Man Dies After Gaming Marathon

[Guest DrTom]

If this happened in the US, you *know* someone would be getting sued.

-------

 

Man dies after gaming marathon

By Winston Chai

CNETAsia

October 11, 2002, 6:06 AM PT

URL: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1106-961731.html

 

Too much of anything is bad for you.

 

This cliche cannot ring more true for a South Korean man who died on Tuesday after playing computer games non-stop for four days.

 

According to the Associated Press, the jobless man was glued to a computer in a cybercafe in Kwanju, 260 kilometers south-west of Seoul, since last Friday.

 

Deprived of sleep and proper meals, he collapsed in front of the counter desk early Tuesday but soon regained consciousness. He was subsequently found dead in the cafe’s toilet.

 

This isn't an isolated case. Earlier this year, a Louisiana mother sued Nintendo for “unspecified damages”, alleging the game maker for causing seizures in her 30-year-old son which subsequently led to his death. The man spent 48 hours a week playing video games.

 

While such extreme cases are rare and oftentimes a causal relationship between computer games and health ailments can hardly be established, the safe doctrine seems to lie with yet another cliche--do everything in moderation.

[Guest Lord of The Curry]

Is it wrong to find this shit utterly hilarious?

[Guest DrTom]

I don't think it is. Idiots who die because of their own stupidity deserve to be posthumously mocked, IMODO.

[Guest Sandman9000]

C'mon, we're missing the important part.

 

What game was he playing? And did he beat it?

[Guest mister foozel]

woohoohoo thats funny

[Guest redbaron51]

i bet he was playing starcraft

[Guest Olympic Slam]

Nah, this death smells of EverQuest overload

[Guest Samurai_Goat]

Ah, moderation my besalted behind. He simply didn't prepare himself, and was not under the careful supervision of an official video game marathon player. I, myself, have attempted marathon gaming, but NEVER without a spotter to remind me of certain facts.

 

1) Ingest food at least twice a day.

2) A minimum of 8 cups of water.

3) Moisturizers applied to eyes every four hours of playing during the first 12 hours, and every two hours after that.

4) Excrete when uncomfortable. This is often overlooked, and is the leading cause of video game fatalities.

and finally, 5) Do not, I repeat do NOT wear tight pants, as this may cut off circulation to certain...vital areas.

 

If you have difficulties memorizing these five steps, try this pneumatic device:

Drink, Eat, Moisturize, Excrete, Loose Pants: Don't Ever Migrate Eating Locust Powder.

 

Thank you, and remember kids, play safe, or don’t play at all.

[Guest Flyboy]

Is Madden 2003 THAT addictive?

 

*goes off to play it*

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

"Nah, this death smells of EverQuest overload"

 

I agree. Some kid killed himself and his mom is suing the game company because she says it was addictive.

 

The only reason I don't think it was Madden is because that game can drain the life out of you in a hurry -- he would have been dead long before...

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

Oh, this is total Everquest. I knew a guy who never left his room, or logged off. The problem? It was a dorm room. There were, y'know, classes he was supposed to be going to.

 

Ah well. He's back home, wherever that is.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Here's the Everquest lawsuit I was talking about earlier -- it's relevant to this thread...

 

http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress...cal/3146855.htm

 

Twenty-one-year-old Shawn Woolley was an addict, and his drug of choice — the drug that led to his suicide in November, his mother believes — was the online computer game EverQuest.

 

When he reached for his mouse and clicked into the 3-D virtual-reality world and left behind his apartment in Hudson, Wis., it was the same as a heroin addict reaching for a syringe or an alcoholic reaching for a drink, his family believes.

 

The role-playing game became his life, his love and, his mom says, his undoing.

 

What role the intensely popular online game might have played in Shawn Woolley's death will be at the center of a lawsuit to be filed against Sony by a Miami attorney who specializes in high-profile national cases.

 

"This isn't just an online game, it's dangerous," said Elizabeth Woolley, Shawn's mother. "I believe if he hadn't been playing that game, he'd be alive today."

 

Woolley hopes that speaking about the circumstances of her son's death will bring awareness. She wants Sony to add warning labels to the game — that, she says, would be the goal of any lawsuit.

 

Because of the pending litigation, Sony representatives would not comment for this story.

 

THE FANTASY REALM

 

EverQuest, launched by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999, is Sony's top game, with as many as 100,000 people online playing at any one time.

 

Players assume roles, called "avatars," in a mythical realm and interact with other players — in the next room or continents away.

 

"It's our flagship title," said Christy Fritts, a Sony spokeswoman.

 

But some players cannot draw themselves away from the game, critics say. The notion of cyberaddiction, which lies at the root of this case, is being heavily debated in chat rooms as it makes its way toward the courtroom.

 

Tera Peterson of St. Paul began playing when the game was launched and currently plays about 10 hours a week.

 

"I think the most interesting thing is that people all over the world play," she said. "It's cheap entertainment and I can play it with my boyfriend, friends and family."

 

Peterson said there has been a lot of online talk about the tragedy and what role, if any, the game played.

 

"The consensus of players is that if you have an addictive personality, you can become addicted to anything — but the game itself won't do it," Peterson said.

 

SHAWN'S DECLINE

 

Shawn began playing two years ago when he moved out on his own, and as he did, his mental and physical health declined. Marathon online sessions, sometimes 12 hours at a time, triggered grand mal epileptic seizures, his family says.

 

Elizabeth Woolley also grew concerned about her son's increasing disconnect with reality.

 

Shawn was beside himself, Elizabeth Woolley said, when he told her that a friend had betrayed him and stolen from him. The "friend" was another EverQuest player he had met online.

 

"He was so upset. He was so depressed. I tried to tell him it was only a game and they weren't really his friend," she said.

 

Shawn moved into and out of the family home as his addiction worsened in late 2000 and early 2001, his mother said. He resisted taking a job, but finally started working at a Hudson pizzeria.

 

In May 2001, he moved out for the last time, and in August he bought a second-hand computer. He continued to withdraw as he played the game. His phone was disconnected in September.

 

EverQuest consumed Shawn, his family said, and the more he played, the more his mental and physical health suffered, as did his personal hygiene. Shawn was diagnosed with depression and schizoid personality disorder, the symptoms of which include lack of desire for social relationships and a limited range of emotions in social settings.

 

Shawn stopped going to work Nov. 12 and wouldn't answer his door. On Nov. 13 he bought a shotgun. He logged on to EverQuest for the last time at 6 a.m. Nov. 20.

 

Sometime after logging on, Shawn put the shotgun to his neck and pulled the trigger. His mom found him two days later when she came to get him for Thanksgiving.

 

THE LAWSUIT

 

John B. Thompson, a Miami-based attorney who has been involved in a host of major cases, including the 2 Live Crew federal obscenity trial, plans legal action against Sony.

 

His wife is a native of Hudson. He learned of Shawn's death from his in-laws and contacted Woolley.

 

"(EverQuest) was designed to be as addictive as possible," Thompson said. "And there was a failure to warn. There are dangers and they know there are dangers."

 

In a letter to Sony CEO Howard Stringer April 9, Thompson told of Shawn's suicide and of cases of addiction to the game, and he requested information about the game and Shawn's account.

 

Sony, citing its privacy policy, has declined to comply.

 

A GROWING CONCERN

 

Psychologist David Walsh, president of the Minneapolis-based National Institute on Media and the Family, said addiction to computer games is a growing concern.

 

"We know it's happening, we just don't know the extent of it yet. We don't know if it is 1 percent, 5, or 10 percent of gamers, but there is anecdotal evidence," Walsh said.

 

Noting that its critics have dubbed EverQuest "EverCrack," Walsh said: "If you didn't know better, you'd think it was cocaine."

 

Pornography, chat rooms, games and gambling are, in order, the top four cyberaddictions, said Jay Parker of Redmond, Wash., a chemical dependency counselor who co-founded Internet Computer Addiction Services.

 

"It's a game that is never-ending," he said. "To (quit) the game you need to find a safe place to hide, which puts you at risk of losing everything."

 

Such games, Parker said, compare to a gambling addiction because both offer a "random reward system, which makes you want to keep playing."

 

"I'm not advocating taking away games, but I think there needs to be a lot more awareness. There is a downside," Parker said.

 

Woolley agrees. And while she knows her son had mental health problems, she maintains that EverQuest fed them.

 

"It was the perfect escape so he would not have to live life," she said. "It's like any other addiction. You die, you go insane or you quit. My son died."

[Guest JHawk]

So wait a fucking minute.

 

The guy commits suicide, and the mom's suing Sony?

 

Can my parents sue my ex if I kill myself and blame it on her completely devastating my emotional and mental stability?

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Sure, why not...

[Guest the 1inch punch]

What the hell is this Everquest anyway

[Guest TheHulkster]

The Nintendo lawsuit is as good as lost. Nintendo puts medical warnings in the manuals of all of their systems.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Everquest is basically online Dungeons and Dragons.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

Everquest is basically online Dungeons and Dragons.

No, because most D&D parties look out with each other, while EQ is a giant competition to see who get the "ph4+ l3wT"

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Evidently you never played in any of Tom's games. I still have fond memories of stunning another party member, cutting out her eye, and eating it.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Fantasy nerd games can be fun as hell. Just depends on who you play with.

 

<--Closet fantasy dork.

[Guest DrTom]

Speaking of D&D, I read on USAToday's web site that the "psychological profile" of the DC sniper indicates that he is "a loner" who would play games like D&D. So not only are we cat-killing Satanists, we're snipers in the nation's capital. I guess that's moving up in the world, but the sitgma that D&D players = an evil lot is really annoying whenever it slithers back into the public consciousness.

[Guest MrRant]

Speaking of D&D, I read on USAToday's web site that the "psychological profile" of the DC sniper indicates that he is "a loner" who would play games like D&D. So not only are we cat-killing Satanists, we're snipers in the nation's capital. I guess that's moving up in the world, but the sitgma that D&D players = an evil lot is really annoying whenever it slithers back into the public consciousness.

I always thought you were an evil fuck Tom.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

I read on USAToday's web site that the "psychological profile" of the DC sniper indicates that he is "a loner" who would play games like D&D.

That's fair enough, actually. I wouldn't be surprised if he did. It's not that there's a causal connexion; it's just that loners do tend to play RPGs, and murderers of this type tend to be loners. Pretty simple, if not terribly profound, relevant, or helpful.

[Guest DrTom]

I always thought you were an evil fuck Tom.

I am, but D&D didn't make me do it.

[Guest MrRant]

I read on USAToday's web site that the "psychological profile" of the DC sniper indicates that he is "a loner" who would play games like D&D.

That's fair enough, actually. I wouldn't be surprised if he did. It's not that there's a causal connexion; it's just that loners do tend to play RPGs, and murderers of this type tend to be loners. Pretty simple, if not terribly profound, relevant, or helpful.

Watch him end up having no military experience but plays a lot of say... Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault. And then everyone will thing that FPS are teaching us all how to snipe people.

[Guest DrTom]

It's not that there's a causal connexion; it's just that loners do tend to play RPGs, and murderers of this type tend to be loners.

I understand that. It's just the annoying "D&D players are evil" undertones I get whenever I read something like that. It's like the writers can't resist rubbing their hands together and chuckling over the opportunity to call role-players evil by proxy.

 

At a Magic tournament about a month ago, I was talking to the mother of one of the younger players. He was a boy of about 10, playing in his first organized tournament. She mentioned how she'd only let him play Pokemon in the past, and was worried that Magic was "evil." When I mentioned D&D, she said, "That's evil. That's evil, and I know it. My son won't go near that game." I decided not to tell her what an imbecile she was and dropped the subject. But that's the stigma that's out there, and a mention of games like D&D in the context of the DC sniper isn't going to change that unfounded image.

 

Personally, I think the sniper plays VTM. Those depressing goth fucks could be capable of anything.

[Guest MrRant]

Back when I was working for Cox in Las Vegas I knew a bunch of people who did the whole Vampire The Masqerade (sp) thing (As in walk around BEING their characters) like every Saturday night. I went once and was just like.... JESUS CHRIST.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

LARPing is, in fact, a ritual of the Antichrist. Betcha didn't know that.

[Guest MrRant]

LARPing is, in fact, a ritual of the Antichrist. Betcha didn't know that.

No I didn't. Of course it would make sense since they don't believe in God. Next time I see them I will have to accuse them of being minions of Satan.

[Guest Olympic Slam]

Back when I was working for Cox in Las Vegas I knew a bunch of people who did the whole Vampire The Masqerade (sp) thing (As in walk around BEING their characters) like every Saturday night.  I went once and was just like.... JESUS CHRIST.

I've been to a few gaming conventions where the people there nearly scared me to death. Hardcore gamers, especially of the D&D variety are a real spectacle. Nothing made me want to re-evaluate my social status more than eating at the same food court as middle aged guys running around in cloaks and speaking in character. I wont even get into the 60 year old guy wearing hot pants(!). Mind boggling stuff that isn't evil, it's just insanely dorky. Thankfully Magic tournaments are pretty tame by comparison.