Former Modern Warfare devs wanted to give Call of Duty series a 'rest'
Konami accused of bank loan fraud over Def Jam Rapstar
Capcom aims to shorten development cycle
Steel Battalion, Sleeping Dogs - Shacknews Daily: May 24, 2012
Skyrim 1.6 adds mounted combat
EverQuest is Addictive
by Steve Gibson, Apr 02, 2002 11:15am PSTWe've had a few people send this story in (David Shockley being first). Apparently a young guy killed himself in connection to his addiction to playing EverQuest. A while back there was a fake story about this but this one appears to be legit. The mother of the kid had some criticism for the game:
"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."So, the mom wants Verant to carry warning labels saying "this game is addictive" and has an attorney ready to take Verant to court to make sure it happens. Also, they say there is a possibility of a class action lawsuit. It should also be mentioned the kid was diagnosed with depression and the mother had tried to get him to live in a "group home" in the past.
Comments
I think people should stop being nasty about the poor kids mother. This woman is obviously mourning her sons death, and so what if she wants to sue the makers of her sons favourite videogame. It's allowed! Yes even grieving mothers are allowed to use the legal system!
A lot of the posts here seem to focus on the fact the woman doesn't play everquest herself and doesn't know much about it. That didn't stop a lot of you fucktards jumping to conclusions when you read "It should also be mentioned the kid was diagnosed with depression and the mother had tried to get him to live in a "group home" in the past"
Depression, granted is an important factor in this story. However I don't like the way steve put "group home" in there. The mother was obviously willing to try anything to help her son. If your kids depressed and suicidal, do you take away his computer? How would that feel to any of you guys? Would it make you feel better? Of course she wasn't going to take away his computer, I know my parents wouldn't have.
This to me is a story written to create a kneejerk reaction. The page this came from will get thousands of hits out of that story, because it gets people angry, and angry means interested.
When click the monkey banners fail, write a story that's going to connect with a million pissed off imature little fucktards who have issues with their own mothers and love computer games.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 8 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 8 replies.
In the game, I played for roughly 35 days combined. 24 hour days. Why so much time? I don't have a particularly addictive personality. I didn't have anything I needed to "escape from" at the time. I didn't even find anything particularly interesting about roleplaying.
It's the fact that the entire game appeals to a person's affinity to risk-taking. Have you ever watched someone waste a hundred dollars in quarters at a slot machine without even blinking? It's the same thing. I often used up entire weekends without even considering going outside, or hanging out with friend (Which is surprising, because I'm a pretty social person). The allure of "maybe 30 more minutes and I'll get that spawn", or "maybe I'll finish up this last experience bubble" is more than enough to keep one playing through the middle of the night.
Luckily, I saw what it was doing to my life, and I just cut my losses right then and there. Not everyone is willing to do that- Admit that they wasted a full month of their lives (Some people I knew were able to rationalize quitting by selling their account, but once Verant tried to prohibit that practice, it suddenly became a lot harder to quit)
I think I'm a fairly stable person. Still, Everquest did a lot of crap to me while I was playing (ask my friends). I can't even imagine what it could do to someone with an addictive personality, or someone who actually does want to get away from society.
Now, on the subject of whether or not to warn gamers? Whatever. They don't warn people about Survivor.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 6 replies.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=30441&cid=3270705
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 8 replies.
that is like 90% of the population.
The woman openly states that her son played 12 hours a day, EVEN THOUGH IT GAVE HIM EPILEPTIC SEIZURES. She says he had mental health problems including depression, and had trouble with social settings.
And yet, she never pulled him away from the computer. She never pulled the plug. Hell, she even tried to learn about the game which DOMINATED her son's waking hours... she has a list of his notes now, and can't even tell if they're player nicknames or items.
But now, why, it's that damn computer game's fault. It was addictive. Why can't they see? Well, why didn't SHE see? She's trying to enter his account now, why didn't she SHUT IT DOWN when he played? You took a clinically depressed person and completely removed them from social conduct, including your own. It doesn't take a college psychology course to figure out that doesn't bode well.
Parents in grief do very strange things. My best friend committed suicide with no warning, and his parents started hunting down my friends across the state because they were adamant that someone must have said something that pushed him over the edge. At the same time, they had turned all of his belongings into a "shrine" in his room; this included a LOT of expensive computer equipment he had borrowed from us.
But at least they kept their problems to the people around them. This is ludicrous.
People who sue like this truly don't do it for the money. It's the judgement they care about. A small token victory, the parent/crusader manages to wound the big, bad dragon that killed their son. In some small way, in these people's minds, that clears their conscience of allowing their child to play near the dragon's cave to begin with.
Anything a person can derive pleasure from can be addictive. It depends on how much that particular person enjoys it. Let's keep the term reserved for the physical addictants, not the psychological ones. I'd rather not see "WARNING: HIGHLY ADDICTIVE" on my Mountain Dew can.
Thank you.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 14 replies.
Quit while you can ! Get a life ! See the outdoors ! Get a hobby ! Anything but EverQuest. I look back at the time EverQuest sucked me in for about a year and a half in disgust. Just thinking of all the other things I could have done instead of waste my life playing EverQuest.
Please, for the love of cheebas, if you have an addictive personality, *DON'T PLAY EVERQUEST*
Love,
-Xian
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 9 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
"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.
heh...i could picture myself stealing gold and laughing while running away...in an online game that is.
anyhow, it's the mother's fault. She let the guy play it..way to have control!
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 3 replies.
In the hardcore high level game, these people's entire lives are nothing but everquest. I know people who have a /played time of over 300+ days. that's 24 * 300 = 7200+ hours of playing everquest. They average 8-10 hours a day of playing.
it's not the actual game that is addictive tho, it's the community and the people, kind of like the shack. you get used to being around these people and working together to achieve a common goal every single day and it sucks you in.
Along the lines of ROMERO WILL MAKE YOU HIS BITCH!
It's like saying. "That Gun killed my child!" rather than "The person that fired that gun killed my child!".
This dude obviously has some serious emotional/mental problems prior to getting involved with Everquest. The blame lies, as usual in this type of situation, with the parents. And, as usual, the ineffectual parents are trying to blame something else. The parents know when their kid has problems.
If MMORPGs were so incredibly addictive, everyone that played them would turn into mindless zombies.
Don't get me wrong, it's tragic that this kid took his life, but I hope the case does go to court and the judge laughs in this woman's face.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 25 replies.
People have to take personal responsibility for these things... its horrible that a person died because of depression and addiction, but our society needs to excercise a policy of moderation, mixed with reason, strength of will and help from friends. In other words, people need to figure out their priorities using reason, and with the help of friends and family, stick to those priorities.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 5 replies.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=1999-04-14
Not a big fan of penny arcade but it does have the occasional funny one.
Why can't we get more games like that!?!
-SmArT1
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
Sony needs to countersue for revenue losses incurred due to his untimely death. By refusing to acknowledge the many warning signs of his mental illness and seeing her son got the treatment he needed, the mother negligently allowed him to dwell and sink into the depths of depression wherein he took his own life, possibly costing Sony several thousand dollars in online fees.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 4 replies.
If anything, Verant should include a small baseball bat with instructions to have players hit themselves on the head when they feel they're slipping out of reality. Think this same crap came out with Dungeons and Dragons (the actual dice game guys) when some kid offed himself due to his character being killed.
Note to parents: Teach your kids the difference between reality and a computer game.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
"Warning: Our game is SO GOOD that people sometimes forsake their real lives in order to play it."
"Warning: This game may be too good for your health. If you can't handle really really good games, then don't buy this one."
Sounds like the sort of game ad you find in gaming magazines. Wouldn't all developers then be wanting to put the same "Warning" on their game boxes?
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
Reminds me quite a bit of a story in Tampa. Dumb bitch goes to a gun range, drunk. While there gets in argument with boyfriend, turns the gun on herself and shoots herself in the head. So the family figured it must be the range's fault and is trying to sue the shit out of them.
It's like with drugs, if you are going to take some new to the market drug you should have to sign some release so if it causes you damage, you can't sue. Phen Fen comes to mind. If you'd rather take a realtivly untested drug than go and eat right and exercise, then you should have NO rights if the drug causes long term unforseen damages. Imagine the helpful drugs we'd have if manufacture's wern't worried about being sued into oblivion if something goes wrong. Add in the fact that testing on animals will get them all sorts of flak as well.
This society is becoming so sad... it's ALWAYS someone elses fault.
Fucking Lawyers.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 6 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 6 replies.
Sure, everyone has the right to file a lawsuit, but I do feel that there should be some sort of penalty for wrongful lawsuit- this could possibly deter the constant flood of lawsuits.
also, I drink lots of water. I think if I went a few days without water that I would die. but whatever doesn't have any addictive properties.
"You must have common sense to use this product"
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.