I have some knowledge of MUD’s seeing as a couple of friends and I had participated in them during middle school; they were interesting, easily learned time-wasters. And even though we had significantly more advanced video games at the time, we still found the freedom of the text-based world oddly intriguing.

            I’m sure we came across a jerk or two along the way – it’s inevitable really, regardless of the medium – but we never read too deeply into their antics; we figured, “If someone gets out of line, he or she will get taken care of eventually.” After reading Julian Dibbell’s “A Rape in Cyberspace; or How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database into a Society,” however, I came to realize that certain people take offensive actions over the Internet very seriously (to the point that legitimate legal actions were considered).

While I have no qualms about Mr. Bungle’s actions being rude and uncalled for, I believe that a younger generation might have simply shrugged such an occurrence off; legba, on the other hand, was an older resident of the LambdaMOO community. A younger generation, naturally more adept to the intricacies of the Internet and personal computing, would most likely categorize Mr. Bungle as a “newb” and underestimate the severity of the situation because it occurred over such a broad, nonphysical medium.

The decision to “toad” Mr. Bungle was seemingly appropriate, but it inevitably failed when Dr. Jest was able to log onto a different IP and create a new character; in this respect, there was a no way to completely block him from the online community.

It is interesting to note, though, that problems such as these give rise to hierarchies and democratic systems and provide an odd reflection of real-life into what should be a retreat from it. Rules and guidelines are necessary, yes, but is nothing so scared anymore that even text-based games are disconcerting to the well being of others? One would think that those seeking to participate in such communities would have a general understanding and respect for their procedures; MUD’s are relatively obscure in the mainstream world.

Ultimately, is there a lesson to be learned from Mr. Bungle? I believe there is – most people don’t realize that psychological rape can be just as serious and damaging as physical rape. And I at this point still don’t quite grasp that concept nearly as much as I probably should. So, Mr. Bungle or Dr. Jest or any other persona you go by, wherever you are and with whoever you’re harassing, you should revel in the sad victory that from your dishonest deeds there came about a revolution of online ethics in  MUD’s.