Weekend Open Thread > Back in My Day, the Internet was Way More Wild.

said by The BBC :

One of the first people you meet is a kindly looking granny who greets you with a slap round the face and a barrage of abuse.

Escaping to one of the "safe" homes you find a den of thieves who trick you into handing over all your cash.

The local newspapers are full of investigations into child prostitution, rampant crime, mafia-controlled neighbourhoods, shadowy self-declared governments struggling to maintain order and runaway inflation.

Welcome to Alphaville.

said by The Boston Globe :

Alphaville's a tough town, the sort of place where even the street-smart are rarely safe and newcomers are often eaten alive. You can call the cops, but they usually don't arrive in time. That's why so many Alphaville residents seek justice by hiring guys like Jeremy Chase. He runs a band of thugs who'll gladly deal out ugly punishments for the right price. Chase, a 26-year-old resident of Sacramento, runs the Sim Mafia.

...Chase sends instant messages to other members of his group, and a campaign of harassment begins. The target starts receiving a flood of insulting messages. The Mafia members can add him to their "enemies list," a way of affecting the target's popularity rating inside the game. Unpopular players find it hard to make friends and buy new properties, or "lots."

There are more severe punishments, such as the dreaded "lot job," in which a Sim Mafia member gains access to someone's lot, then trashes it, destroying properties the player might have spent months acquiring. But the most severe punishment -- forcing someone to delete his Sim character -- is reserved for Sim Mafia members who've violated the rules of the organization. Chase calls it a "Moe Green Special," in honor of one of the gangsters murdered by the Corleone family in the film "The Godfather."

Chase insists that he and his Mafia are only out for a good time.