There are a lot of good points here.
As for being a GM, with the powers that I have been granted, they stand as the ability to post without my name being attached to the talk line. Period. They did not come with the ability to delete posts of other people, handle petitions or to look into areas that are otherwise closed to the general public other than the Moderator Grotto. Meaning I can't peek into dwellings, read PMs or have huge portions of text displayed all on one page rather than having to back page several times to read the whole event. And this works wonderfully for my purposes.
I lean more toward the DnD definition of a GM, personally. I see this position as someone who narrates or leads others through an RP adventure of sorts. It has been something I have been doing since coming here. I would start an RP and, whoever showed up, would then lead the players through the event. I especially enjoyed things where the players came up against NPCs I would generate to act as the antagonists. Back then the only people who died were the NPCs and we all seemed to have fun throughout.
I do not see the GM as a true participant in the event where it is GM against the players in a struggle to see who will win. I believe it is the responsibility of the GM to ensure that all participating players of an event get a chance to shine and enjoy themselves. It is not GM against the players where the GM attempts to win and kill everyone.
Should GMs have the ability/ right to discipline other players: delete posts or use a ban hammer to mute a particularly offensive and combative participant in an OOC wall?
I am uncertain. I understand how it would be nice when that bad thing happens and ruins all the fun causing people to walk away from the RP or log out that it could be useful. On the other hand, I am uncertain that it is necessary for anyone but full fledged Moderators to carry the ban hammer and text deletion function. I would rather see the GMs as the 'in the field moderator' and leave the disciplinary actions to the official mods.
I too have been called in over the years to read an rp or zone fight and give an opinion on the actions of others. It is something I personally find irritating when this involves seasoned vets because I feel at this stage of the game each person should have the wherewithal to behave themselves and act like they know something. And because they do know a thing or too? I find the seasoned veteran much more resistant to the ruling of others due to years of investiture in their character's make up and sometimes the presence of ego, for after all "I am no noob" is a regular reaction to the criticism received. It is much easier to moderate new players because they stand at a position knowing they need guidance on how game play works here.
I strongly feel that people of diverse character origins, Vampires, Demons, Mikos and the like, should basically be left alone. And this is not to pick on any one person, this is just an instance that I recall...probably not with enough accuracy either. But, how is it any more fanciful to have a demon running around...since the Oni do exist in Japanese folk lore from which Naruto derives an overwhelming amount of basis...than to have an warrior have his consciousness placed into a mechanical body over and over again after each 'body' has been destroyed?
Provided that such 'other-worldy' constructs are played within the general RP guidelines of combat [no all powerful moves that can never be avoided] I do not see the harm in having them here. We have been playing with them for ages and it saddens me to see these old accounts vilified. Such actions exclude a large number of our members from RP participation. I am totally against exclusion.
Additionally. I do not think that the GMs should be the village Kages. They have enough to do running the village, or the SHOULD have enough to do running the village. And as stated before, these positions are subject to change. A GM should be a person who will continue to RP as a GM regardless of their own character's role in the realm. And it is also true that sometimes idiots are made Kages and everyone hates them. Not a good bio for a GM.
