OH NOEZ TEH MAFIAZ

Tonight I was sitting in my coffee bar, talking to Beryl Greenacre, setting up a repeater for the town hall meeting, when along comes a d00d that happened to be the leader of a group called the "Diablo Cartel".

Riiiight.

Anyways, he said his hellos, and he started talking big about being "different than everyone else in SL". When asked why, he simply pointed to an article featuring him in the SecondLife Herald (SL's finest tabloid... it's a fairly recent article).

The gist of the article (and the group's existence, apparently) is to go around "selling drugs" and "selling guns" to people in SL.

Riiiiight.


Anyhow, after we showed less-than-stellar enthusiasm, he tottered off. Beryl and I chatted for a bit longer, and then she logged. I noted my amusement in IRC, prompting a teleport for a fellow IRC idler. We sat down in my lovely yellow chairs in my home, and tried to watch the fellow.

While on my neighbor's land, he was fiddling with objects that must have been the "drugs" he was trying to sell -- non physical platforms that flew around, apparently. Around this time another member of his "mafia" comes by and they chat for a bit. My fellow IRC person pondered a course of action.

While thinking, a "rival" "mafia" (I love using quotes) member shows up. They have a few words. Then she teleports in some people. Then more. Then more. All of them are armed to the teeth. In a non-combat, PG-sim.

Riiiight.

By this time I'm laughing to myself, and my curiosity has spilled over into IMs to various friends and the IRC channel. Soon 2 lindens pop in, morbidly curious. A couple friends come in. And then some more IRC regulars filter into Grignano.

Grignano now has more people in it than it's ever had in it's 1 year existence.

One of the observers breaks the ice by openly mocking the assembled, trash-talking mafia group. Then everyone sits on the awnings and the rooftop of the building they were assembling in, basically heckling them.

And so it continued for about 15 minutes. The Mafia tried to ignore us all, but when you outnumber a group 3 to 1, it's hard to ignore so many catcalls :)

After ten or so minutes of the mafias calling each other names (as best they could... they had a VERY funny limitation on what they could say, simply because they were in a PG sim... maybe the two lindens circling overhead had something to do with it), the crowd got bored and dispersed. And so did the Mafia.

Wow, what a hoot. Two drug dealers get called pansies for being in a PG sim by another mafia. Then both mafias are ridiculed to the point of impotence by the assembled peanut gallery.

I must ask, what the hell is the point of these mafia groups anyways? You're playing pretend with pretend guns and prancing around like those "gangstas" you see in the "movies". Nevermind the fact that organized crime has very few rules, are ruthless, and aren't usually very friendly. No, all of these kids come in and have themselves a good ol' time playing shootup until their accounts are banned for griefing or being underage.

When's the Teen grid starting up again?

LF

This is quality. Thanks go to Marcos Fonzerelli for the good work. :D

Linkie

The skype type....

Folks in SL love to communicate. From IMs and chat groups to IRC channels, Nexcom cell phones, and external instant messenger programs, the SL residents at large are practically gossip queens.

A lot of folks also take a liking to voice chats.. in lieu of Linden Labs implementing a decent voice chat system any time soon (not until after version 2.0), some have taken it upon themselves to find other means of communication. Some have setup dedicated SL Teamspeak servers. Many others use Skype, which is a very good Internet telephony program.

I dunno.

For me, talking on the phone or through a chintzy PC microphone is a rough ordeal. What do I say? How do I say it? Am I mumbling? Is the connection good? Am I too far away from the mic? Too close? Can I listen to music too? Should I be paying more attention to the typing folks in SL, my building, or the people in my headphones?

I'm a rather shy person, believe it or not. Behind the endless parade of wordy malaprops in the forums, I tend to keep to myself. I sell silly consumer electronics stuff all day, usually to angry consumer whores, and when I come home I just don't want to have a fireside chat. Usually.

There's only one person that I've talked to on skype that makes me actually WANT to use skype. I dunno how she does it, but she can pull you into a conversation of hers regardless of your mood or vocal aptitude. She can orchestrate voice conferences with the skill of a seasoned conductor. She talks extremely eloquently, full of verbosity and wit, and is so damned energetic, even when she's exhausted, that you can't help but get sucked into her enthusiasm.

So, if you ever want a good chatting partner, launa's your gal. :P

Just be prepared to spend the next couple of hours on the horn. At least.

*drinks a beer in honor of Launa*

LF