News:WhiteWizard purges The Lining from Tapestries

April MUCK head WhiteWizard purged the popular Tapestries location known as The Lining this Monday. The action was in response to an ultimatum posted two days earlier by its owner, Banner, who had threatened to close the bar himself at the end of the month if he did not receive an apology for what he termed "abusive and obnoxious behavior" on WhiteWizard's part.

The matter began as a local staff action against a player accused of having an ageplay-related character description. Ageplay was banned within the main bar, since Banner believes it to be illegal and immoral. The player was warned, and banned after an argument. He took his complaint to WhiteWizard, who disagreed with the assessment, telling Banner and the staff member that they had handled the situation "extremely poorly."

Banner took issue with the way WhiteWizard had not come to him first, as he considered staff actions his responsibility. Conversely, WhiteWizard took the position that staff were answerable to the wizards and not to Banner for complaints made by other players, even if they were enforcing the area's rules. The argument escalated until Banner left a link to his ultimatum on the entry point to The Lining.

WhiteWizard subsequently purged Banner's rooms and items, including both The Lining and the StarrBucks coffee house, primarily on the basis that the ultimatum was an attempt to "drag the patrons of his establishment into the dispute," which rendered Banner "not qualified to run a public area." He also said that Banner had demanded immunity to review for himself or his staff, although Banner denied this.

Banner was later toaded - but not permanently banned - for his response to the purge, which included the name of the original complainant. He reportedly refused offers to transfer ownership to another player prior to the purge, and has since re-established The Lining in DarkFurr.

The Lining was founded in October 1996, just five years after Tapestries itself. It was consistently one of the two busiest locations in Tapestries, with 30-55 present at any one point during an evening; roughly equivalent to Fox Plaza, the MUCK's central location.

Many regulars were dismayed to find that their favourite location - and, in some cases, their home - had vanished. Even WhiteWizard expressed regret over the action:

Tapestries member Sansigual noted that:

However, WhiteWizard denied charges of rashness, stating that he had "sought out the opinions of no less than a dozen people" and "spent six hours debating the course of action with GreyWizard" before making his decision.

At the same time, Banner was well known for having his own attitude:

Indeed, this was not the first wizard action against The Lining in response to Banner's actions. In October 2006 WhiteWizard removed the location's teleport pattern after Banner adjusted the property lock embedded within the rules to insult another player, Skiltek. Such "prop locks" are commonly embedded within area rules to ensure the player has read them; the lock was changed as Skiltek had posted a list of them. WhiteWizard toaded Skiltek shortly after, due to this and other actions.

Other popular locations on Tapestries include It is also not the first time that a popular location has been shut down. The Tavern, a similarly well-known brothel-themed area was closed in February 2004. The reason cited was the inability by the absent owner to police against violations of MUCK policies against intolerance and harassment, which WhiteWizard felt had become ingrained in the area.
 * The Golden Lash
 * The Hermaphrodite Haven
 * Merriam's Pub.
 * The Temple of Divinity
 * The Astonishing Treehouse of the Secret Moon

At the end of his announcement, WhiteWizard invited players to "submit applications for a 'seedy BDSM bar'" to replace The Lining. As of this date, several have been proposed, including the Cross Leather Bar and Dungeon, the Gilded Cage and the Cross and Paddle Inn.