"Responsible" W-Hats stand up please!

Okay,

I am always willing to admit that I might be wrong about something, and although my impression of W-Hats is something very awfull, I keep getting told that there are people strongly "connected" to them (or even members of the group), that are "respectable" upstanding members of our SL community.
This would include "friends of W-Hat" not just the members.

So.... If you are one of theese...

Please post to this thread with your name, the great things you do for our community and why you think W-Hat are a great bunch of folks or why you yourself are a member or friends with these folks.

Seems to me if you have the courage to post about it then we can settle it once and for all. This would also be good for W-Hat itslef in that it could potentially clear the air if in fact it's true that they are really just a swell bunch of misunderstood jokers.

What I would like to hear is from someone who actually contributes to the SecondLife community in some tangible way, (i.e - one of the "good guys", who is also W-Hat or is friends with them.

I want someone to convince me that I am wrong and that W-Hat is not just a synonym for "AssHat" I am genuinely interested here in finding out if I am wrong.

PS - This thread is specifically *not* intended for Teddy Kennedy as he/she is one of the few that already does/attempts this whenever there is an "incident," but I just don't see an argument in his/her words.

PPS - Its also kind of a waste of space to post stuff like "well in person, they seem to be a decent fellow" as most folks are similarly so, and it's kind of irrelevant.

one more example of biggotery

While we're at this, can I have all the Puerto Ricans using SL who have RL jobs stand up, please?


...


So it's only me? Okay, then.

W-hat IS a synonym for asshat.

To hell with them all. At this stage, none of them gets any sympathy from me, except by dissociating themselves entirely from this group which HAS no point except to discomfit others.

coco

Will the real Slim Shady please stand up!

woa arcane pop culture reference from someone who knows very little about pop culture

I have no love for griefers, but less love for people sounding the alarm in forums.

Que chistoso. Jijijiji

What does this mean? "Actually contributes"? "Tangible way"? I can think of ten different definitions of these criteria that demonstrates that W-Hat contributes, and you do not. And ten others in which the reverse is the case.

I like W-Hat for the following reason: They take the pathetic, business-oriented, socially-sustained, "creator-class" mentality in SL and stand it on its head.

I dislike W-Hat for the following reason: They're amateurs who use sledge hammers when stillettos would be far more effective. Learn2play the game.

I haven't effectively seen anything positive from W-hat.. The only time I ever hear about them is when they're being, well, W-hats..

What does this mean? "Actually contributes"? "Tangible way"? I can think of ten different definitions of these criteria that demonstrates that W-Hat contributes, and you do not. And ten others in which the reverse is the case.

I like W-Hat for the following reason: They take the pathetic, business-oriented, socially-sustained, "creator-class" mentality in SL and stand it on its head.

I dislike W-Hat for the following reason: They're amateurs who use sledge hammers when stilettos would be far more effective. Learn2play the game.



(My mistake: I deleted the original post when I was trying to edit for spelling.)

One w-hat member right here. Saying that I do 'great things' for the community would be totally egotistical because I don't, but i have done a few things in-game that make me definetly not a griefer:

1. Spent 15 hours straight running around in circles for charity at Second Life Relay For Life, also made a campsite that won the "Most thought provoking" award. Proof:
   
   Click to Enlarge
   
   
2. Spent the better part of the last week on SL building this to go in my store (haven't decided on a price), i built it so big to stop any random person buying a tiny plot of land in a busy sim and shelling their neighbors (that and it looks cool ):
   
   Click to Enlarge
   
   
3. Have built several weapons for, and helped with bug testing on, the Portal Wars in-game game (or should that just be game? )
   
   
4. Have helped a few non-w-hat newbies learn how to build.
   

So they're not all exactly grid-shakingly important, but they're definetly not what a griefer would do, are they? To back myself up, I've never been banned, and have only once received a warning which was from when i was learning to code, and accidentally left an av detector script set to shout out the names of people it detected.

I have no clue what W-hat's is and or are... Someone fill me in?

You left the grid-shaking to your friend over the weekend eh?

They wear these hats shaped like giant W's and everyone hates them for it.

Also they have been known to do some griefing from time to time. Maybe that's why everyone hates them.

Curiouser and curiouser said the rabbit......

How about Puerto Ricans using guys who have RL jobs?

*I just playing! Dont start

Hey, hey.


How come there's no Puerto Ricans on Star Trek?





'Cause we don't have jobs in the future, either!

Ho, ho!

But there are boricuas in Star Wars

Leilany

I know, but we're all too busy dancing in salsa clubs in Tatooine

Well it's subjective language isn't it?
I'm just talking common sense views of what is a "good citizen."
Positive, tangible contributions to the community is what I was getting at.

Some examples would be:
"I am a mentor and help out newbies"
"I make really cool things and give them away for free"
"I put on shows for people cause I like to entertain"
"I spend hours making cool games and then put them out for people to play"

i.e - Altruism, or anything that shows a bit of community spirit and a desire to help anyone but yourself all the time.

The person above that posted about the foot race and the "object" would probably qualify on the first count, (running the race for charity), but not on the second (building giant greifer gun).

The argument presented often in the forums is that W-Hat has "decent/upstanding/good/etc." members in it. I think it's totally valid to ask who these "respectable" W-Hatters are and I am using the same language for that reason.

Believe it or not I basically agree with that. I would love it if W-Hat actually lived up to it's billng in that regard, perhaps you should join and give them some new ideas. Heck if they got serious about it I might even join myself.

Here I also agree with you, but I would argue that it's essentially a hypothetical case that there are W-Hat actions or "exploits" that actually have the qualities you seek. A great deal of their stuff may be taken as the kind of satire or social commentary you describe, but (again IMO), that this was perhaps not the reason for it's creation. Juvenile pranks can seem to have deep meaning when viewed by someone with the intellect to do so, and some very intelligent and famous art critics have been taken in by paintings done by chimpanzees or cats.

Are you trying to say someone who is personally vested in the community? As opposed to being just a tourist, perhaps?

I always thought that W-hat stood for white hat and was a reference to the white hats that the KKK wear.

Color me curious to its actual meaning.

Well I can't claim to know-know any (knowingly anyway), but Huns Valen I think is a w-hat or very closely associated with them and does seem to make a resoundingly positive contribution to the SL flying community at large.

I mean, that auto-gyro of his (Its for sale at Busy Ben's or Abbotts)? Completely nifty, his burning life build equally nifty.

I've also heard of others (from friends of friends) whom seem to have equal capacities for creative and positive contributions. Not saying they are the lion's share or even the status quo for that group... but there does seem to be a few good apples in the bushel...

Whether or not that justifies retaining said is a wholly different story. *shrugs* But I think there maybe more than a grain of truth to the oft repeated lament that not all condone or support the actions of the rest (majority?).

To hell with positive contributions.

You could make positive contributions till the cows come home, but any credit you get for them is wiped out entirely as far as I'm concerned with a single act of griefing.

It isn't necessary to become a social do-gooder in SL. It IS necessary to refrain from actively trying to make other people miserable.

I'm sure there are some nice people in the KKK, too. I still say, to hell with the whole bunch of them. If you want people to think any differently, then get out of the damn group.

coco

I always thought the W stood for the W in George W Bush. Remember the W04 stickers? Since there are alot of artists and creators in SL and since 'usually' (I use that loosely) a majority of them are liberal, they (the hats) figured the best way to annoy people in SL is by using the W. Also I thought they did things that had a bunch of pics of Mr George.

You know if you actually wore a "W" hat it would end up looking like an M on your head.

Even the ones wo haven't committed a single act of griefing?



By that logic, everyone in Second Life who's in a large group is a griefer, because they are in a group with at least one person who has gotten a warning or a ban. Unless you bring double standards in, which makes this even more ridiculous.

Being a member of a group, unless that group was formed SPECIFICALLY for griefing, does not make you a griefer.

And comparing w-hat to fascists is