I personally am for smacking down power creep where it raises its head. Of course we are investing tremendous trust in one another already, but even trusted persons can and do prove unreliable. I believe the main issue with it is, is that when one starts to do it, many others like to follow suit. While this is only natural, you see it in most free form styled roleplays where each successive character in any sort of combat or potential player conflict game exists, it is not in our collective best interest. This is why I am saying we should utterly eschew that and leave it squarely in the realm of non-player character territory, mainly because it takes the power from one set of hands and lays all members' on it.

A player might have a collective set of non-player characters they assume and associate with for their play style, but that being [i]their[/i] character to the point they benefit from the usual graces? It reduces that level. Call me skeptical, as my experience has taught me to trust no one in any semblance even close to that of actual trust, so dividing and eliminating potential issue is for the best. I simply do not think under any circumstances players should be anything close to mid tier importance on average and perhaps one, maybe two, edge that way.