Former Dec 10 time-sharing user and vax systems operator here, leeds uni 1980s: this is exactly what we told students.
When a power user reset the mud by ejecting its incore memory and the head of ops lost his finger-of-death status I think he was locked out for a week. (Mud, the first multi user dungeon had persistent state which was at risk if tops10 decided it needed the memory. Run enough large jobs, mud reinstalled)
That doesn't really answer my question. Whether it's what you told students or not, it is known to be false. The same question applies to "you" - why lie to the students like that?
When a power user reset the mud by ejecting its incore memory and the head of ops lost his finger-of-death status I think he was locked out for a week. (Mud, the first multi user dungeon had persistent state which was at risk if tops10 decided it needed the memory. Run enough large jobs, mud reinstalled)