To start though, I have to do some groundwork in order to establish what I'm talking about when I refer to things as ethical. It could mean a lot of different things after all, and it's not constructive for anyone if I just sit hear and rant about how other people are doing it wrong without justifying it. Right now I want to define some key terms which are going to come up a lot.
- Stakeholder: Anyone whose interests would be affected by an action holds a stake in that action in some way. The agent has an obligation to hold the interests of a stakeholder as a relevant consideration for that action by virtue of their having a stake in it. For example, a corporation has obligations to its shareholders who have invested in it, but also to its employees, suppliers, and customers, each of whom is a stakeholder in some way. To be clear, you are a stakeholder in your own actions, though you may not have the greatest stake.
- Interests: We can call it concern, or utility, but either way if an action affects our interests, it either promotes them or frustrates them. Interests are what matter to us, the things which we seek out.
- Best Practice: This is the standard by which we're going to measure things. Imagine the best possible practices to have, and then evaluate an action or policy on how close it gets to that ideal practice. For our use, a best practice is going to be one that best takes into account the interests of all stakeholders.
- Justification: One of the things these terms have in common is that they all require justification. We need to be able to explain why someone is a stakeholder, how their interests are affected, and why a particular practice is better than another one.
As an adjudicator, the GM has a large stake in the game, but the players have a larger one in the actions of the GM. The GM role is necessarily an exercise in power, and as such the GM incurs an obligation to exercise that power ethically, that is to say in accordance with best practice. The players, having considerably less say in the goings on of the game (they act on the game world through a single agent, whereas the GM has a potentially infinite number), have their interests affected greatly by the actions of the GM, in the same way that my nieces have their interests affected greatly when I exercise power over them, whether that's to keep them from endangering themselves or simply making sure they get to bed on time. They depend on me, and players depend on their GM to undertake the responsibilities assigned to the GM by the structure of the game.
I think that's it for today. I hope I've managed to sufficiently make a case for what the terms mean and why they're relevant, why players are stakeholders, and what the balance of stakes (and thus obligations) are in GM decisions. If you feel that I've been unclear, or that it doesn't follow, let me know in the comments below. Thanks!
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