A DLU Exposé: The Dragonlance Mafia
The observation was raised recently that underhanded and cruel dealings were being carried out, and in fact condoned in the long-established forums of alt.fan.dragonlance (afdl) and the Dragonlance mailing list (DL-L). Raist666, DLU's link to the underworld, was bound, flogged and branded so we could bring you this exclusive information of afdl and DL-L's terrifying criminal side—the Dragonlance Mafia.
The Dragonlance Mafia is a hierarchically structured society of criminals, somewhat recognized and known publicly as the Dinos. The appellation "Bitter Dino" is awarded to members who had shown exceptional skill in extortion and intimidation.
The Dragonlance Mafia had its beginnings online in the early to mid-1990s, where it started as a secret organization dedicated to antagonizing newbies to protect the Mafia territories of afdl and DL-L. Tactics included (and still include) starting threads about Raistlin's sex, unruly public behavior among Mafia members, blunt honesty, extreme pessimism and cynicism, sharp analyses and uncensored negative opinions of Dragonlance books, gun and bomb threats, and a marked lack of worship among the members towards Dragonlance writers. As the organization has grown more powerful over time, loud opponents of the Mafia can "disappear," often after violent shoot-outs and flame wars in the Dragonlance forums. Low-key opponents of the Mafia have either quietly removed themselves from the forums, or stay silent, terrified lurkers in order to preserve their lives, jobs, homes and families. By about 1998, various Dragonlance Mafia cliques and factions had joined together in a loose confederation, and controlled most of the activity in afdl and DL-L.
The Mafia lead hedonistic lifestyles, built upon the wealth taken from the people they eliminate. They also extort money from people in the forums (including some Dragonlance writers) in exchange for protecting their posts from Mafia attack. Attacks on Dragonlance writers are immediate and violent when payments of money are late. The Mafia is composed of individuals who have proved themselves passionate, Dragonlance-knowledgeable and experts in murder and carnage. With their great wealth, strong and widespread connections and easy access to weapons, Mafia members enjoy cosy links with TSR and Wizards for lifetime, unlimited supplies of Dragonlance books and free protected expression on the Dragonlance forums. Mafia members, despite public disagreements between them, have strong family ties, so that when Mafia opponents call their actions to question, Mafia members band together, protect one another and shoot all naysayers and newbies down without compassion or second thought. The Mafia code of conduct is to stick with family, to carry out vigilante justice and to never assist in any way the legal prosecution against other Mafia brothers. Also, to break the code of silence held sacred by the Mafia is to incur reprisals from them.
Over the years there've been several attempts to eliminate the Dragonlance Mafia by public criticism, shaming, and setting up alternative forums. Their success has been unsure. Only the Dragonlance Mafia possess the secret information about the reasons for SAGA, Raistlin's sex, the Dragonlance SSI computer games, the reasons against the HotL, retconning, gem dragons and the bakali; the Mafia have also proved invaluable in flaming down uninformed Fifth Age haters and newcomers who post major Dragons of a Lost Star spoilers without spoiler warnings.
Some may say that the hold and power of the Dragonlance Mafia has weakened and the Mafia's heyday is past, and hopefully disappearing for good. Their secret information is now public domain, though undeniably the Mafia are still needed to provide information, lest they be accused of withholding information from the public like Dragonlance reading lists, URLs for DL sites, and all the necessary info for DL gaming campaigns, among other things. Accusations of Mafia members being heartless, cruel and elitist are swift to appear, though Mafia's reactions are no less so. Despite the mounting criticism against the Mafia, it is debatable also that the Mafia has lost any of its ability to defend itself and its secrets...
Our Mafia exposé ends here, as our informant, Raist666, unexpectedly disappeared when our interviewer was out to lunch.