Alphaville Herald

Saints of Hell MC Implicated In Second Life Content Theft - Part 1

Motorcycle and parts theft copybot outrage!

by Coke Supply, Investigative Reporter

[In this multipart tale of dark dealings in the Second Life motorcycle and parts trade Coke Supply delves into the shady activities of Black Lisle, AKA Biack Lisle, of the Saints of Hell Motorbike Club to reveal an astonishing level of complicity amongst the group's leadership with regards to the apparent theft of the most famous and skilfully crafted  motorbikes ever created in Second Life. - the editrix]

Content creators Redtail Magic, Karyn Vaher, Trinity Hunghi, and Hiiigh Jinx collaborated over a period of four months to create the Lakhota Rocket, arguably the most highly detailed and realistic sculpted bobber motorcycle on the grid. It has won first place in almost every single competition that it has been entered into during 2009, making it one of the most well-known motorbikes ever created in Second Life. The trophies won from these competitions are shown in the image to the left, alongside the real-life version of the bike that it was modeled from.

As you can see from the image below, this motorbike is a true work of art, painstakingly sculpted and textured by its creators over a period of several months to create one of the finest rideable motorbikes that Second Life has to offer.

JLU Wiki Re-Indexed and Republished

Second Life Superman's Abuse Reports indexed and regions ranked

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

 

Sandbox superheros: Justice League Unlimited greatest hits for Abuse Reporting

Although Kalel Venkman has been playing copyright whack-a-mole to limit the spread of the leaked Justice League Unlimited wiki, interested parties continue to study the the Second Life vigilante group's internal database. A little birdy posting a comment on recent Herald coverage of the JLU  draws our attention to http://jlu.sl4.me/ where what appears to an indexed reorganized version of the raw pages of the leaked wiki is available. Of special interest is the index of the JLU's abuse report activites and top regions for AR trouble

With an uplifting mission statement, the site is sure to become popular - at least until the JLU attempts another copyright takedown - "This site is designed to demonstrate the sheer size of the JLU's little personal CIA database on every individual in Second Life, nothing more. It is to show how dangerous groups such as the JLU can be, despite their good intentions."

Plexus Linden Gives Second Life Superman Copyright Dance Lessons?

Cozy, classified relationship and implausible deniability

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

Did Plexus Linden encourage Second Life's copyright-challenged Justice League Unlimited to tap dance around potential IP infringement issues with a wink and a nod, while promising the JLU in-game super powers? JLU leader Kalel Venkman's vigorous pursuit of whack-a-mole takedown actions against sites hosting the leaked JLU wiki are beginning to make sense, as a picture emerges of wannabe game cops desperate to gain favor with the Linden staff, and at least one Linden playing copyright favorites over the objections of his co-workers.

Readers are cautioned that it is possible the leaked chatlogs have been subject to tampering - or revisionist history and wishful thinking on the part of the JLU. There is certainly no lack of misinformation in the JLU’s formerly secret wiki. But Herald researchers point to troubling chatlog passages in several files (BrainiacWiki_Mal-W/default_260.html, BrainiacWiki_Mal-W/default_261.html, and BrainiacWiki_Mal-W/default_286.html) that suggest a cozy secret relationship between the volunteer virtual crime-fighters and the Lab staff charged with enforcing rules in-game.

The first clue that Plexus was deeply invested in the JLU’s existence, despite potential trademark and copyright problems, is found on the page where Kalel Venkman discusses the JLU’s copyright problems and possible solutions (Periwink-whatmall/default_475.html):

“We have been asked by Socrates Linden to take steps to comply with rules about trademark and/or copyright infringement. We have also been told by Plexus Linden to please continue just as we have been, explicitly with respect to our use of well-known characters, as it may be used as a way to get DC Comics and other publishers to take a positive business interest in Second Life. These are directly conflicting instructions.”

Why would Plexus advise the JLU to continue despite the Socrates' copyright concerns? Kalel Venkman mentions that “other GTeam members are taking notice of his 'use' of us and considering the same” suggesting that during the fall of 2007 Plexus Linden had hopes of forming an unpaid player-based junior GTeam to assist the Lab employees. But Plexus was aware that the Lindens should not be seen directly endorsing the JLU, based on both charges of player favoritism and copyright problems - so with a wink and a nod a thin gauze of plausible deniablility was to be constructed.

JLU Wiki Leak: Second Life Abuse Report Frenzy

Real and imagined offenses against the laws of the Metaverse?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

Resident conflict in Second Life is to be expected as quasi-anonymous avatars with different meta-games and loyalties play off each other, but detailed information about the extent of the problems have been hidden -- until now.

A partial snapshot of the leaked JLU's incident reporting system [after the jump] is fascinating reading - although some may question the standards of evidence and judgment the superhero paramilitary employs. Despite evident JLU bias, the volume of incidents lends some credibility to JLU claims that they file approximately 1/6 of all abuse reports. But does the Second Life community really want - or need - spandex tights clad role players filing complaints on their behalf and in secret?

The potential for mischief is worrying. Apparently I have been classified as a griefer by the JLU after placing flowers for banned accounts at a memorial for the dead as part of an story on crowdsourcing grief. Do all superheros suffer from a serious irony deficit?

Incidents in the JLU database range from reports of "particle emitting penis objects" in a sandbox to "taunting and harassing residents at a Linden Welcome area" to "Memmer of Woodbury U. Keeping an eye on him." For those that wish to play virtual cops fighting crime - or at least particle spam - membership in the JLU must be rewarding police play work.

Perhaps the most telling incident report is "Day old female av, demanded help rudely, showed very negative attitude, was verbally unpleasant but not obscene. Demanded a lesson in buying lindens so she could buy an airplane. Did not like answer, was abusive but not obscene, could not AR".

Don't you just hate it when you can't file an abuse report on a day old player?

Role-Play Superman Tries Coverup Of JLU Wiki Leak

Kalel Venkman claims dozens of copyright takedowns -- says Chan community corrupts minors

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

According to correspondence provided to the Herald, Kalel Venkman claims to have succeeded with copyright complaints to several dozen web sites redistributing the Justice League Unlimited “Brainiac Wiki”.

The secret wiki was leaked after Venkman’s JLU faction was infiltrated by a Second Life player with ties to a rival group which Venkman’s JLU role play superheros fight using a program of mass abuse reports and ongoing surveillance - including collection and correlating real life information on enemies.

However, not everyone is accepting Venkman's copyright claims at face value.

A Canadian web site administrator who prefers to be referred to simply as “Sean”, says Venkman has harassed his ISP for 48 hours with what Sean believes are baseless copyright claims being used to coverup the leak of JLU’s 1700 page wiki. After examining the wiki contents, Sean is  unimpressed, telling Venkman, "It looks like you're using scare tactics and some stupid misinformation to protect some stupid wiki about some inane online game that's chock full of information you will never legally own. this claim is completely and utterly illegitimate, I have nothing more to say to you, you don't own the content”

What upset Sean? Perhaps Venkman’s complaint to the ISP is a bit overplayed, since it goes well beyond copyright issues. The threat of harm to minors through Chan and Anonymous culture and fear of gang DDOS attacks on the site are given as reasons to remove not only the wiki, but the entire site, as Venkman's complaint says in part:

Linden GTeam and JLU - Improper Conduct?

BrainiacWiki papers claim Lab staff leaks to role play game cops

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

A troubling pattern of what may be Linden governance team staff collusion with the Justice League Unlimited is beginning to emerge after the JLU's BrainiacWiki papers were leaked to the internet at large by the Wrong Hands infiltration group. Linden staff coaching on abuse reports, sharing alt account identities, apparently using JLU's database and avatar scanners - the list goes on and on. Perhaps most telling are claims that the JLU accounts for 1/6th of all abuse reports on a weekly bases as of the summer of 2009. Have some Linden GTeam members decided to take sides in the game - and keep the volume of abuse reports artificially high by indulging the JLU with special favors and special access? Fueling the faction wars between the JLU "superheros" and the supervillain griefers might be a form of game moderator job security after all.

Given the volume of the papers - imagine trying to report on an encyclopedia - it is likely to be some time before all of the gems have been uncovered. For readers without their own copy of the JLU BrainiacWiki papers here are some highlights:

Plexus Linden using JLU database and wearing JLU avatar key logger

Justice League Unlimited's BrainiacWiki Papers Coverup?

Kalel Venkman now playing whack-a-mole with file sharing sites

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The leaked Justice League Unlimited "BrainiacWiki" papers have been yanked from 5 file sharing sites - an apparent coverup attempt by embattled JLU loyalists wielding copyright infringement claims - but it may be too late for this sort of damage control given how widely the wiki has spread. 

Kalel Venkman - an unhealthy interest in tights and surveillance?

The JLU is a spandex tights fetish and role play paramilitary organization which - if the leaked wiki is to be believed - compiles detailed dossiers on Second Life residents the JLU considers enemies. This is all part of the JLU's gameplay - a charming combination of ongoing surveillance of other players, a centralized database and enemies list, and a concerted effort at influencing Linden Lab staff and the in-game abuse report system into permanently banning other players.

Justice League Unlimited Secret Wiki Unmasked by The Wrong Hands

Roleplay police recruit copies, distributes 1700-page wiki  - JLU superhero threatens DMCA, legal action

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

[UPDATE: portions of this story have been removed by SixApart staff in response to a DMCA copyright infringement claim - the editrix]

The Justice League Unlimited's secret Brainiac wiki used to track suspected griefers, record JLU meeting chatlogs, and plot strategies to entice the Linden game gods into banning players was published to at least 5 public file sharing sites Friday. Based on what the Herald has seen of the 1700-page wiki's contents, this leak is a potentially crippling blow the the JLU, as the inner workings of the controversial anti-griefer group are on public display, along with significant amounts of misinformation and hints of what might be improper Linden Governance Team collusion with the JLU.

all ur JLU sekrets r belong to teh interwebs - thanks to Haruhi Thesbian and The Wrong Hands group

Word of the JLU papers' release has been circulating all weekend, but Justice League leader Kalel Venkman was unaware of this until Sunday when a new JLU recruit thanked the group for providing unfettered access to the gameplay superhero police manual. The recruit - Haruhi Thespian - tells the Herald that she was surprised to be allowed to join the JLU after a 4 day waiting period and then be given access to the Brainiac wiki - without a non-disclosure agreement.

Thespian says that this was part of what was apparently a planned operation by a group called "The Wrong Hands". Group infiltration followed by betrayal will be familiar to Herald readers as a standard part of virtual world gameplay.

Stolen Goods Free-For-All At Burning Life

Who is the culprit - what will LL do in response?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

 

a wonderland of stolen content - courtesy of the Neillife viewer?

Tenshi Vielle at Shopping Cart Disco just broke a shocking story - a huge cache of pirated content has been passed around at the Burning Life. Yet despite frantic reports of ongoing theft by Stroker Serpentine and Tenshi, LL seems powerless - or unwilling - to do anything other than suggest filing of more abuse reports.

How is this possible? The SCD story says the stolen items retain the original creator name and information, but are transferable and many items include a blank box, suggesting the use of an exploit - and so the search for culprits begins.

The box holding the cache of stolen goods was created by Damen Hax - a long time SL resident and Open Source advocate. When the Herald contacted Mr. Hax for comment he denied involvement and suggested  he has made more than a few enemies who might be eager to frame him.

XDeth Absent & Bearsy Bloobury - Sim Crashing PN Griefers!

Interview with Post 6 Party crasher!! Exclusive!!!

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

"in a world of user generated content where you can remain anonymous, people are bound to find exploits... like a fun sport, you know?" - XDeth Absent

It was no surprise that XDeth Absent was pleased that Linden Lab finally got around to banning his account, but I was sad to see the alt account he used next - XDeath Portal - lost the glasses that XDeth Absent wore. Consistent griefer fashion statements are so hard to find.

For those who missed it, the later stages of the recent Herald Post 6 party were enlivened by the sort of meta-game that is all too common at well-publicized Second Life events - surprise sim crashes as a certain segment of the population levels up in the stupendous ironic bad-ass race standings. If Linden Lab can't keep Robin Linden's farewell party from being sim-crashed, why would a Herald party - or any other event - fare better?

The griefing game is all about being taken seriously, so for real validation griefers are more than happy to take a ride on the ban-wagon. Luckily, the Lab is more than willing to play along once the blinking red lights on the game god console draw their attention, and a futile round of account bans is played out. This pleases both the griefers and the Linden Governance team, who can both point to their "accomplishments". With an endless supplies of free, anonymous accounts, what else would you expect? It all started cordially:

[13:20]  XDeth Absent: excuse me.
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: you are that reporter correct?
[13:20]  Pixeleen Mistral: yes - I edit the Alphaville Herald
[13:20]  Pixeleen Mistral: why?
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: I have read this newspaper many a time
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: I must say it is an honor to grief a party with you attending
[13:20]  XDeth Absent: please enjoy.
[13:21]  Pixeleen Mistral: thanks - I think

[--the Greenies sim crashes and we are all logged out--]

Sea of Drama to Link Soviet Woodbury to W-Hat Goons

More artistic mashups now possible?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk


 
A new sim - Soviet Woodbury - appeared on the map just south of the W-Hat goon’s WHAT sim Saturday, marking the end of a forced migration for one group of residents displaced by the collapse of Intlibber Brautigan’s BnT land empire.

Woodbury community organizer Tizzy Teardrop tells the Herald the WHAT and Soviet Woodbury sims are to be connected by a sim to be named “the Sea of Drama”. Negotiations are also underway to connect the Digital Worlds community to form a trifecta of meta-gameplay and virtual world artistic pursuits with significant synergies hoped for from the cross-community virtual and artistic connections.

How Secure Is Second Life - Really?

Reformed über-griefers Plastic Duck and DeadlyCodec disagree on security analysis

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

It was pure coincidence, but shortly after Linden Lab released a compulsory client update to address "a potential security issue" last week I ran into Timeless Prototype and Huns Valen at Philip Linden’s swank new house in P Squared sim. We lounged poolside and speculation turned to what sort of problem the Lab might be addressing - the Lab’s terse announcement was less than enlightening. Could this have anything to do with the SL security advisory DeadlyCodec had been quietly trying to get the Lindens to respond to since early September?

As we chatted, it was clear that neither Timeless Prototype nor Huns Valen feel the Lab is doing much to encourage resident security exploit reports. Do the Lindens realize their L$ spacebux reward (L$10,000 - about $37 USD) for security problem reports is considered a bad joke? Or is this by design? If the Lab's goal is minimizing costs, de-motivating the security community with small game currency rewards might limit Linden staff time spent on security issues - ignorance is bliss, at least at first.

In any case, respected scripters such as Timeless Protoype are not planning an exhaustive analysis of SL for L$10,000 spacebux per exploit. As Mr. Prototype said, “It's not worth my while to spend my time researching the code security in the SL client. Security flaws are only found where security researchers are looking”. So why was DeadlyCodec trying to get the Lab’s attention?  It couldn’t have been for the reward because the Lindens have a permaban-on-sight policy for Codec - he would never be able to spend the L$s.

Out Of Touch Egghead To Pontificate on Second Life

Herald founder keynotes 2009 Compass Interdisciplinary Virtual Conference

The Herald's own Urizenus Sklar - who is widely believed to be self-identical - will present a virtual keynote titled "Virtual Communities, Virtual Cultures, Virtual Governance" for the Compass Interdisciplinary Virtual Conference Monday October 26.

Virtually viewable here http://compassconference.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/ludlow/ after the virtual presentation Monday - the virtual keynote will be followed by virtual cocktails at 1 PM EDT at the virtual "meet the virtual speaker" session to be held in Second Life's Abacadabra sim: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Abracadabra/201/90/31.

It's going to be virtually impossible to miss this event, because Uri's real real life typist is believed to be Peter Ludlow - Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University. He has worked on a number of topics at the intersection of philosophy, linguistics, and cognitive science, and has also published a number of works on the emergence of community and governance in virtual worlds, including High Noon on the Electronic Frontier (MIT Press 1995) and Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias (MIT Press, 2001). 

W-HAT Goons Protest Supports Babyfur Rights in Second Life

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

A group of W-HAT goons recently staged a noisy protest in Archers sim in support of the rights of babyfur avatars in Second Life.

Babyfurs - the diapered underage segment of the furry society - have had ambiguous support from the greater community, at best. However, apparently in the spirit of solidarity with other potential victims of the ongoing Disneyfication of Second Life, the goons took up placard and all caps shouting in chat in support of robust free speech in the form of avatar choice.

The strength of the goons support for babyfur rights was evident as they took time away from the W-HAT 5th anniversary party preparations in "WHAT" sim to protest on a plot named "Krsna's Cow Farm and Baby Beach and Nude Adult Beach" by chanting and carry placards. Beyond babyfur solidarity, publicity for the W-HAT group itself might also have been a motivation for the protest - but in any case protester's the CAP LOCK keys got a real workout once this reporter was on the scene:

 Blvd Ho: I like how you keep it really real
 Silawx Vyceratops: Thanks. I practice
 Blvd Ho: Sometiems you need practice to keep it real.
 Blvd Ho: I'm looking for someone who's willing to stamp on my hips while I eat dorritos
 Blvd Ho: Cooler Ranch
 Mr Schnute: i'm your man
 Blvd Ho: This has been a best day.
 Robble Rubble: I'm sorry I'm a spicy nacho guy
 Yikes Dikes: HEY HEY! HO HO!! AGE VERIFICATION HAS GOT TO GO!
 Silawx Vyceratops: I got some prim doritoes on another account, babby ;)
 Yikes Dikes: HEY HEY! HO HO!! AGE VERIFICATION HAS GOT TO GO!
 Yikes Dikes: HEY HEY! HO HO!! AGE VERIFICATION HAS GOT TO GO!
 Mr Schnute: HEY HEY! HO HO!! AGE VERIFICATION HAS GOT TO GO!

 Pixeleen Mistral: so you guys are serious about suporting the right to babyfurs?
 Robble Rubble: HEY HEY! HO HO!! AGE VERIFICATION HAS GOT TO GO!
 Blvd Ho: babyfurs have a right to fuck!
 Silawx Vyceratops: Absolutely!

EXCLUSIVE: FrizzleFry Interview -- Part 2

Second Life griefing gang leader on governance, weapons, and mafia wars

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

In the second half of the Herald's interview with notorious griefer FrizzleFry, he takes responsibility for crashing the farewell party for Robin Linden, discusses how the PN griefing gang is governed, the arms race with Linden Lab, the PN vs. Nicholas Mafia war, and how his game might evolve in the future.

Pixeleen Mistral:   how big is the PN today?
FrizzleFry101:   the PN today is roughly the same size as usual, keeping at around 25-30 members
i count 21 people online right now
in our irc

Pixeleen Mistral:   does media coverage make you guys grief/troll more? or would you do it anyway?
FrizzleFry101:   We tend to focus on our own enjoyment rather than producing comedy for people outside PN, and we really enjoyed John Steward commenting on the 3d shit we smeared on John Edward's HQ, or watching CNN news anchors burst out laughing while being attacked with spengbab cubes
It's great to get in the news just to see ourselves on tv, but the publicity of our group itself isn't important and we don't want to be attention whores.

Pixeleen Mistral:   if SL disappeared - what would you do?
FrizzleFry101:   we would probably jump over to whatever replaces SL, if that doesn't happen, we would hit games like furcadia
furcadia however wouldn't last long as we can already give everyone playing it, even admins, the blue screen of death
just for getting in our way, its a pretty exploitable game despite being closed source

SHOCK! Spamhaus Blacklists Linden Lab - E-mail Reputation Ruined!!!

Real Life heartbreak: metaverse postcards blocked, love letters lost

by Tenshi Vielle

Are you wondering why you haven't been able to send in-world to email postcards recently? The answer could be that Linden Lab's mail servers have been added to the Spamhaus real-time black list - a move that flags e-mail from Linden Lab and Second Life as über-spam, ruining the Lab's mail service reputation, leading to a cold, heartless rejection by many e-mail service providers.

The exact range of Second Life server addresses that have been blacklisted can be found here:

GoDaddy.com Whacks NicholasMafia.com Website!!!

Abuse reports lead to Nicholas Mafia website suspension

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Ego and pride are an essential parts of the SL mafia lifestyle - and rival gangs are quick to take credit for any misfortune that might befall their enemies. This could explain why an “associate” of the Nicholas mafia was eager to contact the Herald to set the record straight on the story of a rickrolled mafia website - a story the Herald was tipped to by an apparent enemy of the mafia - NICHmafiaISDAlaughingSTOCKofSL.

Not only was the Nicholas mafia representative eager to explain how rickrolling the site was an intentional ploy by the mafia to grief visitors, he and went on to explain how their domain name went missing, supplied documentation of GoDaddy.com’s suspension of the site and DNS name, and explained why the Nicholas mafia feels justified in going far outside SL gameplay to publish detailed personal documentation in an effort to defend their women from unwanted attention of rival SL mafia members. It must be very special to be a mafia wife.

This strange tale took a turn toward the bizzare hours after the Herald broke the rickrolled mafia web site story, when the www.nicholasmafia.com site began displaying detailed personal contact information on what many believe to be the real life typist behind Zito Corleone - an enemy of the Nicholas mafia. Not long after this development, the Nicholas mafia’s web site became unreachable. Mafia and griefer groups speculated - had an enemy gang taken over the site?

Nicholas Mafia Website RickRolled!

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The Nicholas Mafia's web site http://nicholasmafia.com/ has apparently been compromised and now redirects to the always popular RickRoll'D video on YouTube. The Herald was alerted to this late last night when the comment spam grew at an unusual rate with comments on various Nicholas mafia stories all coming from an author named "NICHmafiaISDAlaughingSTOCKofSL".

The Nicholas Mafia has previously claimed responsibility for taking the notorious PN griefers web site offline with a DDoS attack, so this may be the latest episode in an on-going battle between an SL-based mafia and an SL-based griefing group. Apparently the griefer gang war meta-game is now being played both inside and outside of Second Life.

The Google cache still holds the previous version of the mafia's web page.

In any case, it is safe to say that the Nicholas Mafia are no strangers to love, you know the rules, and so do I...

Nicholas Mafia Smacks PN Web Site

Notorious PN griefer web site victim of DDoS attack - hopes to return in 2 weeks

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

The Nicholas Mafia claims to have taken the notorious Patriotic Nigras griefing group's website offline, and a visit to http://www.patrioticnigras.org/ currently leads to a simple image:

Meanwhile, one of the wise guys associated with the Nicholas Mafia told the Herald, 

"I had to make you aware that the PN's have been hit hard. The fist of Nicholas has struck and they won't be getting up any time soon. It is merely a signal of intent That Nicholas is a far greater force than PN's... They can kick, they can scream, they can stomp their feet and slam their fists. But they will be brought up against a brick wall. They cannot move us. They can try, sure. But they will be stuck staring at their desktop 99% of the time - the other 1% will be the SL crash report."

Torley Linden Targets Reformed Griefer N3x15?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Ex-PN griefer N3x15 claims that virtual filmmaker Torley Linden is following him, saying, "After LL came back from vacation, Torley Linden was assigned to shadow me and probably fish for reasons to ban me, but he apparently has no experience in shadowing people without sticking out like a green and magenta sore thumb.  I didn’t mind, though, as I was merely talking to friends and writing anti-griefing tools out of pure boredom."

reformed griefer's alt account has password issues

Some observers speculate that the activist wing of the in-world Linden Lab game god G-team was driven to a ban stick beat down of post-6 griefer N3x15 after Torley Linden inadvertently filmed an attack on the sacred Lab snowball fight. But would a Lab staffer really resort to this sort of behavior?

Other observers suggest the ban was in retaliation for a series of mysterious in-world problems that have resulted in closed logins on an almost daily basis recently. Have the griefers resumed the denial of service attacks on the asset server that plauged SL during the winter and spring of 2008? We may never know the whole truth.

PN Occupies Justice League Unlimited Base

Justice Hall set afire, defaced -- 9 JLU superheros defeated by 3 PN griefers

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

In the wee hours of New Years Day 2009, the Justice League Unlimited’s base was overrun by 3 members of the PN griefers, who defeated 9 JLU members to take control of the Hall of Justice on Justice Island sim for several hours, setting fire to buildings and defacing the JLU’s stronghold.

The news of the shocking default for the JLU anti-griefer vigilante group on their home sim at the hands of the notorious PN came to the Herald by way of filmmaker TheGreatGigantor - a known sympathizer - who said “ 3 lone PN members stone walled the justice league sim for nearly 5 hours and fought off the justice league members for 3 hours with only happy cat machine guns - we beat them down like dogs”.

Despite the obvious bias in Mr. Gigantor’s account, it is clear based on the pictures provided that somehow JLU’s locked-down sim defenses were thwarted. The question is how. 

Post 6 Griefer -- N3x15

Candid conversation and explicit photos of former PN griefer

[In what seems to be part of a public relations campaign by ex-griefer N3x15, Bunny Brickworks and I were recently able to conduct an in-world interview with the one-time PN leader, scripter, and troublemaker. As we marveled at the irony of interviewing a former PN leader in the Dominatech Restrained Life store, N3x15 explained why he left the PN, as well as his interest in OpenSim, how D3adlyc0dec lost his trust, and how seriously the FBI takes griefing. Bunny also managed to convince N3x15 to pose post-6 Grrrl style - with surprisingly explicit results. - Pixeleen]

Bunny Brickworks, N3x15, Pixeleen Mistral

Pixeleen Mistral: What prompted this apology letter and community service work?
HelloThar Erin: I left the PN ages ago due to the fact that continuing to be in the PN is obviously immature and would affect my ability to obtain a job.

Pixeleen Mistral: so what destroyed the PN?
HelloThar Erin: Laziness, distractions.
HelloThar Erin: PN isn't completely dead, it's still being lead by Frizzlefry. But I think its beating a dead horse.

Pixeleen Mistral: what are you planning next?
HelloThar Erin: Uh, I hope to build security systems for OpenSim, and maybe even SL itself.

N3x15 Ashamed of PN Griefer Thug Life

Notorious griefer issues public apology to SL residents and Linden Lab

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Renouncing his griefer thug life with the notorious PN griefing gang, N3x15 has posted a public apology, in which he promises to make amends to Linden Lab and their customers who “have experienced a great volume (approximately 200+ accounts worth) of griefing, trolling, and real monetary loss”.

N3x15 explains his sins in detail, saying “I have done some disrespectful, stupid, disgusting, and sometimes even downright vile things during my tenure as the Patriotic Nigras griefing group’s webmaster, coder, and occasionally even temporary leader when times were rough.  I have promoted discrimination against social/racial groups, destroyed virtual land, seeded malicious products, crashed servers, spammed wikis, eliminated groups and individuals from the grid, initiated false-flag campaigns against groups, scouted for potential targets, conducted surveillance on targets, coded ban evasion clients, and numerous other offenses”

LL Censors Goon’s Name - Forgets Profile & Objects

Rising cost of Linden Governance Team to blame for OpenSpace price hikes?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

In the week since Jack Linden’s announcement of a 66% virtual land price increase, the grid has seen nearly continuous protests and discussion of what prompted the price gouging. To better understand Linden Lab’s cost structure and vision of the common good, Sunday night I visited the Something Awful goons in the “What” sim, and learned that involuntary avatar name changes are an important new service provided by the Lab -- even for residents with names that were acceptable for the last 22 months.

Could this attention to detail be driving the Lab’s desire for more land income?

CensoredMy Lunt's nametag says one thing - profile says another [click for large image]

Consider the case of an avatar now known as CensoredMy Lunt. Mr. Lunt was born into our virtual world in December of 2006, and was known as ClickMy Lunt until about a month ago. Mr. Lunt’s avatar currently appears to be a sort of wooden owl, and he told me his story:

CensoredMy Lunt: hey pixleen are you gonna write about how i was banned but now im not and how the lindens changed my name but they did such a shitty job that all shit is fucked up
Pixeleen Mistral: I'm just taking a break from OpenSpace sim drama

Zito Corleone Dead Again

Corleone mafia leader could miss SL Herald's 5th anniversary celebration

by Pixeleen Mistral, Criminal Affairs desk

Nicholas mafia makes quick work of Corleone mafia boss burial

A runner for the Nicholas mafia swung past the Herald offices recently to drop off a picture of what appears to be a tombstone for rival mafia boss Zito Corleone. Mr. Corleone has recently suffered a series of Second Life bans and there are serious concerns that despite a miraculous resurrection Zito has been banned again by the Linden Governance Team -- and this time the ban may be permanent.

Or could Zito rise up from the dead once again? Although the Herald staff admires the careful work that went Corleone's memorial, it might have been better to bury him a bit deeper - and remove the axe from his back - just in case.

Will Zito attend the Herald's 5 year anniversary celebration Sunday October 25th at 2 pm SL time in Shivar sim? The virtual world will have to wait until tomorrow for the answer to this vital question. In related news, the Herald staff invites all our readers to join the Herald editorial board in celebrating 5 years of fairly unbalanced news. Capisce?

SL Military Yiff ‘N Tell

"At least you weren't recording this or anything"

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk & Vegna Fouroux, military correspondent

Christoph Naumova - leader of the Vanguard Militia - has been frantically denying he was involved in a fur phone sex seduction posted to YouTube last week. At stake is Mr. Naumova’s reputation and leadership authority, now threatened by the emo yiffing documented on YouTube -- a gay fur scene that might undermine his authority as supreme leader of the Vanguard military.

You want to spend all night with fennecy? Rawr... narf... nahm nahm... are you pawing?

Under the leadership of Mr. Naumova, the Vanguard military has developed a win-at-all-costs reputation which apparently led the Merczateers military to mount a counterattack via the newest weapon of mass reputation destruction - YouTube.

The YouTube video was apparently posted by Uildiar Kuhn - a prominent member the Merczateers. Herald reporter Vegna Fouroux contacted Mr. Kuhn for comment:

Vegna Fouroux: Many members have claimed it was a fake, in all honesty now, was it?
Uildiar Kuhn: no

Zito Corleone Resurrection! Mafia Don Lives!!!

Mafioso boss is back. Capisce?
Zito's associate threatens Herald with legal action

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Zito Corleone - still damp from swimming with the fishes in cement overshoes

Expect the Nicholas-Corleone gang war to heat up again, now that Mr. Zito Corleone has miraculously been resurrected from an apparently fatal Linden ban. The Herald had previously reported that Zito had disappeared from the search people list - an action that observers agree is a clear sign of a Linden Lab ban from the metaverse. Yet Zito lives, although slightly worse for wear after a lengthy no-Second-Life experience. The Herald has not yet received a response from the Vatican regarding inquiries about the this apparently miraculous event.

Miracle or not, with the return to Second Life of Zito, the Corleone mafia seems to have become active again - with threats being made against the Herald.

Mob Boss Zito Corleone Missing, Presumed Banned

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Zito Corleone - none found

The gang war between the Nicholas mafia and wise guy associates of Zito Corleone may have taken a deadly turn. Mafia Don Zito Corleone has suddenly gone missing from the Second Life people search - apparently the result of some sort of account ban or LL disciplinary action.

IMs to Corleone confederates Shaemus McLaglen and Leah Coleone have gone unanswered, and there is speculation in the underworld that the Nicholas mafia may have raised the stakes after taking offense at Zito's boast of Linden connections in a recent story.

Did the Nicholas gang maneuver the Lindens into banning Zito - or was Zito's removal self-inflicted? When will this shocking wave of gang violence end?

Corleone/Nicholas Mafia Gang War Escalates

Corleone underworld starts organized Abuse Report campaign against Nicholas mafia
Corleone associate claims connections to game god Philip Linden

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Zito Corleone: assclowns get no respect and the Lab is paying attention

I was listening to the Jay-Z’s American Gangster album on my iMojowire 3g when the Roc Boys track was interrupted by an alert - a public-spirited source had forwarded a chatlog of what appears to be mafia Don Zito Corleone conferring with mustang Letlow.

If this log is accurate, it includes some true gems - such as mob boss Corleone and Letlow comparing notes on how to effectively abuse report members the Nicholas family, which Linden Lab staffers they have influence over, and claims of mafia connections to Philip Linden and Lab staff in charge of account bans.

Will Zito Corleone’s attempt to organize the underworld to fight the Nicholas family by coordinating abuse reports work? How will the Nicholas family retaliate? Which Linden Lab staffers are in the pocket each of the respective mobs? We may never know the full story - but what appears to be a serious metaverse gang war is now underway.

W-Hat Goon's Land for Rent in Baku Sim

Intlibber Brautigan, Woodbury helping keep W-Hat afloat?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

rent where Plastic duck got his first ban - and the first mega prim was created

Metaverse urban renewal experts and history fans may want to look up IntLibber Brautigan at the Woodbury University suite at the Tampa Marriot Waterside during the SLCC this weekend - it seems that Mr. Brautigan has secured the rights to rent mall space in both the W-Hat sim retail area and the W-Hat land in Baku sim - both sites where the goons have gained a certain level of notoriety for controversial builds - and possibly other activities.

While controversy may upset some, it also creates traffic as curious onlookers come to gawk and anti-griefers come to abuse report imagery they find objectionable. High traffic creates opportunity, but the burden of with endless tier payments to Linden Lab has resulted in a new direction for Baku - an attempt to cash in on the traffic and offset the Second Life land tier payments.

Top Ten Armies Reviewed - Consumers' Guide to SL Military

A must-read for potential recruits

by Vinzenz Fiertze

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Part I - The Brass Accord (Iron Symphony Section)

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Army 1: Merczateers
Leader(s): Lurdan Huszar, Anthony Lehane
Background: Set in Post-Apoc Ukraine, hence the sim: Badnarik.
Current Members in Main Group (as of 9/3/08): 274
Rating: 9

Pros: I found the Merczateers to be one of the BEST armies the grid has EVER had. For a start, their leaders have both a sense of humor, while still maintaining a moderately strict attitude to keep his soldiers disciplined and aware. It could actually be said, that, perhaps the Merczateers are a mixture between Ordo, and an army of the Soveriegn Regime. Not ONLY are they of quality leaders and officers, but their recruiters are very good. They are not like Ordo, in the sense that they decline roughly 82% of their applicants, but they do not invite those minorities who know little to zero english. Aside from the soldiers, the armor is remarkable, and most unique. The huds and weapons are also very well created, and are professionally scripted (as most army weapons should be). The Merczateers are nothing short of professional, when it comes to battles, armor, or weapons.

Cons: I find few flaws within this army, and those that I noticed, were small at best. One of them was the minor drama that I noticed would occur from time to time. Although some of it, later on, I admit I started, there was from time to time many others who could not stand a drama-free army. Other than that, the rumors that are constantly passed about are false.

W-Hat Takes Up Arms

Suicidal rabbits and guns with no bullets stockpiled as W-Hat goons prepare for unconventional warfare with Alliance Navy?

by Metallicoe Gears, metaverse military reporter

Mall being demolished as goons move to a military footing

While doing my daily round of the bases, I came across the Mercz base once again, in Salamis. I walked up to the bridge and was greeted by the enlistees standing guard. I started a conversation with Merczateer Miko Finl about general war and things like that, then she mentioned that a new army was rumored to be starting. A military off-springing from the 'W-hat' group. I searched the group, then read their group charter. It said this:

'We aim to be a global organization that constantly stays a step ahead in dealing with change and creates new value, and contributes broadly to society'

Well, didn't sound much like an Army to me.

Miko told me they had a sim named 'what'. As I chuckled away at the utter randomness of the name, I was assured that Miko was serious. I pulled out my report’s notebook, opened the SL map, and searched for 'what', found it, then teleported.

I was greeted with the rather messy sight of a mall full of invisi-prims and random bits of buildings everywhere. I could see on my minimap that there was an inhabitant down below, so I flew down to take a look. Zoey Helguard.

LL Disappears More Accounts Overnight

The killings will continue until until morale improves

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

death squads "disappear" more Tizzers accounts

Over the last 24 hours, at least three more avatars with the first name “Tizzers” have disappeared from the search people list - apparently terminated by secretive Linden Lab avatar death squads. This comes in the wake of a bloody monday evening in which at least 6 Tizzers alt accounts were murdered - including my own alt, Tizzers Aristocrat.

By tuesday morning, two new accounts - Tizzers Constantine and Tizzers Teardrop - had appeared in the people list, joined yesterday evening by Tizzers Waffle. But as we go to press this morning, these accounts are gone and the Tizzers body count continues to rise.

The pattern that emerges is one of evening/early morning avatar killing sprees, suggesting that Lab governance team members working the second or third shift are responsible.

LL Targeting W-Hat Goons?

Tardimal avatar maker hit with 3-day suspension for verbal abuse - on his own sim!

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

If Kyro Kilian is to be believed, certain Linden Lab employees may be running alt accounts or doing instantaneous favors for special friends by swinging the ban stick when the gameplay turns sassy.

One of the first messages I got on my brand new black iMojowire 3G phone last week was from Kyro tell me that murmuring the f-word on your own sim could be grounds for a 3 day suspension.

While the punishment seems disproportionate to the crime, it is possible that the Lab is hoping to run a goon pacification effort in hopes of further disneyfication of the metaverse. Another possibility is that something else about the W-HAT sim offended the alleged off duty Linden, and “verbal abuse” was simply a convenient excuse.

Because there is no public record or oversight of the Lindens’ bans and suspensions, here in the hall of mirrors that is the interwebs the world may never know the full truth.

[ after the jump: the text of Kyro’s message ]

Banned 160 Times - Talkin’ Trash in Ballers City

Nicholas mafia member ignores SL rules - attacks other mafias

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

A long-time SL mafia member claims to have been banned from the metaverse nearly 160 times as part of his family’s campaigns against other in-world mafias - the current target is Black Hand/Satriale. Apparently this innovative form of gameplay - olympic-class community standards violation - is a normal part of being an enforcer for what may be the most notorious mafia of them all - the Nicholas family.

some days I get banned for wearing a longcat head

My source was a wise guy running an alt account named NichoIas Bellic - although mafia alt accounts are completely disposable, so it might be better to think of him as "this guy". I met Nicholas as I was standing by the Ballers City basketball court, enjoying the repeating automated announcements:

Ballers City Staff: Is someone bothering you? To file an abuse report, type !report firstName lastName reason -- To kick-vote an attacker, type !vote name

While I was catching up with a few IMs, and watching a pick up basketball game between several furries and two willowy Gorean slave girls - and let me tell you those slave girls have got game - this guy from the Nicholas mafia shows up - and he is pissed off.

NichoIas Bellic: COME ON
NichoIas Bellic: I JUST CANT GET BANNED TODAY
NichoIas Bellic: SRS
NichoIas Bellic: NO MATTER WHAT I DO
NichoIas Bellic: AFTER SHIT TALKIN THAT LINDEN
NichoIas Bellic: STILL
NichoIas Bellic: NADDA

Pixeleen Mistral: banned from SL or banned from here?
NichoIas Bellic: Pixeleen. Enough of the RPfag armyfag articles and lets get down to the nitty gritty real crapolla. RP/Army-fag should be bottom of the totem pole

ZOMG!! Military Warfare At Risk!!!

Will Linden Lab allow Second Life Militaries to go extinct?

by Adrastos Fhang

During my time in Second Life, many Second Life residents have gone through harrowing journeys. Upgrade after upgrade, Second Life attempts to become the new ERA for PC Games. In all of these upgrades, many things seem to go right, and then starts to wane. This newer threat puts Second Life Military warfare at risk. Few people have discovered that the newest glitch could put Second Life halt warfare until further notice.

This newest mistake from Linden Labs allows any type of bullets to go through prims no matter if they are damage, phantom, training, etc. Many bases rely on their prims for cover such as the Merczateers in Salamis and many more. With this new impediment in the headlines, Many wonder what will be the turn out of these upcoming events. I searched around for some members of the military community to see their opinion on this situation.

Adrastos Fhang: What do you think of Second Life's latest glitch of any form of bullets going through solid prims easily?
Malcious Vuckovic facepalms
Malcious Vuckovic: i think of it being typical of LL

Outrageous Harassment: Griefers Scramble Police To SL Resident’s RL Home!!!

When will the FBI get involved?

by Stoli Babbage, staff reporter

"Swatting", is a term for a technology-enabled real life attack in which the perpetrator calls the victim's local police department in hysterics to convince the 911 emergency operators the victim is in a hostage situation -- or going on a shooting rampage. By making it appear the call originated from the victim’s phone number, a successful attack results in real life adrenaline-hyped gun-wielding SWAT teams being dispatched to the victim’s home, with dangerously unpredictable results. This is what passes for “lulz” or “fun” after playing the game too long and going snow-blind to virtuality/reality.

For several months, rumors have been circulating that the notorious Patriotic Nigras (PN) griefers were responsible for swatting several of their most outspoken opponents, including Second Life Furnation admin Corsi Mousehold. Until now, those rumors were unconfirmed. However, in recent interviews, Corsi Mousehold has stepped forward to confirm that the rumors are true.

Corsi Mousehold is the owner of “Corsi's Creations” in Gar, and Furnation - a furry sim (anthropomorphic animal role play area). Both the business and the Second Life sims have been under repeated attack by PN members over the last year - part of an escalating round of game-based virtual violence -- although Mousehold tells us that since the Linden Lab Governance Team has begun to step up, the attacks have died down. According to Corsi, "The PN might last a couple minutes in-world before being banned, if that, so we've seen a huge decline in griefing".

Unfortunately, it appears that now that the PN griefing is ineffective in-game, they have graduated to targeting their victims in real life. As Cosri told us, "They actually tried to swat me twice. The second time the police were still standing here from the first."

Red Guards Overpower Task Force Marines

Worker's revolution also defeats the Alliance Navy, Sparta, Elite Armed Forces

by Caine Constantine

The Task Force Marines of Prize Delta may now be missing their would-be British overlords. On June 29th, an enemy far less humane came by to visit. The Red Guards, foot soldiers of the communist revolution, invaded Prize Delta and slaughtered the inhabitants with all of the terribly deadly efficiency of the army of the worker’s revolution.

Grey Nolder, one of the Red Guards, detailed some of the aftermath of the battle, telling the Herald: "Red Guards assaulted Prize Delta for over four hours, keeping Task Force Marines stuck within the deep confines of their base. Through EAF re-enforcements and the abuse of local teleports; as well as attempts to blacken the name of the Guards, our Comrades carried on, holding the base and a glorious red flag. Long live the Revolution!"

Battle of Prize Delta – Part Three: Rule, Britannia!

Why would we surrender, ol' bean? We're in your base, musketing your doods

by Caine Constantine

In June, the musket-wielding armies of British conquest fought a prolonged battle to claim Prize Delta and the Task Force Marines as the newest colony of the British Empire. The Marines, however, refused to be anyone’s subjects. And so, a day later, the British came back again to claim what they thought was theirs. This time, though, they planned to stay.

More conflict seemed inevitable, despite the previous epic battle, in which the Marines were gunning down the British by the dozens using their modern day machine guns, and the British retaliating through volley fire of their 18th century muskets. Despite the mismatch, the British forces – mostly composed of Ordo Imperialis, with some volunteers from other groups like the Alliance Navy – had been victorious. Facing even the “metal birds” and “witch magic” that British flagman Water Halbert pointed out, the King’s men had carried the day.. Now they even went so far as to claim that they were the owners of Prize Delta. British General Ruin Nefarious made this clear, saying "TFM is actually the Colony of Lamestein - we are reconquering it for the Crown".

Caine Constantine: So the new rulers of Prize Delta and the Task Force Marines, which you are calling now the people of the Colony of Lamestein, are the British Empire?
Ruin Nefarious: Exactly.
Intus Infinity: They had a temporary uprising. We crushed them
Rei Kuhr: They will be heavily taxed, as a reward.
Aelus Janus: FOR COUNTRY, FOR THRONE.
Ruin Nefarious shouts: Fuck representation!

The True Story of How Plastic Duck Saved The SL Economy

History of the Voted5 goons includes amazing revelation -- Philip Linden caught in-world accepting bug reports!!

by Mötör Vöted5

[this story appeared in a slightly different form at the Griefer Herald, where the author describes an exploit allowing free transfer of L$ spacebux - part of a tell-all account of a bygone era. While the exploit has presumably been patched, the level of close cooperation between dark lord of the goons, Gene Replacement, and Philip Linden, ex-CEO of the metaverse finally confirms what many have long suspected. - the Editrix]

I was a member of Voted 5 way before the great purge that razed Satyr to the ground and led to the revival of the then defunct w-hat. I joined sometime after the great w-hat civil war (where Voted 5 was splintered from w-hat) and many months before the removal of Satyr from the grid and the banning of several prominent members of Voted 5. Let me tell you, things back then were what one would consider fun. Back then was when griefing was an art.

Gene Replacement was a glorious leader. Gene Replacement, whom many know as Plastic Duck, was what made Voted 5 so popular and famous. The scripts, items, and everything that streamed from him was a marvel to behold. I can even remember Gene Replacement taking a few moments to modify the Linden popgun to exploit most Gorean combat meters. Everything was always done with a fluid motion including keeping all of the SA goons in check.

There was no faggotry allowed in Satyr. The second you came up with the idea to type a 4chan catchphrase was the second you were swiftly kicked from the sim by Gene Replacement. That was, unless you were part of the in-crowd. My memory is fuzzy in regards to those who were in the tight knit clique that circled Gene Replacement and maintained the majority of the power of the group. Names that I can summon from the top of my head are Schwartz Guillaume, Decomposing Monstre, and the "guy in the power ranger suit" whose name escapes me. People like NiceAaron Thetan and Ben Kerensky were overly prominent, but I'm unsure if they made it into the clique that surrounded Gene. Being from the outside one doesn't know all of the facts.

British Overrun Task Force Marine HQ In Prize Delta Sim

Musket fire downs marine aircraft, silences machine guns - Redcoats rally round the Confederate flag, force Marines off base with superior numbers -- next step: possible taxation without representation, Earl Grey tea, crumpets?

by Caine Constantine

On the morning of Thursday, June 11th 2008, the Merczateers pulled their forces out of Prize Delta after a victory over the Task Force Marines -- Marines who had just started rebuilding their home in the sim. But as the last Merczateers left for home to celebrate their definitive conquest, a new threat gathered on the horizon, as what first appeared to be role playing redcoats began appearing in the hub.

Roughly 20 invaders – all wearing tags naming them as “British Rifleman,” were assembling. They were not here for anything less than war. And an epic war is what would transpire on the war-torn lands of the Marines. The Royal Army was out for blood. And tea. And taxes. And the King and Queen, of course.

British muskets rule, ok?

When the British first arrived, the Marines could not believe they were for real, with their muskets and their calls for the Queen’s tea. The picture above shows the Brtish army decked for war, holding a position they captured halfway through the battle. But at first sight, their intentions were not so clear.

Task Force Marines and Merczateers Battle for Prize Delta Sim

A desperate battle against Merczateers air power - hawt, sexii recruits - Task Force Marine resorts to griefing tactics - destroying the base to save it with suicidal sim-killing missile attacks - a short lived peace broken by musket wielding British Redcoats

by Caine Constantine

Prize Delta

On the night of Wednesday, June 11th 2008, the Task Force Marines received their true baptism of fire. Fellon Mile, a Merczateers S-Enlisted tipped me off on the fight as it began, “Merczateers are going to TFM! This is gonna be good”. The Merczateers invaded the Marines’ sim in force, and the whole area was quickly overrun with bombing and gunfire.

The Marines were recently the subject of an in-depth series of articles detailing this up-and-coming armed force. Since that time, the Marines secured new members, new uniforms and a new sim – Prize Delta.

Barely a week old, their new home in Prize Delta – still showing signs of recent construction, but looking pretty good – was now experiencing its first major assault. The sirens of war wailed in the background high in the mountains of the region.

SL Militia: Task Force Marines - Day 2

Nazi alts, neopotism in the marine leadership, attack of the Cookie Monster

by Caine Constantine

[the Herald correspondent returns to the Task Force Marine base and is given a warm welcome]

Caine Constantine shouts: Hey guys, how's it going? Is bennyboy Ball in?
toccovender Waco shouts: caine, go away.

This taccovender Waco, another soldier in the Marines, was not happy to see me. But I didn’t care; I was on a mission. The leader, bennyboy Ball, was indeed online – on another account and named jaws Ashby. He came out to greet me and told me he was in financial troubles.

SL Militia: Task Force Marines

by Caine Constantine

Coverage of the Second Life military scene is traditionally dominated by information on the largest groups – the Merczateers, Alliance Navy, Ordo Imperialis, and the like. But while these may be the most visible face of the scene, there are countless other militaries rising to prominence of their own.

In this two-part Herald exclusive, I took a trip to the snows of Ocean Estate 10 to visit the Task Force Marines in their base. The sound of practice fire and scattered explosions was my welcome, but I found the Marines to be a colorful lot.

Ocean Estate 10, is snowy and rocky, dotted with seemingly out-of-place foliage and divided half between them and half between their German allies, who have a massive cannon pointed at the Marine’s base. Their own half is divided into two quarters, with a mall in one and a dividing wall where they stand guard, protecting the base in the other quarter.

DAY ONE:

I showed up on the first day to check out the place to meet Flamethrower Rives, a soldier in the Marines and one of the founders, who explained that the group is based on a futuristic version of one of the finest fighting forces in the world, the United States Marines. He talked to me while designing a new P90 submachine gun for the troops. The scene around him was interesting – almost nobody had any semblance of a uniform on. In fact, commanding Admiral Mayra Roffo, highest ranked on site at that time, was wearing something very un-militaristic indeed.

Of Memes and Men -- A Newbie’s Guide to Woodbury University

Welcome to teh Internets

by Anise Hankins

Woodbury University. Some of you may know it as a school, but there’s a side of Woodbury University that extends far past just that. It’s also a place in the metaverse we know and love as Second Life. It’s an interesting place where both students and visitors alike can come together and interact both for personal and collective benefits. What was once a simple school funded project has grown into a community featuring people from across the world coming together, all for one purpose: lulz.

To some, the ways of Woodbury University may alienate, confuse, and even frighten you. This is a completely normal response when first coming into contact with the denizens of Woodbury. Fear not, that is why I have stepped forth to help you, the innocent bystander, come to terms and accept their ways. Perhaps you too, will spread the ways and mannerisms of the students of Woodbury to your own community and help it grow even more. If not, at least you’ll enjoy an enriching experience that may brighten up your Second Life.

Memes: The lifeblood of Woodbury, and the foundation of conversation. Those ignorant of the memes and the history they are based upon may seem lost when first warping in. Everything in the sim is in one way or another, based off of internet memes, which is simply a fancy word for fad, although some of the students may argue that they are more than fads. The pictures, buildings, and avatars are all in one way or another influenced by a meme. Memes are heavily influenced by anime, video games, or other internet pop culture. There are more memes than a simple article can cover, so I will try to inform you of the most prominent ones you are likely to see referenced in Woodbury University.

Reaction to Dissention Weekend Attacks

A sense of ennui

By Tillery Woodhen


Car stalls due to black cube rain

Sunday's attacks by DiSSENTiON knocked out many sims, often trapping residents in lagged sims, crashing neighborhoods and limiting teleports. But, in spot conversations with those affected, no one really got angry.

Annoyed, absolutely. But not raging. A few people, like one who's rezzer started autoreturning everything, including legit tenants, was very upset. But many simply waited for the individual sims to reboot.

Many people were simply enjoying themselves or doing basic work. This reporter was caught in the first attack while on a Sunday drive to a party. I was essentially trapped in Columbia sim, the car effectively useless. But the scenery was impressive.

Leveling Up In The Game of Second Life

Is Plexus Linden hoping for a new griefing flava while protecting SL residents from those who would do them harm?

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

“SL combat groups fight each other in their bases...who does that? I want to design a combat system that will work in non-combat areas - real armies and groups fight in cities full of people who want no part of it” --Supercool Sautereau

The on-going asset server attacks, self-replicating prims with DDOS payloads, and mega-IM and e-mail spam all started making sense to me Saturday evening while I was talking to Supercool Sautereau. Comrade Sautereau is a fan of traditional SL warfare and - as far as I know - has nothing to do with grid crashing or this sort of thing, but as the Soviet Premier pondered how to take his in-world combat game to the next level by moving the battle beyond damage enabled combat sims, I started understanding what is going on with the griefers and the Linden Lab "governance team" -- everyone is trying to take their game to the next level. Too bad for the civilians caught in the crossfire.

For a griefer ready to level up, going from tweaking the noses of a few metaverse residents to virtual world-wide disruption is a natural move -- and eventually leads to the possibility of taking on the game gods themselves. This seems to be the case with the DiSSENTiON group - who occasionally regale the Herald staff with tales of their exploits -- such as taking advantage of borked SL features to create widespread IM spam.

However, all is not lulz and immersive gameplay in the big-time griefing arena - there is also the issue of respect. Sadly, if the chatlogs provided to the Herald are real, it appears that griefer/governance team relations have deteriorated to the point that the mutual respect that ought to characterize a friendly competition has gone out the window:

Woodbury University Returns to SL!!!

Exclusive interview with Tizzers Foxchase

by Pixeleen Mistral, National Affairs desk

Woodbury 3.0

Last July, Woodbury University’s educational sim was deleted from the metaverse in a controversial move by the Linden Lab governance team, and early this year Woodbury land group administrator Tizzers Foxchase was perma-banned from Second Life. However, Woodbury University is far from dead in Second Life - and today I visited “Woodbury 3.0” in IntLibber Brautigan's Friedman sim.

The new Woodbury site -- a quarter of the Friedman sim -- houses a virtual worlds class being held as part of the real life Woodbury’s course offerings. Breaking from the tradition of large, imposing pseudo-gorean university builds dominated by ivy covered clock towers, the bulk of the Woodbury building is actually underground with a meeting space, creatively decorated student dorm rooms, and some surprising /b/tard paraphernalia.

While taking pictures and exploring the educational space, I marveled at the sim's continuous soundtrack - you just can't hear "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley too many times. Discussion among the local residents centered around concerns about the serious business direction of Second Life.

Why Griefing = Drama: Broken Immersion

A virtual “world” creates an environment where griefers can do the most damage

by Mudkips Acronym

[I recently invited the founder and retired leader of the notorious PN invasion/griefing group to write an expanded version of his recent thesis on the serious business of griefing. Here is his response - the Editrix]

“Griefing” takes many forms in Second Life, but the results are the same. There are dozens if not hundreds of “anti-griefing” groups, all devoted to filing abuse reports, I guess. Why does griefing and trolling ignite so much drama and controversy in online communities? And why do griefing actions get an amused or positive response from people not in those communites? The answer is simple: griefing exacts the toll that it does on Second Life for example, because it breaks the immersive experience users have - or attempt to have - in “virtual worlds”.

There are a few different types of immersion we should differentiate before proceeding. First off, a movie, game, or other “alternate-reality” has a set maximum immersion. For example, an action movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger may be expected to have less immersion than a drama or romance film. We expect Arnold to be able to fly over tractor-trailers on a motorcycle, and we do not question this when it happens, even though the scene violates all we know about physics - and common sense! We can't get too caught up in this concept: of course, we can be “immersed” in this movie while still maintaining a suspension of disbelief. However, it takes much more work to immerse yourself in a medium where often events are surreal: I call this phenomenon absurdity. A film that is in a normally “serious” genre often has high maximum immersion, so if it does not deliver on its implicit claims to reject absurdity, the viewer will find the film laughably horrible. This is one of the reasons parody series, like Austin Powers and Scary Movie, tend to do well in theaters alongside the very movies they mock.

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Second Life has unwittingly set itself up for disruption

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How does this relate to Second Life? As a self-proclaimed and marketed “metaverse”, Second Life raises the bar on its claim to immersion. Expectations are high of an experience that parallels real life. With banks, land ownership, and many other institutions that exist in “meatspace”, Second Life succeeds in delivering on many of its goals. However, by attempting to parallel real-life and create a immersive experience, Second Life has unwittingly set itself up for disruption. As immersion increases, toleration of absurdity or surrealism proportionally decreases. Even more damning is that in games, users are much more disillusioned when confronted with the absurd, because they have put their own time and energy into constructing the medium. In movies, one is not an active participant, and therefore has much less to lose from the surreal.

Ex-Superhero on Woodbury, Griefing & JLU drama

Pierce Kronos reveals he "left the JLU in disgust" in exclusive interview

by Proper Prim, staff writer

A great deal of controversy has been circulating around the Justice League Unlimited of late raising questions about how much is real and how much has been manufactured - is someone is trying to troll and defame the JLU? To learn the truth, I created an alt and went inworld and asked the JLU for interviews for some time before Pierce Kronos finally (hesitantly at first) came forward to talk.

I went into the interview with a long list of questions. Could the teen grid allegations have any merit? Is Kalel Venkman really an 'unbearable power hungry fascist' as some have described him? What is the purpose of the JLU? What part did JLU play in the Woodbury University situation and Tizzers Foxchase's permanent removal from Second Life? Near the end of the interview, Mr. Kronos announced that he had 'left the JLU in disgust' but also made it clear that there are still those in the JLU whom he likes, respects, even admires and that he will in no way betray their trust by disclosing any sensitive information as Nikola Shirakawa, another former JLU member, once had.

After speaking at length with Mr. Kronos about work, life in general, griefing, Second Life, the PN and the JLU. Pierce seems to be a good guy and I am convinced that not all of the allegations circulating are true - and I suspect that the ones that are true have nothing to do with him. While Pierce wasn't been entirely forthcoming about his reasons for leaving the JLU, I admire the fact that he has shown his enemies respect by keeping his quarrels private. It is unclear if Mr Kronos intends to continue endeavors as an anti-griefer from outside of the JLU or if he simply intends to settle down and live quietly - either way we wish him the best of luck!