W-Hat Question and Answer thread!

It started with this guy Sockhead, who has an SA forums account. He liked to spam furry livejournals with all sorts of unflattering comments. I never actually bothered to read any, but they must have been pretty bad. Well, one day, one or more furries - the "Kadaitcha Dancers," even though it may just be one guy - decided to get him back. Not over Livejournal, but by making real-life threats, talking of having him followed and finding out where his parents live and warning him about cars driving slowly past his house in the middle of the night. Real crazy shit.

The "voice of the Kadaitcha Dancers," who went by the name Kookaburra, composed all his emails in a way you'd expect from some megalomaniac in a cheesy old B-movie. Referring to the group as "We" (always capitalized), rambling on about batshit insane things totally out of left field, vague references to Ingenius Schemes, the whole nine. Verix (a furry goon - yes, they exist openly on the SA forums and in W-hat) read one of Kook's emails in a really hilarious voice and posted the MP3 to the thread. After that, Buml0r read another in a totally goofy voice, and I thought, what the hell, there is no way this can possibly go by without a flash animation.

I worked on it for about three days if I recall, and it is certainly no masterpiece, but it fit the thread and I thought other people might find it amusing. Hell, I figured someone would beat me to the punch! But they didn't, and it paid off pretty well. The flash movie, which was set to Buml0r's brilliant reading of Kook's email, got hundreds of views in its first week and was up in the thousands by the end of the month. It even got posted to a furry newsgroup, where Kookaburra saw it. He sent me several emails containing a bunch of cryptic horse shit, again with the most preposterous I-Am-The-World's-Most-Deviant-Supervillain prose you can imagine.

I replied and got the most rewardingly absurd response. If you were to somehow cross Ming the Merciless with all the best '60s James Bond supervillains, the result would probably be something like this:
And so on...

Eventually, Kookaburra admitted that it was all a huge hoax and that he had nothing.

OK, this is supposed to be in the form of a question...

Q. What is the name of a group in SL that is mostly harmless and adds some needed humor and change to what is typically the same old boring Tringo, Slingo, Bullshitris, existance?

A. W-Hat.

I don't personally know any of them but I find what I read here amusing and think Taliban is hilarious. This place is getting so stuffy and PC that I really would like to see this group thrive and continue to do whatever it is they say they do

Well, apparently you seem to have clearly understood my post, so I am unsure of your point. Having done a short search on some of your other posts in threads where your only input was correcting someone's spelling or grammar, then looking at your sig line, it would appear you fancy yourself some sort of grammar Lord.

Forums for a game, I consider informal. If you are offended by that, I am truly sorry.

Places I DO make sure to use "clear communication":

-Resume'/CV
-Letters
-A thesis
-Legal paperwork

There are others as well, but I won't bore you.

Places I do not:

-Informal forums such as this one
-Instant messenging services

I capitalized just for you in this post, do you feel like a successful Headmaster now?

Would you care to actually comment on the substance of the thread?

Is "um" considered "clear communication"?

I also noticed you changed my phrase "write properly" to "clear communication". Nice twisting of words.

My whole point was this - It is not wise to judge someone's intelligence because of how they type on the internet.

Iridian,

<<Well, apparently you seem to have clearly understood my post, so I am unsure of your point. Having done a short search on some of your other posts in threads where your only input was correcting someone's spelling or grammar, then looking at your sig line, it would appear you fancy yourself some sort of grammar Lord.>>

What an apoplectic response to a simple and genuine question! I don't recall any posts of mine like the ones you describe, and in view of the way you misinterpret my sig line (in which the only line which concerns spelling is 'alot'), I imagine they say something else entirely. But I might be wrong. No - I don't fancy myself as a 'grammar Lord' whatever that might be - it is just that I am aware of the problems that are often caused in forums by misinterpretation of a lazily-written post.

<<Forums for a game, I consider informal. If you are offended by that, I am truly sorry.>>

You will be overjoyed to know that I am not offended by informal English. We all use it. I am not even offended by lazy writing, although I deprecate it.

<<I also noticed you changed my phrase "write properly" to "clear communication". Nice twisting of words.>>

<< i am lazy about capitalization, commas, and apostrophes although i hold a master's degree and can definately write properly if the situation warrants.>>

I would have thought that someone with a master's degree would realise that the purpose of capitalisation, commas and apostrophes was to make communication clearer. There is a good book on this very subject whose title illustrates this very point: "Eats Shoots and Leaves". It's worth a read. And incidentally, you will note that in my first posting, despite being a grammar Lord, I didn't mention the misspelling and the misplaced comma in the above example.

Oh yes, and I didn't change your phrase at all, because I wasn't quoting you.

<<My whole point was this - It is not wise to judge someone's intelligence because of how they type on the internet.>>

I agree to a certain extent. I tend to make an assessment based on the content rather than the manner in which it is expressed. But in some cases the means of expression is so poor that the content remains impenetrable. What I *do* find objectionable is when people are capable of writing well, but choose to be lazy, thus making their postings difficult to read and ambiguous.

Thank you for your invitation to comment on the main content of the thread. I will have to decline, because I am ignorant of the group concerned, and would not have anything useful to contribute to the thread. And unlike some people, when I don't have anything useful to say, I remain silent.

True, perhaps, but it is almost impossible to not draw conclusions about level of intelligence and education from use of language. It is connected.

I realize anyone can "dumb down" a post with informality, but a consistent use of incorrect grammar, terminology and spelling does indicate more than mere informality.

No, I did not see that in your posts Iridian.

No, it doesn't beg questions of me. If some guy does some fucked up perverted shit off on his own somewhere, it has nothing to do with me. Strange, you don't see that, when you're trying to say that "if some W-Hat does some fucked up griefing shit on his own somewhere, it has nothing to do with me."

Trust me, Alexandra. I highly doubt that if you came to our area you'd even give us a chance. Not to say the W-Hats who have, havent had a good time, but they'd never admit that. $20 is $20.

I'd come to Baku, but I don't have a goddamn METAVERSE death wish. W-Hats want to come over and find out, that's fine by me. (PROTIP: Our area is not an island.) Have a little Q & A of your own. Without the pushguns and penises, though, thanks. I've never used the term "fursecution", "yiff", or any of that crap. But at the same time, that's not going to make me change my appearance into an anime character or a hoochie-haired klub chiQ. I'm not going to answer for "the fandom", as long as you guys keep on declaring that you don't have to answer for "SA goons as a whole".

I have my reasons for doing what I do, and you guys are so far off base on what you just -KNOW- they are, that, well, shit, it drives me to posting in web forums. Twice!

And you know what, we can just have EL MEXICAN STANDOFF for a few years going forward, I don't really care. I'll play the game.

You guys just want to 'have the freedom to have some fun', but we deserve whatever we get because of the avatars we made.

As I said, having it both ways isn't going to work. Unless you're proud of being two faced as Janus; in which case you guys are going to keep on being accused as a group.

And yes, I deleted the post, (and shouldn't have answered this one). Because it's all a lot of wasted breath. You guys have drawn the line in the sand, and that isn't going to change any time soon. So forget about it. See you next time, when you tear some folks down in the name of fun. Because they happen to be having the wrong kind of fun. (And no, I'm not referring to anything sexual. I'm referring to something as 'fucked up' as avatar contests.)

As far as I knew, I was even on decent speaking terms certain 'pre free-coupon' SA Goons until this shit came down the pike; Now, they have no choice but to 'not be seen not kicking my face in', or not at all. Good times. Fun. LAWL!

Whatever. Yuo win teh game.

oh my that is alot of words

So you begin a Q&A about your group and then a few pages later dis-asociate yourself from their actions?

And the point of a Q&A was?

And your typical fuckstick "I AM BETTAR AT THE INTARNET" SA goon quip invalidates it how, Plastic?

It sounds like you are downplaying the true nature of the exposed pictures. Anytime someone claims "NO pictures" (my caps) but then includes disclaimers such as, "except for a series of 3 small pictures..." one wonders just how big the pictures started out as before the legend was passed down.

More disturbing is the mixed message of ,"...pictures were children who had suffered or been injured..." but BTW, "...the pictures themselves were not that bad..."

I'm glad LL had them removed. Everyone wants a waiver for their cause and if they do something wrong they want to blame someone else for not being punished rather than accept responsibility. Rather ironic when you look at the gallery material and then the subsequent whining when Linden did their job.

An interesting turn of debate. Should people be barred from displayiung images hat other smight find offensive. What if the intent of the image is to incite feelings of despair, hearache and disgust at the shocking brutality of war? When does it stop being art and become obscene? This isa question the US supreme Court has pondered for years.

We are meant to have considerably less freedom here than we are in real life. This is, after all, a game in a closed and controlled environment.

But how do you draw the lines? Why is it okay for someone to dictate to me what images I am exposed to? It is censorship, pure and simple, but when is it acceptable. Or do we as adults ever become responsible for our own actions, beleifs and thoughts, and required to think and pick for ourselves?

Once upon a time there were two major online services: GeNie and AOL (yeah, ok, so compuserve was about too). GeNie let it be known that they would subject all e-mail to a possible content search to ensure that correspondence was in keeping with thier "Family oriented values." AoL did not. AoL let adults be adults. Well look at where the two services are today.

The answer to offensive speech is always more speech. Others may choose to be ignorant, but you don't have to. No amount of regulation will cure ignorance.

Whee, finally have some time to respond to more lengthy posts. You thought I'd forgotten, didn't you.


Alright, so expressing one's opinion using the tools provided by LL then apparently is griefing - you sir, by your own definition, are griefing me at this point. Do you see how utterly stupid it is to call a single negative rate griefing? I totally agree that 'organized mass neg rating' is griefing - there is an effort made to target a single individual.

But this whole absurd notion that someone isn't allowed to express their opinion that someone is acting poorly, builds crap or has an ugly avatar is ridiculous.


Actually, it's exactly what we're talking about - horsing around and being silly is the vast majority of what W-Hat engages in. However, it doesn't make for good forums drama, so you never see the posts about 'lol w-hat did something funny'.


No, we did it because it was absolutely hillarious. It was more for the notion of perverted robots who stood around making out and using sexanims in public. I'm still laughing just thinking about it.


I wasn't there for that, but ffs if that were to happen to me I am fully aware of where my page up button is. I know how to teleport, I even know how to mouse around and click the sit option on an object to cause me to clip out of an object. I am also fully capable of sending an IM to a nearby friend that says 'toss me a TP please, these douchebags have me blocked in'.


No, that's not the case at all... The issue is -- well, it ties in quite well with the following section of your post.


I am not 'forcing' my idea of fun on to others. Poking fun may well be a bit one sided, but if you can't laugh at yourself especially in a digital world seemingly centered around e-sexuality and e-hookups then you have issues. The vast majority of the people in SL are dipsticks in my eyes because they espouse the 'I CAN DO NO WRONG I AM PURE AWESOME' attitude that engenders the notion 'a neg rate is griefing'. Now, before you try and say 'but you are doing the same in this very post!' let me clear something up for you - I am human, I am capable of mistakes, I do and say stupid things, I have stupid interests too - I know this. (However, I am pure awesome though and that is indisputable fact!)** I welcome teasing or poking fun, the best sort of humor is humor about yourself.

**if you say otherwise you are griefing!!!!1!1 omg omg omg griefing by even thinking it, u greifer (sarcasm... OR IS IT?!)

<deleted personal attack against a group in SL>

Oh Snap Godwin!

So the point of your group is what?



Sounds to me like your left hand does not know what your right hand is doing.It sounds to me like you began a post here for the same reason you began a group in the game, for the justification & glorification of your own ego.

And they say masturbating alone makes you blind - best go easy with that right hand there m8.

STOP!!!!

collaborate and listen



What is W-Hat?

W-Hat is the non-griefing Something Awful goon group on Second Life.
Why was W-Hat formed?

When goons first came to Second Life, we initially all piled into the group "SA Goons". Joining the group was just a matter of finding an officer, and it was pretty random whether they would invite you as an officer or a member. Since the thread included a coupon code for a free account, many people had multiple accounts, and weren't afraid of being banned. The SA Goons group quickly became notorious for re-enacting September 11th on people's lawns and covering the world in beecock.

Eventually Linden got on the ball and the bans started coming quicker and quicker. The group tag was equated with "troublemaker" and bearing it would get you kicked out of almost anywhere. On April 26, 2004, Akaikami proposed creating a new group to get away from the bad reputation of the old group and the increasingly watchful eye of the Lindens. W-Hat was finally formed on April 27, partly in response to random people in the SA Goons group being hardware banned for no apparent reason.

For the people who actually want to get a good Goon community going and actually not have members banned every hour then join the new group ill make soon. This group will have a Headquarters bought by me and I want to make it a fun time. -- Akaikami
April 27, 2004

Heh. Ya know. wish I were able to say this to many many people. Huns you're a mentor!

More like am i rite

I have mixed feelings about W-Hat.

My problem with W-Hat is that at first, their jokes are funny. Thats a good thing. Unfortunatly, they keep it up longer then they should, and eventualy the humor starts to fade away and gets replaced by simple annoyance.

For example, awhile back a W-Hat group came to the Ahern welcome area, and as a group fell on the floor, doing the "electric shock" animation while shouting pro-communist lines. It was goofy and hillarious.

But... 20 minutes later... and they were still on the floor, doing their thing, except for afew who stoped the animation and started walking around, still doing the "pro-communist" act.

By that time, it stopped being funny - it started getting annoying. Whenever anyone asked them to quit it, they'd make fun of that person, and continue.

W-Hat is funny and have a good sense of humor.

My problem is - that W-Hat just doesnt know when to stop.

you know who else didn't know when to stop?

that's right
(edited)

OK.

Alexandra DeFarge, posting things that imply that the furry community in SL is encouraging pedophilia is a personal attack on a group in SL. And that violates the Community Standards and TOS of SL.

So...please watch your words.

Thank you.

This thread is now about eggplants:

Pathfinder - I disagree with your decision to edit my entire post rather than to take the offending section out. The point remains that the things I mentioned in my previous post ARE an aspect of the furry fandom and DO happen all over the internet, including without a doubt SL. I am curious though as to why you neglected to mention the other edited-out nastiness that the furry fandom attempts to make more palatable? I have seen both of those things defended by furries on and off of SL as have other individuals.

You don't like furries?

keep away from them.

Their actions break the TOS? their actions break laws?

Report them

Whats funny in your opinion is,at the end of the day,not funny to others.Personally I've never even heard of your group in game so you cant be that bad, BUT.

Ever heard the phrase 'Beyond a Joke'?

When your taking your 'jokes' and imposing them on others univited then your skirting the borders of griefing because maybe,just maybe, you are not welcome at that particular place at that particular time.

You think your funny? Why not put on shows and invite people over, afraid nobody will turn up?Then perhaps you are not as funny as you think.