Disturbing level of hatred

Ah but it didn't stop you from using this as a way to promote Stratics. You pointed your sentence at me and what I should have done. How exactly can I remove the posts and permaban the culprit, as they did not post at the SLU forums? I did offer my full assistance to MadamG in any way that I can - I communicated with her privately before posting about this topic to make sure she was aware of the threads, made complete copies of them, and advised her to contact the police and let her know I would also provide information to police if needed from my forum (as there was an ongoing dispute there as well). I also contacted FICtional to advise him to remove the posts from view but not delete them.

MadamG has nothing to be embarassed about and has received an outpouring of support over this horrific attack on her. I know you like to bury things under the rug and play a game of hear no evil speak no evil see no evil all the time, but life isn't like that. This was a horrific thing that no one should have done to them,

You on the other hand have plenty to be embarassed about, by trying to take this issue and make it a platform to promote your sanitized web site and whine about how wronged you have been.

What I meant by the difficulty is not in the obvious - yes, hate speech, RL info are easy guildelines to have. However, when you start to get into the nuances of disputes between people, it gets more complex. You often see people blanketly crying LIBEL who don't know the first thing about what libel actually is.

Nothing was directed at you as your responsibility, I was addressing the point you made.

I don't know why you seem so anti-Stratics, throwing all the insults you can at it, when I don't recall seeing you over there. If "sanitised" means "quality" then I guess we're proud to be it.

That particular kind of junk in that thread has NO PLACE on any decent forum, and I don't suppose anyone ever wondered WHY it was first posted on SC? Perhaps because it's known to be unmoderated, and they could get away with it.

Lewis

perhaps they have not really "'got away" with anything, lewis

this story isnt over yet

You addressed only half the point I was making - my comment was not even to you, it was to Cocoanut. Her entire post was centered around a supposed lynch mob that had gone after Sensual, and she even said she felt sympathy even if the person was guilty because they had been ganged up on, and how one of these days it is going to push someone too far. I was responding to the fact that no one jumped on the "Sensual is guilty" bandwagon, as there wasn't one - Sensual didn't do this. The concern right now should be for MadamG, and that is what I was saying.

As far as the "why" in terms of what forum it was posted on, similar posts were made on the sl-forums.com site as well, it wasn't just SC. This issue is not about any forum - it could have happened in SLU, it could have happened in Stratics, hell, it could have happened in these forums. Yes, I would have handled it differently, you would have handled it differently, etc.. However, ultimately the important part is that information is provided to any authorities that may become involved, and this will hopefully be a deterrent to this happening again in the future to anyone else.

Perhaps. But in all reality, this should have been a matter purely for the owners of SC and the person being attacked to deal with privately, calling in law enforcement as required.

Most people probably would never even have been aware of this particular drama, let alone been debating it, if it had been handled appropriately in the first place.

Lewis

i disagree, it would have been a game of telephone spoken in whispers, and of course everything would have been gotten wrong, as well as the inclusion of under the breath accusations

at least this way, it is fairly obvious what is going on and the story wont be marred by human error in reporting facts and accusations are seen as pure speculation until law enforcement gets involved and the name becaomes part of the public record

and then, if i get wind of the arrest, i will MAKE SURE the persons real life details including mug shot are posted on each thread... to serve as a warning to anyone else who decides this type of disgusting violent threats of real life attacks on the innerwebs is ok

We agree there.

But... if a similar threat had been made towards me, Prok, or anyone else who is generally disliked by the community, I really can't help but wonder whether the same amount of outrage would have taken place. The end result may well be the same (ie law enforcement agencies getting involved) but I think the path to it would have been very different.

Lewis

You can speculate all you want on that - it is a great rhetorical way to attack other people. I can speak for myself only and how I would have reacted. I am someone who stands on the principle of something, regardless of how I feel about the person involved. Had this threat been made toward you, Prokofy, or others, I would have reacted the same way. It isn't about who it was made against - no one has this type of thing coming to them, regardless of how much bad karma they have racked up elsewhere. I have stood up for you in the past on principle, and the same for Prokofy - I can separate the person from the issue involved.

If more people were able to achieve that, I doubt if these forums would be closing, and it would have been a much happier place for everyone.

Lewis

I hate you all!

But we luv you Hank

One thing that really bothered me last week when I was being business name griefed by the W-HAT related group was that the death threats delivered to me were made in world by a member, with chat logs to back it up. When I reported it live online to one of the only liason Lindens online at the time, I was told that it was NOT HARASSMENT, and to call the police!!

I have known this liason Linden since 2003, have loved her as Linden and was extremely shocked by her reaction, or lack of reaction.

How can threats made in world to "make someone dead" while griefing them not be harassment? I was truly disappointed by her response especially when she ignored my IMS after that while the incident continued.

I would asuume that she was implying that it is WORSE than harrasment, which is why she wanted you to call the police.

I'm glad you did that, Cristiano, but I wasn't thinking of you when I said "lynch mob."

I was speaking of the general gestalt of the thing. I had read this, that, and the other, getting just an overall impression, and not running around to the various forums. I have not looked at any of it on SLUniverse.

I DID, though, get the distinct impression that several people - not just one - were certain Sensual was a culprit, and were saying so in threads, even with her name, and being pretty vicious about it.

I don't recall you saying anything at all, that's how closely I didn't follow it. But the message did get through to me that, "We think Sensual did it," and none too kind messages, either.

I wasn't talking about you, and I think there was more than one person joining in on the fray - hence, lynch mob. Plus, this has happened before, where a bunch of people get on the band wagon, certain of a person's guilt, who turns out to be innocent.

Yes, I am worried about the impact of doing this to a person. It goes without SAYING that of course whoever is doing death threats should have to explain themselves to the law for it.

coco

Yes, I agree, but that doesn't dismiss the liason's duty to address extreme griefing as it is happening which is what surprised me.

I should add that the matter was handled effectively and rapidly by another Linden the following day when the office opened.

Thank you Michael Linden!

You may be correct that it was only one person, and I just haven't been paying enough attention.

But I did glance around, including on here, and got the distinct impression that it was several, as has so very often been the case before.

If it was only one, then I retract my comment about "lynch mob," and you can substitute any singular noun you like instead, such as "ass" or "criminal." My same feelings still apply.

coco

I'm appalled.

This is taking the corporate policy of "we have nothing to do with SL" really entirely too far.

Imagine if someone were killed. I don't think the PR LL would receive for NOT DOING A THING TO STOP THIS BEHAVIOR would be good.

They can say "we're not the police" or "go away" all they want. But they do have some responsibility for their "platform," however they view it.

AOL for instance - I wonder if this is how they handle death threats on their platform?

I also wonder what LL's liability would be for refusing to take any sort of action.

coco

Thank god, and ignore what I just wrote.

coco

I think people need to do a little more research, and make sure that it isnt the victim herself making these threats... Some people are very sick minded and will do anything for attention, sick and sad indeed.

seriously, i don't think this is a wise course to go down, especially for you

how did you like being accused from someone who wasnt certain?

I am certain you can contact the admin of the SL-Forums who traced it back to said victim.
Sorry but you all fell for it and fed it to a sick mind... drama over, there were no "real threats" made.

#1, i think the adim at that forums would do wise not to pass around user IP info so freely

or have them publish all IPs

#2 no one "fell for" anything... someone used the SC forums to settle a grudge, not my issue

but if you are going to accuse people of things, remember what it was like to be accused yourself

just sayin'

Yet the SC forums refuses to find out the truth, that is thier choice...
Ban the IP address that posted it, see if the "victim" will visit your forum again, thats an easy way to find out...
SC let this go on and didnt bother to lock or remove these threads, instead SC allowed people to vote and participate in such disgust... and continue to do so... but you defend that right?

so this is more PR for your forums where you pass IPs around like some black market smack?

SC is what it is, unmoderated... deal with it

or

take it up with the admin and community as a whole, not me

but i dont think this is really about "content" of our forum so much as the "traffic" of your forum, isn't that true Miss (or Mr) casanova?

Griefers. My favorite kind of scum.

Grief: 1. keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; sharp sorrow; painful regret. 2. a cause or occasion of keen distress or sorrow.

I've been playing online games for a long time. Before the days of MMO type games. Griefers were only able to effect your fun by either team killing, chat spamming, or tauntings on forums.

Then came along Everquest. And with it new doors opened to the lowly griefer. Not only did they have their old methods. Now they could do much more to make your online time as miserable as their own pathetic existence. They can run around the land getting mosters to chase them, and then run up on your party and die. Leaving a mob of 20-30 aggresive and powerful mosters standing right on top of you. They could sneak up and heal a monster as you fought it. If it was a pvp server you would get corpse camped. (Where the offending players would stand around at your dead corpse. Killing you when you try to retrieve your gear.) Heaven forbid they find your respawn spot. For they will camp you there too. They will do it until you log out.

Many times my path was crossed by griefers, and in many different games. One thing is certain, no matter what elements or rules you put in place to stop/prevent griefing. These people will find a way to bother other players.

Which brings me to the main point...

It's what they do. While you log in to enjoy yourself and socialize. They log in to ruin that for you. That is what they enjoy. Any way they can find to cause you anguish is what they log in for. Everytime and everywhere they log in. They will do. or say anything to get at you. Thats what they do.

And this says something very important about them. Think about it. They log into a game, forum or chat. Just to try and hurt or bother other people. Would they do this in real life? Nope. If they did I am sure they would have many scars upon their faces. But its what they want to do, they just can't. And virtual life gives them the relative saftey and anonymity of hiding behind a keyboard.

The griefer is nothing more than a virtual reflection of a very sad life. Someone who is angry, resentful, and absolutely powerless in real life. Be it physically, mentally, socially, or any combination of those.

The best way to deal with them is simple. Ignore them. Don't respond. Act as if you are AFK. They get bored and leave. One other thing they have in common is an attention span of about 2 minutes. If you can't ignore them, or they happen to be a rare case of persistant griefers, then your best bet is to leave. Or even log. If they send you hate tells. Or talk about you in forums. Even if they say they will shoot you.. Ignore them. The best move here is to just not respond. Theres nothing griefers hate more than no reaction.

Again, remeber the sadness they must live in RL to actually take the time to do any of this. I mean come on.. This loser has nothing better to do than worry about wether so and so was at such and such? And then to get that mad about it? Wow. How sad. This poor boy is going to have a heart attack over some flame fest in a forum someday...

The true scare here is that there are sooo many people like this. Particulary kids here in America. And it offers a disturbing insight into our youth.