The Alphaville Herald

XDeth Absent & Bearsy Bloobury – Sim Crashing PN Griefers!

by Alphaville Herald on 26/10/09 at 8:00 am

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 beingsim-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--]

[13:25]  XDeth Absent: hey again
[13:25]  Pixeleen Mistral: hi XDeth
[13:25]  Vampirella Jewel: Whoa my turn to crash
[13:25]  Vampirella Jewel: That was odd. Come back and found myself at home again
[13:25]  Pixeleen Mistral: looks like the sim restarted
[13:25]  XDeth Absent: lol me too
[13:25]  Vampirella Jewel: Ah ok
[13:25]  Vampirella Jewel: That splains it
[13:25]  Mairead McConnell: now what was i saying about no crashes with emerald
[13:26]  XDeth Absent: emerald doesn't crash?
[13:26]  XDeth Absent: I did not know that.
[13:26]  Mairead McConnell: very rarely
[13:26]  XDeth Absent: hey wait
[13:26]  XDeth Absent: I just got this weird feeling…..
[13:26]  XDeth Absent: I'm getting this feeling we're about to crash again!
[13:26]  Mairead McConnell: uh oh

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

[14:00]  Pixeleen Mistral: so as I was saying…
[14:00]  Pixeleen Mistral: is this your own script or someone else's?
[14:01]  Pixeleen Mistral: what technique does it use to crash the sim?
[14:01]  XDeth Absent: as I was saying I created it myself using science!
[14:01]  XDeth Absent: I came up with it through common sense
[14:01]  Pixeleen Mistral: I must have crashed before I heard what you said
[14:02]  XDeth Absent: you're so polite!
[14:02]  Pixeleen Mistral: it must be something you have to wear
[14:02]  Pixeleen Mistral: so you crash too
[14:02]  XDeth Absent: I do crash too but I don't wear it!
[14:02]  XDeth Absent: I got the idea when I crashed a sim by accident!
[14:02]  Pixeleen Mistral: hmmm
[14:03]  Pixeleen Mistral: well perhaps LL will fix things someday – but I wouldn't hold my breath
[14:03]  Pixeleen Mistral: I think they are more depending on fast sim restarts
[14:04]  Pixeleen Mistral: so are you doing some asset server query that sends it into a tight loop?
[14:04]  Pixeleen Mistral: that used to be the fashionable thing
[14:05]  Pixeleen Mistral: but I haven't kept up with what the current styles are

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

[14:10]  Pixeleen Mistral: you know – I'm starting to think the region doesn't crash at all – just the avatars
[14:10]  XDeth Absent: hmm
[14:11]  XDeth Absent: that is something to think about
[14:11]  XDeth Absent: but hey listen!
[14:11]  Pixeleen Mistral: yes?
[14:11]  XDeth Absent: I came to grief here with my friend knowing you'd be here
[14:11]  Pixeleen Mistral: I sort of expect that at a party
[14:11]  XDeth Absent: I want you to know that PN and the rest of the griefers in SL aren't completely dead.
[14:12]  Pixeleen Mistral: so you guys are PN?
[14:12]  Pixeleen Mistral: or a different group?
[14:13]  XDeth Absent: think of us as a lesser known subdivision of PN
[14:13]  XDeth Absent: and with that,I must crash the sim again
[14:13]  Pixeleen Mistral: do you have a name for the subdivision?

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

XDeath on another account – Bearsy Bloobury got his head stuck in a beehive and will not be joining us again today

[14:23]  Pixeleen Mistral: so – how does it work?
[14:23]  Pixeleen Mistral: I'm sure the readers would be interested
[14:23]  XDeth Absent: just because I'll feel bad if I don't mention him so we have a 3rd member to our group
[14:23]  XDeth Absent: hmm how does it work?
[14:23]  XDeth Absent: readers eh?
[14:23]  XDeth Absent: what kind of shitty griefer would I be if I told the readers how it worked?
[14:23]  Pixeleen Mistral: one who knows how things work
[14:24]  XDeth Absent: although if I could give you a hint, think of a sim that's already full becoming full 30 more times over
[14:24]  Pixeleen Mistral: ok – so the sim gets flooded – that makes some sense
[14:25]  Pixeleen Mistral: use the asset server requests to flood the sim – sounds like things have not changed much
[14:25]  XDeth Absent: yes, it's quite the pickle.
[14:25]  Pixeleen Mistral: could be a fundamental design flaw in SL
[14:26]  XDeth Absent: well in a world of user generated content where you can remain anonymous, people are bound to find exploits
[14:26]  Pixeleen Mistral: I assume you guys use some sort of IP address anonymizer too, so IP bans are pointless
[14:27]  Pixeleen Mistral: LL will never learn
[14:27]  XDeth Absent: nope!
[14:27]  Pixeleen Mistral: trouble is – SL population is flat or shrinking as far as I can tell
[14:28]  Pixeleen Mistral: so you might mess up the meta-game you have here

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

the party shrinks – but XDeth Absent lives on as XDeath Portal

[14:45] XDeath Portal: about time I get banned
[14:45]  XDeath Portal: that's more like it
[14:45]  XDeath Portal: btw, my name before was not spelled with a typo
[14:45]  XDeath Portal: I just like how "XDeth" looks the way it's spelled
[14:45]  Pixeleen Mistral: so an SL account ban …
[14:45]  XDeath Portal: yeah it's weirder it wasn't worse
[14:45]  Pixeleen Mistral: I don't think anyone AR'ed though
[14:46]  Pixeleen Mistral: I didn't anyway
[14:46]  XDeath Portal: well I did some griefing on my way here
[14:46]  XDeath Portal: I wanted to join  a group of "hitmen" and showed them my guns in a sandbox for kicks

another account bites the dust

[14:48]  XDeath Portal: and btw
[14:48]  XDeath Portal: the question about music?
[14:48]  XDeath Portal: it's called psychological warfare!
[14:48]  Pixeleen Mistral: oh – I guess that makes sense
[14:48]  XDeath Portal: what if you were stuck in a room forced to listen to these catchy tunes that will never leave your head?
[14:48]  XDeath Portal: I'd kill myself with relish.
[14:49]  XDeath Portal: Also, bearsy likes to listen to music while he works
[14:49]  Pixeleen Mistral: I always turn the music and sound on SL off and play my stereo in RL
[14:49]  Pixeleen Mistral: its much more immersive that way
[14:50]  XDeath Portal: I like to play a loop I made of myself screaming while I play SL.

as the party ends XDeath promises another classic griefing – but something goes wrong

[15:02]  Pixeleen Mistral: ok, the party is officially over now
[15:02]  Second Life: User not online – message will be stored and delivered later.
[15:05]  XDeath Portal: yes
[15:05]  XDeath Portal: yes it is.
[15:05]  XDeath Portal is Online
[15:06]  Pixeleen Mistral: it looks like you only crashed yourself on that one
[15:06]  Pixeleen Mistral: and the party is officially over now
[15:07]  XDeath Portal: is that what happened?
[15:07]  XDeath Portal: oh well
[15:07]  XDeath Portal: 1 out of 24 isn't bad
[15:07]  Pixeleen Mistral: yeah, Herald Alphaville and I watched you disappear, but we are still here
[15:08]  XDeath Portal: were you able to move and speak?
[15:08]  Pixeleen Mistral: it got a little sluggish but yes
[15:08]  XDeath Portal: what a terrible exit.
[15:08]  Pixeleen Mistral: or text chat anyway
[15:08]  XDeath Portal: I have failed…
[15:08]  Pixeleen Mistral: I have voice turned off
[15:08]  XDeath Portal: why would you turn off voice?
[15:09]  XDeath Portal: it's the greatest potential for lulz when griefing
[15:09]  XDeath Portal is Offline
[15:09]  Pixeleen Mistral: because it interferes with listening to Chinese Democracy and the Roots

After the party is the After Party – XDeath loses another account – returns as XDeath Admiral

[15:18]  XDeath Admiral: well you can add another ban to today's list
[15:18]  XDeath Admiral: man that sounded so gay pretend I didn't say that
[15:19]  Pixeleen Mistral: probably time to stop griefing greenies – LL is probably paying attention now
[15:19]  XDeath Admiral: yes they do that sometimes
[15:19]  XDeath Admiral: they notice when I use names like "XDeath" and such
[15:19]  XDeath Admiral: Destroyman gets banned just as fast
[15:20]  XDeath Admiral: but the fun in using the same name to grief over and over is it's a slap in the face to LL
[15:20]  Pixeleen Mistral: did you see that they ban all accounts named Tizzers?
[15:20]  Pixeleen Mistral: we did some stories on that a while ago
[15:21]  XDeath Admiral: yes I read about that
[15:21]  XDeath Admiral: hmmm
[15:21]  XDeath Admiral: I'm not at that level yet
[15:21]  XDeath Admiral: that's why I have to keep griefing!
[15:21]  Pixeleen Mistral: you have to keep score somehow
[15:21]  XDeath Admiral: very true
[15:22]  XDeath Admiral: hey have you heard anything about any active mafias lately?
[15:23]  Pixeleen Mistral: it has been very quiet on the mafia scene
[15:23]  Pixeleen Mistral: Nicholas mafia used to be making a lot of noise, but lately – nothing
[15:23]  XDeath Admiral: yes the nicholas mafia has been quiet lately
[15:24]  XDeath Admiral: I ask this because I've worked with a couple mafia families before
[15:24]  XDeath Admiral: but now the dons got banned and the families fell apart
[15:25]  XDeath Admiral: but my favorite part about it is the dons were banhammered after I had done some griefing for them that they asked me for through ims
[15:25]  XDeath Admiral: and every account I seeded my weapons too was terminated after that
[15:25]  XDeath Admiral: so I look for more mafias to see if I could wipe them out from the inside again
[15:25]  XDeath Admiral: like a fun sport, you know?