[MUD-Dev] Online Gamers become enemies in the Real World

[Rayzam]

From: "J C Lawrence" <claw at kanga.nu>
> On Sun, 6 Jul 2003 11:25:15 -0700
> rayzam  <rayzam at travellingbard.com> wrote:

>> In the Sunday, July 6th, newspaper, there's an associated press
>> article by Nick Wadhams.

>> I couldn't find a copy of it online. Here's a rough summary,
>> though read it if you're interested and can find it.

> Which paper?

San Diego Union-Tribune. But it was an Associated Press article in
the Nation section, so it should have had greater coverage. It is
now appearing on CNN's site:

  http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/fun.games/07/05/misbehaving.online.ap/index.html

<EdNote: Copy below>

--<cut>--
Sex, mob hits: Sims tests virtual morals

Saturday, July 5, 2003 Posted: 9:17 AM EDT (1317 GMT)

  <Image: Jeremy Chase, co founder of a group called the Sim Mafia,
  displays a pair of handcuffs.>

NEW YORK (AP) -- Jeremy Chase admits to shaking down his
enemies. His Web site advertises extortion, hits and prostitution
for a hefty fee.

Chase is a mob leader -- but only in the virtual world. He is one of
hundreds of players who found the path of lawlessness and deviance
too irresistible when "The Sims Online" challenged them to "Be
Somebody ... else."

The popular commercial game, where thousands of people interact
electronically, is turning into a petri dish of anti-social
behavior. And that's raising questions about whether limits on
conduct should be set in such emerging virtual worlds, even if they
are huge adult playpens.

"Games give people the opportunity to either do something they've
never had the ability to do before or allow them to do the stuff
they are too afraid to do in real life," said Chase, an unemployed,
self-described computer geek who lives in Sacramento,
California. "This is as close to the real-life mafia that I'm going
to be able to get."

All online games see their share of ne'er-do-wells, or "griefers."
In other games where violence is the norm and killing routine, thugs
delight in slaughtering the less powerful and stealing their loot.

But there are no guns in "Sims," made by Maxis, and it's impossible
to do serious harm to another player. That means griefers --
admittedly a small percentage of the game's 100,000 subscribers --
have to be devilishly creative in their social deviance.

Chase and others insist they're just role-playing like everyone else
in the game. But harassment can be a big deal in "Sims," which
resembles a neighborhood of virtual dollhouses where you build a
home and invite others to come over and play.

The game's raison d'etre is socializing; barely a half year old,
it's the biggest game yet whose rewards come from making friends and
being popular.

One mob tactic is gathering the foot-soldiers to stigmatize someone
else with several so-called "red links" -- a sort of demerit that
shows others how many enemies a player has.

For gamers who have spent hours building a reputation, red links can
be devastating. The platform may be virtual, but the attack isn't.

Simulated or real?

"It's only a game but the people operating those little animated
cartoons are real," said Holly Shevenock, a postal worker from
Harrisburg, Pennsylania.

Shevenock quit playing "Sims" because she was spending too much time
in it -- up to five hours a day. "If you're not careful, you begin
to play this game with your real emotions."

She and others said they knew several people who stopped playing or
reduced their time online because of groups that seemed intent on
harassment.

Psychologists who study online behavior say in-game spats and the
visceral responses to them aren't surprising. With simulations
becoming more lifelike, the line between real and fake is blurred.

"The more real you try to make these online worlds, the more the
problems are real-world problems," said John Suler, a Rider
University professor who specializes in the psychology of
cyberspace. "It's not always easy to contain this stuff in the
fantasy world."

The game's Terms of Service agreement tells players they cannot
"harass, threaten, embarrass, or do anything else to another Member
or guest that is unwarranted." They're also told, "The laws that
apply in the off-line world must be obeyed online as well."

Maxis gives warnings, terminates threads in message boards, suspends
players and in extreme cases, bans accounts. Chase himself endured a
three-day suspension for what he said was foul language.

"We have a very big hammer to wield when we have to," said Kyle
Brink, a Maxis associate producer.

But Maxis can't cover everything.

Real-world liability

Some players have reported online spats leaking out of the game
players have hacked into others' accounts, posed as acquaintances
and spread rumors about real people through instant messaging. Some
have even reported identity theft.

That puts far more pressure on game makers to begin cracking down in
earnest on gamers, experts say. It could lead to more real-world,
legal liability for both players and the companies that make the
games.

"We're going to be forced to create a whole new area of social
convention -- and probably law -- that reflects that kind of
behavior," said psychologist David Greenfield, founder of the Center
for Internet Studies and author of the book "Virtual Addiction."

"You can't produce something that's this potent or powerful
psychologically and not have some accountability for it," he said.

Piers Mathieson and his wife, Jennifer, are two more hardcore "Sims"
players. They log several hours most days.

After the Las Vegas couple distributed photos of themselves to
friends, one griefer hacked into Piers' America Online account and
stole his in-game character's possessions. Someone else posed as
Piers and told other players that Jennifer had died of cancer.

The Mathiesons may have been easy targets. Their character, Mia
Wallace, was the most popular in Alphaville, as one of the game's
servers, or cities, is known.

"You start having to question who your real friends are, who you can
trust, who you can't trust," Jennifer Mathieson said. "It also
paints a huge bulls-eye in your forehead."

The two are also founders of the Sim Shadow Government, a group
boasting 1,000 members dedicated to cracking down on griefers where
Maxis couldn't.

Though the Mathiesons say they dispense justice, their online
tactics can be just as rough. The couple say they have ransacked
apartments, sent out their "troops" to urinate on others' lawns and
once drove another player from the game.

Brink insists the griefers are a far less serious problem in "Sims"
than in other games because it has a different demographic, a lot of
women, people from all age groups, and "players who are looking to
build not destroy," he said. "This is a mature, social crowd as a
whole."

There are also many ways to block out people who bother you. Even
the players agree, after all, that there's no law against being
annoying.

"It reminds me of sales calls during dinner time," said Laura
Robinson, a student who lives in Philadelphia. "They always seem to
message at the wrong time, which in my case is always."
--<cut>--
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