Alright, I'm writing about gangs in a matrix setting (specifically, shared braindance). I've read a bit about normal gangs, especially here. What else should I be pulling in? Does anyone have any good resources or thoughts on gangs in general, and how they'll change when they're fully in virtual environments?

The Dumpshock community is a virtual gang....

I would anticipate that virtual gangs would be like any other type of gang, but behavior would be even more extreme and fluid. Since it isn't real, it's just virtual isn't it? I'm not hurting a real person am I?

Ignore modern hacker culture entirely. Matrix gangs aren't modern hackers - they're people who happen to use the fact that the Matrix is commercialised to make a living by blackmail and other unsavoury techniques. The last thing a Matrix ganger would say is "the information wanted to be free".

They're likely to operate a botnet and DDoS targets until "protection payments" are made. They can crack the node and retrieve any juicy information then use that in the normal manner. You can drop viruses, backdoors, or trojans in to create secret controls on a system that they use to extract their price from the target.

It's all the same stuff as a normal gang, since the Matrix is generally designed to be like the real world in as many ways as possible.

Fluid how?



But a normal gang usually operates by defending shared, physical territory. It has a strong sense of group (geographical or political) identity. The matrix doesn't have this. No one knows you're a dog on the matrix. How do they recruit people for gangs? How do they determine if your identity is appropriate for the ideologies of the group? How do they establish shared culture?

Usually, they won't force people to join. It's more a "they're cool" thing or maybe they do share a common interest like a common motivation. Not every gang just wants to squeeze some money out of some poor sucker, some gangs indulge in e-vigilantism but they don't tend to care much about single nodes.

Initiation Rite as with other gangs. Or you spent some time with them so they can check up if you are "real" about yourself.

Like most cultures are established, by hanging out together. My two-three friends i message every day have a common ground when it comes to certain in-jokes, memes and other stuff we tend to "worship".

So you imagine it's like 4chan with more stringent registration requirements.

Physical constraints on change are no longer in place. How do you leave a physical gang? Usually there are economic and cultural restraints on the individual members ability to remove themselves from that environment.

Virtual gang bang going wrong? Jack out, reboot, change persona, spoof a new id, go join another VR gang.

Gang culture has many variables. Any group of people together for a purpose is a gang.


Gang Recruitment. It's not like a gang needs to go out and kidnap and brainwash people to join them, though there could be a gang that does just that, but typically, the members are together because they already have a common interest. It might simply be to survive the 'hood, but in VR it could be a predilection for left handed green haired lizardmen.

Take Project Chanology (WARNING NOT SAFE FOR ANY KIND OF ENVIRONMENT) as an Example and extrapolate from there.

Maybe like guilds in world of warcraft...lol

Sorry for interjecting that.

Really taken any open forum on the net. They recruit by existing. Your of the "right" sheared ideology cos you stayed and get along with the people there. Look DS' own in jokes and such. The same exist any place. Again there will be some differences but the core things that are there on the net will still exist. Manly the freedom to from such gangs and the means to keep your identity hidden.