EverQuest causes player suicide
04-03-02, 06:54 PM
#1
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EverQuest causes player suicide
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/mar02/31536.asp
I'm sorry if this has already been posted.
While I've never actually played EverQuest, I was a big player of PSO for a while. Yes PSO was insanely addictive, but there is nothing that Sega (or in the case of EverQuest, Sony) could do about this. The mother of the person is threatening a lawsuit, and wants warning labels put on the game talking about how addictive the game is. That doesn't even make sense! What's it going to say "We programmed this game far too awesomely! So if you play it, you might REALLY like it, and play too long..... don't do that, sincerely Sony Computer Entertainment"
I'm sorry if this has already been posted.
While I've never actually played EverQuest, I was a big player of PSO for a while. Yes PSO was insanely addictive, but there is nothing that Sega (or in the case of EverQuest, Sony) could do about this. The mother of the person is threatening a lawsuit, and wants warning labels put on the game talking about how addictive the game is. That doesn't even make sense! What's it going to say "We programmed this game far too awesomely! So if you play it, you might REALLY like it, and play too long..... don't do that, sincerely Sony Computer Entertainment"
04-03-02, 09:32 PM
#3
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"It's like any other addiction," Elizabeth Woolley said last week. "Either you die, go insane or you quit. My son died."
Guess I'm addicted to eating and sleep!
"Shawn was playing 12 hours a day, and he wasn't supposed to because he was epileptic, and the game would cause seizures," she said. "Probably the last eight times he had seizures were because of stints on the computer."
"The manufacturer of EverQuest purposely made it in such a way that it is more intriguing to the addict," Parker said. "It could be created in a less addictive way, but (that) would be the difference between powdered cocaine and crack cocaine."
I have no idea what this even means? Purposely made it addicting? How?Rather than sue Sony, why doesn't the mom just sell his account for big bucks on Ebay?
04-03-02, 10:01 PM
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Originally posted by Groucho
This is a silly thing to say...it's true of anything you do, if you think about it. Either you stop doing it (quit), or you keep doing it until you die.
Guess I'm addicted to eating and sleep!
This is a silly thing to say...it's true of anything you do, if you think about it. Either you stop doing it (quit), or you keep doing it until you die.
Guess I'm addicted to eating and sleep!
04-03-02, 11:07 PM
#6
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Hello, my name is Littlefuzzy, and I have an addiction. For the past thirty-two years, I have been addicted to oxygen. In fact, I am using right now. 
04-04-02, 09:41 AM
#7
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I'm glad the mother is suing. Her case will get thrown out of court and she will end up being burried with legal fees. Another lesson on stupidity taught and a warning for other idiot parents that can't learn to blame themselves.
04-04-02, 10:16 AM
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So....for all you parents out there with nutty kids: before you buy a game for your kid, check IGN reviews and make sure it has less than 6.0 in lasting appeal.
04-04-02, 04:50 PM
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Right... like a warning label would have suddenly made him want to play the game less, or made her a better parent.
"Honey, you really should stop playing that game so much."
"No."
"Well, okay, but I'm just saying..."
"No."
"Okay..." (leaves)
I mean, seriously, the fact that he was in tears about losing virtual money was a sledge-hammer-sized clue that should have hit her over the head. It was her responsibility to keep him away from the game since he obviously couldn't do it himself. She failed, it's her fault, and she can't accept that. See sig.
"Honey, you really should stop playing that game so much."
"No."
"Well, okay, but I'm just saying..."
"No."
"Okay..." (leaves)
I mean, seriously, the fact that he was in tears about losing virtual money was a sledge-hammer-sized clue that should have hit her over the head. It was her responsibility to keep him away from the game since he obviously couldn't do it himself. She failed, it's her fault, and she can't accept that. See sig.
04-04-02, 06:55 PM
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The lawsuit described in the article probably doesn't have a leg to stand on. The attempt by the lawyer to compare "addictive" games to cigarettes is fundamentally flawed. Tobacco companies added chemically addictive ingredients to their products in order to form physical drug addictions in smokers. There is no such parallel here. An addictive game is addictive because people enjoy playing it a lot.
It might be better to describe this guy as "obsessed" rather than "addicted". Even so, it is a leap to attribute the suicide to the game, rather than attributing it, for example to the guy's schizoid personality disorder, or even to the fact that his life really sucked and wasn't worth living.
It might be better to describe this guy as "obsessed" rather than "addicted". Even so, it is a leap to attribute the suicide to the game, rather than attributing it, for example to the guy's schizoid personality disorder, or even to the fact that his life really sucked and wasn't worth living.
04-04-02, 08:57 PM
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The main thing is, he had to click "Yes" on that agreement we all don't read. Is said agreement, it basicly removes Sony from any harm incured while playing said game.
04-05-02, 08:27 PM
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I've never played the game, but I know friends that do. This woman is completely wrong in her stance and is just trying to put some kind of blame on someone for her sons suicide.
I want to punch this woman in the teeth.
I want to punch this woman in the teeth.
04-05-02, 09:42 PM
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Well, talk about good press. If this story were to get national coverage, I would think Everquest would bring in a lot of new users. This is the thing people want, a good game that will hold your interest. This kid was a fruitcake to begin with. It doesn't matter what vice he chose, he was going to lose it one way or another. Like in the movie Pi, the guy lost himself in a series of math problems trying to find the number which the world revolves around.
How does one measure a game's addictiveness? If they put that label on there and it fails to retain my interest, are they falsely advertising? I personally logged in less than 15 hours playing Everquest and gave it up. Didn't do anything for me.
Game that never ends hmmmm? Did anyone ever get to THE END of Pac-Man, Q*Bert or Asteroids?
How does one measure a game's addictiveness? If they put that label on there and it fails to retain my interest, are they falsely advertising? I personally logged in less than 15 hours playing Everquest and gave it up. Didn't do anything for me.
Game that never ends hmmmm? Did anyone ever get to THE END of Pac-Man, Q*Bert or Asteroids?
04-06-02, 12:02 PM
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I've never played Everquest, and I honestly do not want to. I know very little about it besides the fact that it takes a lot of time and incurs a monthly charge.
Was the game responsible for the guy's death? Maybe. As a kid, my brother would throw NES controllers around in frustration or rip the system from its power cords after falling in one of those endless pits for the 80th time. Games, like just about everything in life, provide stressors, and sometimes people don't respond well to them.
I'm pretty sure we can all agree that the man in the story led a fairly troubled life; if you quit your job to play a game and ignore your family then you have priority problems. Sure, games can be fun, but when you're playing for 12 hours a day and you know you're epileptic... I feel really sorry that someone died, but honestly he would have found some outlet for his problems, and if an when that outlet died, he probably would have been unable to cope. It could have been a computer game, it could have been drugs, or it could have been just about anything else.
Then there's that second story in the article - the one where the senior quit school to play EverQuest, and after 36 hours had a breakdown and thought the game's monsters were chasing him through the neighborhood. I think the article misses something, because from what I know you literally have to force your body to stay awake; after a while it shuts down. Again, I'm not sure how great EverQuest may be, but I'm sure it can't beat your body's natural responses to lack of sleep. How many of us have stopped functioning after an all-nighter or two? I'm sure this kid had bigger problems. My bet (and I'm being completely honest here, no sarcasm) is that he was playing the game, but some form of hallucinogen or drugs made him imagine he was being chased by monsters. That, or he had some real-life extreme phobia that he somehow connected to a strong enemy in the game and visualized.
The last section really sums things up; games provide a way to live the life you want to. If only for a few hours (or 36 in that senior's case), you can be the guy that rescues the princess, saves the world, or defeats the army of badness and all evil forever. To a lesser extent, serialized books and many movies do this; we can relate to the characters. I program simple games in a little bit of my free time (well, more in the past than now), because they provide a way to create a total experience if pulled off right - if the graphics, music, pacing, and interactivity are all there, it's honestly pretty believable. They're an outlet, and a good game will make you want to play just one more level - then another, and another, and another. Addictive? Sure. But in the end it's up to every person to set his or her own limits. Some people can't do that. I know we're all on the same side here, so we're all preaching to the choir. But if you're 21 and go crying to mommy because someone took your EverQuest money that you earned from hours of playing, knowing full well that you're epileptic, you need to get some help or back off the games.
Side note - I think a few people have completed Pac-Man; I'm not sure on how it's done but I know someone achieved a perfect score a few years back.
Was the game responsible for the guy's death? Maybe. As a kid, my brother would throw NES controllers around in frustration or rip the system from its power cords after falling in one of those endless pits for the 80th time. Games, like just about everything in life, provide stressors, and sometimes people don't respond well to them.
I'm pretty sure we can all agree that the man in the story led a fairly troubled life; if you quit your job to play a game and ignore your family then you have priority problems. Sure, games can be fun, but when you're playing for 12 hours a day and you know you're epileptic... I feel really sorry that someone died, but honestly he would have found some outlet for his problems, and if an when that outlet died, he probably would have been unable to cope. It could have been a computer game, it could have been drugs, or it could have been just about anything else.
Then there's that second story in the article - the one where the senior quit school to play EverQuest, and after 36 hours had a breakdown and thought the game's monsters were chasing him through the neighborhood. I think the article misses something, because from what I know you literally have to force your body to stay awake; after a while it shuts down. Again, I'm not sure how great EverQuest may be, but I'm sure it can't beat your body's natural responses to lack of sleep. How many of us have stopped functioning after an all-nighter or two? I'm sure this kid had bigger problems. My bet (and I'm being completely honest here, no sarcasm) is that he was playing the game, but some form of hallucinogen or drugs made him imagine he was being chased by monsters. That, or he had some real-life extreme phobia that he somehow connected to a strong enemy in the game and visualized.
The last section really sums things up; games provide a way to live the life you want to. If only for a few hours (or 36 in that senior's case), you can be the guy that rescues the princess, saves the world, or defeats the army of badness and all evil forever. To a lesser extent, serialized books and many movies do this; we can relate to the characters. I program simple games in a little bit of my free time (well, more in the past than now), because they provide a way to create a total experience if pulled off right - if the graphics, music, pacing, and interactivity are all there, it's honestly pretty believable. They're an outlet, and a good game will make you want to play just one more level - then another, and another, and another. Addictive? Sure. But in the end it's up to every person to set his or her own limits. Some people can't do that. I know we're all on the same side here, so we're all preaching to the choir. But if you're 21 and go crying to mommy because someone took your EverQuest money that you earned from hours of playing, knowing full well that you're epileptic, you need to get some help or back off the games.
Side note - I think a few people have completed Pac-Man; I'm not sure on how it's done but I know someone achieved a perfect score a few years back.
04-07-02, 01:25 PM
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Originally posted by the aftermath
I think the mother is crazy. Dude had problems, it's not Sony's fault.
P.S. I love EverQuest
I think the mother is crazy. Dude had problems, it's not Sony's fault.
P.S. I love EverQuest
04-07-02, 02:18 PM
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Originally posted by Cornfed
This mother's not crazy. She knows exactly what she's doing. She wants someone to blame and the makers of the game are a likely choice. I can sympathize for any mother losing a son but she is also trying to cash in instead of accepting that her son's own problems led to his death.
This mother's not crazy. She knows exactly what she's doing. She wants someone to blame and the makers of the game are a likely choice. I can sympathize for any mother losing a son but she is also trying to cash in instead of accepting that her son's own problems led to his death.
