Xmas day attack on Second Life

Another "goo attack," this one featuring green genitalia wearing Santa hats, halts the virtual world.

Recently the flourishing virtual economy of online community Second Life produced its first real-life millionaire, estate agent Ailin Graef, and announced it had reached the 1-million-member mark.

However, all's not entirely well in the virtual world--a series of "grey goo" attacks from malicious users over the last few months have been invading the system while Linden Lab technicians have battled to fix the problems and restore the world. One attack in November led to a temporary loss of service.

This latest attack took place at 9 p.m. PST on December 25 and was titled "Christmas Present." The worm spammed an obscenity at random Second Lifers, while self-replicating as objects that appeared to be green genitalia wearing festive Santa hats. They were making a noise that might have been intended as laughter.

According to the blog MMODump.com, "40 minutes into the attack, many regions on the mainland have ground to a halt." Linden Labs made a statement at 9:10 p.m. saying that it was aware of the problem.

Jeska Linden then updated the Official Linden Blog at 11:15 p.m. to announce that the problem had been fixed. It read, "I'm pleased to report that the earlier issues are almost completely resolved and those regions which were disabled during the replication attack are being brought back up. We now return you to your regularly scheduled Christmas."

184 Comments

  • Dominari

    Posted Mar 16, 2007 5:30 am PT

    This is still one of the funniest stories I've read here.

  • BigDaveyDogz

    Posted Jan 5, 2007 9:31 am PT

    link to a couple pics:

    http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/2006/12/26/christmas-day-goo-attack/

  • CQQLGuy

    Posted Jan 3, 2007 5:58 pm PT

    that is freaking hilarious!

  • lazystar123

    Posted Jan 3, 2007 12:04 pm PT

    "Let's see if I can put this into perspective for you. Imagine someone in a giant green penis suit running around your house. Funny, right? Now imagine that every few minutes, that number of people *doubles*, until the street outside your home is *literally* packed with these people. Still funny, right? Now, try to go to work, to the grocery store, or anywhere...and find that you can't, due to these people blockading you in your house. Not so funny any more, I bet. Now imagine the mass growing still further, to the point that they manage to knock down utility poles, taking out electricity, and/or phone/cable and the like, depending on whether your area uses buried lines or not...definitely not funny now, is it? And to cap it all off, imagine trying to use your cell phone to call out for some help..only to have the person on the other end tell you what a wonderful joke it is and that you should lighten up... That's pretty much the situation here (and possibly the plot for a *really* strange horror movie...)" -Vulpris

    Thank you LOL that is one of the funniest things I've ever read LOL you should lighten up ROFL this is just fricken hilarious
    Anyone have screenshots? lol

  • DarwinBC

    Posted Jan 3, 2007 9:33 am PT

    Second Life is creepy. A big penis in a Santa hat is hilarious

  • grendel61CMG

    Posted Jan 3, 2007 9:08 am PT

    I find Second Life morbidly hilarious, much in the same manner as the sannitariums of the previous century.

  • bluewolf3172

    Posted Jan 3, 2007 8:45 am PT

    Its really disturbing, i hate the human avatars (costumes, outfits w/e). Its just disturbing. If you like seeing that stuff then goahead. otherwise if you dont want to see that become a Furry fan.(im not ... I quit it xD)

  • Torque1599

    Posted Jan 3, 2007 7:00 am PT

    I'm not a big fan of second life. Anyone who is curious why should go to somethingawful.com and check out thier Second Life Safari. In summation SL is dominated by freaks and the worst kinds of sexual deviants. So i avoid it to safeguard my fragile sanity.

    These attacks are utterly hilarious, in my humble opinion. SLers really need a more productive hobby.

  • Shinkada

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 6:01 pm PT

    All the people bagging this game need to shut the hell up. Seriously. It's not a game, it's a 3D chat program. That's it. And for that purpose, it's above and beyond the best 3D chat program currently on the face of the internet. Yes, the initial look is ugly, but I've seen people with avatars that're good enough to rival the look of an Xbox game. A 3D chat program with (if you're either skilled or rich) literally unlimited customization, and graphics potentially as good as any new-gen console? That's quite a few steps up from IMVU. I don't play SL myself because I don't have the time or patience to bother learning how to make my own stuff, nor do I have the money to be able to waste it on a 3D chat program, but for those who do have the skills, all the power to them.

    Now piss off and go back to WoW.

  • Vash67

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 5:39 pm PT

    I guess this is what happens when this game starts getting more gaming media coverage.

  • Chief_Kuuni

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 1:57 pm PT

    that's crazy, there's always gonna be people that can't leave anything alone.

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 11:54 am PT

    I have just returned from holiday and this is the first article that I read. Interesting world we live in...

  • PaulMorris01

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 11:34 am PT

    addendum - i dont play sl

  • PaulMorris01

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 11:31 am PT

    Well Shadow Gryphon, possibly summed it up in his last remarks - HOWEVER - I too played bass, sang in a group, am married , have a full time job, and am well paid and also play games. But duh I would NEVER crap out anyone from wanting more than they have, even if they find it in a PC - whats the problem dudes? crikey - leave ppl alone i say

  • kjax8

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 11:01 am PT

    Shadow Gryphon is a genius. Read his post. Do it because I command it!

  • rob3nelson

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 10:54 am PT

    nazraq said: "I wish we could see what a real Second Life player looks like. I bet they are a poor piece of human existence."

    I bet you many of them are laughing all the way to the bank. I applaud them for earning money while playing games instead of losing it, like all the other losers playing MMOs are doing.

    -HCMF- said: "This is still funny, and those who don't get it, well they never will so I won't even waste my breath on those idiots..."

    What's there to get? It's just an immature prank that's all. It's much the same type of humor you encounter when you try to surf the web, but some malware prevents you from obtaining the full benefit of what you paid for. If the web or Second Life or Everquest, or whatever, were completely free and had solely an entertainment aspect, many of these types of activities would be hilarious. But you have to pay for high speed access and to play an MMO. Plus, those "playing' Second Life have invested a considrable portion of their lives and livelihoods into it. Consequently, it's tragic when things like this occur.

  • nazraq

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 10:34 am PT

    I wish we could see what a real Seecond Life player looks like. I bet they are a poor piece of human existance. I just can't wait until somebody makes 3rd life. This would be a game that exists only inside the world of Second Life. It would be something that players would make their avatars play. Like the first mmo video game game. And I'm sure that it would thrill all the fat loser losers in the world.

  • jazilla

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 10:05 am PT

    It's too bad that people ruin other people's enjoyment.

  • saugh

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 9:17 am PT

    That was just plain weird. Good though (the article, not the event).

  • -HCMF-

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 4:35 am PT

    This is still funny, and those who don't get it, well they never will so I won't even waste my breath on those id10t's, but for everyone else - I just wish this would have happened to ever crack or wow - anyone get a screenshot? I just have this mental picture of hords of people running away from the penis onslaught. (wow what a bad mental image)

  • eggsiboss

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 4:23 am PT

    HO HO HO! festive and offensive, priceless!

  • eggsiboss

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 4:23 am PT

    HO HO HO! festive and offensive, priceless!

  • Simsyas

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 3:39 am PT

    *Vulpis' comment is made of instant win.

  • The_Weekend

    Posted Jan 2, 2007 1:26 am PT

    as if 1st life itself isn't without problems on Xmas day ....

  • no1gamemaster

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 8:42 pm PT

    "Let's see if I can put this into perspective for you. Imagine someone in a giant green penis suit running around your house. Funny, right? Now imagine that every few minutes, that number of people *doubles*, until the street outside your home is *literally* packed with these people. Still funny, right? Now, try to go to work, to the grocery store, or anywhere...and find that you can't, due to these people blockading you in your house. Not so funny any more, I bet. Now imagine the mass growing still further, to the point that they manage to knock down utility poles, taking out electricity, and/or phone/cable and the like, depending on whether your area uses buried lines or not...definitely not funny now, is it? And to cap it all off, imagine trying to use your cell phone to call out for some help..only to have the person on the other end tell you what a wonderful joke it is and that you should lighten up... That's pretty much the situation here (and possibly the plot for a *really* strange horror movie...)" -Vulpris

    ^LOL, I don't mean to make fun of you or anything. BUT WHAT YOU SAID IS EVEN FUNNIER THAN THE ARTICLE!! LOL!

    AND YES I HAVE TO REPOST IT! Hey don't make fun of Vulpris hes cool man, what he said is funny I don't care lol.

  • blindMILITIA

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 7:52 pm PT

    hey, maybe Vulpis should look up Second Life on yahoo search. Even Linden Labs calls it an online game. Its funny that some people who PLAY THIS GAME take it seriously, even more so than the people who made it.

  • ketsuatama

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 7:52 pm PT

    What a (green) cock-up!

  • endtype

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 6:36 pm PT

    It's been a long time coming

  • Destroyeron13

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 5:11 pm PT

    ShadowGryphon : Pwns.

  • rbop

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 3:36 pm PT

    @Vulpis - Good to see you back spreading the knowledge... Although I couldn't define half the words that ShadowGryphon used in his post, I'd have to say he pwned. Good grief. What a wordsmith. His vernacular and written language acumen clearly supercedes that of the average poster. BTW, I haven't followed a story this long in a good while. I am thoroughly enjoying the back and forth. Remember, choose the blue pill.

  • ShadowGryphon

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 3:15 pm PT

    Nikefreak, Vulpis...... to everything you said I feel compelled to ask......... so what ?
    Yes , yes... it's not a game and yes it's something to be "used" as opposed to being "played"
    But are your lives so disatisfying that you feel the need to A) come here and correct a large group of people (who are predominantly kids I might add) because their syntax with regards to SL is incorrect and B) proselytize and expound on the questionable "virtues" of SL ?
    Both of your responses have been as elitist and dismissive as the responses I've seen from WoW players when challeneged on why they PLAY WoW.

    I mucked about with SL once, it's horrid. If I were pressed to describe it I would have to say : laggy, visually obsolete, counter-intuitive (in both the method of movement/control and "customization"), and obviously coded by people who have a rather deluded and self-agrandized view of themselves.

    As for it being likened to "The Sims" , guess what........... IT IS!
    the ONLY difference being, one has more direct control of the character in SL than in The SIms, but otherwise... SL, like the Sims, has appealed to the more base nature of many users. I've heard and read far too many horror stories about the debase and vile activities of many users in SL, activities they engage in simply because they feel hidden by a digital cloak of anonymity . Please understand, I'm not trying to push my own moral sensibilities off on anyone here, but if you are going to present SL and yourselves in a virtuous light, I'm going to have to shed that light on -all- aspects of SL.

    Doubt my verasity ? then let me remind you of this latest attack AND the Whorehouse that is run in SL as simply 2 small examples of the larger problem.


    In my opinion, SL is a program for people who find their real lives so utterly devoid of anything truely meaningful, they have to dive head first into an online "second life", to obtain any substantial, though ultimately fleeting, social interaction and joy for their real lives.

    And before anyone starts busting my chops know this, I work full time, play bass and sing in a band, read voraciously, practice martial arts , am married and also a gamer .... hmmm sounds like I have a life.

  • Relys

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 2:22 pm PT

    Second life just plane s|_|cks! I think it is probaly the WORST online gaming experince I have ever tryed! It started when I signed up for an account... After entering a hole buch of cr@p in I found out that the "teen" version wanted my parents credit card! What a bunch of ****s! So I lied about my age... After waiting for the program to install I signed in, greated by a nude female model! Everything laged like I was trying run it on windows 3.1! Half of the textures wornt loaded and I had to wait 5 mins for my computer to log out of the game!

    This game is PURE S**T

  • kokypork

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 2:19 pm PT

    lmao

  • Vulpis

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 11:56 am PT

    Meanwhile, reading through comments--I'd say hitomo is the perfect example of the people who truly *don't* get it. I wonder if the people who go around complaining that SL and the other virtual spaces like it 'aren't entertaining' go around complaining that their cars aren't entertaining, their phones aren't entertaining, and the like? Major clue here, folks--Second Life actually *isn't* a game, it's a communication tool and medium of expression that, as one small part of it's functionality, allows games to be constructed within it. I can probably agreed with hitomo on the part about the controls and such being poor--but then again, keep in mind that SL is basically first-generation technology...it's the test-bed to learn all of the ways to screw up, so that later tools of the type don't have these problems (which has already happened in things like There). It's the Model T Ford of virtual spaces. ;-) Or if you like, compare your modern cell phone to the original telephone models.. Granted, like any medium, there'll be the 'entertainment' forms (car racing, phone psychics, etc), and the perversions (sex lines, etc.), but that goes with the territory, and always has. Frankly, I'd say that some of the people around here need to get their heads out of WoW and Everquest once in a while and see what else the technology can be used for other than *just* playing games.

  • P2L5NM

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 11:45 am PT

    lol

  • Vulpis

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 11:27 am PT

    I just read boo_dat's comment 'How dare you compare Second Life to reality. If we can't differentiate from reality, we'll be no better than a drug addict or an alcohol.'...and wonder how many people realize that they've been participating in a virtual economy on the same order as SL for decades? Namely, their bank account--you have 'real money' going in and coming out, but within the system, it's nothing more than data being given different values and being shuffled from one place to the other in the electronic system. You have the exchange of that 'virtual money' for tangible goods and services (ever paid for something with your credit card or bank-card?), and to a degree even have money coming from thin air just like Lindens are created (what, you think the US has had anything to *back* the additional currency that's put into the system annually? Now *there's* being out of touch with reality...) And speaking of virtual space vs. reality--one of the reasons this attack is being taken so seriously isn't as much due to the average home users, but the *corporate* ones who are starting to use it as a meeting space--the 'next generation' version of the teleconference more or less--and view Linden Labs as one of their resources, much the same as they do their utilities, internet, and telephone providers. Speaking of telephones--do you realize this is *another* form of virtual space (albeit audio-only), connecting two distantly-separate people? Before you want to want to start pointing fingers at people not being able to distinguish reality, you might want to stop and take a good look at what constitutes 'reality' in this day and age...

  • BonziBoce

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 11:24 am PT

    lmfao, just seeing that is worth playing that MMO, too bad im too late.

  • Butter_Stick

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 10:35 am PT

    if it is in fact futile to try to change peoples minds, then why are you writing an opinionated message trying to do just that. also if you quote old internet adages such as, "If you keep your emotions off the 'net, you avoid a lot of needless heartache," then you are a nerd. Deal with it, the first step is admitting.

  • Benhalcyon

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 5:07 am PT

    I have to admit this gave me a good laugh, I sent it to a few of my friends in fact. But I have to say to Vulpris and Nikefreak, that perhaps rather than trying to convince others of the severity of this particular situation, reside in the fact that you understand firsthand the problem that was. Because wasting words and time to change the minds of other people is just that; a waste.

    Instead, just let people have their fun. It's more or less like that old internet adage, "If you keep your emotions off the 'net, you avoid a lot of needless heartache."

    (I'm not a WoW gamer, and I goto the gym therefore forfeiting the nerd term myself)

  • oni_jay

    Posted Jan 1, 2007 1:31 am PT

    FilthyYamBag, it's because their lives are miserable.

  • FilthyYamBag

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 9:03 pm PT

    XtremePsycho basically they get kicks and giggles making other peoples lives miserable, why i don't know, i'll never get it

    Btw, glad you all loved my comment earlier "now your second life sucks too"

  • stray18

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 8:20 pm PT

    Dominari
    "hahahahahaha, now your second life sucks too."

    ROFL! Good call!

  • XtremePhsyco

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 4:33 pm PT

    why do that, what do those peopl gain by unleashing a worm

  • gatsbythepig

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 2:41 pm PT

    nice

  • hitomo

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 2:34 pm PT

    SL looks awful, the controlls are awful ... its just awful, its not worth to lose a single minute in the game... hm service what ever... this is ancient ... and absolutly nonentertaining.... and a pain to deal with

  • Dominari

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 12:35 pm PT

    "hahahahahaha, now your second life sucks too."

    I don't know what made me laugh more, the story or this comment.

  • russkie177

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 12:10 pm PT

    Yeah...shoulda happened to WoW.

  • Megavideogamer

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 12:07 pm PT

    Regularly scheduled Christmas huh?

  • Alpha_Omega69

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 10:56 am PT

    Lmfao XD pwned XD...Man that made me laugh XD

  • -HCMF-

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 10:54 am PT

    you know the more i think about this the funnier it becomes. I love this. To bad this didn't happen to WOW or Evercrack.... Imagine you and your party trying to defend the great plains from the onslaught of the penis hord... "for every one I kill to more pop up!" I could see some id10t trying to kite a pack of rabid penis

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