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The Mafia Everquest Connection
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the 2003 Melbourne Digital Arts And Culture Conference site, where a large selection of new academic papers about videogaming have been disseminated online. This includes The Sopranos Meets Everquest - Social Networking In Massively Multiplayer Online Games (PDF file), which discusses why "instead of having Gandalf as a role model, [Everquest players] would be better off trying to think as Tony Soprano, a present day mafia boss in New Jersey from the American TV show The Sopranos."
Really, there are a lot fo similarities in how people act in MMORPGs to how mafia members are portrayed in TV and movies.
But really, most of the similar attributes seem to be GOOD things. Loyalty to guild/friends, word-of-mouth as to who can/can't be trusted.
I mean, I didn't really see any mafia similarities mentioned that are particularily BAD.
No extortion, blackmail, etc.
Though I'm sure it could happen to someone who's far too attached to their characters, I doubt it could ever be as widespread as these other "symptoms".
Dark Nexus
"Sanity is calming, but madness is more interesting."
I read the paper, and it's got a bunch of points. I'll say that from a bunch of MUDs I used to play you would see the same behavior. But besides just who you know, it's also lots of being in the right place at the right time. I've had characters given cool stuff by high level people all the time. Part of it was so they could be seen as cool by the noob, and part of it was that the super cool item you just got is worthless junk at their level.
Lots of folks get good reps for just helping out noobs or on corpse runs, and you know that that rep stayed around and if they ever needed help they got it, as well as preferental grouping.
You want to be treated nice - play a female healer of some sort - groups will court you, random people will give you things. People will go on quests just to get items for you.
If you want a lone hero vs. the world, play on your home machine. If social gaming is really your style, then MMRPGs have a lot to be said for them. And in any social group, you get the mix of folks -- some will help, some will only help themselves. If you watch your friend's back, that's not mafia, that just taking care of those who take care of you.
==Blue(23)
LITTLE GIRL: But which cookie will you eat FIRST? C. MONSTER: Me think you have misconception of cookie-eating process.
I think you mean "gobbagool", aka capocollo or capicola. It's pork shoulder. Yummay.
The "bada-bing" catchphrase, often followed by "bada-boom" appears to be an rhythmic onomatopiea which reinforces rapid and successful execution of some mission or objective. A group whose memebes repeatedly exchange these vocalizations emphasises the importance of timing, coordination and speed of action.
And yes, many Italian-Americans do say it. You can't make shit like that up.
It's most commonly heard in the NY/NJ area.
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