ATITD Launches Player-Run Shard

Intriguing (and now in its fourth run) combat-free MMO A Tale In The Desert is launching an experimental second server to see how much of a "telling" can be generated by player actions, rather than by the dev-tweaked game. They explain:

This will be the first time A Tale in the Desert has run a second shard while another telling is currently ongoing. A Tale in the Desert has always been a great sociological experiment, asking questions like “What will happen if players can completely control the world through the use of laws?” and “Will players work together in a project when working against each other could potentially have more benefit to one of them?” This experiment continues with the launching of a new server, to see what will happen when players have no limitations but themselves.

Sounds interesting, but I have to admit having less than an hour's experience with this game. Any vets want to chime in on the significance of this? A free trial of the game is currently available for others wanting to investigate.