Fighting Fire with Lanterns

The online sensation known as Second Life offers beautiful landscapes where players customize their avatars and explore this vast virtual world as well as participate in a variety of activities. This grants users a place to live out their wildest, most creative fantasies or can be a place to relax, and socialize with whomever they please. Though many people would agree that this world is one giant privilege, others are compelled to abuse the system and stomp out any dream they can. With nightmares running wild, virtual crime such as vandalism, unofficial escort services, and player harassment are just a few examples of what can take place in the shadows of SL. With so much to offer, this world has so much potential for evil to takeover.

One of Second Life’s well-known peacekeepers, GreenLantern Excelsior, takes matters into his own hands by shining light in the darkest, coldest corners of this massive community. Even when the naughtiest of avatars try to run, they mysteriously trip, and find themselves face down with a mouth full of rulebook. By choosing to devote his second life to preserve virtual peace, GreenLantern is a rare breed among SL residents and a role model who may be the first person to welcome you and show you around SL. Having the opportunity to interview GreenLantern gave me a taste of his role in the world and the delinquencies he has encountered in the past.

"My focus is helping people... one of the best ways I know of to help people is to report the griefers who are causing them problems."

How can these efforts go unappreciated? With so many ways for griefers to master their evil tactics on good players for hours on end, it is unfortunate that the inventory to retaliate is much smaller. I have learned that when you have a social society, real or virtual, that the people involved will naturally organize themselves into segregated areas. Some spaces may be more crude than others appear and tend to be filled with many self-centered and unattractive characters; just as real cities have their bad neighborhoods.

"I had a guy try to sell me drugs in SL once. I just laughed at him, because I couldn't imagine how that would work... I haven't seen any underground gambling although I've heard rumors that it's still around. There are "escorts" to be found in many places. That's not illegal if it's between two consenting adults, and there's all kinds of role play that people enjoy which isn't criminal here. Vandalism happens almost every day when someone fills a sandbox with replicating cubes. I suppose the gambling and the escort services could benefit people in the real world, but I don't think the other two could."

Although SL is capable of having its fair share of grim influences, it is known  for offering a majority of surreal and positive experiences such as cloths shopping, dining out, attending performances, putting on a show, or simply enjoying the scenery.

"I know there are people who do things here that they would never dream of doing in RL. People who are afraid of going out of their homes will talk to you in SL. And imagine someone who's bedridden, who comes to SL and can FLY. I can only imagine that must be quite an experience for them."

Those who lack heroic experience may refer to GreenLantern Excelsior as a vigilante, but such a negatively viewed term does not fit his battle tactics. Earning the peacekeeper badge is much more than a title; it is a lifestyle.

Ghost Composition: Virtual Protest

In Bridget M. Blodgett’s article, “And the Ringleaders Were Banned: An Examination of Protest in Virtual Worlds,” she breaks down the factors of her theoretical framework that focuses on the aspects of virtual protest. The first of the four corners to her framed theory is the degree of virtualization. As described by Blodgett as “attempts that are usually seen as enhancing offline protests or movements, adapting older ideas, civil disobedience, to modern technologies” (4). The second factor is legality. In short, this is “a measurement of how legal the actions of the protests were both in planning a protest and holding it” (5). The third measurement would fall under the name of cultural homogeneity that is “how similar individuals within the protest are to each other in regards to their cultural views and identity” (5). Last but not least, we have limitations on participation. This is the measurement “of if and how individuals are prevented from participating in the protest” (5).

An example of a protest that fills in Blodgett’s frame from corner to corner is that of Habbo Hotel. This raid has been going on ever since July 12, 2006 and is possibly the most controversial of all time. On this holiday, many players change their looks in order to flaunt an afro with a gray suit. Sexy. This tradition was born when the public heard rumors of the Habbo creators claiming racist by banning black-skinned avatars for no reason whatsoever. As if a wardrobe change was not enough to sock it to the creators, these dedicated gamers would stand in front of and block the entrances to swimming pools and simply say, “Pools Closed” to all who tried to enter. For all of those who simply wanted to take a virtual dip on the hottest afternoon of the summer, had to face the wrath of a legal, well-thought out protest that would make Bridget Blodgett feel like a proud mother and send the right thumb of every Habbo Hotel employee right back into their pie hole.

Ghost Entry: Jurisdiction

            In today’s world, video games are released via the Internet into cyberspace every week, thus attracting stampedes of parched gamers who thirst for newer ways of electronic recreational stimulation. Fortunately, with fun for gamers comes work for lawyers. In his book Virtual Justice, lawyer Greg Lastowka says, “the Internet could be its own jurisdiction, with its own laws and courts created by its own ‘consent of the governed,’” then states, “there would be no need for “outside” law (the law of territorial sovereigns) to intervene”(80). In other words, Lastowka feels that the government should have minimal governance in cyberspace, so “the ‘law of cyberspace’ could be a new law formed by the consent of those who ‘live’ in cyberspace” (80).

            Even if Lastowka’s opinion were to come into effect, past events can heavily persuade Internet users as to who should have the most power. Cybersell Inc. vs. Cybersell Inc. II was a supreme court case used to resolve copyright infringement case that took from 1994 to 1997 to conclude. Cybersell Inc. was an Arizona corporation that temporarily closed down their website for maintenance purposes. Cybersell Inc. was a different company in the making, found in Florida. While Cybersell AZ was hibernating, Cybersell FL used the Internet to retrieve Cybersell AZ’s logo as well as company name! Obviously, Arizona wanted their identity back so the issue was brought to court, but was not as quickly resolved as they had hoped.

            Since cyberspace is so vast, has never-ending dimensions, and limitless boundaries, it was a struggle to find out who would even partake in the court case because it was proven that the Internet was used for promotional purposes on AZ’s part, making it even more difficult for them to win back their losses. The Law of Arizona was applied to this case because there was an absence of federal governing personal jurisdiction. As if the complications were not filling the room up fast enough, certain jurisdictions in Florida do not even exist in Arizona, thus creating even more perpendiculars between real world laws and Internet regulations. 

            As long as the sun is shining, there will always be thieves wandering the streets, surfing the Internet, etc… As long as there is any compensation of money involved, the government will always count cards. Somewhat skeptical at first, but now Lastowka is heading in the right direction. If a court case’s difficulty is based solely off real-world boundaries, then new tactics should be used to resolve problems (that are not brain-busters by any means) to maintain a safe community. The parallel idea of separate jurisdictions between real world and virtual world could be worth a try so the current authority can stop wasting their time fighting boundaries with boundaries.

Metaverse Dreams Re-Write

            “The Metaverse needs to be built differently,” are the wise words of Cory Ondrejka, a man who studies the possibilities of this alternate universe and teaches us about the arts of crafting and creation. The Metaverse would have to be so enormous that every single player should be able to build his or her own world. “It must expand through viral growth and produce an increasing supply of active creators who create wealth within a generalized virtual world” (Ondrejka, 176). The residents, or players, of this world attract an audience who would later become a customer by showing off their ownership of creations and rights. Thus, the Metaverse would have to be so vast that it could hold millions of millions of objects without crashing. This virtual universe would change both the online and offline worlds forever. Second Life takes the first steps towards the construction of the Metaverse. These steps are to be taken on a tightrope because if this universe is rushed, then it is predicted to fail to maximize its potential to the consumer.

            With Second Life taking the first steps towards perfecting the ultimate gaming world, I find the problem lying in the hands of the gamers instead of with the developers. If Second Life was launched back in 2003, I cannot even begin to imagine see how advanced the next installment would be nearly a decade later. If my 2011 laptop is struggling to keep this “old” program running smoothly, I do not want to jump into the next world yet. It has to be up to the players to spend thousands of dollars on futuristic computer models to play or the developers have to find a way to make an enormous Metaversal environment compatible for the recreational gamer’s technology. If I have to spend large sums of money to enter into a second life, then I am very uninterested in what the MMORPG world holds in the near future.

After creating an account in Second Life, I now see how huge of a project this would be if it were done flawlessly. The world of Second Life is so large that even on an up-to-date computer such as mine was running the program slowly. Simply by wandering around a small amount of land, I ran into tens of players show casing their newest creations: a tiny percentage of what to expect in the creative boundaries of this world. With a fellow classmate constructing a basketball court, I started to build my hockey ice rink with dreams of The Second Life Winter Olympic Games nearing. While experiencing the most lag possible, I was unable to pull off my architectural greatness. Next time I fire up the program, I have to make sure to do so on an even faster computer that is more able to hold the capacity of such an immense universe.

A few days later…

            Now firing up Second Life on a better computer, I began to expand my creative architectural horizons. Constructing a cannon that shoots multi-colored half-spheres and other geometrical shapes was my creation. This time, Second Life was very enjoyable. If the Metaverse has to be created differently, then I see no reason to not follow the footsteps of Second Life’s developers. There is definitely room for improvement since Second Life launched, but it is up to the developers to either build on what they have started or take it in a different direction to create the flawless universe every gamer is craving.

Metaverse Dreams

            “The Metaverse needs to be built differently,” are the wise words of Cory Ondrejka, a man who studies the possibilities of this alternate universe and teaches us about the arts of crafting and creation. The Metaverse would have to be so enormous that every single player should be able to build his or her own world. “It must expand through viral growth and produce an increasing supply of active creators who create wealth within a generalized virtual world” (Ondrejka, 176). The residents, or players, of this world attract an audience who would later become a customer by showing off their ownership of creations and rights. Thus, the Metaverse would have to be so vast that it could hold millions of millions of objects without crashing. This virtual universe would change both the online and offline worlds forever. Second Life takes the first steps towards the construction of the Metaverse.

            After creating an account in Second Life, I now see how huge of a project this would be if it were done flawlessly. The world of Second Life is so large that even on an up-to-date computer such as mine was running the program slowly. Simply by wandering around a small amount of land, I ran into tens of players show casing their newest creations; a tiny percentage of what to expect in the creative boundaries of this world. With a fellow classmate constructing a basketball court, I started to build my hockey ice rink with dreams of The Second Life Winter Olympic Games nearing. While experiencing the most lag possible, I was unable to pull off my architectural greatness. Next time I fire up the program, I have to make sure to do so on an even faster computer that is more able to hold the capacity of such an immense universe.

            With Second Life taking the first steps towards perfecting the ultimate gaming world, I find the problem lying in the hands of the gamers instead of with the developers. If Second Life was launched back in 2003, I cannot even begin to imagine see how advanced the next installment would be nearly a decade later. If my 2011 laptop is struggling to keep this “old” program running smoothly, I do not want to jump into the next world yet. It has to be up to the players to spend thousands of dollars on futuristic computer models to play or the developers have to find a way to make an enormous Metaversal environment compatible for the recreational gamer’s technology. If I have to spend large sums of money to enter into a second life, then I am very uninterested in what the MMORPG world holds in the near future.

Goodbye LOTRO, Hello EULA

            After grinding in LOTRO for nearly 30 hours, it is now time to look at the beefy contract I signed my name to without reading its contents. However, reading a EULA of a game that you have played can be a waste of time. With that being said, the EULA of Minecraft, Second Life and Eve are the next on our list of readings. After reading Virtual Liberty by Jack M. Balkin who breaks down this generation of gaming and its End-User License Agreements, we see a few problems that can haunt us not only in a virtual world, but also on planet Earth. “One of the most important recent developments in virtual worlds has been people purchasing and selling elements of virtual worlds in the real world” (Balkin, 2059). With people posing the problem of determining the unknown equivalence of items between worlds, we look at multiple EULAs that do their best to control this persistent issue.

            Minecraft, a sandbox building game created by Mojang, that leaves us with a one-paged, mustard, ketchup and coffee-stained EULA with more grammatical errors than a dyslexic sixth grader’s paper; but gives the most freedom to the players of any EULA I have read. The EULA gives the player the liberty to modify the game and sell any plugins that belong to the player. Any ideas given to the developers are deemed as free suggestions unless previously notified by the company. In addition, the EULA enforces that art theft is unacceptable and those participating in such law breaking will be punished.

            With Second Life on deck, this slugger of a EULA may, or should, take hours to read. Regarding our concern of currency, Second Life pinpoints the platter of illegal loopholes that dishonest gamers salivate over. In-game items are banned from being sold over eBay. Players may donate, barter or purchase in-game goods by using Linden Dollars (L$) however, these L$s cannot be redeemed for real-life currency. With this 13-page EULA, Second Life takes the fine line of currency between virtual life and real life very seriously. The iron fist of the almighty Linden Labs, will slam those who try to take advantage of such a strict system.

Finally, we have Eve Online. The EULA makes it very clear how important currency is to the world of Eve. The player “may not transfer, sell or auction, or buy or accept any offer to transfer, sell or auction (or offer to do any of the foregoing), any content appearing within the Game environment, including without limitation characters, character attributes, items, currency, and objects, other than via a permitted.” Also, encouraging or inducing any other person to participate in such a prohibited transaction will result in a hefty penalty. The buying, selling or auctioning of characters, character attributes, items, currency, or objects, whether through online auctions (such as eBay), newsgroups, postings on message boards or any other means is also prohibited. As one can see, the value of in-game currency is necessary to maintain a playable and enjoyable experience for gamers to get the most bang out of their real-life buck, no matter what world they may be conquering.

LOTRO: Recipe for Teenage Hair Loss

            Good afternoon world. I hope you have all been sleeping well to make up for my LOTRO infused insomnia. Trying to keep up with the other warriors in my Virtual Worlds family, I’ve been catching up on my quests and got from level 2 to 12 on Sunday. This took me about 8 hours to do so. I am currently at level 14 meaning 1 level-up per day, 5 days a week, is my motivation to shred my eyes’ bags. OK enough with the complaining…

            As far as video games go, LOTRO is definitely not my style but I do find it relaxing running around talking to virtual (female) farmers and hunting down special flowers or carrying buckets of water for them. But don’t let the world of Firefoot throw you off; manlier missions can also be found. Slaying hordes of bears, taking on flocks of blue goblins, and protecting characters in combat is definitely fun… until a gamer comes in and steals your kill then runs off with your experience. Got selfishness? I guess yes.

            T.L. Taylor says that video games promote social activity and teamwork but I have yet to see this in LOTRO. I have helped a few random gamers finish difficult quests, and then they run off as if I held my dagger to their jugular. Those gamers are now on my hit list. Another thing I would like to point out about this game is travel time. I was totally unaware of how vast of an environment I was dealing with. Spending 10 minutes running from point A to B can be very time consuming. It may be safe to say that 14-level-old Dwarf has taken more footsteps than I have in my 19-year-young life. I won’t bet on it, but if I ever run into anyone on my hit list, they are going to pay for taking advantage of my good intentions.

LOTRO Toon Creature Creation

            Wadup playas? I'm Alec and would like to start off by saying I have been playing video games since the age of 12 and have played almost every Mario, Metroid, Zelda, Super Smash Bros, Pokèmon, Pikmin, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Gears of War, BioShock, Grand Theft Auto, Donkey Kong, Madden, NHL, Guitar Hero to name a few… but have never played an RPG. I have heard of many RPGs such as WoW and Diablo, but was never really interested. After a long history of gaming, taking a Virtual Worlds class at Lawrence University seemed to be an awesome use of my time to delve into a different (yet somewhat similar) video game world that I am used to. We start off the term with the world of Lord of the Rings Online…

            I never thought I would be playing the Lord of the Rings Online before watching any of the movies. With character creation underway, I needed to make a character to fit my username: LoRdBaCaN. I didn’t find that the elves, men, or even the hobbits could live up to the hype of such a beefy name. Then once I glimpsed in the way of the dwarfs, I found my creature of choice that would be able to beast past any barricade, slay any dragon for acres, and hurdle any deathly obstacle… even at level one. With a fellow playa already claiming the dwarf champion, I was left with no other option but the Minstrel Dwarf saying “Alec, we will survive. Nothing (except maybe a severe bacterial infection) will take me down.” I answered, “While both of my hands are intact with body, I will lead you in the right direction. Where are you from mighty Minstrel?” With that said, he told me of his dark past in The Lonely Mountains and was granted the nickname, BaCanBra, and was finally ready to jump into the world of Firefoot to further aid my guild of not-as-intimidating warriors…

            As everyone knows, every class isn’t all fun and games. With hands-on interaction with a new virtual world come readings of articles from gamers of the past. Discarding my previous views on the lameness of RPGs and remaining open-minded, I read writings from MUD expert, Richard Bartle. What I took to heart were the four things Bartle says a player can anticipate to like about a MUD: achievement with the game, exploration of the game, socializing with others, and imposition upon other players. What I look for games is usually the replay value through in-game achievements earned by completing tasks, some easy and some extremely difficult time consuming. With a positive mindset about my new virtual world, I don’t think fulfilling Bartle’s expectations will be much of a challenge.