Nuclear Detonation: Latest Scene from the Class Struggle in Second Life
Nuclear Detonation: Latest Scene from the Class Struggle in Second Life
February 26, 2007
Is it virtual terrorism, or just part of the game?The Los Angeles Times reports on growing tensions in the popular Second Life MMO as old school inhabitants confront with an influx of new players and corporate inhabitants.
One angry player decided to express his frustration by detonating a vitual nuke:
Like any pioneer, Marshal Cahill arrived in a new world curious and eager to sample its diversions. Over time, though, he saw an elite few grabbing more than their share. They bought up all the plum real estate. They awarded building contracts to friends. They stifled free speech.
Cahill saw a bleak future, but he felt powerless to stop them. So he detonated an atomic bomb outside an American Apparel outlet. Then another outside a Reebok store.
Cahill is described as the political officer for the Second Life Liberation Army, which maintains its own website. The SLLA is pressuring Second Life publisher Linden Lab to give residents greater say in how the game operates.
The recent nuclear detonations were only the latest act of defiance by SLLA members. In 2006 they shot customers outside American Apparel and Reebok stores - in the game, of course. No one got hurt, but the virtual shootings and nukings do have the effect of disrupting the user experience.
Said University of Michigan professor - and Second Life resident - Peter Ludlow:
The utopian age has passed. You're seeing these little indigenous communities and fantastical creatures being forced out by 20th century corporations coming in.
Added frustrated SL player Catherine Fitzpatrick:
One day, the elves were banging on their drums and making elf tunics. And the next thing you know, Nissan comes in and starts giving away free cars.
A PUBLICATION OF THE ECA
SUBSCRIBE
LOGINGamePolitics ShoutBox
Posted 09/05/08 at 06:11am
Flamespeak: Jade from Beyond Good and Evil is a good one. Too bad it didn't sell too good. Here's to the sequel.
Flamespeak: Jade from Beyond Good and Evil is a good one. Too bad it didn't sell too good. Here's to the sequel.
Posted 09/05/08 at 06:10am
Flamespeak: Lara Croft = Sex object, Fat Princess = making fun of overweight women, Cooking Mama = women belong in kitchen.
Flamespeak: Lara Croft = Sex object, Fat Princess = making fun of overweight women, Cooking Mama = women belong in kitchen.
Posted 09/05/08 at 06:09am
Flamespeak: You can't please feminists with any representation of women in video games, it seems.
Flamespeak: You can't please feminists with any representation of women in video games, it seems.
Posted 09/05/08 at 05:47am
gamepolitics: he works on his crusade from home. I expect he will be disbarred, but will continue his crusade
gamepolitics: he works on his crusade from home. I expect he will be disbarred, but will continue his crusade
Posted 09/05/08 at 05:46am
gamepolitics: I'm surprised people are taking that story so seriously... one of those oddball things. my choice of graphic is my commentary
gamepolitics: I'm surprised people are taking that story so seriously... one of those oddball things. my choice of graphic is my commentary
Posted 09/05/08 at 01:50am
Flamespeak: To be fair, if you dismiss video games as contributors to violence in youth, it is hypocritical to say they cause heroism.
Flamespeak: To be fair, if you dismiss video games as contributors to violence in youth, it is hypocritical to say they cause heroism.
Posted 09/04/08 at 09:21pm
Tarosan: @gamepolitics has he actually lost his job or is on the verge of being disgraced forever?
Tarosan: @gamepolitics has he actually lost his job or is on the verge of being disgraced forever?
Posted 09/04/08 at 09:21pm
HalfShadow: If either of you waste good music on him, I swear I will kill you.
HalfShadow: If either of you waste good music on him, I swear I will kill you.
Posted 09/04/08 at 09:19pm
Tarosan: I shall blare out "We are Champions" as soon as he gets sacked and post a celebration video on Youtube :P
Tarosan: I shall blare out "We are Champions" as soon as he gets sacked and post a celebration video on Youtube :P
Posted 09/04/08 at 07:45pm
King of Fiji: @Austin: Go try "I'm Going Slightly Mad" it describes Jack 's mind greatly. xD
King of Fiji: @Austin: Go try "I'm Going Slightly Mad" it describes Jack 's mind greatly. xD
Posted 09/04/08 at 07:25pm
Austin_Lewis: @King and Grizzam: I'm going to stand on my mansion's front porch with my Les Paul and Marshall half stack and play both.
Austin_Lewis: @King and Grizzam: I'm going to stand on my mansion's front porch with my Les Paul and Marshall half stack and play both.
Posted 09/04/08 at 07:17pm
ZippyDSMlee: gamepolitics: loseign the bar dose. mostly, hecan still sit in with other lawyers tho..
ZippyDSMlee: gamepolitics: loseign the bar dose. mostly, hecan still sit in with other lawyers tho..
Posted 09/04/08 at 06:51pm
gamepolitics: He has no job to lose...
gamepolitics: He has no job to lose...
Posted 09/04/08 at 06:16pm
King of Fiji: @GRIZZAM PRIME: Instead of the standard "We Are the Champions" might I suggest trying "Hammer to Fall" instead? :D
King of Fiji: @GRIZZAM PRIME: Instead of the standard "We Are the Champions" might I suggest trying "Hammer to Fall" instead? :D
Posted 09/04/08 at 05:49pm
GRIZZAM PRIME: Jack's disbarment...I already have the giant speakers and the Queen CD rigged up...
GRIZZAM PRIME: Jack's disbarment...I already have the giant speakers and the Queen CD rigged up...
Posted 09/04/08 at 04:40pm
Tarosan: I'm hoping Jack loses his job in two weeks... the stupidity in his posts is just well DUMB
Tarosan: I'm hoping Jack loses his job in two weeks... the stupidity in his posts is just well DUMB
Posted 09/04/08 at 03:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: Bannign is stupid,but regulating things for the use by the..er.. "mature" is not so bad.
ZippyDSMlee: Bannign is stupid,but regulating things for the use by the..er.. "mature" is not so bad.
Posted 09/04/08 at 03:01pm
ZippyDSMlee: SimonBob:and if he was drunk he would be a bad shot, at least at range(8+feet). 20+ proof needs to be reserved for 25ish+ year old while 5-12% beer and wine be approved for 18+.
ZippyDSMlee: SimonBob:and if he was drunk he would be a bad shot, at least at range(8+feet). 20+ proof needs to be reserved for 25ish+ year old while 5-12% beer and wine be approved for 18+.
Posted 09/04/08 at 02:59pm
ZippyDSMlee: SimonBob: why? a 6 pack or 2 would be enough to get anyone drunk, theres no point is banning the harder stuff. sipping the harder stuff in small shot glasses having about. 15oz of it is alot better than drinking 10 12oz cans in a row..... and if he wa
ZippyDSMlee: SimonBob: why? a 6 pack or 2 would be enough to get anyone drunk, theres no point is banning the harder stuff. sipping the harder stuff in small shot glasses having about. 15oz of it is alot better than drinking 10 12oz cans in a row..... and if he wa
Posted 09/04/08 at 02:53pm
SimonBob: You guys suck at this. The article says Gill drank "2 to 7 drinks a day, including the day of the shooting" and not one of you
SimonBob: You guys suck at this. The article says Gill drank "2 to 7 drinks a day, including the day of the shooting" and not one of you
Copyright © 2007 ECA. All rights reserved.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
A nuke, huh? Now I'm almost considering getting an account just so I can make an Orbital Particle Cannon of Doom script.
Agreed. The problem is that it is a catch 22 situation, it is a cycle that media consistently passes through, in fact, I'd almost say it's a defining factor of popular media. The cycle works something like...
1. New idea is created.
2. People discover and spread new idea as something different.
3. New Idea is commercialised.
4. Idea is now just another mainstream commercial product with associated Junk mail, Club Card and prolific advertising.
5. Return to 1.
Anytime anything interesting happens in SL, Linden Lab sends out press releases to all of their media tools to make sure they get as much publicity out of it as possible. This isn't politics in games, this is free marketing hype.
LL should be paying GP for this article.
Virtual oppression and virtual terrorism? What's next? Virtual divorce court and virtual custody suits if someone virtually adopts one of the younger residents? What is the virtual world coming to??? I thought that the whole point was for it to BETTER than this one...not just some crappy knockoff that you have to pay monthly fees for.
Losers.
Ever.
"better because it's politically motivated"- So, it's ok to behave like an immature jack@$$ if you're doing so for "The Cause"?
i....
....
wtf. o_O
I hope it doesn't come to that in this situation. Weapons of Mass Destruction are bad enough, the last thing needed would be Weapons of Mass Ejaculation.
...
Incidently, I did see a homage to the Phlying-Phallus incident playing out at Rainbow Tiger Canyon. I laughed hard.
Foundation's Edge anyone?
The best you can do is find a niche community and stick with them and only them.
If you like to shop, you'd better pump money into the game because the economy is retarded. If you like to roleplay, well you'll probably end up in a Gorean RP area where it's pretty much a BDSM heavy Lord of the Rings (I shit you not).
If you just want to shoot people, well you're in luck. there's freebie weapons and crap all over the place and then you just head to a weapons sandbox and go crazy.
The only redeeming quality of the game is building.
I'll tell you now, the worst a nuke could do is lag some people who are trying to walk around. If it was really bad the sim (chunk of land) would crash for a few minutes and come back. On very rare cases will a sim crash cause any damage at all. Maybe a few objects will be gone but they can be respawned.
And, frankly, I hate hipsters with the Fires Of a Thousand Suns (tm).
Isnt that cool though? On one side you have the elitest players that are unfair to everyone else, and on the other side, the rebels!! So cooooool!!!
At least you can do something about it though. How often are you treated unfairly on forums and other areas that have elitests in them? Now you get to fight back.
Viva La Reistance!
People need to remember that a 'Nuke' in Second Life is purely a collection of instructions, it's not a real explosive device or anything like that. Yes, it seems extreme, but you can be certain that the four letters n-u-k-e will attract far more attention than it ought to.
What this person did is an act of disruption bought about by frustration, and some would argue that the frustration, at least, is valid, but describing what this person did as a 'Nuke' in official news sources is more or less the same as describing a computer virus as 'The next bubonic plague', it's a great sound-bite, but, strictly speaking, it could never be true.
I must say that Linden Labs are playing their marketing card very well lately, since a lot of the media is falling all over it. I also think that this "game" will eventually lead to taxation of in-game money. I certainly hope that the IRS or whatever organization will realize the difference between games such as SL and EQ, DAoC, WoW, etc. They can't allow to miss out on tax money forever. There are plenty of people who make money through games only but yet they don't pay any taxes. Eventhough taxes can be annoying, they are a necessary evil and everyone who makes money has to pay his/her share.
...
I mean. If someone in a major city had an obcenely powerful spotlight. That would be the equivilent to what happened.
You need to get a sense of perspective. Screwing around in an online game isn't terrorism. At the worst, it's griefing.
It is terrorism, that isn't too strong of a word. The only reason you don't see it as terrorism is because people aren't dying, but the goal of these people is to cause terror. You said it is “better because it’s politically motivated", but you do realize that is what terrorism is all about? I find it surprising how many people do not really understand what terrorism is (not that you don't, I'm just stating a feeling here). Those same people are the ones who actually think we can win the "war agaisnt terror". That is so silly. I saw someone mention V for Vendetta in these comments earlier, and while that may be a movie or comic, depending on who you are and what you like more, there is a good point in it. Terrorism, for good or bad (yea i said good, it is a prespective thing, depending what side of the terror you're on) it is an idea. And you can never kill an idea. So as long as people are around, you'll have terrorism. So I am not surprised this is appearing in SL. But hey....SL sucks...so whatever :)
I can just see it now... A nuke goes off in the city and the SLLA claims responsibility. The game admins respond by getting out the SWAT skins, shields, tear gas and automatic weapons in order to storm the SLLA headquarters...
At that moment she felt the proof of his rampant passion against her milky thighs...
Stockholm was awsome! The coach of the Netherlands snowboard team is Swedish and from Stockholm.
Post new comment