Accountability is defined as "A is accountable to B when A is obliged to inform B about A’s (past or future) actions and decisions, to justify them, and to suffer punishment in the case of eventual misconduct"
- or more simply; "The obligation to demonstrate and take responsibility for performance in light of agreed expectations"
If you follow the forums at all, then you have probably already guessed that this leading to a discussion about Rage Quitting. It seems that people are often confused or unfamiliar with the term, so I will provide the definition. Keep in mind, these definitions have been in place since as late as 2006
The Urban Dictionary defines rage quitting as follows:
Rage quit
*Bane gets killed by random kid over and over*
Bane: OMG! THAT GUY IS SUCH A LAGGER! THATS IT! I'M DONE WITH THIS DAMN GAME!
*alt+F4*
- To part the server or channel maliciously and in a childish manner
- To quit with frustration before the final conclusion.
Now, those of us who have played DOTA are all to familiar with the above scenario's. You start a game, someone dies once, they leave and now the remaining players must expend extra effort and energy to finish the game, or worse, the game devolves into a race to see who can exit the game the fastest.
Not only does this ruin games, but in a lot of ways it confirms to people that "hey, it's ok to be a self serving douche, it's the internet". It's not ok, just because you get away with it, doesn't make it right, fair, or ethical to other users. From what I have read about Stardock, and what I have observed in Frogboy, I know this is not the kind of community they want to foster.
Unfortunately this same childish, anti-social act, known as Rage Quitting is spreading like wildfire through Demigod as well, and it is ruining games.
It is often argued that players should not have to finish a game if they do not feel like it, that "we can do what we want, we paid our 40 dollars too!" or "I'm too busy in my insert _____(life/family/job) to be bothered to show you any courtesy or respect", the former being true and the latter being a shallow excuse.
And this brings us to accountability.
- What constitutes a Rage Quit in Demigod?
- How do we identify a player as a Rage Quitter?
- How do we deal with people who have a proven track record of Rage Quitting?
- How do we reward players who finish games to completion?
The banlist is a start. And I have faith that Stardock will help us out as well.