Meet Mr-President of “The Alphaville Government”
by Alphaville Herald on 08/02/04 at 10:40 am
By: The Teflon Cambridge Don
With all the bad things covered in the Alphaville Herald in recent times, I approached the publisher and challenged him to present something positive for us to read for a change. That’s when he offered me a job as a reporter. This is my first story with the AV Herald and hopefully will not be my last. I may not always report on the good stuff, but I will always try to present the facts clearly so people may make up their own minds. If you call someone a name in one of my stories, you had better have a good reason to back it up if you want me to consider writing it. For my first piece I spent some time with the President of The Alphaville Government. I got his take on the state of affairs in Alphaville, as well as his stance on various in-game politics. If you’re a role-player you’ll especially enjoy this story. The Alphaville Government is the largest role-playing group in game that I have found. With that said, enjoy the story.
With the fall of the Sim Shadow Government and some new player groups coming out of the woodwork as a result, I stumbled across the Alphaville Government’s website which went live in January of this year. I contacted the President (Mr-President) and asked him a few preliminary questions, when did you start, etc. I found him to be a pleasant man who takes pride in his work and a hard day’s reward. From there the interview was set.
We met in the Oval Office and security was tight for the meeting via property settings. While he claims to have at least 18 members strong in his secret service group, the organization designed to protect the President and national security, there was not a single member of the Secret Service present during my time with the President. When I asked him about this he laughed and said, “Well it’s supposed to be a ‘secret’. If you don’t know they’re Secret Service- they’re doing a good job.”
When asked about how the Alphaville Government formed he was quick to reply, as he should since he was a ‘founding father’ of the AV Gov as he labels himself. “We began in April 2003. We have small roots, very small. I’d say around 6 or 7 ‘founding fathers’ if you will. We didn’t have a website when we first began. People started hearing about us through others. We didn’t have a lot of money either, but what we did have we loaned to those who were scammed out of theirs. But the more people that we helped, the more heard about us. We started out as an organization to warn and prevent other Sims from scammers and such, but we’re doing much more now since we’ve expanded. So much so, that me and my friends were having a hard time doing all the work ourselves.”
At this point the President excuses himself to take an urgent IM in regards to some military activity with one of the local Mafias, turning out later to be the Armone Family. When the President returned, and I found out what happened, I asked him about his status with the Armone Family and he said that there had been a miscommunication between the two groups. Tags had been thrown on both sides as a result. Although the President maintains that the Armone Family is not an enemy of the AV Gov, this reporter has heard from various sources within the AV Gov that the President is not happy with the Armone Family and their current antics. When asked about the Mafia situation in Alphaville he quickly replied, “We are anti-harassment. We’ve never been anti-Mafia. We never will be. Mafias have just as much right to be here as we do. But don’t get me wrong; if a member happens to break a law, we’ll take appropriate action against the individual, not the entire Mafia. You’ll find out that most families aren’t bad; there are just certain members with alternate motives. Then it’s those certain ‘bad eggs’ that give the entire Mafia a bad name.”
When asked if he had any examples of bad eggs the President refused comment. I asked him if he feared for his Sims life or was just concerned his secret service couldn’t protect him. He laughed and replied, “Still no comment.” He then paused for a moment and said, “Well, wait. There’s one recent one. I’m a man of trust. I believe trust is the foundation of a good relationship. A couple of days ago, I met with the Godfather of a certain family. Things went smooth, we shared opinions, and where we stand. So as I left, we were in good standing with one another. Well, the next day ‘Silver-Bullet’ asks me to come to his property. I wasn’t busy at the time, so I agreed, asking what the reason was. He said he wanted to talk on behalf of the family, the family that I met with the previous day. I asked him if I was safe to land, you know- a ‘Tag Free’ environment. He said ‘Yes’. Well, I was tagged on landing. He didn’t tell me the reason. I’m not mad that he tagged me. I’m angry at the fact that he used the family name to get me to go there. That’s the kind of ‘bad eggs’ I’m talking about.” It turns out that Silver-Bullet works for the Armone Family who has been recently accused by other players and groups of not being able to control their members.
We both adjourn to green and sit down to lunch. As we ate, I asked the President how he is able to enforce the law in a society that has clearly rejected attempts by other players to control the status quo. The President simply said, “Well, the Alphaville Government is totally voluntary. We will not and promise not to force anything on anyone. Everyone agreed to the TOS and Player Code of Conduct when they signed up to play TSO. Usually people are willing to be taken to court, and put through the justice system. Also, a lot of the times, things will get set back the right way (scammer gives money/object/lot back to the victim). That’s what we want to see. But, as you may know, things don’t always work like that. We’ve received comments like ‘Kiss my ass’’ and ‘You’re not my MOMI’ or ‘I’ll do whatever I want.’ We encourage you to do whatever you want. That’s what we’re based on. Freedom. As long as you’re not interfering with another Sim’s fun and happiness or their rights according to the TOS. With the Sims that just blow us off and not willing to stop scamming, we have no choice but to enemy link them for warning purposes only. So when a Sim tries another scam, their would-be victim would see our tag, and think twice about the trade. Let me make this clear also, the AVG will never use an enemy link for any other reason than to warn others of a ‘criminal’.” After greening we went back to the oval office where we continued the interview.
Even though the Alphaville Government is limited to the jurisdiction of Alphaville, they have over 100 active participants according the documentation that was shown to me. That is not including people with multiple accounts or those undercover doing covert operations, according to the President’s record keeper. The group has several branches including military, CIA, police and judicial forces. The President himself is coming up on his possible second term in office and is starting to hit the campaign trail, which may be why he skirted some of the questions asked as that’s what most politicians do best: Give the safe answer.
Each term is one year in length and the president is working on an official voting site to be handled by an outside consultant so that there is no concern of ballot rigging or ballot tab problems (sorry Florida). There is only one requirement to run as President, you must be 125 days old and reside in the city of Alphaville. Until the official voting site is up and running, those interested in running need to go to the AV Gov’s website to sign up as a candidate. Mr-President’s term ends April 30th and a new President may be sworn in. When asked what he will do if he voted out of what he helped create he sighed and said, “I’m an elected President. Granted it was a small election to determine who would lead the Alphaville Government in its early stages, but it was an election nonetheless. If things don’t happen to go my way, I would definitely have to change my name as I only changed it to Mr-President once elected. If I didn’t resume a responsibility in the Alphaville Government, I’ve always wanted to own and operate a hotel or successful skill house, but I intend on winning.” I ended the interview by asking him how he felt about the state of affairs in Alphaville and he replied with one sentence that this reporter happens to agree with, “Alphaville has always been a strong, lively and happy city nothing could dampen its spirit.”
Simon
Feb 8th, 2004
gee,, it doesnt sound like he was 125 days old when he started, he broke his own rules!
toy
Feb 8th, 2004
~wonders how one would vote and make sure any election in AV would be honest~ hehehehe
~can see it now……. “Trust Me I won the election”
toy
Dyerbrook
Feb 8th, 2004
I found this hilarious “的’m an elected President. Granted it was a small election to determine who would lead the Alphaville Government in its early stages, but it was an election nonetheless.” I’ll say! So what you have is not a “government” amigo, but a revolutionary junta. Congratulations on duplicating in the virtual world the experiences of Lenin and Castro, with the same benefits for the disenfranchised. Heavy on the security, hmmm?
Whenever kids get together to form governments, they always forgot to think about constituent assemblies or constitutional assemblies. I guess because they don’t teach this in American schools or many not any more, I don’t know. You know, things like parliamentary procedure, the rules of congresses and assemblies, the ideas of how you start to make a government out of nothing or out of a lot of anarchic chaos. You don’t start with the president, you end with one. This is a very long discussion. But proof the illegitimacy of these “governments” is the heavy presence of security details, the feeling they are under siege, and their military adventures. They are surrounded by hostile forces, and no accident, comrade, it’s because they are illegitimate.
I visited this lot once because I thought it would be interesting to see if anybody really started anything worthwhile in the wake of the strategic retreat/AKA “demise” of the SSG. Um, I guess they did not. A bunch of kids were fooling around. There was a girl that seemed to bear some resemblance to what we call in Russian a “sekritutka” (a secretary who got her job by willing to serve as a “prostitutka” doubling as the boss’ girlfriend–would you call it “secritute” in English?) Forgive me if she wasn’t that, it just seemed like she was the prez’s main gal pal. Next, there were people killing each other. It was reported that the CIA director was dead. Why? He electrocuted himself or something, but it was a RP assasination, I guess. There was an awful lot of security, an awful lot of numbers used for government-issue IDs, and a lot of hocus pocus when an interested citizen asked about voting, elections, legitimacy, and whether there was even some kind of complaint office LOL.
Sensing that it was better to neutralize these kinds of pesky citizens, who also happen to lead liberation partisan movements LOL, the president deigned to receive me in his luxurious suite, with a VP-cum-bodyguard or some other house dick in evidence. The conversation was polite. Anyone with some sign of intelligence and refusal to tag as an MO could get a conversation going (me). We talked, I assured them they were illegitimate, and I lit their fireplace in an act of partisan defiance, according to the code of the Lightsavers. I retreated to my lot ,and got visits from about 100 kids after that peering in to see if there was anybody besides me and a few pooltable-greening friends visible in the underground movement. They tagged me, and printed blasphemy about me supposedly screwing somebody out of $300,000, although of course I’ve never held much more than $30,000 in my grimy little Sim hands. When I told them they shouldn’t spread lies or they’d be getting lots of lamps lit, they deleted the balloon. They stopped visiting, and my place on the top 100 dipped below 25 again LOL. So much for the AV Government LOL.
Mr-President
Feb 8th, 2004
Dyerbrook.
You do not make any sense. We’re not forcing anyone to do anything. We are an organization to help prevent scamming, among other things, and we role play the organization as a government.
I remember you. You came in screaming about the ‘Lightsavers Liberation Partisan Movement.’ You were preaching freedom gameplay. How can you preach freedom to play how you want, when all you were doing was telling us what to do?
Next time before you go somewhere and start criticizing, do your homework ‘comrade’. Make educated statements. Also, please don’t forget that this is a game.
To everyone else that understands where we stand: Thank you for your continued support!
JC Soprano
Feb 8th, 2004
Dyre,
WTF man? You ever got anything nice to say? This isn’t BDSM. lol
JC Soprano
http://www.thesimmafia.com
Dyerbrook
Feb 8th, 2004
Oh, crap “Mr. President.” I didn’t come in screaming. That misrepresents the story. I left, after being on your lot for ages, watching all kinds of silly goings-on, watching you be AFK and the CIA guy get electrocuted, and talking to you and that VP for at least 15-20 minutes. I only typed in lower-case (not screamed in uppercase) the Lightsavers thing at the end when it seemed obvious that you were oblivious to any arguments about your illegitimacy.
I didn’t tell you what to do, duh. My, you’re silly. I don’t care if you want to RP and have a silly “government”. I merely pointed out that you *were not elected* duh. Now, telling silly, illegitimate “governments” that they were not elected and have no legitimacy is suddenly the same thing as telling them they can’t play, or telling them how to play? Does any other sane, rational adult see how silly this is?
Oh, dear. Yet another cult telling us to “do our homework” and “mind our manners”. We’re all *automatically* in the wrong because we didn’t understand their silly, arcane rules. I visited your site. I visited your lot. I drew my conclusions. You aren’t legitimate. You are merely a revolutionary junta. Go away.
Dyerbrook
Feb 8th, 2004
Well, gee, JC, I gave you a prop on some other thread, but W/E, NM.
JC Soprano
Feb 8th, 2004
Sorry Dyre lol I couldn’t resist man, as for the props, I must have missed it. Your posts are very long and I tend to skim them lol.
JC Soprnao
http://www.thesimmafia.com
Polie Bear
Feb 8th, 2004
I have also been to their website, and even talked to Mr-President. To me, it seems they have something against other governments, and people who do not agree with them.
I think Mr-President thinks it is all about him. He says he supports “freedom,” but when you tag him, you get many tags back. Usually saying things such as “SCAMMER DO NOT TRUST” or whatever. Even to the point of harassing others on profiles. Anti-harassment? I think not.
And what about this “law?” The only laws I follow are with the real government and MOMI. I think the FBI, CIA, AVPD, SWAT, etc. are a big fat joke.
Not only that, but, everyone will LOVE this, but they sent their Mafia (yes Mafia) to tag someone else starting their own government! I admit, the website did sound like Van, but for all we know, it might be a joke. Seems like a Mafia to me.
I really doubt this is a government about freedom. More like a government that trys to control everyone.
I will now prepare to be tagged for having thoughts.
Mr-President
Feb 9th, 2004
**Not only that, but, everyone will LOVE this, but they sent their Mafia (yes Mafia) to tag someone else starting their own government!**
Polie Bear.
Please take the time to find out what’s really going on.
Storm
Feb 9th, 2004
Uhm reporter, please get the facts straight. Number one the “armone” family did not attack first, but we were hit by Karim of AVG because we started to grow fast. In return we attacked.
Very simple
Storm
Teflon 'Cambridge' Don
Feb 9th, 2004
Maybe you should re-read the story before you tell me to get the facts straight. No one was accused of attacking anyone first.
“I asked him about his status with the Armone Family and he said that there had been a miscommunication between the two groups. Tags had been thrown on both sides as a result”
Teflon 'Cambridge' Don
Feb 9th, 2004
Oh ya, where is your #2 (you had said, number one)?
Maria LaVeaux
Feb 9th, 2004
Dyer:
“Oh, dear. Yet another cult telling us to “do our homework” and “mind our manners”. We’re all *automatically* in the wrong because we didn’t understand their silly, arcane rules. I visited your site. I visited your lot. I drew my conclusions. You aren’t legitimate. You are merely a revolutionary junta. Go away.”
I shouldn’t worry too much Mr. President, Dyer tends to use this description about everyone at one time or another. You aren’t playing according to his rules so this is his solution. He CAN be reasonable at times but you have to get past this part first.
As for the AVG. Some members have dropped in from time to time at my home, or the home of friends. They are polite, and they usually have a relaxed time before moving on to explore other places. They have expressed no real interest in us, either as a source of entertainment or as a potential problem. If they are some sort of group Enforcing it’s will on others, i have seen no evidence of it.
I tend more to agree with the “Rotton Egg” theory. Every community gets Hangers on who wish to use the group identity to cause trouble. We have them, the Mafia’s have them, and i am sure that the AVG will get them also (Though this being an “Election year”, we are not likely to hear of them. Lol)
Have fun, and try to ignore the people who want to make more out of your “Role play” than it is.
Maria.
Fans
Feb 9th, 2004
If you dont have anything nice to say put a sock in it! And plus you dont have to abide by the AVG but you can if you would like too.
Jinjo
Feb 9th, 2004
“but when you tag him, you get many tags back” – Polie bear. Well I must disagree with you polie. When I tagged mr.president due to a misunderstanding he never once retaliated against me. I didnt get a single tag from AVG. Mr.President is a great guy who only wants to add a little fun to the game. Why do people want to ruin this?
JC Soprano
Feb 9th, 2004
Jinjo, same thing can be said about your family. (ruining)
JC Soprano
http://www.thesimmafia.com
Fans
Feb 10th, 2004
Ok First off I Mr-President should be happy I eletroucted myself because I was dead fooling around becase I had nothing else to do then WALA Mr Hugs comes in I get serious and SNAP I tag him. He thought he was sooo slick comming in dead..Ghost can tag ghost. LOL He was so upset. So dont be mad that I killed myself I am the only person in the whole AVG that tagged Mr Hugs. This is how I became Director of the CIA which I will always adore this postion.
Fans
Feb 10th, 2004
Oh yea Jinjo I am a somewhat protector of Mr-Presidnet and protect him at all cost and when I see someone who hates him and has tagged him I need to tag back. Mr-Presidnet is my friend and I care about him and protect him.
Mr-President
Feb 10th, 2004
Just to clear up what Fans is saying..
Fans tagging Mr-Hugs was a personal thing, and not on behalf of the entire AVG. Fans knows that I’m a good guy, and when he sees someone ‘tag’ me for no apparent reason, other than to ‘tag’, he gets a little upset. If someone were to land a ‘tag’ on me, I wouldn’t send out the forces, lol.
Also, if someone were speak against us, that’s perfectly okay too. Just make sure you have all the facts so that you can make valid arguments.
Fans
Feb 10th, 2004
Excatly. I was never ordered to tag him. It was person because I felt like Mr-President did nothing and wanted to get him back for harming my friend.
Cocoanut
Feb 11th, 2004
This is a game, and if anyone wants to be the government, they don’t have to be elected to do it; they get to be the government, and if they do a good job of being the government, they last as the government, and their part of the game is successful. There is no rule that there can’t be more than one government.
This is a game, and if we want to be the Game Show Channel, we don’t have to be licensed by the FCC or even the FSCC to do it; we get to be the Game Show Channel, and if we do a good job of being the Game Show Channel, we last as the Game Show Channel, and our part of the game is successful. There is no rule that there can’t be more than one game show lot.
This is a game, and if Veelo wants to be King of the Universe, he doesn’t have to be appointed King of the Universe; he gets to be King of the Universe, and if he does a good job of being King of the Universe, he lasts as King of the Universe, and his part of the game is successful. There is no rule that there can’t be more than one King of the Universe.
Participation in any of these parts of the game by any Sim is purely voluntary. These parts do, however, serve the Sim population that wants to participate in them, and the game is richer for it.
Alphaville needs a government entity – both as role-playing and for providing civic services to the city. If Mr. President et. al do a good job of it, and provide services to us, I’m all for them.
By the way, I find myself agreeing completely with Maria just a whole lot of the time.
coco
Maria LaVeaux
Feb 11th, 2004
~Maria Turns to Coco, and gives a smile and a polite Bow~
There is a great deal of truth in the things you say as well chere, and even when we Disagree, it is a pleasure, because it is done with respect.
Far too many people DO take things in TSO too seriously. As was pointed out in the Diary of a Newbie thread the lack of Fantasy trappings in TSO, it’s Real Life Simulation framework Does seem to make people think the Game should be as close to reality as reality it’s self. I for one, enjoy the relative freedom given by the Unreality of the whole thing.
Mr. President, and his people don’t seem to me to be griefers (And i am more or less compelled to point out that the one person who seems to have the greatest objection to the AVG Sought them out, they didn’t go looking for him and when Problems did occur, he, by his own admission was the instigator), they haven’t tried to FORCE my compliance with their Governmental body So, This little Domme is content to exist along side them, or even meet with them if they like, and just have a Good time. After all, Meeting People and “Being Somebody Else” is what this game is really about.
Maria.
Lady Julianna
Feb 12th, 2004
Dyer was preaching freedom gameplay? Now that is funny, considering his history.
Coco, I agree with your comments 100%. In this game we can choose to be whoever we want and role play it to the hilt.
Julianna is a part of the real me, and in the game I can unleash her and set that part of me free. Of course I do so being very aware of other sims, the very real people and hearts behind them, and I am careful not to hurt those dear hearts.
I met Mr. President, found him to be a reasonable man, and I have no problem co-existing with him.
Mr. President, have fun and play your way. Don’t mind Dyer. He exists not to build or create anything himself. He lives to criticize others and try to destroy. He is an unimportant bigot.
Hugs to Maria, my dear friend.
Lady Julianna
Feb 12th, 2004
Correction. Perhaps Dyer is not a bigot. Here he appears to hate everyone equally, lol. He is just a hater.
Peter Soprano
Feb 15th, 2004
U got my vote!
toy
Feb 18th, 2004
toy enjoyed your visit to our home this evening Mr President and would gladly support you
toy
Maria LaVeaux
Feb 18th, 2004
Mr. President dropped in to my home last night. He, toy and myself had a Lovely discussion regarding modern literature. Far from being the Power Hungry Griefer that one here Unnamed would paint him, Mr. President is a Charming and Intelligent Guest, and i would welcome him back. AND, If these Elections DO become wide spread, i Really see the potential for fun (As long as people keep to the Tongue-in-cheek attitude).
He did comment that he likes the Rose Thorn Gardens because the people are always so friendy. I don’t know if that was campaign talk, but it is always nice to hear compliments about ones Peers.
As i said before, Have Fun Chere.
Maria.
jb
Mar 14th, 2004
What a bunch of nerds