Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: eskimo2 on May 26, 2002, 04:48:39 PM
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to Aces High... :
Posted on Sun, May. 26, 2002
Mother blames online game for son's suicide
21-year-old kills self after becoming obsessed with playing Sony's EverQuest
By Martha Irvine
Associated Press
HUDSON, WIS. - His mother found Shawn Woolley's body in a rocking chair in front of his computer. His head was slumped to one side -- still facing a screen of the online game that she said had become his obsession.
``That damn game,'' Liz Woolley said to herself as she broke into tears.
At Shawn's side was the .22-caliber rifle he'd used to end his life.
Scattered around him, police reports say, were dirty clothes, fast-food wrappers, dozens of empty pizza boxes and chicken bones thrown haphazardly to the floor. His mother had pounded on his apartment's door and windows for two days before finally cutting through the chain lock to break in last Thanksgiving morning.
The 21-year-old, who'd hastily quit his job more than a week earlier, left no suicide note in the one-bedroom apartment in Hudson, Wis., a small town about 30 miles east of Minneapolis. The only signs of what had been on his mind were a few scribbled names and terms related to EverQuest, the online virtual reality game he'd been playing for well over a year.
Liz Woolley places the blame for his death squarely on the game and its maker -- Sony Online Entertainment.
``Shawn was worse than any junkie I've ever seen,'' Liz Woolley said. ``After he started playing the game, he just didn't enjoy life anymore.''
She believes Sony intentionally added features to EverQuest to keep players online for hours at a time.
Officials at Sony Online declined to comment on the Woolley case. Scott McDaniel, the company's vice president of marketing, said the game should be viewed like any other form of entertainment.
``There's a duty on the consumer to use it responsibly,'' McDaniel said of EverQuest.
The average EverQuest subscriber plays about 20 hours a week.
David Greenfield, a psychologist in Hartford, Conn., said EverQuest is so difficult for its enthusiasts to resist that some call it ``EverCrack.''
A sort of computer-driven Dungeons and Dragons, the online game has more than 430,000 registered players worldwide who form teams, or ``guilds,'' in a never-ending journey to earn points and slay monsters.
The game allows people to effectively live shadow lives, divorced from flesh-and-blood existence. And while most people keep their playing time in check, experts say there are some who can't.
Shawn Woolley's mother said her shy, overweight son became obsessed with the game to the point of self-destruction.
``If you're an alcoholic or addicted to drugs, there's places you can go for help,'' said Liz Woolley as a single tear runs down her face. ``But there was no one there for him -- no one who knew how to help.''
Liz Woolley just started setting up an organization called Online Gamers Anonymous and a Web site to help people like Shawn.
``I can't just sit here,'' she said. ``I cannot let him die in vain.''
eskimo
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Is the account for sale?
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That is really sad. But it is becoming a fact of life that computer gaming is becoming an addiction much like alcohol, tobacco and drugs. I was taking a class with UMUC not to long ago, a computer class, and the professor had a story about a man who was so addicted to a computer game he was missing classes, or rushing out as soon as class was over to go home to play. The instructor asked him about it one time, and he started making excuses. He stated that he wanted to get home so his son could play. the instructor asked how old his son was, and he said his son was three. How could a three year old enjoy... and understand a computer game? When pressed further the guy finally admitted to wanting to play the game himself.
Another couple of guys I know in UMUC (Europe classes) also take thier gaming very seriously. Hehe... my wife would prolly say I have a problem too though :D.
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One thing i've noticed playing these games is that, there are a lot of depressed people playing. The games don't cause depression, people with depression, or other problems tend to play them to escape from the real world. (Admittedly in much the same way as alcohol and other drugs) Game addiction is a symptom, not a cause.
Anyways, this story is months old.
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He killed himself because someone stole all of his equipment in the game.
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Did they establish that...someone stole his gear and he wacked himself?
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Didn't this go round the O'Club a month or two back? I know I've already seen it.
Da lady is deluding herself. Her boy didna kill 'imself cause of EQ.
Maybe EQ just wasn't the distraction from the real world that it used to be.. but it was the real world that did 'im in.
Now, about his account... like DmdBT said, is it for sale?
:D
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``I can't just sit here,'' she said. ``I cannot let him die in vain.''
Maybe she should have unplugged the computer and kicked his fat bellybutton out in the yard tripping him over the lawn mower and a can of gas. Or just squeak slapped him half back to reality like any normal parent should have.
I was thinking this was a old departed AH player who vanished after his 28th callsing mod, but this guy was from Wisconsin, not Spain. Still, i think this game could be a wonderful entertainment opportunity if you can steal peoples gear and watch them go ape toejam.
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I smell Lawsuit!!!!!
An the Lawyers flock about the corpse like so many carrion birds.....
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"Or just squeak slapped him half back to reality like any normal parent should have"
EX-FREAKIN-ZACTLY!!
why did it take 2 days for her to kick the door in? She is far more to blame from lack of action than EQ could be.
Hawk220
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The guy had mental problems too.I dont know if they covered that but the game wasnt to blame.Moms
just another scrote oppurtunist trying to make a buck. Reminds me of the Beavis and Butthead thing with the Baby sitter at a bar and the kids burning down the house with a lighter.Dont blame the real cause Blame something that pays.
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Yeah, this guy had other stuff going on too. He wasn't mentally healthy, couldn't have been. Tragedy for sure., and like someone else mentioned, he probably could have used some better parenting.
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Originally posted by DmdBT
Is the account for sale?
Heheh. THAT was diddlying funny.
D
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Originally posted by Kronos
That is really sad. But it is becoming a fact of life that computer gaming is becoming an addiction much like alcohol, tobacco and drugs. I was taking a class with UMUC not to long ago, a computer class, and the professor had a story about a man who was so addicted to a computer game he was missing classes, or rushing out as soon as class was over to go home to play.
I'd stay longer and make a comment on this post, but I've got to get out of here and go drive some golf balls. :)
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I was experiencing transient network problems and inadvertently sent the post twice.
Insert corporate network joke here.
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Originally posted by gofaster
Insert corporate network joke here.
Can we substitute a computer user joke instead? :)
-Sikboy