The Alphaville Herald

Prok’s Candid Conversations with the Core: Cristiano Midnight, Part One

by Alphaville Herald on 18/03/05 at 9:08 pm

Feted, fetid or fretted? Which are you? In the second installment of the occasional series that takes you, the everyday Herald reader, on a tour of the inner core with the inimitable Prokofy Neva, Prok shines the light on Cristiano Midnight — probing him on core issues of the Grid’s economy, the launch of Snapzilla and his run-ins with Club Elite — and gets a couple of flames in return.

Mr. Midnight

Prokofy Neva: I have now been informed that you are officially not rich, and not on the leaders’ list, so you aren’t properly feted. Would you agree? I thought you were as rich as God, with a whole empire.
Cristiano Midnight: I am curious what he is using to define wealth in SL. I do not keep money stockpiled in SL – I have reinvested a lot of it in my web site and other projects. I was on the leaders list prior to grouping all of my land, in terms of land ownership.

PN: Ah-HAH. So you WERE on the leaders’ list. Well, what is the leaders’ list? I mean, it’s all GOM and Anshe, isn’t it? It’s not a proper measurement.
CM: GOM and IGE own no land – and I grouped my land before Anshe rose to her current echelon of land ownership. I have owned around 100k of land since early in 2004.

PN: So in your view, owning 100,000 square meters of land puts you in the rich category, that’s what, about 2 sims or so? Perhaps we should push for a new category of group-owned land: The Latifundistas. Land rich, cash poor.
CM: I don’t care about the leader boards personally – I am glad that they have been removed in 1.6 from the UI. I am not cash poor in SL either, but again, not a goal of mine.

PN: well you take the game cash out and turn it into RL dollars for your website development? How many hits a day? Unique hits, not you checking obsessively to see ifyou have hits LOL
CM: Prior to Snapzilla, the site was averaging about 500-800 unique visitors a day – post Snapzilla, the site is up to 3,000 a day. That is visits, not hits – obviously an image heavy site generates a lot of hits.

PN: Now Cristiano, I am going to probe here a minute on this “not a goal” shrugged-off stuff, and this Neualtenberg group membership of yours.
CM: Ok, though I should tell you in advance, I am not an active member of that group at all. I have been to one meeting. I was afk through most of it.

PN: You have cash, businesses, you sell stuff, you work your website — it’s capitalism of sorts. Yet you feign indifference to wealth and support this…this…social democratic *toy* in-world. Why??? you take your game money and sink it into a hole in the Internet? Why? Glory? Fame? what is it you WANT Cristiano?
CM: My web site has no income. And I do not feign indifference – I said that it was not a goal of mine. I do make money in SL – I do quite well at it, honestly, in my own personal metrics. I am not into social democracy – I believe in capitalism myself. I am in no way a socialist, I joined the group to support two close friends of mine, even while having very divergent political views.

PN: There are some very pernicious ideologies promoted in that group, however, for example, this slamming of the so-called “progressive taxation” which is merely bulk discount for larger land investors. That would impact you if you had your land grouped
CM: I have stayed in SL because I enjoy it – it was also the purpose of the site, it was a passion of mine. It’s part of my creativity. When it stops being interesting or fun to me, I do something else.
CM: If you did your homework more closely as an interviewer, you would realize I have slammed Ulrika on that.
CM: I can dislike the ideology and like the person. It is for example how I feel about you.

PN: Saying it is “not a goal of mine” and yet insisting that you do well seems to come off to me like you are trying to show a supreme indifference to the hurrying and scurrying of land dealers and business people in SL, but come off it, I don’t buy it. If you don’t care about income, why keep your stores open??? Hmm, now this sounds very much like a Catholic concept, hating the sin, not the sinner. Do you attend Mass regularly Cristiano?
CM: I did not say I don’t care about it – I said it was not a goal of mine. I don’t have a set income goal in mind at all. I am also not a fool and don’t just piss money away – if the stores did not offset my costs for certain things, I would not do them.
CM: I have not been to mass in years, Prokofy.

PN: Ah, a recovering Catholic, I see.
PN: Did you give up anything for Lent, Cristiano?
CM: yes, sparring with you in the forums.

PN: Last year, I gave up posting on SLH. I don’t know WHY I wasn’t moved to do the same for SL forums this year, and gave up chocolate instead.
PN: What do you enjoy most in SL?
CM: I enjoy the creative freedom in SL the most.

PN: Has it been difficult these 40 days Cristiano, not sparring with me? Were you once an altar boy?
CM: Yes, I was an altar boy….and yes, it is always difficult to resist commenting on some of the inane things you say, but I remain strong.

PN: You’re doing the Lord’s work Cristiano.
PN: You have 2003 on your date, but not at the beta test or whatever.
CM: You do not do your homework, my friend. May 2003 is a beta birthdate.

PN: There is so MUCH I have to learn about the FIC. I studied, but I didn’t realize the May thing — I didn’t know when the goddamn beta started. it was only in May of 2003? Sheesh.
CM: My original birthdate in SL was January of 2003. beta ended sometime in June of 2003

PN: Well so you have a lot personally and publicly invested in SL it seems then. Has the beta-test love-fest ended for you? When was the last time you spoke to a Linden, and about what?
CM: I certainly do. Second Life has captured my interest far more strongly than any other environment has. The last time I spoke to a Linden was about 3 hours ago – Reuben Linden advising me that SLUniverse.com had been Boing Boinged, so I might see a traffic surge. I also briefly spoke to Ben Linden on the IRC today.
CM: The beta test love fest..interesting, I never really felt a part of that. I just did my own thing in SL for a long time, I didn’t go to events, I just loved to build.

PN: See? Inner, feted, and gosh, I don’t know WHAT all. Imagine speaking to a Linden “just three hours” ago. That is truly amazing. What did you and Ben talk about? Do you think he could rebuild that headbanger lodge at Waterhead? Ouch.
CM: Ah I don’t even remember what I said, it was in response to some general IRC blather.

PN: Now. I want to understand your attitude toward creativity, creative content, content barons, resale of items, the used items debate, all that. I want to understand just how much of a secret socialist you might be, Cristiano.
PN: OH, and are you in Paris, France, Europe BTW? Do you mind revealing your L? You don’t have to. Just wondering.
CM: As a creative person, it is something I enjoy seeing in others as well – it endlessly fascinates me to see what people come up with. I have no problem with the resale of items, nor do I have a problem with people profitting off the items they make. I think there is a very healthy creative market in SL. I don’t look down on those who do not create things, not everyone is creative or has the desire to speond the time making stuff – they just want to have fun.
CM: I am in Miami Beach.

PN: So the socialism thing is just purely for the sake of friendships, it is not ideological.
CM: Actually the joining Neualtenberg was for sake of friendship. I don’t believe in socialism. I do, however, believe in social responsibility.

PN: Like Nolan Nash, you may have the ethic that says “Prokofy Neva *hurts* SL. He is divisive. We should all get along For The Sake of the Community. He labels groups that don’t exist and creates division where it wouldn’t occur. He polarizes people.”
CM: Nolan and I definitely concur when it comes to you, yes. I do think that you came into SL and maligned a group of people for no purpose. It is very easy for you to put labels on them without knowing them, and to make grandiose claims that have no basis in fact.

PN: Well you can drill me on that at your leisure. I believe there are indeed groups and patterns of behaviour in SL that need to be exposed and discussed, it is vital.
PN: You don’t have to befriend each individual and understand their story to see patterns in behaviour as a group.
CM: The fundamental basis of racism.

PN: If the claims are grandiose, let’s them debate them, but mostly what they do is just try to ridicule.
CM: Oh I have debated you – what I ridicule is the hyperbole.

PN: Hyperbole is a good rhetorical tool, to wake people up. And racism? Geez. It’s not about races.
CM: No, it’s not about racism – your statement about groups and patterns is the foundation for a lot of claims made by racists.
CM: There is actually an excellent example of it going on in the forums all the time: the dumb American comments that get perpetrated by some non-American players.

PN: You can’t notice patterns and comment on them? That is verboten? That’s just plain silly. Of course people form groups and behave with certain patterns, and mind memes, and ideologies, that’s a given, it is studied all the time. I believe there really are some national cultures clashing in this game, and that the clash of civilization is really an accurate description for some of the angst that goes on over issues like the resale of used items, or the values of socialism v. capitalism
CM: See you never qualify it though…it is always the entire group.

PN: So?
CM: All established players are corrupt, evil people afraid of change.
CM: It is stupid, honestly.

PN: Who are these people to you that you feel so protective of them? Is this your social set? Your in-group? I mean, what is the nature of this social group that you get so fierce about? Are these the folks you came through beta with, so you have that fierce tribal protective attitude toward them?
CM: Actually, honestly, what is amusing is it covers such a large cross section of second life – yet you try so hard to put things into neat little boxes. There are very few beta players in my social circle of friends.

PN: OK tell me about your social circle. Are they inner and feted or outer and ignored? I remember when you so graciously invited me to your birthday party, I saw all of the SL swankiest there. It was a Who’s Who of FIC. I mean, even Schwanson, who was like “five minutes from being Papa” as we say in Russian.
CM: My circle of friends is quite diverse in Second Life, honestly. There are some people I brought with me from TSO/There that form the core of my friendships. The rest have been developed over time.

PN: Oh, who were you in TSO?
CM: My name in TSO was Cristiano – I was a beta tester in Alphaville.

PN: Well I was a beta-tester too, son. I don’t think I knew you though.
CM: Probably not – I did not stay in TSO that long, I grew tired of it very quickly. One can only take the same furniture sets so many times.

PN: Well, let’s see now. Would you characterize SL as a game? Or…a thingie? as Lordfly calls it. Or…a chat space with 3-D and toys by eltee and Cubey? Or??
CM: I would categorize Second Life as a interactive development platform and virtual world. Definitely not a game.

PN: OK, well it is an endless and often dull debate, I agree. But I am just placing you on the spectrum so to speak. Now, can you tell me how your land went from being grouped to ungrouped?
CM: My land started ungrouped – I eventually put it into a group to make it easier to manage, and to give my girlfriend access to some of the land more easily. It remains grouped, and it has actually increased a little – I believe it’s about 105k m of land.

PN: Ok so there is no drama? No club closing. No treacherous officers. Nothing like that in the SL closet?
CM: Nope – the only drama related to my land was the ongoing fight with Club Elite when it resided in Federal. That is what caused me to become a proponent of zoning of sims. I was opposed to the fact that one player could ruin an entire sim for all other land owners, with no recourse.
CM: Club Elite for over a year was the # 1 place in SL for the sex ball set. I owned about 10,000m of land in Federal at the time, with Big John Jade owning about the same amount. He systematically ruined the sim for all the other residents, most of whom moved. A lot of very loud battles ensued, spilled over into the forums time and again, and ultimately Club Elite moved to a private island. Oddly enough, about a month or two later, he sold it and the end of Club Elite’s reign was sealed.

PN: I would like to understand how you handle disputes like that, how you involve the Lindens or not, and how others in the community then perceive you.
CM: I did abuse report BJ several times – that was the full involvement of the Lindens in it It was actually quite frustrating. They seemed oblivious to the fact that the sim had 25 FPS and no one could use it, and that Club Elite had events every day. Big John was suspended for a few days, but other than that, nothing came out of it.

PN: now what do you suppose we do about this? some fucktard who lags the sim down to 25, what is your solution for that? Do you believe in more rights for larger property owners?
CM: I don’t think it necessarily has to do with how much land you own – I do believe as land owners we should have more rights – it becomes a quality of service issue more than anything.

PN: Well here is a matter of two landowners with roughly the same amount on the same sim, with different outlooks and tastes, and they clash. Who should prevail? and why?
CM: I am not certain what the solution is. I bought up most of Mavericks to avoid Club Elite round 2, that was about all I could do at the time. I could move to a private island, but I don’t like them personally.
CM: Although Club Elite was a giant black box with Pamela Andersen on the side, it wasn’t about the taste of it, even if it did clash with the rest of the sim. It was about one land owner dominating the resources of the whole sim. Hell, he did it even before 1.2, when we all shared 10,000 prims in the same sim. He would stockpile prims for his club.

PN: What is it that attracts you to the main grid? The fly-bys of strangers? Accessibility for your close friends?
CM: I do like to explore, and I think the main grid invites that – going to private islands always feels semi-intrusive. I do like the fly bys of strangers, I have met a lot of people that way.

PN: What is your main activity in the game then, work or socializing, or a mixture?
CM: work/building, some socializing – I am not that big of an event goer by any means, though I have tried to get out more in SL lately. A lot of times when I am in SL, I am constantly away doing other things.

PN: when you say “away” you mean AFK doing RL stuff in the other windows
CM: both

PN: well why not just shut it off? afraid of missing something? what? How many Ims do you have going? Even right this minute for example.
CM: My ims can vary wildly from none to 20. Right now you are the only IM window I have open.

PN: Wow. I feel honoured to be your only IM, Cristiano. It really feels…intimate. Just the two of us here, all alone in cyberspace.
PN: What are you wearing lol?
PN: hahahahahaha
CM: I am naked, actually.

PN: Yum
PN: Is it really only a half-way sort of life, Cristiano, all that dumb typing to strangers on the Internet?
CM: actually a lot of the people I talk to online are people I know in RL and see on a regular basis

PN: Yes, this part of SL just plain scares me.
CM: Oh, I am not referring to SL people. I do like to get to voice level with people from SL when we are friends – that I do pretty often. Beyond that, I agree – it is scary in a lot of ways. There are some people I would love to meet.

PN: Who?
CM: Just various people among my group of SL friends. I definitely want to meet up with Schwanson, since he lives so close. I wouldn’t mind meeting people I am close to – no one in particular comes to mind, except Baccara Rhodes – she is definitely someone I would like to meet in person.

PN: Why?
PN: I have to confess I don’t know who she is, but she sounds very important.
CM: Spellbound might ring a bell. That’s her group. If the inner core is feted, Spellbound puts on the party.

PN: I guess what I am hearing from y ou Cristiano is that you don’t really believe there is a FIC…but I would have to conclude that this could in part be due to your being at the vital center of it. Would that be off the mark?
PN: You have made great sport of this term, putting “faded inner corps” and all the rest on your avatar on the forums. What does the term really mean to you?
CM: I think that in any environment, you always have a group of people that bond based on shared experience, and also who have been around for a long time, through a lot of changes. It is especially apparent in SL because of its nature. I don’t deny that there are established and succesful players. What I have pushed back against is your insistince that a) this is a bad thing b) that new players are shut out of this
CM: I actually enjoy the phrase “feted inner core”…though like metrosexual, it has long outlived its 15 minutes of fame. It was at 14:59 the first time you used it.

PN: It is a bad thing because it stops freedom and growth, when these cadres block progress with their smug and superior attitudes and their actual destruction of others’ initiative.
CM: You have never shown ways that progress is being blocked..
CM: Anyone standing in the way of progress is a bad thing, I agree with you – and yes, people do resist change.

Look for Part Two of Prok’s Candid Coversation with Cristiano Midnight shortly in the Herald.
[UPDATE: Read Part Two here.]