Quote:Blizzard faces a lawsuit from Chinese parents, who say World of Warcraft caused the death of their son.
November 18, 2005

In the latest saga over online gaming addiction in China, the parents of a 13-year-old Tianjin boy are suing the makers of World of Warcraft, blaming the game for the death of their son, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua. The parents filed a suit against Blizzard Entertainment on Wednesday, saying their son jumped to his death while reenacting a scene from the game, the report said.

Quote:Suicide Attributed To Popular Online Game Leads To National Controversy.
By Chris Hickman

William Jordan was an adolescent not unlike any other growing up in small-town middle America but last Tuesday, November 15 his suicide sent shockwaves through his hometown of Chambersburg Pennsylvania which quickly spread to a national uproar.

Jordan was an avid player of the popular game World of Warcraft which, according to his parents, he had played nightly for the past year.  A recent realization about the game he had invested so much time into sent Jordan into a spiral of depression that authorities believe led to his taking his own life.

At a recent convention held by Blizzard, the developers of the bestselling MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), one of the developers of WoW was quoted as saying “the paladin was designed as an easy class to play”.  This revelation greatly distressed Jordan who was found apparently self-immolated at his family home Tuesday night.

“He couldn’t do anything for weeks” recalls Anita Jordan, William’s mother.  “He would just sit in his room saying ‘It’s over.  I’m a noob.  It’s over.’”  A note was found near Jordan’s computer which read:

“I have worked too hard to have all mine (sic) skills taken away from me now.  I will not befoul my holy cause and accept my place as a noob.  This is the end.  Take me lord take me!  /shield  /hearth”

“I’ve been through a lot.” The boy’s father Joseph said, obviously upset.  “My sister had multiple sclerosis and just last year my eldest daughter admitted to being a lesbian…  Maybe this is for the best.  I just don’t know what I would do if William turned out to be a noob.”

Almost immediately a chorus of outrage erupted from many conservative commentators.  Pat Robertson host of The Christian Broadcasting Network’s The 700 Club was quoted as saying “This is just another attempt by the liberal media to demean those with faith.”  Bill O’Reilly radio personality and FOX News host recently spoke out on his radio program saying “This uh, this game ok.  They take their time.  They take their money and uh they make all these characters you can play as.  Then they take one of these characters the uh religious “Christian” one and uh they make it an idiot.  They say “hey look here! You people um, that believe this are stupid!  You’re noobs!”

At the time of this writing Blizzard employees had refused to comment on the growing controversy.  Harry Reid, Democratic Leader of the Senate, when asked, responded by saying “What the hell are you talking about?  That’s absurd.”

Archon_Wing,Nov 20 2005, 10:02 PM Wrote:I must be mean but if someone kills themselves because they think they are a "noob," then good #$%&ing riddance.

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Why blame Blizzard for this? They probaly would have died anyways to something else, like forgetting to breathe. Why not sue teachers in an advance for not teaching people how to breathe?

Blame everyone but yourself. It feels better that way.

I do know that depression and addiction are real things, but too many people use it as an excuse-- many of them could get out of it more easily (and seek help) than they would like to admit. Too many people would rather use labels as crutches to resolve themselves of responsbility.
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Chesspiece_face,Nov 20 2005, 08:26 PM Wrote:Satire.  =P
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Archon_Wing,Nov 20 2005, 10:28 PM Wrote:Damn you. I got riled up for nothing.  :D I should have noticed that lack of a link. Hah, but I'm afraid that a story like this is very believible, from what I've seen before and my alleged reaction still stands.

I still laughed though. I wonder if that makes me a really bad person.
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Chesspiece_face,Nov 20 2005, 08:32 PM Wrote:Actually i take great pride that you feel it was actually believable.  I done good satire!  haha.  I personally thought that quoting the whole thing was a nice touch.  that will be my one success for a while.  think i'll cross post this on the WoW forums and see what kind of crap i can stir up.
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Chesspiece_face,Nov 20 2005, 11:32 PM Wrote:Actually i take great pride that you feel it was actually believable.
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Chesspiece_face,Nov 20 2005, 11:32 PM Wrote:Actually i take great pride that you feel it was actually believable.  I done good satire!  haha.  I personally thought that quoting the whole thing was a nice touch.  that will be my one success for a while.  think i'll cross post this on the WoW forums and see what kind of crap i can stir up.
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Chesspiece_face,Nov 20 2005, 11:32 PM Wrote:Actually i take great pride that you feel it was actually believable.  I done good satire!
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Alram,Nov 21 2005, 02:37 PM Wrote:When did China ever do anything for the good of their people?  They probably want to control online gaming chat, etc. and are using this as an excuse.
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ima_nerd,Nov 22 2005, 04:35 PM Wrote:What do you mean by blocked? I was able to access quite a bit of stuff.