From - Thu Sep 17 18:50:04 1998
From: Ragnar Fyri <ragnar.fyri@daf.no>
To: Fuzzy Logic Mailing List <fuzzylogic@mudservices.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 01:30:35 +0100
Subject: Policies

One problem with building a MUCK is to get new people started with building
off other people's areas. On old Furry there are areas with special coding
that somehow enable newcomers to create (?) a room and take it over, even
naming it automagically, without any interaction from the area's owner at
all. On smaller and newer MUCKs like FL things still have to be done
manually, which may be a problem when the landlord andthetenant are not
online at the same time.
I have seen two ways of handling it here, one a bit too restrictive and one
a bit too careless. And one of them was mine! :P
To start with my own errors (?), when we were bulding the SFOXS space
station I just made a pawful of rooms off the crew deck and set them and
their exits chownable, so people could just get a room as soon as they
joined the crew. This worked fine for the first five crew members... The
other day I found a note on the park board from someone looking fora a home
and decided to offer him a position on the crew. Before writing I decided
to check the last empty room and found that it was already occupied! And
not recently either, I did a laston on the new owner and found that he had
not been online for four weeks. Okay, maybe I shold start checking the rooms
more often... 
[BTW would it be possible to have a program keep an eye on a list of objects
and let me know whenever I stop owning one of them? Just a thought...]
At the other end of the scale there are places like that central district
we all should know by now. I think I exchanged four or five pmails with
Myrla to get a couple of things moved to Angora Street. Some furs just
decide not to bother and start building their own floating districts.

On a little sidetrack, a method I have used twice on TF&F is to let new
people build off my area by making them a room with an exit and an entrance,
then setting all three C and the entrance Dark. That way people who happen
to wander through the area won't even know there is something there until
the new owner is ready to meet the world. Has worked fine so far, but then
there isn't really much traffic through my area anyway... ;)

Okay, time to make a kind of conclusion and try to come up with some
suggestions. The easiest way to provide someone with a starting point is
of course to be a wizard. When someone wants to start something, check
their plans (if any restrictions apply to your area) then create an exit and
chown it to the newcomer. if someone wants to move something they have
already built, take over the entrance, move it (*Is* there a way to do this
without copying it and recycling the old?) and give it back, just remember
to relink the return exit too (if there is one). We mortals have three
alternatives for letting someone start something: Just make an exit, set it
C and hope nobody else grabs it first. Make an exit and have a wizard
transfer it to the new owner. Or have the new owner disconnect in the area
and chlock the exit to him.
Whatever policy you choose for your area make sure it is clear to everyone
who wants to know. If you just say 'pmailme to build here' anyone who's
interested must first ask forthe rules, then you must explain them, then
they must ask about the procedure and you must answer that. Every time.

It's getting late. Tomorrow I shall put my money where my mouth is and
set up some clear rules for the space station (the Promenade and the Crew
Deck). Before i settle on the final version: Do you wizzes mind getting
asked to assist with takeovers like this? And is there a way I can send
a message so it will be received by the first wizard who connects?

-- 
We'll be right back after these messages.