Masochists game: A defense and an update of due process in Civcraft

Why bother?

Due process in a video game?  Justice in real life is a hard enough proposition, what would posses a person to attempt to apply that principle, in all of its difficult and conflict inspiring nature, to a video game? What madness would inspire a person to chose to attempt it in a game so vulnerable to exploitation and sparse with evidence that the concept of ‘proof’ soon becomes laughable.

Or maybe the larger question, why make Civcraft at all? Why invest so much time and so much effort into something when it is not even up to you if it turns into a incredible utopia or a heaping pile of miserable slag.  Would not the sure investment be better? Time spent creating maybe a game as a work of art as opposed to a game as an experiment, where the outcome could simply be appreciated for what it was and was simply produced from start to finish by its creators. Why deal with all of the vapid commentators, who think a basic grasp of the english language gives them some obligation to ridicule that effort and success which they could not match?

Why bother?

Because I wanted to make a game that not only truly respected its players intelligence, but reacted to it, was shaped by it, and existed in a class of its own as a game with goals so much larger and more complex than simply being appreciated as a work of art. The goal is, in a way, to pay tribute to the awe inspiring complexity and ability of the human mind and the universe in which it resides by pulling it into perspective, by placing the universe in a box and playing a game with it.

I have, for better or for worse, put the heart and soul of my life for the past year into making this a reality, in the process I have been joined by people of an incredible caliber and together we have done again and again the ‘impossible’. But despite this we have not succeeded, but then again we are only getting started.

But where does this all tie into justice? What about this justifies dealing with the drama, the idiots, the critics, and the time sink of responding to all but the cheating equivalent of shooting people in the streets to such incredible scrutiny and effort to remain fair?

The reason is simple, its the same reason I am writing this now. Because I respect the intelligence of my players. Not to mean that all of them are intelligent, but to mean that I acknowledge that they can be and respond to this fact with the respect to explain complex issues to them.

Accusation thread policy was an attempt to allow players to, through their own ability, defend themselves from false accusations, find and present evidence against cheaters, and most importantly allow the bystanders to understand what we as administrators did and why.

Of course such a policy will be abused, exploited, and ridiculed. Systems like this always are and almost inevitably people ask ‘why bother’, can’t produce a good reason, and stop. But Civcraft draws the line, plays the masochists game and tries to do the impossible and that is paradoxically what has made it possible, in a world where everyone has given up on the dream of respecting their users and instead design systems around being safe for and from the lowest common denominator, Civcraft holds the line. It is that fight to respect our users despite the hardships that attracts the caliber of volunteer and player on which we rely.

It is with that in mind that I will be organizing a new battalion. Accusation thread policy is too much for a single man, so I am forming a panel. The goal is to have a cabal of many trusted individuals (who can be anyone) any three of which will be able to work together as a tribunal and produce a decision to be vetted by a higher administrator (who must not be a player) before being posted using a purpose specific account for all to view.

I think this will provide us with a robust, fair, and effective system to provide due process to all those involved. I am currently gathering members for this tribunal and working on having them take on their first case, those added will become subreddit administrators to allow them to respond to threads officially and see evidence in modmail.

Thank you for your time.