NEWS: Parents Are Suing Video Game Developer For Son's Death.

Originally posted by intrepid
Give the parents a break. We sure as hell need one. You want to blame someone? Blame society. That's been done for 50 years but this time it's warrented.

No I will not give the parents a break in this case, since they have a feature called parental controls. Had the parents paid attention they could have stopped him from playing hours on end.

www.worldofwarcraft.com...

How does the parental control system work?
First, a parental control password must be created. This password is then used to log in to the play scheduler. From here, a play schedule can be created for the purpose of setting when the World of Warcraft account is accessible and when it is not. Any time you wish to submit and save a change to the play schedule, you must enter the parental control password.

What is a parental control password?
The parental control password is used to set and modify a parental control schedule. It is created during the initial setup process. If an account owner does not want anyone else to modify the parental control schedule, he or she should not share the parental control password with others.

And I am willing to bet more games will follow suit given this lawsuit. The controls were there, now why didn't the parents install the game and set them?

[edit on 11/21/2005 by shots]

Originally posted by HumptyDumpty
Are you saying you leave your 13 year old alone for 36 hours at a time?

Cause if you do.... your a bad parent.

[edit on 11/21/05 by HumptyDumpty]

Appreciate your input and no, not for 36 consecutive hours. But there are days that I go to work at 6AM, finish that job at 3:30PM, start my other job at 4PM and end at 1 AM. Factor in sleep? It's close.

Your point? And please don't throw "bad parent" at me, I do it so that the kids(3) can have a life man.

Edit: to add ages. Son 15, daughters 11 and 10.

[edit on 21-11-2005 by intrepid]

Originally posted by intrepid

Really? And when would those lovely folks, that are just trying to provide by working collectively for about 110 hrs/week(not including housework and homework detail) have the time to oversee this?

Don't have them if U can't raise them properly. C'mon now, give ME a break.

I'm curious, how old are you and if old enough, do you have school aged children?

I'll see your

What a joke

and raise you a

I am 26, no I don't have children, because frankly I won't have any if I cannot raise them properly and that means being home for them as their mother. Children need their mothers at home, for this very reason and many other reasons that we are seeing them in the headlines these days for.

and barf all U like at that, it's people who pop children out and can't take care of that make ME sick. So U will find U don't get sympathy from everybody for being soooooo "hard working".

Besides none of this has anything to do with THESE parents, are U just having a bad day and want the world to feel your pain ?
Maybe U can sue someone.


So yeah, spare me.

Nice post jaded, get back to me when you know what you're talking about.

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by HumptyDumpty
Are you saying you leave your 13 year old alone for 36 hours at a time?

Cause if you do.... your a bad parent.

[edit on 11/21/05 by HumptyDumpty]

Appreciate your input and no, not for 36 consecutive hours. But there are days that I go to work at 6AM, finish that job at 3:30PM, start my other job at 4PM and end at 1 AM. Factor in sleep? It's close.

Your point? And please don't throw "bad parent" at me, I do it so that the kids(3) can have a life man.

Edit: to add ages. Son 15, daughters 11 and 10.

[edit on 21-11-2005 by intrepid]

I think that its obvious that you have your head on your shoulders, that you care for your children and are doing what it takes for them to have a great life. Im also sure that you wouldnt let your kids game for 36 hours at a time with no food, even if they "could" I get the feeling from you that you would put on parental controls, or hire a baby sitter.

My point is that I dont feel these parents in the post we are taking about did these things that you might have done. I dont think these are responsible parents (I could be wrong) and that would be proved by allowing your child to game for 36hrs in a row without food.

Thats my point.

point blank:

if you let your child play video games for 36 hours, have him/her tell you they are dying, and not eating, then kills him/herself, you are a bad parent.

if your a parent thats had this happen, and try to put the blame on some one else, you should jailed for negligence and whatever else they can pin on your worthless excuse for a parent body.

if you work so much and stuff that you defense is i didnt know and was unaware, you are unfit to be a parent, and again should be jailed for negligence and whatever else they can possibly sue you for

and thats the truth.

EDIT:not sued but jailed in this case

[edit on 21-11-2005 by grimreaper797]

Originally posted by HumptyDumpty
I will not have children if my wife or I cannot be there to raise them, the world is populated enough to have another problem child on its hands.

Amen to that

and

point blank:

if you let your child play video games for 36 hours, have him/her tell you they are dying, and not eating, then kills him/herself, you are a bad parent.

if your a parent thats had this happen, and try to put the blame on some one else, you should be counter sued for negligence and whatever else they can pin on your worthless excuse for a parent body.

if you work so much and stuff that you defense is i didnt know and was unaware, you are unfit to be a parent, and again should be sued for negligence and whatever else they can possibly sue you for

and thats the truth.

and that

I feel the same way.

And Intrepid, my posts were not specifically for or about YOU, I answered your questions as I feel and U have posted your felings on this. I do feel these parents are bad in this situation, not you or yours ok ?


[edit on 21-11-2005 by ImJaded]

Originally posted by ImJaded
And Intrepid, my posts were not specifically for or about YOU, I answered your questions as I feel and U have posted your felings on this. I do feel these parents are bad in this situation, not you or yours ok ?

Cool man.

I just wanted to point out how folks can get busy.

isn't this just natural selection playing it's part? I mean, the stupid will find a way to thin themselves out of the herd right?

I feel bad for the parents but maybe they should try jumping off the building too so they can "understand" why the kid did it. That would be natural selection 3, common sense 0.

I think this was his job. Anyone who plays WoW knows about the chinese gold farmers. I have played WoW for a few months and I have never seen a chinese person play for fun. If this should come out on the parents side maybe Wow will finally get rid of all the dang gold farmers. and the peps who play for fun can have a break now. But i got to say it will never happen , WoW make to much money on them .

And for those who do not know what a chinese gold farmer is. It is a person from China that farms alot of mobs for objects and silver . Then they sale the gold and the object on the net for real money.

I and my son who is 14 yrs play WoW. He used to play alt when we lived in the big city. And it was ok with me . I knew where he was and what he was doing. He made strat A's and is a good boy. Now that we live in a very small town he plays maybe once a week. This was his own choice. Now he is the poplar kid in school. Now I have to worry.

To lose your life over a game is a waste. The parents are probebly looking for someone to blame, but c'mon. They know it, I know it and I hope you know it. He lost his life over a game. A highly addictive game perhaps, but I fail to see the point in it. It costs money each month to play a game, which involves what? Going around with your "chums" grinding levels and mining for gold? What sort of idiot would play a game that consumes their life if it isn't for enjoyment? I admit, I lost hours on Tales of Symphonia but I got my sleep. Playing a game for 24 hours is retarded.

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by ImJaded
The second U buy for your child or allow them to buy a video game you are responsible, nobody else.

What a joke

Really? And when would those lovely folks, that are just trying to provide by working collectively for about 110 hrs/week(not including housework and homework detail) have the time to oversee this?

If you and your partner have to collectively work 110 hrs/week in order to make ends meet then IMO you don't have any business having children.

Originally posted by ShakyaHeir

If you and your partner have to collectively work 110 hrs/week in order to make ends meet then IMO you don't have any business having children.

Many people work 55 hours/week (110 divided by two). Having children is not exclusive to the wealthy or fortunate.
What would be an acceptable amount of time working to have "any business" to have children?

by ShakyaHeir:
If you and your partner have to collectively work 110 hrs/week in order to make ends meet then IMO you don't have any business having children.

While I do have to respect your right to an opinion, I'm glad it's only that ... your opinion.

Otherwise, I would have to question just who in the hell died and left your pompous ass in charge. I probably average 80+ hours /week myself. While I have the convenience of doing so, for the most part, from my home there are many who are not as fortunate and must do whatever is necessary to make ends meet. My personal thoughts are such that I would rather see/hear that the Intrepids work 110 hours/week and still find/take the time to actively participate in their children's lives. In my work I see many households where the kids are often left to themselves and allowed to do as they wish, when they wish, etc., and the parents work far less than Intrepids while most likely making much more. IMO Intrepid's kids will most likely grow to fully appreciate and respect that their parents, after working 8-10-12 hour days, still took the time to take an active interest and be a part of their lives whether it be helping with homework, school projects, etc.

"Goodnight Son/Daughter, Dad/Mom has to go back to work now."

Just my $.02

[edit on 11/22/2005 by 12m8keall2c]

Originally posted by Umbrax
What would be an acceptable amount of time working to have "any business" to have children?

I think that in order to have children at least one of the parents needs to be home when the kids are home. If you need to leave your kids in day-care, or with a baby-sitter, or even home alone just so you can afford the payment on your new SUV, your house in the suburbs, and your plasma screen TV then you need to get your priorities straight. If you're not gonna be around to raise your kids then you should do the rest of us a favor and not have them. Because if MTV has more of an influence on your kid's life than you do then you're in for a rude awakening when you find out that they're on drugs, or pregnant, or a psycho like in the case of this kid.

But of course if your kid ends up shooting up his school, you can just blame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The video game is at fault since you were too busy working to teach your children any morals...

Originally posted by ShakyaHeir

Originally posted by Umbrax
What would be an acceptable amount of time working to have "any business" to have children?

I think that in order to have children at least one of the parents needs to be home when the kids are home. If you need to leave your kids in day-care, or with a baby-sitter, or even home alone just so you can afford the payment on your new SUV, your house in the suburbs, and your plasma screen TV then you need to get your priorities straight. If you're not gonna be around to raise your kids then you should do the rest of us a favor and not have them. Because if MTV has more of an influence on your kid's life than you do then you're in for a rude awakening when you find out that they're on drugs, or pregnant, or a psycho like in the case of this kid.

But of course if your kid ends up shooting up his school, you can just blame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The video game is at fault since you were too busy working to teach your children any morals...

exactl, i cant put it any better then that. if you decide your gunna have a kid make sure you put the kid first. not be like "i want a kid" and bam all the sudden you get pregnant, bad idea. think it through and make sure you have the funds and time to properly raise the child. this is a human being we are talkin about. its a privilage to have a child, some parents blantently prove they dont deserve such a privilage.

First I feel very sorry for this boy and his family. Twenty or fourty years ago he would have been playing role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. This has been played out before back then. Unfortunately it is very rough for these parents, they have to find some reason why their son died. It is easy to blame an addictive game of any type, cards, video games, pool, etc.

The parents have to live with the fact that their son is dead. If it makes it easier for them to go on... let them blame the game.

Did the game addiction kill him--highly unlikely, but it may have been the form that his psycological problem manifested as. Ooo big words.

His death was caused by a group of factors, lack of parental attention, a mental problem, dependency on a game that could not fulfill his needs, and probably 20 other factors that if any one of them were fixed may or may not have changed his choices.

Should they win their law case or even get to pursue it? I don't think so. The game may have been a contributing factor but not the ultimate reason he died.

The gaming industry should be cautioned that such cases will be on the rise and they should take better precautions to protect themselves especially when games become more involving and violent. Who knows, maybe you will have to pass a psychological test after 5 hours of game play or after achieving certain levels.

Originally posted by ShakyaHeir

Originally posted by Umbrax
What would be an acceptable amount of time working to have "any business" to have children?

I think that in order to have children at least one of the parents needs to be home when the kids are home. If you need to leave your kids in day-care, or with a baby-sitter, or even home alone just so you can afford the payment on your new SUV, your house in the suburbs, and your plasma screen TV then you need to get your priorities straight. If you're not gonna be around to raise your kids then you should do the rest of us a favor and not have them. Because if MTV has more of an influence on your kid's life than you do then you're in for a rude awakening when you find out that they're on drugs, or pregnant, or a psycho like in the case of this kid.

But of course if your kid ends up shooting up his school, you can just blame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The video game is at fault since you were too busy working to teach your children any morals...

Straight up

My wife and I had a boy in late Sept.(who was premature w/ kidney problems and is still in the NICU), we decided it just didn't make sense for her to be working when he comes home. I make decent money so as long as we can pay the bills, she's staying home and raising our child. Daycare costs ungodly amounts of money these days. The amount my wife was making would have paid the daycare and maybe bought a few groceries, so why have her miss time with our child at a critical point in his development?

Sure, we're gonna have to cut corners, I need a new car and was planning to buy an HDTV. Now that's not gonna happen. Should I work 2 jobs and never see my kid to get those things? I don't think so. Material things are 2nd to a childs welfare, any way you slice it. My kid will only have one childhood and I want to be a big part of that. It's worth giving up a few things to me.

I just found this update on this story.... Seems there is a little confusion here. First of all, the boy was play the game Warcraft 3 (RTS), not World of Warcraft (MMORPG). I will link the rest:

Last week, we got word of a lawsuit filed in China by parents against Blizzard, claiming their 13 year old child killed himself because of his addiction to World of Warcraft. However, that is quite impossible, as the child killed himself in 2004 (World of Warcraft was not released in China until May 2005).

The lawsuit actually claims the child killed himself over Warcraft III, the episodic real-time strategy game, which would be much harder to connect to the child’s suicide. The Chinese government has been very concerned with World of Warcraft, as well as other MMORPG’s, because of their addictive qualities. This error originated from Xinhua, a foreign press outlet that seemed to have misread the lawsuit.

www.joystiq.com...

Parents Fault. Not that WW3 cant be adictive, its just that I belive the case for WoW would be much stronger becuase it seems that by that report the Chineese govnt. has a bone to pick with MMORPG's.

Also, Id like to bring up another point here as to why the Chineese govnt. may be looking to get in this case, and that IMO may be "chineese gold farming".

Please read this Link for information on "chineese gold farming".

Some quotes from the link:

a.k.a "Sack"
This Lineage II Chinese farmer gets about 56 cents an hour. Lineage II had banned Chinese IPs because of their huge Chinese farming problem; however, Sack's farming center easily worked around it.

Sack is the low man in these operations. "I work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the U.S. Lineage II server," he says. He works long, boring hours for low pay and gets no holidays. Carefully constructed macros do most of the work; Sack is just there to fend off the occasional player itching for a fight or game master who's hunting for these automated farming programs. "Everyone knows where the good places are, and GMs know that your account has been online for a whole month," he says. "[A GM will] message me asking, .Hello, what level are you, please?' I know he isn't asking my level; he just wants to know if [there's actually a person at the computer]."

"Gold farming" in asia is a major problem, not that this kid specifically was a gold farmer, just that there is "sweatshops" now and I would assume this kid is not the only one playing long hours at video games.