Re: xartum
Just had a long conversation with a friend about this stuff.
On a meta-meta level, she feels that it would be more fun if The Gods were fickle and arbitrary. Don't bother with voting or democracy; just have the gods pick whichever rule they like best, on a whim, and change their minds as often as they feel like. She has never actually *played* a MUD, which makes here a good naive user case. She feels that if nothing is taken seriously, people won't get their panties in a bunch about the political crap. It seems odd to me, but then I'm the exact opposite of a naive user.
She also suggested something that, for some odd reason, hadn't even occured to me: punishment. Specifically, enforcement of rules that can't reasonably or easily be made programmatic is done by punishment, i.e. you're fine until someone catches you, and then the gods get to make up an in-game punishment. I think this is an extremely good idea, in that it lets us have rules that are complex or subtle. It does mean, however, that the gods are not omniscient, but I think that's fine: The Gods Sleep In The Sea, and they are very busy with whatever inscrutable things they are doing, and woe betide those who question their actions, or the timing thereof.
-Robin