Article about a kid who commited suicide over Everquest

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venk

Banned
Dec 10, 2000
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Wow......Some people really do have some serious problems, I hope others like him go and get help.

Linky






<< After playing the game for 36 hours straight, he had a psychotic break because of sleep deprivation, Parker said.

"He thought the characters had come out of the game and were chasing him," Parker said. "He was running through his neighborhood having hallucinations. I can't think of a drug he could have taken where he would have disintegrated in 15 weeks." >>






<< Elizabeth Woolley remembers when her son was betrayed by an EverQuest associate he had been adventuring with for six months. Shawn's online brother-in-arms stole all the money from his character and refused to give it back.

"He was so upset, he was in tears," she said. "He was so depressed, and I was trying to say, 'Shawn, it's only a game.' I said he couldn't trust those people." >>





 
shiner

shiner

Lifer
Jul 18, 2000
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Darwinism at it's finest. Sometimes the herd just needs to be thinned of the weak.
 
D

docmanhattan

Golden Member
Jul 31, 2001
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<< "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." >>

Sounds pretty clear cut to me. Certainly not Sony's fault. If Shawn couldn't step away from the computer than maybe there were other problems in Shawn's life.

rolleye.gif


edit:


<< Woolley knows her son had problems beyond EverQuest, and she tried to get him help by contacting a mental health program and trying to get him to live in a group home. A psychologist diagnosed him with depression and schizoid personality disorder, symptoms of which include a lack of desire for social relationships, little or no sex drive and a limited range of emotions in social settings. >>

And yet she's still blaming Sony?!?!? Sounds like a gold digger to me.
 
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AU Tiger

Diamond Member
Dec 26, 1999
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Maybe getting rid of the computer would have been an option. Or the internet connection. Irresponsible parents suck.
 
Kadarin

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,296
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81


<<

<< "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." >>

Sounds pretty clear cut to me. Certainly not Sony's fault. If Shawn couldn't step away from the computer than maybe there were other problems in Shawn's life.

rolleye.gif


edit:


<< Woolley knows her son had problems beyond EverQuest, and she tried to get him help by contacting a mental health program and trying to get him to live in a group home. A psychologist diagnosed him with depression and schizoid personality disorder, symptoms of which include a lack of desire for social relationships, little or no sex drive and a limited range of emotions in social settings. >>

And yet she's still blaming Sony?!?!? Sounds like a gold digger to me. >>



No way.. It's clearly Sony's fault. Just the same way it was Ozzy's fault when "Suicide Solution" forced some other kid to kill himself years ago, and the same way it's McDonalds' fault some idiot lady spilled coffee all over herself. Everyone knows the blame lies squarely on whoever has the most money, and that we as a society are entitled (as a divine right) to large sums of cash whenever anything bad happens. Personal responsibility is so twentieth century..
 
vi edit

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
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And another dose of chlorine is added to the gene pool.
 
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CedarTeeth135

Senior member
Feb 22, 2002
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36 hours straight is unbelievable. i could never do that, but i'll try when UT 2003 comes out. We shouldn't take games so seriously.

;)
 
Don Vito Corleone

Don Vito Corleone

Elite
Feb 10, 2000
30,029
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Jeez - tough crowd! I'm not sure how this "irresponsible parent" was supposed to get her 21-year-old son to lay off the video games. I suspect some of you who are completely unsympathetic may not have read the article - she is not really laying all of the blame at the feet of Sony. Frankly I think any parent whose child commits suicide will look for a potential cause, and it seems pretty heartless to me to call her "irresponsible".
 
F

Fausto

Elite Member
Nov 29, 2000
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<< Frankly I think any parent whose child commits suicide will look for a potential cause, and it seems pretty heartless to me to call her "irresponsible". >>


Yeah, but to blame his suicide on a video game? Puleeeeeeze. That's just burying your head in the sand. More like: undiagnosed depression and maybe other mental disorders going on that manifested themselves in the form of this poor kid burying himself in EQ so that he didn't have to think about how much he hurt. This didn't work any more after a while, so he offed himself. It wasn't the fricking game's fault, that was just his way of self-medicating.

Fausto
 
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docmanhattan

Golden Member
Jul 31, 2001
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<< It's not that I'm unsympathetic. It's just that I don't care.

amish >>

It's not a popular view, but I'm unsympathetic insofar as this was something that was VERY preventable. It is a terrible thing and my heart goes out to the mother, but she should save the money she's spending on an attorney and focus on the real problems, not a video game.
 
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tim0thy

Golden Member
Oct 23, 2000
1,936
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i sorta agree... EQ addiction took my life for a good month or so, until I just got tired of the game and quit.

sexually anorexic... oh no! :Q
 
Linflas

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
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<< Jeez - tough crowd! I'm not sure how this "irresponsible parent" was supposed to get her 21-year-old son to lay off the video games. I suspect some of you who are completely unsympathetic may not have read the article - she is not really laying all of the blame at the feet of Sony. Frankly I think any parent whose child commits suicide will look for a potential cause, and it seems pretty heartless to me to call her "irresponsible". >>


I am not unsympathetic to her loss but I have no sympathy whatsoever for her lawsuit and it aims. Exactly what warning does she want placed on the box of software and what possible use would it be? This idea that all we have to do is place warning labels on things to make them safe is a nonsense! I drive on an interstate highway everyday that has huge warnings every mile or 2 that say Speed Limit 55 yet few of us heed it. I see people every day light up cigarettes from a package with warning labels on the side regarding the dangers of smoking. Heck when I smoked we used to joke about the warning labels. Alcohol producers are now required put put stupid warning labels on their products yet people still drink and drive every day. Exactly what will this warning label this nitwit woman demands be placed on the software box accomplish besides enriching the lawyer involved in this action and getting this woman her 10 minutes of noteriety?
 
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erub

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2000
5,481
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one of my friends is an EQ addict...he has spent 40 days (24 hour days!) over the last 14 months playing. Of course, I wonder how many days I've spent on AT in that amount of time. He's doing alright though, and he can step away when necessary..

Warning labels won't do anything..
 
A

AndrewR

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,157
0
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"Warning: Extensive playing could be hazardous to your health". Give me a damn break! This has nothing to do with being sympathetic or cold-hearted. Some manic depressive schizophrenic pudgy pizza boy kills himself, and he just happened to play Everquest so it is somehow Sony's fault since they neglected to put a WARNING LABEL on their game?!?!? Unbelievable.

Actually, sadly, it is believable, and there's always some poor excuse for humanity who managed to pass the bar who is ready to take up the torch against deep pockets -- for the good of society and his client, of course.
rolleye.gif


And the woman wants to examine a history of her son's Everquest character to find out at what point he became obsessed? I think it happened a long time ago, ma'am, and looking through opaque server logs is not going to provide a clue as to why your son was mentally disturbed.

When you think you've seen everything...
 
Don Vito Corleone

Don Vito Corleone

Elite
Feb 10, 2000
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In the interest of clarity, allow me to note that my comments, above, were not intended to endorse the lawsuit that is mentioned in this article; I was just defending the grieving mother from those here who were blaming her for this suicide.
 
M

Mitzi

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2001
3,775
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<< Thats pretty sad,, just makes you think of how sad this world is getting now days. =\ >>



What the fact that the guy died or the fact that the mother is trying to make a quick buck from it?? :confused:
 
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