Op/Ed: Business Girl vs. Griefer Kin
by Alphaville Herald on 15/01/05 at 10:41 am
by A Concerned Reader
Like her or dislike her, Anshe Chung is one of the richest and most famous (or infamous) people in Second Life. So when she posted in the SL forums complaining about the actions of her W-Hat neighbors in Baku where she had just bought land, there were some predictable jeers, but also a surprising amount of sympathy displayed by the forum patrons. Obvious things like leaving litter on her property and objects that overlap the boundary lines are blatant offences but the main dispute is definitely centered around the recently erected build known as Club Mo-Ran.
W-Hat officers insist that the offending signs were always there. Funny then, that they show the same amount of money as in Anshe’s screen shot.
Calling Mo-ran a “club” may be bending the standards of even Second Life architecture as I have a hard time imagining even the most obsessive club-goer wanting to patronize it. W-Hat builds tend towards headache-inducing animated textures and lag-inducing spinning objects along with random examples of what one W-Hat member referred to as “classy art” and others have referred to as “ugly”. (For reference, one piece of “classy art” that I observed while hovering over their Baku headquarters was a giant pair of plywood deer engaged in sexual intercourse).
Deer Humping on W-Hat Land. Hey, where’s the Buck?
Some former Baku residents have come forward corroborating Anshe’s claim that the W-Hat members in question are probably trying to extort her into selling out to them while W-Hatter Ned Ludd and his friends have denied the charges. Some people have said that it’s not a problem as long as it’s not on Anshe’s land and others have accused Anshe of calling the kettle black for opposing tactics they say she has allegedly employed herself. (While she has been known to land-ban people who bother her, most of these accusations remain unproven.)
However, recent signs that have appeared over Mo-Ran (see above) seem to indicate that the W-Hats involved want to make the debate personal.
W-Hat’s reputation seems to center around the trick of dancing the narrow line between griefing and actual TOS violations. While it has been claimed that the W-Hat builds as they currently stand are TOS-legal, I found several things on W-Hat property that could be taken as violations of SL’s community standards, most notable being:
- The aforementioned signs targeting Anshe
- The rutting deer (even in mature areas, sexually-explicit material is required to be kept in closed spaces and not in the open).
- The multiple raucous and unceasing sound-loops from the Mo-Ran property: this isn’t streaming land music but sound clips played by scripts that can be heard from some distance away. This is “disturbing the peace” and explicitly disallowed by the community standards.
For that mater, “disturbing the peace” also includes “objects that intentionally slow server performance or inhibit another Resident’s ability to enjoy Second Life”. While the W-Hat builds in Baku are certainly lag-inducing and displeasing, intent is difficult to prove without access to the W-Hat inner circle. Buying the land in Baku may have been a dubious or careless business choice on Anshe’s part considering that W-Hat was in Baku first. She might have eventually lowered the price and sold to W-Hat on her own if they had left her alone and no one else purchased the plots. But Anshe takes a hard stance against people whom she believes to be griefing her and this is likely to be a long standoff unless there is Linden intervention.
And it is griefing that these W-Hat members are engaging in. There’s no doubt in my mind that Mo-ran needs to be taken down or at least remodeled if the landowner intends to keep it as a legitimate club. Even the dreaded black box (a common club design by people with little building skill) would be an improvement over what they’ve built.
And if they are deliberately targeting Anshe, they’re guilty of inhibiting a small part of her Second Life, regardless of how much money she has or how much land she owns. The land business is Anshe’s way of enjoying Second Life and as long as she remains honest in it, it’s her right to be able to continue doing so.
The author
Jan 15th, 2005
A few follow up comments…
When I went back to Baku at around 9pm PST, I saw that the land had indeed been sold except for a single 512 plot near the middle that still belonged to Anshe and the W-haters had gathered for what was apparently a party…someone shouted that Baku was being made a war-zone and there were explosions over the plot.
The timestamps on the pictures I took are 5:49 EST, which is 2:49 Linden time and almost 1 A.M. in GMT (Britian) where Anshe lives. A later picture (I had to go back and get the one of the deer) has a timestamp of 7:45 EST, almost 3 A.M. in Britian. The purchace of the land must have taken place between 1 and 5 A.M. GMT (possibly between 3 and 5 A.M.) and I doubt that Anshe was even aware of the purchace contrary to the W-hater’s claims (if he knew about the anti-Anshe signs that had been put up over the club, he lied about it in his comments on the previous article). I will continue to be in doubt about it untill I get word stright from Anshe.
For the record, this was posted anonomously because I’m concearned about possible retrobution. After I took the first set of pictures (I was using an InvisiPrim but still attracted someone’s notice), I was followed by a W-hat member to the private island where I live in SL. He hung around for a while, possibly trying to get on my nerves, but didn’t actualy do anything I could abuse report him for. He gave up after I ignored him for a while.
I am on friendly terms with Anshe, but am not one of her alts.
I hope that the Lindens would still be able to do something regarding this mater, at it would be a shame for the W-hat people involved to get off completely scott-free.
Anshe
Jan 15th, 2005
Yesterday I learned to my surprise that Bakuzelas was one of leaders of this group. I always had pleasant dealings with him in past and we were able work out one fair resolution to this situation. My conclusion is that there are some individuals in W-Hat who appear to me somehow mad, brainbusted and perpetually drunk and that Baz took care of them now.
One bigger problem that remain and that is not related to W-Hat are people like Biffy Pendragon, or whoever’s alt account that is. This is very serious thing. Biffy goes from sim to sim to extort money from people by installing unbearable structures in previously pleasant areas. He isn’t mad or drunk but simply one asshole. So I still hope we will hear more from Linden Lab about how they are planning to stop such mafia methods.
DRAMABOMB
Jan 15th, 2005
Ring ring ring ring ring bananaphone
Ring ring ring ring ring bananaphoneeeeeeeee
Bakuzelas
Jan 15th, 2005
“W-Hat officers insist that the offending signs were always there. Funny then, that they show the same amount of money as in Anshe’s screen shot.”
That’s not W-hat land. As in, the W-hat group does not own that land in the screenshot. In other words, you can’t blame us for a private citizen’s opinion.
Thank you Anshe for your kind support. I am sorry that the author of this article only wants to try to drive rifts in the community.
Ryen Jade
Jan 15th, 2005
what
Disco Duck
Jan 15th, 2005
A) As Baku said, it was my land, not W-Hats land at the time
B) Nothing placed there was mine
C) It was not placed there to extort anyone, I wanted some land for myself and had not gotten around to doing anything with it yet, so some friends in game made a club out of it.
D) The sign in the pictures here was made as an obvious joke, making fun of the drama bomb situation on the forums regarding the land in question.
Disco Duck
Jan 15th, 2005
edit: what
Flennel
Jan 15th, 2005
I hear Second Life is a game on the internet? Confirm/deny
Cromulence DeGroot
Jan 15th, 2005
Well I guess the nice thing about being a “reporter” in Second Life is that if you run out of news you can always make more.
More stories about robots please.
Knightmare
Jan 15th, 2005
MAKE WAY FOR TEH DRAMA LLAMA!
Bananaphone
Jan 15th, 2005
DJ Gregg is DREAMY!!!
Second Life != serious business
Second Life = a game
If the server shut down tomorow id laugh till I puked at someone who invested so much money in a game.
louis
Jan 15th, 2005
it’s an online game.. on the internet..
internet
Urizenus
Jan 15th, 2005
I hate to interrupt this rich flow of ideas from the W-Hat brain trust, but I would like to point out that we haven’t “reported” anything. We interviewed Anshe and we published an op/ed piece by a concerned reader. That having been said, the general character of the responses adds quite a bit of support to the substance of the interview and the op/ed piece, so that if I wasn’t convinced before I am now.
I also want to say, however, that I *do* like the bannanaphone song very much. That and the picture of Ryen with the balloons and plastic cutlery and buckets and stuff. Ryen, yer a good sport to let your friends post that!
Ryen Jade
Jan 15th, 2005
no thats a pic of u el oh el
Bananaphone
Jan 15th, 2005
You know what, Urizenus has a point. Im gonna gather everyone in W-hat together and tell them to delete everything they ever made and stop having fun on our own land. Im sure they will be more then happy to comply, after all we are here to make YOU happy.
I think we will start to build a mansion. Yeah a mansion, its not like anyone has a mansion! Then maybe we will build some docks on the water. Yeah that will be so original! Then maybe we can build a nice big mall and put lots of for rent signs up, I havent seen many of those around.
I bet the guys are gonna be so excited, and the ladies will be so excited when I tell them they can only make dresses and occasionally protitute them selves out at dance clubs.
You *SIR* have made me see the light and made me believe in the good lord Jesus. I thank you, we all thank you.
ned
Jan 15th, 2005
OH NO YOU WERE THE SUPER SPY ALL ALONG AND I DIDNT EVEN REALIZE DAMN YOU ELLE I WILL STOP YOU EVENTUALLY
Ryen Jade
Jan 15th, 2005
Hi elle pollack
Dingo
Jan 16th, 2005
Everybody disco dancing!
Good time for all!
Dingo
Jan 16th, 2005
This site looks like crap in firefox…
Urizenus
Jan 16th, 2005
Good idea bannanaphone. I’m all about mansions and malls and strip clubs. The more the better I always say. But I gotta ask: your comment is in reference to what exactly? My only criticism was that if you build two humping dear one should be a buck. That isn’t hetero-sexism; its just because does don’t buy strapons.
or do they.
Urizenus
Jan 16th, 2005
Yes I am gay, but what I do with my anus is between me and my boyfriends.
PartyHardPartyHard
Jan 16th, 2005
ALERT, INTERNET, ALERT.
W-hat?
Jan 16th, 2005
sorry I cant hear you I got a cock in my ear
Cromulence DeGroot
Jan 16th, 2005
Um HAY PERFESSER, someone in your field should know that the so-called op/ed piece carries all kinds of nasty little presuppositions so it’s kind of intellectually dishonest of you publish it, no? Oh wait never mind you are a third rate professor from a third rate linguistics program. Please go sit at the feet of real semanticists for a few years and try again.
Tasty Tapioca
Jan 16th, 2005
Hey whoever made that ‘fro sail’ sign, can I get a copyable texture of that? Its cute.
Cromulence DeGroot
Jan 16th, 2005
HAY PERFESSOR, w-hat’s the deal with this attempt to deliberately provoke drama, anyhow? Didn’t you get laid at LSA this year? Everyone else did.
Cromulence DeGroot
Jan 16th, 2005
HAY PERFESSER, I really like your early 90s attempt to save GB from certain doom by saying Oh who needs formalism anyway? Bwaahahahaha, that’s some funny shit, perfesser. So what’s your defense of Minimalism? Oh who needs an explicit theory anyway? I can see why you take out your frustrations on some players of an intarweb computar game. It must suck to be you.
Bambi takes it like a linden
Jan 16th, 2005
ROFL@deer fucking. So much cleaner and quicker than sheep or dogs or even goats. A venison Anal intrusion at it’s finest enlarged much like the discovery channel for adults as well as children to enjoy.
what
Jan 16th, 2005
what
what
Jan 16th, 2005
what
ned
Jan 16th, 2005
DEAR ELLE THANKS FOR THE SLANDER NICE WAGON CONTEST I WOULD HAVE ENTERED HAD I KNOWN ABOUT IT SO I TRIED TO ENTER ANYWAYS
http://img142.exs.cx/img142/9254/slander0dk.jpg
TELL ME HOW MANY POINTS DID U THINK I GOT?
RLer
Jan 16th, 2005
You SL people are mentally retarded
Urizenus
Jan 16th, 2005
now now boyz, what have we established besides that Concerned Reader was understating the case if anything. You ain’t griefers, you be uber-griefers. I’m not complaining, guyz like you bring readers to the Herald. Grief on, but please enough with claiming that you were libeled by the author of the essay. Damage to your reputation sure enough was done, but it was done by you yourselves in the comments, and not by the essay itself. Grief on, but please stop whining like little camping bitches.
Crom, GB and minimalism rule!
And Crom, I have nothing against formal rigor. So your reading comprehension is somewhat short of the mark. But I AM PLEASED that you are at least TRYING to read my stuff. Oh yeah, and my principle home is in Philosophy not Linguistics. Also I haven’t been to the LSA since 1991. People get laid there? Hmmmm, maybe I should be going more often.
ned
Jan 16th, 2005
If you are like any of the other average American families you know that gypsies sell drugs like the average American business owner sells car stereo electronics, but the Channel W-Hat I-Team never imagined the extent some of these gypsies would go through to keep their operations hidden from the public.
One day while I, Ned Ludd, Investigative Reporter, was driving down a stretch of country road just outside of (YOUR METROPOLITAN AREA) I spotted a caravan. This was no ordinary caravan but a GYPSY wagon caravan and my investigative intuition told me that these gypsies were up to no good, because gypsies usually never are.
http://img37.exs.cx/img37/2540/theugly2vt.jpg
These wagons were so ugly I saw no legitimate reason for their existence. Hard drugs had to be involved.
Fearing possible recognition and retrobution from people that have never even seen me before I donned a wily disguise that in no way attracted more attention to myself than I otherwise would have recieved.
http://img37.exs.cx/img37/8366/disguise7jn.jpg
My disguise is impregnable to even the sharpest eyes.
After wandering around the gypsy encampment I began searching the wagons one by one until underneath a large rug in one of them I uncovered a drug payload so large it would have to be the subject of a Hollywood blockbuster film, 1 metric ton of heroin or cocaine or anthrax, I don’t do drugs, just weed, so I don’t know.
http://img37.exs.cx/img37/1073/drugs8ei.jpg
After pulling back this rug I discovered vast quantities of white powder.
After hanging out on the property for a while I was approached by two thugs who threatened my person which made me have to leave prematurely out of fear for my life.
Moose Fauna: we ask that you do no more harm, lest harm be done to you
Elle Pollack: YAH WERE GUNNA BEAT UR STUPID ASS STUPID
The lesson we can all take away from this is if you see gypsies in your neighborhood you should inform the local police as soon as possible before they convince your children to take their vile gypsy poisons, and after all we know it is our children that are most important to us so you would be wise to follow my advice.
Put yo “hood” up,
Channel W-Hat I-team, this is Ned Ludd reporting.
Cromulence DeGroot
Jan 16th, 2005
Hahahahaha. Dude, I think you are deliberately provoking fights between groups on the internet to get data for your research. Semantics and pragmatics of online arguments, perhaps? I think that’s pretty unethical. I also think the University of Michigan’s Institutional Review Board will be very interested in your online activities.
From the Salon article about you: Peter Ludlow’s abiding interest in “The Sims Online” is, he says, professional. The question “What emerges from a state of nature?” is an old chestnut among philosophers, and Ludlow figured that by observing a virtual world like “The Sims Online” he could get some pretty good clues pointing to the answer. Yeah buddy, U of M’s IRB is going to love this.
P.S. So you think minimalism and GB rule? Hahaha, how can they both rule? Oh wait, you’re a philosopher, not a linguist, never mind. I think your papers are very nice.
Tasty Tapioca
Jan 16th, 2005
I still want a copy of the ‘fro sail’ sign. Surely someone can contact me in game about it or something. ;.;
Adohan
Jan 16th, 2005
LOL
Urizenus
Jan 16th, 2005
Crom, be sure to call the IRB, but when you do, don’t forget to tell them that I also KILL PEOPLE in Jessie!
Cromulence DeGroot
Jan 16th, 2005
Hahaha, I would if I thought it was for research purposes and you didn’t have their consent to be subjects. But your conduct here is disgraceful enough. You really should be ashamed of yourself; no serious researcher would behave this way.
Urizenus
Jan 16th, 2005
Yes, because as we all know, serious researchers aren’t allowed to play video games or have hobbies. ROTFL, I just love it when griefers lecture me on the ethics of roleplay.
Or is the problem that due to some sort of inflated sense of self-importance you think that the Herald stories on the W-Hats somehow is relevant to.. what exactly… oh it must be my work on the philosophy of time. You are just oh so important to me Crom, really. If I’m here it must be to study you and the W-Hats! rotfl
a real griefer
Jan 16th, 2005
W-hat is nothing compared to me
I love W-hat
Jan 17th, 2005
If your gonna libel us in another article at least open up the comments asswipe.
teh interweb
Jan 17th, 2005
If you are gonna libel us at least open up comments in your slanderous article
Cromulence DeGroot
Jan 18th, 2005
I guess you don’t read your own press, Urizenus. You have stated that you intend to write a book based on the work you do. You are a foul little creature and I wish I could say that writing up your activities for Michigan’s IRB gives me pleasure but it doesn’t; it just disgusts me. What you are doing is wrong, it’s bad for the field, and you know it.
INTARNETS
Jan 18th, 2005
DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS
urizenus
Jan 18th, 2005
rotfl, crom crom crom,
I read *some* of my own press, but it doesn’t follow that I believe it. I currently am writing three books. They are on …
1) generalized quantifiers and negative polarity items
2) A defense of presentism in the philosophy of time
3)foundational issues in the philosophy of linguistics
Honestly, your inflated sense of self-importance fills me with mirth. I’m not writing a book about you or your Swastika waving buddies. I’m not even writing a *paper* about you. But please do write to U Mich and tell them that I am. ROTFLMAO
Oh wait, I lied, here is the title of my next paper:
“W-Hat movement and barriers in the Derivation by Phase Framework”
Then I’m gonna move on to this one:
“Generalized Quantifiers, Banana Phones, and Directional Entailingness”
yup, the W-Hats have been a research goldmine.
Roberta Dalek
Jan 22nd, 2005
This is a classic tabloid – making up sensationalist nonsense.