrote:
Even though said player goes through your essential trials, it does not necessarily mean the player will not abuse. This is very true, but the kind of people who will waste weeks trying to attain a GM status that they'll be knocked down from in 30 minutes, are very few and even farther between. I would always monitor GM's. Every action, post, and movement would be logged. If a player files a complaint about an abusive GM, and I check those logs to prove his claim, I would undo his mistakes and ban him without warning. | |
You may be right. I'm not sure if I've played a game that uses my suggestion, and so there are probably drawbacks. It might not be good for the GM to be seen as an impersonal force of nature.
As for my own project, if it ever gets done and becomes a multi-player game, my first choice for GM would be one of the developers. But not me, because I frankly don't see the appeal of such a job. | |
No one in my games will ever "Get" Admin powers. They'll Earn it.