News 5 5 - That evil guy the janitor. Who or what is it

NEWS article 5-5:

Dateline 3/30/2010: THAT EVIL GUY THE JANITOR. WHO OR WHAT IS IT?

In a world where millions of items are constantly being manipulated, there is a lot of potential lag associated with making the calculations that track the state of those items. The "janitor" is part of our object and memory management system - it is there to reduce lag, increase the number of players that can exist in the game, and generally improve the overall performance of the game.

The following quote comes from our POLICY verb under item 14:

"In any case where an item is lost or damaged through this type of normal game mechanics, repair or replacement cannot be authorized."

The janitor is a normal game mechanic and therefore items lost to it cannot be replaced. This would include items lost due to dropping at death and after departing. Yes, to some it may be considered an "out of character" loss, but that is a concession we have to make in order to keep the game as playable as possible.

There is never a reason to put your items on the ground, even for a second, except to get rid of them (unless the item was designed to be used on the ground, like a Wayerd Pyramid or a picnic basket). If something of yours gets put on the ground for you, retrieve it as quickly as possible. However, if the item is lost before it can be recovered, then there is nothing we can do to replace it for you. It does not matter if you put them there deliberately, if you were disarmed, or if you were forced to drop the item some other way. All items on the ground are at risk of permanent loss, and cannot be authorized for replacement. We apologize for any inconveniences associated with the system, but hope you understand the need for its existence.

END NEWS ITEM