I remember scripting on a MUD that used a customized version of the standard MPROG[1] patch for ROM-based MUDs. Whoever originally "documented" it just grabbed some docs from some other ROM-based MUD that used their own customized version.
The documentation was a completely wrong for several years before I started programming there. Once I realized that the documentation was lying to me, I started methodically examining how things actually worked by writing lots of very simple test programs and documenting the actual behavior.
The others didn't care why it was broken. Most of them were just trying to build cool areas, they weren't really programmers at all. They would just tweak things until it appeared to work or they were frustrated enough to give up.
[1] I'm sure a lot of HN knows this, but to save the non-gamers the hassle of looking it up, a MUD is a type of text-based online game and an MPROG is a script used to control the actions of the characters in the game.
The documentation was a completely wrong for several years before I started programming there. Once I realized that the documentation was lying to me, I started methodically examining how things actually worked by writing lots of very simple test programs and documenting the actual behavior.
The others didn't care why it was broken. Most of them were just trying to build cool areas, they weren't really programmers at all. They would just tweak things until it appeared to work or they were frustrated enough to give up.
[1] I'm sure a lot of HN knows this, but to save the non-gamers the hassle of looking it up, a MUD is a type of text-based online game and an MPROG is a script used to control the actions of the characters in the game.