Everquest Suicide and Lawsuit

[Balsamic Dragon]

Begin rant:

It is very interesting to me that this thread has gone on for five pages with only one general opinion being expressed, to various degrees of extremity.

I am not saying that games kill people. But some games are more addictive in nature than others. Magic the Gathering and Everquest seem to me to be more addictive than is typical for games because of the collecting aspect in combination with the social aspect of the game. In both of these games, the source of the addictive quality is the company who produces them. People can't sell their D&D character online because it is just words on paper. People can sell Magic cards and Everquest treasure because the company controls the production, creation, value and rarity of these "items."

Let me ask this: how many people on the list know that the game is often referred to as "Evercrack"? How many people would have disputed that designation before this article was posted?

You may disagree with the woman in the article, and I do as well, but I think I can understand where she is coming from. A game is known to be different from other games. Why? Because it has an "addictive" quality. Because it's like "crack." Because people tie other important things in their lives (romance, social worth, money) into the game. The company knows this about its game. In fact, it is only the company that gives its game these qualities. The company must be constantly on guard to prevent cheating because it will reduce the addictive property of the game by making it too easy to get the really cool, rare stuff.

Is the company to blame for everything that happens to its players? No. But should the company be aware that its game may cause problems and take reasonable steps to help reduce those problems? Yes. This, to me, is not a legal question, it is a common-sense decency question. If I worked at a gaming company and I saw an article like this about my game, it would make me think "This is awful! What could we do to try to make sure this doesn't happen again?" Warning labels probably aren't the answer, but they aren't out of the question. Perhaps not on the box, but in the game itself when you have been playing for 12 hours straight, some sort of warning should point out that this can be dangeous to your health. Baldur's Gate II, for example, has such a warning pop up randomly when you save your game.

Again, this isn't about money and it isn't about lawsuits. It's about a player who obviously had mental difficulties and a game that is dangerous to people with mental difficulties of a certain kind. We don't have to make things "safe" for everyone, but we should make sure that people for whom they are not safe, and their loved ones, get the warnings they need and deserve.

End rant.

Balsamic Dragon

 

[Greatwyrm]

Again, this isn't about money and it isn't about lawsuits. It's about a player who obviously had mental difficulties and a game that is dangerous to people with mental difficulties of a certain kind. We don't have to make things "safe" for everyone, but we should make sure that people for whom they are not safe, and their loved ones, get the warnings they need and deserve.

End rant.

Balsamic Dragon

If I read the story correctly (please correct me if I am wrong), this person had been diagnosed with at least one mental illness. Should we go around putting warnings on everything a mentally ill person could have problems with? EQ, M:tG, scissors, sharp sticks, folding chairs... We aren't talking about prescription drugs here, it's a video game. A very engaging game, but a game all the same.

 

[Pielorinho]

Baldur's Gate II, for example, has such a warning pop up randomly when you save your game.

Baldur's Gate's warning is a joke, poking fun at gamers and at our tendency to play the game for long periods of time. It's not really intended to dissuade us from playing for long periods of time, I'm sure.

Everquest may have an obligation to warn people that the game is addictive, but I'm not convinced that they do. "Replay value" is a common term used to describe how well the game lends itself to being played over and over. The fact that Everquest succeeds in this effort better than most other games isn't a strike against it: they're doing well what most games try to do.

Personally, I don't play it, because I think I'd easily get drawn into it. Same reason I don't smoke, or have expanded cable.

Daniel

 

[Negative Zero]

... You need some law stating clearly the point where an organization's responsibility ends. ...

i think that this is part of the problem really. why do you need a law for that? i think that too many people depend on the law to tell them the things that they already know. while i agree that it's necessary to have laws, where is the point where we say that enough is enough? that the average person should know that they can't possibly expect to get away with such frivolity.

i agree that mental health is a serious thing. but i think that too many people use it as an excuse to act on their depravity. and no i'm not saying that this kid didn't have real problems. i'm refering to the issue of these frivious lawsuits in general.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Personally, I don't play it, because I think I'd easily get drawn into it. Same reason I don't smoke, or have expanded cable.

I'm right with you. I got out of M:tG and I avoid Mage Knight for those same reasons.

The problem is, a large portion of American society has bought into the "victim" mindset. People think everybody is a victim of somebody else. People my grandparents' age made mistakes on their own and admitted it. Somewhere along the line, however, everybody around here just stopped taking responsibility.

I'm not saying mentally ill people should just make good decisions, even though they are unable to do so. It's the rest of us that don't have any excuse.

 

[Ace32]

Originally posted by Greatwyrm
The problem is, a large portion of American society has bought into the "victim" mindset. People think everybody is a victim of somebody else. People my grandparents' age made mistakes on their own and admitted it. Somewhere along the line, however, everybody around here just stopped taking responsibility.

Hey, it's not our fault!

 

[Grendel]

Maybe we just need to put a warning lable on anything that could provice potential enjoyment, just in case it proves to be so entertaining that we become addicted.

When i bought a new car I drove it alot, i drove it fast. I am begining to think that maybe the manufacture was responisble for my behavior. It maybe time to file a lawsuit and recoupe some of personal costs for speeding tickets and insurance rate increases.

We live in a world were no one wants to take responibility for their actions.

 

[Romotre]

hooray for social darwinism!

 

[Master Kaul]

Well this is the way I look at it...

Even if the mother did do a good job raising the guy, did the article not say the the guy quit his job? If so where did he get the money to support his "habit", I'd venture to say his mother gave him the $10 bucks a month. So in essance she killed her own son.

Hell, this is like giving your son his Crack money then blaming the dealer cause ur kid had a heart attack.

 

[Draxus the Tainted]

If the mother REALLY cared about her son, she would have not had him living alone with the condition he was in. He should have been either at home where she could help him, or in the hospital. He probably spent so much time playing that he forgot to take his medication and had a break down because of it, that's when he blew his own brains out!