World of Warcraft claims its first victim
 

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Yet more parents are passing the buck and blaming computer games for the death of a teenager rather than take responsibility themselves, this time in China.

According to the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, the parents of a 13-year-old Tianjin boy are suing Blizzard, claiming that the online game World of Warcraft (WoW) was responsible for killing their son. They claim the boy was "re-enacting a scene from the game" by jumping to his death. Presumably Blizzard failed to mention that the Magic Belt of Flight* doesn't actually work in real life.

The parents are said to be backed by the anti-Internet addiction advocate, Zhang Chunliang. A Chinese translator was unable to confirm that this was Mandarin for Jack Thompson.

WoW is big business these days, with some 4.5 million players worldwide, 1.5 million of which live in China. Some analysts believe the game could be generating more than US$30 million per month in basic subscription fees alone. The online gaming market in China has raked in US$580 million this year, and is set to triple to US$1.7 billion in the next four years.

A lot is at stake then, with the industry facing increasingly invasive government regulation to curb the obsessive all-night gaming sessions that have actually claimed the lives of several people in recent years. These people didn't jump off a balcony or go on a shooting spree, but rather died from heart failure and other biological conditions associated with dehydration and extreme fatigue.

The Chinese government is said to be hatching plans with developers whereby their character will suffer a handicap or reduced abilities once the player logged a certain number of hours of consecutive play. Should they ignore this first stage, a second tier handicap kicks in after a few more hours and players risk being "locked out" of the game for a period should they defy the restrictions and continue playing.

Is this Big Brother gone mad? Are gamers so helpless that they can no longer decide for themselves how long to play a computer game for? One wonders if these restrictions are being introduced just because they can - players must log into a remote server to play an online game like World of Warcraft, so they are susceptible to regulation. Restricting more traditional PC and console games remotely would be far harder.

This reporter can recall dozens of games over the years that were played by millions with great enthusiasm: Space Invaders, Super Mario, Sonic, Street Fighter 2, DOOM... why is it that none of these games caused dangerous levels of "gaming addiction", ultimately leading to death? Could it be that parenting these days isn't what it used to be? Maybe they need to teach gaming discipline at an earlier age.

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Melch

Re: World of Warcraft claims its first victim
 

leeeeeeeroooooooooyyyyyyyyyyyyy



JEEEENKINNNNNNSSSSSS

Re: World of Warcraft claims its first victim
 

This isn't the first WoW victim.

Re: World of Warcraft claims its first victim
 

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leeeeeeeroooooooooyyyyyyyyyyyyy



JEEEENKINNNNNNSSSSSS

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All right chums, LET'S DO THIS

Re: World of Warcraft claims its first victim
 

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leeeeeeeroooooooooyyyyyyyyyyyyy



JEEEENKINNNNNNSSSSSS

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All right chums, LET'S DO THIS

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China slaughters countless chickens due to bird flu, and this happens. Coincidence? I think not!

Re: World of Warcraft claims its first victim
 

Pretty flimsy last paragraph there. How does "this reporter" know what addiction problems there were with other games?

Re: World of Warcraft claims its first victim
 

This is not addiction, its a lack of common sense.

Re: World of Warcraft claims its first victim
 

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Presumably Blizzard failed to mention that the Magic Belt of Flight* doesn't actually work in real life.

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I literally laughed out loud here.

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DOOM... why is it that none of these games caused dangerous levels of "gaming addiction

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Umm, there are people beyond number who have gotten addicted to DOOM and similar games.

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Could it be that parenting these days isn't what it used to be? Maybe they need to teach gaming discipline at an earlier age.

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There's something to this idea. My parents didn't create a sustainable eco-system in each kid's room like parents seem to do today. And they didn't believe in t.v. as the perfect friend to and babysitter of kids. They thought they should get the hell out of the house as much as possible, and not just because we were annoying. But for our own good and social growth. Parents should look to themselves for the answers to why their kids are having problems much more than they do. Standards of parenting are in many ways absurd compared to what they commonly were a generation or two ago, and it looks like we're into a pretty fierce downward spiral.

Re: World of Warcraft claims its first victim
 

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My parents didn't create a sustainable eco-system in each kid's room like parents seem to do today. And they didn't believe in t.v. as the perfect friend to and babysitter of kids. They thought they should get the hell out of the house as much as possible, and not just because we were annoying. But for our own good and social growth. Parents should look to themselves for the answers to why their kids are having problems much more than they do. Standards of parenting are in many ways absurd compared to what they commonly were a generation or two ago, and it looks like we're into a pretty fierce downward spiral.

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Great post. I was reminded of the "go outside and play" factor when we were looking at houses to buy. Older homes - even from the 60s and 70s - have much smaller bedrooms than what you find in a newer home. Made sense though when thinking about it, growing up kids didn't really have a TV in their room with cable, a computer, video game system, etc.

Sort of sad when I thought about it.

Re: World of Warcraft claims its first victim
 

It is kind of sad how normal and harmless many parents today think that replacing paying attention to their kids, and making sure they have social opportunities whether they want them or not, with a t.v. and a computer is perfectly okay. Kids very much need to develop socially and learn about the world outside through personal experience. Abandoning them to their rooms, no matter how luxurious and well-equipped, is a very sad and lazy way of taking care of them. And so lonely and isolating for both the parent and the child.