NEW YORK (AP) -- Jeremy Chase admits to shaking down his enemies. His Web site advertises extortion, hits and prostitution for a hefty fee.
Chase is a mob leader -- but only in the virtual world. He is one of hundreds of players who found the path of lawlessness and deviance too irresistible when "The Sims Online" challenged them to "Be Somebody ... else."
The popular commercial game, where thousands of people interact electronically, is turning into a petri dish of anti-social behavior. And that's raising questions about whether limits on conduct should be set in such emerging virtual worlds, even if they are huge adult playpens.
"Games give people the opportunity to either do something they've never had the ability to do before or allow them to do the stuff they are too afraid to do in real life," said Chase, an unemployed, self-described computer geek who lives in Sacramento, California. "This is as close to the real-life mafia that I'm going to be able to get."
All online games see their share of ne'er-do-wells, or "griefers." In other games where violence is the norm and killing routine, thugs delight in slaughtering the less powerful and stealing their loot.
But there are no guns in "Sims," made by Maxis, and it's impossible to do serious harm to another player. That means griefers -- admittedly a small percentage of the game's 100,000 subscribers -- have to be devilishly creative in their social deviance.
Chase and others insist they're just role-playing like everyone else in the game. But harassment can be a big deal in "Sims," which resembles a neighborhood of virtual dollhouses where you build a home and invite others to come over and play.
The game's raison d'etre is socializing; barely a half year old, it's the biggest game yet whose rewards come from making friends and being popular.
One mob tactic is gathering the foot-soldiers to stigmatize someone else with several so-called "red links" -- a sort of demerit that shows others how many enemies a player has.
For gamers who have spent hours building a reputation, red links can be devastating. The platform may be virtual, but the attack isn't.
Simulated or real?
"It's only a game but the people operating those little animated cartoons are real," said Holly Shevenock, a postal worker from Harrisburg, Pennsylania.
Shevenock quit playing "Sims" because she was spending too much time in it -- up to five hours a day. "If you're not careful, you begin to play this game with your real emotions."
She and others said they knew several people who stopped playing or reduced their time online because of groups that seemed intent on harassment.
Psychologists who study online behavior say in-game spats and the visceral responses to them aren't surprising. With simulations becoming more lifelike, the line between real and fake is blurred.
"The more real you try to make these online worlds, the more the problems are real-world problems," said John Suler, a Rider University professor who specializes in the psychology of cyberspace. "It's not always easy to contain this stuff in the fantasy world."
The game's Terms of Service agreement tells players they cannot "harass, threaten, embarrass, or do anything else to another Member or guest that is unwarranted." They're also told, "The laws that apply in the off-line world must be obeyed online as well."
Maxis gives warnings, terminates threads in message boards, suspends players and in extreme cases, bans accounts. Chase himself endured a three-day suspension for what he said was foul language.
"We have a very big hammer to wield when we have to," said Kyle Brink, a Maxis associate producer.
But Maxis can't cover everything.
Want to learn more?
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/fun.games/07/05/misbehaving.online.ap/index.html
Chase is a mob leader -- but only in the virtual world. He is one of hundreds of players who found the path of lawlessness and deviance too irresistible when "The Sims Online" challenged them to "Be Somebody ... else."
The popular commercial game, where thousands of people interact electronically, is turning into a petri dish of anti-social behavior. And that's raising questions about whether limits on conduct should be set in such emerging virtual worlds, even if they are huge adult playpens.
"Games give people the opportunity to either do something they've never had the ability to do before or allow them to do the stuff they are too afraid to do in real life," said Chase, an unemployed, self-described computer geek who lives in Sacramento, California. "This is as close to the real-life mafia that I'm going to be able to get."
All online games see their share of ne'er-do-wells, or "griefers." In other games where violence is the norm and killing routine, thugs delight in slaughtering the less powerful and stealing their loot.
But there are no guns in "Sims," made by Maxis, and it's impossible to do serious harm to another player. That means griefers -- admittedly a small percentage of the game's 100,000 subscribers -- have to be devilishly creative in their social deviance.
Chase and others insist they're just role-playing like everyone else in the game. But harassment can be a big deal in "Sims," which resembles a neighborhood of virtual dollhouses where you build a home and invite others to come over and play.
The game's raison d'etre is socializing; barely a half year old, it's the biggest game yet whose rewards come from making friends and being popular.
One mob tactic is gathering the foot-soldiers to stigmatize someone else with several so-called "red links" -- a sort of demerit that shows others how many enemies a player has.
For gamers who have spent hours building a reputation, red links can be devastating. The platform may be virtual, but the attack isn't.
Simulated or real?
"It's only a game but the people operating those little animated cartoons are real," said Holly Shevenock, a postal worker from Harrisburg, Pennsylania.
Shevenock quit playing "Sims" because she was spending too much time in it -- up to five hours a day. "If you're not careful, you begin to play this game with your real emotions."
She and others said they knew several people who stopped playing or reduced their time online because of groups that seemed intent on harassment.
Psychologists who study online behavior say in-game spats and the visceral responses to them aren't surprising. With simulations becoming more lifelike, the line between real and fake is blurred.
"The more real you try to make these online worlds, the more the problems are real-world problems," said John Suler, a Rider University professor who specializes in the psychology of cyberspace. "It's not always easy to contain this stuff in the fantasy world."
The game's Terms of Service agreement tells players they cannot "harass, threaten, embarrass, or do anything else to another Member or guest that is unwarranted." They're also told, "The laws that apply in the off-line world must be obeyed online as well."
Maxis gives warnings, terminates threads in message boards, suspends players and in extreme cases, bans accounts. Chase himself endured a three-day suspension for what he said was foul language.
"We have a very big hammer to wield when we have to," said Kyle Brink, a Maxis associate producer.
But Maxis can't cover everything.
Want to learn more?
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/fun.games/07/05/misbehaving.online.ap/index.html