Of course people playing GTA Online have formed digital gangs — the “crews” feature, which allows everyone to assign special roles and ranks within a group, is practically built for this. But damn, some people take crews in GTA Online really seriously.
Take the Reaper Lords, for example. They are a biker gang that only exists inside of Los Santos, and they lay claim to turf on the northern part of the GTA Online map. Founded by xXLordKingGodXx, the gang is also expanding into smaller chapters across different consoles, Xbox and PlayStation alike. According to the documentary-style video embedded above, a few hundred members are currently a part of the Reaper Lords.
So what makes a Reaper Lord a Reaper Lord? For one, they have a dress code: they all wear black leather jacket with a special “Reaper Lords” patch on the back. According to Gamer’s Diary, they even have a motto: “Reaper Lords until the reaper calls.”
They also have a strict guide of conduct, depending on what type of member you are. The gang has actually outlined specific rules for prospects and hangarounds:
1. ONLY SPEAK WHEN A PATCHED MEMBER SPEAKS TO YOU.
2. YOU WILL UPDATE AND REPORT TO YOUR RANKING OFFICERS REGULARLY.
3. OBEY ALL ORDERS GIVEN TO YOU.
4. YOU DO NOT VOTE.
5. YOU WILL RIDE IN THE BACK OF THE FORMATION ON GROUP RIDES.
6. WEAR A BROWN SUEDE JACKET WITH THE PROSPECT PATCH ON THE BACK, AND A BLACK T-SHIRT.
7. SALUTE IMMEDIATELY WHEN YOU SEE A PATCHED MEMBER.
8. YOU RIDE ONLY THE HEXER, OR THE BAGGER.
9. YOU NEVER USE PASSIVE MODE, TANKS, OR JETS.
10. YOU DO NOT WEAR MASKS.
11. YOU DO NOT WEAR THE SKULL HELMET.
12. DO NOT IGNORE INVITES OR MEETINGS THAT ARE BEING HELD.
13. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW SOMETHING, ASK.
14. THIS IS YOUR ONLY CREW.
15. YOU MUST BE LOYAL.
Having a prospect meet, they either listen well or get put down. #GTAOnline #ReaperLordsMC @GTASeries @GTASnapmatic pic.twitter.com/tw4mroEvCS
— Reaper Lords MC (@ReaperLordsMC) June 30, 2014
Once prospects have been tested and proved worthy, they become actual Reaper Lords — and this, too, comes with its own set of intense rules:
1. LISTEN TO YOUR LEADERS.
2. WEAR “BLACK LEATHER JACKET” WITH REAPER LORDS PATCH ON THE BACK.
3. STAY IN ROAD FORMATION ON GROUP RIDES.
4. RIDE ON MOTORCYCLES ONLY, WHEN WITH THE CREW.
5. DO NOT IGNORE INVITES OR MEETINGS THAT ARE BEING HELD.
6. SALUTE IMMEDIATELY WHEN YOU SEE A HIGHER RANKING MEMBER.
7. HELP ALL BROTHERS IN NEED.
8. KEEP YOUR LEADERS UPDATED.
9. THIS IS YOUR ONLY CREW.
10. MUST BE A LOYAL BROTHER.
Once inside the gang, players participate in missions and meetings, depending on their role within the organisation. But more interestingly, they have also constructed a fascinating role-playing game complete with rivals, allies, and even mock news reports and Twitter updates that track their activity. It’s very reminiscent of the way real criminal groups use social media for PR purposes, only GTA Online players have more flexibility when it comes to staging what they show the world:
Some fool ran his mouth… We cut his hands off and left him for dead. #PatchPic #GTAOnline pic.twitter.com/gx38vDKotX
— Reaper Lords MC (@ReaperLordsMC) July 7, 2014
No one survives when they go against us. #ReaperLordsMC #GTAOnline pic.twitter.com/32PHXqeulT
— Reaper Lords MC (@ReaperLordsMC) July 2, 2014
Fight club! #ReaperLordsMC #GTAOnline pic.twitter.com/Bcplr1C92V
— Reaper Lords MC (@ReaperLordsMC) June 26, 2014
F**K The Los Santos PD… #ReaperLordsMC #GTAOnline pic.twitter.com/PHT5uQwphO
— Reaper Lords MC (@ReaperLordsMC) June 26, 2014
#ReaperLords & #HA81 rolling out together. #Brothers #GTAOnline @GTASeries @GTASnapmatic @RockstarNetwork pic.twitter.com/mmsgylD8jm
— Reaper Lords MC (@ReaperLordsMC) July 6, 2014
Naturally, Reaper Lords record fights against enemies too:
Not that that stops their rivals from talking shit on the comments sections:
Kind of surreal, no? It’s hard to tell how much of this is real and how much of it is staged, carefully curated to give off a specific look online. Maybe that doesn’t matter as much as the fact that people are putting this much effort into making GTA Online gangs seem “real.”
All of this comes together to paint a fascinating, if not unsettling (a lot of these folks kind of sound like kids) picture of the sorts of communities that populate GTA Online.
You can read more about the Reaper Lords here, and you can visit their official website here.
Comments
32 responses to “Inside The World Of GTA Online’s Intense Biker Gangs”
@bdkiaf @dc Yeah, but do they ride pushbikes?
Pedal or Die. Pedal Posse for life.
Did we ever decide which one of us was Nicole Kidman?
Whichever one of you is the saddest shadow of your former self, I would assume.
Haha. Oh man. Brutal.
Favourite memory of that game was us racing and BDKIAF getting hit by truck at finish line.
We should jump back into that for funsies.
That’s just sad…
Pfft…they aren’t as good as my Faggio riding gang.
The bike formation looks cool, but is weak against trucks >:D
biker bowling FTW.
This sounds awesome! I have always wanted to join an outlaw motorcycle club without the risk of being stabbed or getting involved with drugs! I can’t wait for GTA Online for PC so I can join one!
“11. YOU DO NOT WEAR THE SKULL HELMET”
aw man, these hard-core biker gangs won’t let me have any fun.
So someone watched Sons of Anarchy and was too scared to get their motorcycle license.
The license is the easy part – The women in that show… Far out, make me Varys!
I reckon it’s awesome fun. There are always those who will take EVERYTHING too seriously though! However, I’m surprised I haven’t come across any crip or blood gangs in South Los Santos…. There probably are, just never see anything this exciting. I guess it’s because I play in Aus.
I do however, hear a lot of islanders from NZ online, and they act pretty gangster on the mic. Lol.
I just started a Car gang called the Anti reaper lords
We only have 2 rules:
1) Run over bikies.
2) Chivalry not allowed
jesus, this shit is lame.
Such trolling opportunity.
Wow. an online biker gang. so hardcore.
Wait until the Queensland government hears of this………..
LMFAO best comment ive read so far
ojo
Roleplaying in an MMO? Shocking! 😉
Tunnel Snakes Rules!
On one hand, I laugh at how pathetic they are. They are probably teenagers trying to act tough in a video game. On the other hand, roleplaying is pretty awesome and getting into it can be quite the experience. If that’s what they’re doing then they probably enjoy themselves a whole lot
If they’re just kids who think they really are hardcore, I feel so very sorry for them. It’s like a toddler getting on their little trycycle, wearing a bucket for a helmet and then swearing at their parents!
Fuck the the arse reapers , Good Khunts World Wide
im also trying to figure out why this article is in the pc section ???
The ‘Reaper Lords’ sounds really try-hard, like something a 12 year old thought sounded really badass.
This has me curious as to how GTA online works. I’ve never really looked into it, being a console only game and all, but by the sounds of things it offers up some reasonably good customisation? Unless there are stores where you can buy “Reaper Lords” leather jackets and “Prospect” Brown coats already?
You can form gangs within GTA, and you can make your own customised logo online. You can have more than 1 logo, then once you join, you there’s a number of clothing options that you can add the gang logo to, so I assume that they have 2 logos, one of the actual gang, and another for prospects.
I dunno what it is, but I find this incredibly fascinating. I might have to jump back on and see if I can find any other of these gangs.
For everyone who thinks that they are joining these biker gangs online so they can feel like they are actually tough your wrong. These biker gangs are like any other online gaming community or clam it’s for the competition and opportunity to get involved in the game socially. It’s strictly for fun and it’s like a sport. I’m a prospect for the rogues MC and its way fun. Don’t get me wrong there are people who take it serious like the reaper lords bit no one likes them anyway 😉