Alphaville

Posted by tomo at 02:19 AM in games . | 2 Comments

An essay by Peter Ludlow, a UMich philosophy/linguistics professor, about the thugs in The Sims Online called "griefers" who have organized into actual mafias and the concerted reactions of groups of Sims citizens forming shadow governments to fight back in lieu of official EA (Electonic Arts, the owner of TSO) intervention. Perhaps there is something to be learned there. The essay was originally written for the London Times but posted at The Alphaville Herald, a blog covering happenings inside Alphaville, the first and largest city/server in TSO. It seems the reality is that this highly expressive game has spawned more deviant behaviour than Burning Man utopia. Anyways, this spot is definitely one to watch. [@goodspeed]