SL Mafias/Familia's

Once again you are making an assumption and not bothering to find out for yourself what we actually do. I take responsibility for my actions but not for your skewed perception. You have the right to your own opinion and I am not discounting that. However, you are criticizing what others have chosen to do by stereotyping them, but that is easy to do. We can all sit here and pick apart and criticize what everyone does. Which is obvious in this thread by ignorant comments made by a few. Just another great example of Forum drama. Pick a subject and put it down and feel good about yourself for your righteousness and your point of view. Not to mention, my enter key is not broken Max but then again you know it all, since obviously you can look into your crystal ball and see who has a broken enter key and who doesn't. Maybe you can tell us next who will win the Lotto.

Some people will always sit in judgement of others and that's just how RL is. Too sad these people consider themselves higher then others, but I guess when you are perfect you can do these things. But why stop there? I am sure we can criticize others for their ROLE PLAYING in SL and in other games too. This thread has been entertaiing to read since it has not surprised me at all to see the small mentality people have and the self righteous attitudes.

Thanks Diamonique!

Surely you see the difference between roleplaying a mafia family and a terrorist group? Mafia movies, tv shows and books should give you a clue to that. How many folks loved the Godfather movies, Wiseguys, Scarface, etc. And look at the huge success of The Sapronos.

How well do you think movies and tv shows would go over featuring terrorists as the main, very human, characters?

The mob and mafia are part of the cultural history of several contries, and while they certainly involved many horrendous crimes, they also involved codes, and family and, at times, a strange sense of honor. They are a pretty natural subject for roleplaying in a virtual world. You have your heros and you have your villians. Both are needed for a good suspenseful tale. I very much doubt that many of the folks roleplaying mafia members really desire to be part of one in real life.

Are you going to compare roleplaying Pirates to roleplaying rapist and mass murderers? because many of them historically were. How about vikings and other historical soldier types? They certainly raped, pillaged and murdered. How about roleplaying vampires? They suck the blood from the willing and unwilling, and have been known to do great evil in literature.

I see many folks in SL toting guns around. Are they all griefers and wanna-be killers?

To say you open yourself up for criticism by choosing to roleplay a mafia member is silly. That means that by roleplaying anything, or acting in anyway, you open yourself up and are fair game for insults and criticism. Ohh..I saw someone in a Dragon AV, and we know that dragons kill and eat people. What dork would do that??

How about you judge individuals by their actions, instead of hiding behind generalizations and holier-than-thou rhetoric.

Uh.

Yesterday's Mafia is today's terrorist group.

Period.

LF

Yesterday's governments are today's terrorist groups.

yesterday's soldiers are today's terrorist groups.

Yesterday's militia are today's terrorist groups.

Yesterday's colonists are today's terrorist groups.

Yesterday's religions are todays terrorist groups.

Yesterday's missioinaries are today's terrorist groups.

Period.

Gee..this is fun.

Who has terrorized and killed more people? Vikings, Roman emporers, Christian Soldiers, Pirates, those who helped "settle" the United States or the various mafia families? And these choices are just a small smattering of possibly terrorist-commie-evil-dork-bastages.

Often Shiryu and I are on opposite sides of debates but this is one time we agree in concert with this simple analogy of subject matter.

Each individual is accountable for their actions.
However, by their actions merits the methods in which they are to be judged in all eyes be it open or suppressed.

Shadow

I agree with this and as I said, judge me by my ACTIONS and NOT my TAG or my ROLE PLAYING. By making statements about role playing Mafias you are stereotyping and grouping all individuals into one. An assumption that ALL individuals role playing Mafia are bad, evil, griefers, geeks, dorks, etc. is stereotyping and a prejudice statement.

So then, in essence all merchants at Pirates Cove are murdering, raping individuals since their tags say the are Dreaded Pirates. All merchants at House of Blade are hired killers since the Sumarai were hired to protect and assinate, and all Vampires are evil blood sucking killers. I can go on stereotyping but thte fact is, many of the individuals in these groups are some of the most talented, genrous, helpful, caring, friendly, lovable, etc. individuals I have met in SL.

::works on advertising campaign:: THE MAFIA, When You're Here, You're Family. So, the Olive Garden is MAFIOSO!!! Feelin' all warm and fuzzy over the armed love But, I'm agreein' with Willow, I don't think I wanna visit, even with an open invite, it's annoying being shot for "being wrong place, wrong time" when it looks open to everyone. Call me silly, or whatever, I just would rather go somewhere I'm welcome. I'm not trying to bash anyone for their role-playing outlet, more power to ya, I'm just in agreement with those who question your choice of people to emulate. If that's who ya wanna be, then be the best little mobster ya can. But do it right, whack people, break bones, extort money from vendors, et al.

As for the vamps and the Goreans, I've never had a problem with them, they're some of the most polite, open people I've ever met. Go figure.

Quoted and approved.
Code of honor? Yeah, people melting kids in acid after murdering them SURE know what honor is... It's true that hollywood is often the factory of ignorance.
Feel free to go around with your guns, to act like gangsters and to talk broken italian (that shows even more ignorance) if you need it to feel cool.
At the same time i will feel free to laugh about the sheer ignorance you show by doing it. It would be indeed interesting to hear what you would tell to a good friend of mine whose little brother died during a gunfight caused by mafia just a couple of months ago. Luckily for him he doesn't play here, so he can avoid experiencing your pityful mythization of what is a plague without any "but" or "if".

David,

I agree with you completely. Honestly, I do think it is crazy to make the comparison between role playing terrorists and the mafia, and is just adding hyperbole and rhetoric to make a point. I am a huge fan of the Grand Theft Auto series of video games, as are millions of other people. I loved the Sopranos, I've seen just about every episode. The Godfather is a classic movie, as are many others of similar themes. No offense, but there is no way in hell you are going to lump me in with freaking Al Qaeda for liking these things.

My only problem with many of the mafia groups is they also tend to be griefers, which is lame. Shoot each other to kingdom come, but leave others out of your mafia fantasies. To each their own. Otherwise, more power to you - don't let judgemental people get in the way of enjoying SL.

Exactly. I'm still waiting to read about protection rackets. If I pay some gambino a weekly fee, there'd better be huge italiano muthafuggas guarding my doors and keeping out the riff-raff.

Then why even call yourself a mafia if you're not going to threaten and shoot people? Call yourself the Smith Family or the Joneses. Thats what I don't get. And that's why I find it a tad silly.

Yes, too bad that mafia has brutally murdered (and continues to murder everyday) more innocent people in it's history than what Al-qaeda can probably even dream to muder from here to eternity. Maybe living in the US you don't notice, but here you read about it in the newspapers, day after day.

As i told, hollywood is in many cases (not only on mafia, of course), the factory of a lot of ignorance.

The mafia seen in popular media is not the same that the actual Mafia was, and still is. It's underground crime. Drugs, sex rings, gambling, and tons and tons of brutal homicide. To say that the Mafia aren't any worse than Al Qaeda or whatever is silly. They both make it their business to KILL PEOPLE.



Again, you're basing your warm and fuzzy feelings towards the Mob based on pop culture references and movies and TV shows. Hogan's Heroes was about prisoners of war held by the Nazis. They were shown to be warm and fuzzy, and inept, but hilarious.

30 years from now, Osama Bin Laden will star in his own sitcom.

The mafia is just as bad as al qaeda, and you cannot disprove this fact. Both are brutal, terrible orginizations. The main difference is ethnicity and clothing.

LF

My point of it is that your role playing should not infringe on other's SL experiences to the point of disrupting them. (not you personally, as you make one hell of an elf huntress when you roleplay)

Are you people serious?
A group of people are role playing mafia, and we are comparing them to Al Queada?
Melting babies in vats of acid?
Extortion?
Nazis?
People coming to a private sim and being shot and then whining about it? Were you physically or emotionally injured?
I love the fact that some of you are calling this particular group of SLer's dorks, I have news for you, if you are reading this, you are probably a dork to most of the world. If you respond to this, you are definately a dork.

I would write more, but my mom says I have to go upstairs and rub her feet now, thats my rent for living in the basement.

Thank you. This thread has provided me the best laugh I have had all week.

<------- Dork

Welcome to my sig, LF

LF,

When the mafia blows up skyscrapers, bombs airplanes, embassies and warships, then you can compare them to Al Qaeda, until then, it is all hyperbole. Is the real mafia brutal? Yes. Organized crime. Check. Murder. Check. Comparable to Al Qaeda, no.

The mafia that these groups are emulating is the mafia of popular culture. Like it or not, it is an intrinsic part of popular culture with a long, celebrated history. To keep throwing out Al Qaeda references and compare them is silly. Lighten up.

I never role played as a elf! That was Toast! Now SHE'S a dork!


And Schwanson I wish you wouldn't bring your mom into this. You won't seem as sexy.

Hey, let's leave moms out of this, and I'll leave this out of your mom.
***grabs crotch***

you're gross.

I speak for the entire forums when I say "Ew!"

They blow up, for instance, entire traits of highway to kill one judge and his whole escort. Check.



Again, Hollywood is the factory of a lot of ignorance. you can dwell in it or open your eyes. It's your choice. if some moronic movie director celebrates mafia it doesn't automatically become a good thing.

How many roleplayers do you know that emulate every aspect of the genre. I've known tons of them, and very few even come close to the real-life counter part (if such exsists). People take the parts of a role-played character that they enjoy and throw out the rest. It's always been that way.

Again, if you roleplay a viking in SL, do you try to force women to have cyber sex with you? and do you go around lighting peoples builds on fire? It's silly to think it's silly just because they don't roleplay "realistic" enough.

Perhaps you should all look at yourselves and what you enjoy, and see how you would like beingcatagorized and generalized and insulted because of an activity you might enjoy that harms no one. Judge folks by thier actions, not what you "imagine" they are up to.

I would if I ever role played a Viking..would even have the drag them by the hair of thier heads animation and ...that is if I had the tools to make them but since I don't Im just wittle ole me...

Shadow