Runes of Magic US / AU

There are some unbalanced players out there that take games too seriously. They feel that waht goes on ingame can deal out real life issues. Not all gamers are immature/unbalanced/idiots, but unfortunately there are quite a few. It has not been proved to a satisfactory conclusion that games do cause real life problems, but you will always have naysayers that say otherwise. If parents would just take some time to be with their kids (even if it is in a game environment), maybe they would be able to see the problems and get their children the help they need before it excalates. For the unbalanced adults out there, well they may be just screwed. We as a community need to be more aware of other players and should watch for signs of them going off the beaten path. Yes we are not all head shrinks, but some signs of problems can and do crop up ingme. Lets do iur best to try and see these signs before we hear that our game has been shut down due to someone's death (that may not happen but in a worst case it could).

@Rikatah: let me turn it around, IMHO you answered it yourself.

Quoted

Do you really think an MMORPG could be the ultimate catalyst in someone committing suicide?
What could really be a strong enough reason for an online game to even put the suggestion of suicide into a gamers head?

[Another] reason is maybe a "SOFTWARE GLITCH" makes a player lose years and years of effort put into a game.

People do have problems. Some people have worse problems than others. (Whatever the specific problem may be, medical/mental/emotional instability reasons etc). So sometimes all that is needed for someone to be pushed over into thinking about or actually committing suicide is some kind of, well... for a lack of a better word, trigger.

Could something like a "software glitch [that] makes a player lose years and years of effort put into a game" be such a trigger? Yes. But on the other hand, about anything "bad" happening to such a person can be.

So in the end, you cant blame the trigger for the underlying problem which is something entirely different. people like those from the link would have needed help way before that - and to do that, someone who noticed that they were in need of help.

PS: In before the lock (Hi Dio).

Quoted from "YomanROM;517984"

@Rikatah: let me turn it around, IMHO you answered it yourself.

PS: In before the lock (Hi Dio).

As long as this doesn't get derailed I hope to see it continue. Maybe Dio can get some decaf and sleep for a bit while this one runs. LOL

I had a friend that committed suicide over gaming. But not in this way.

The guy was pretty popular, well liked on game fandom forums for Ultima and Might&Magic. He was an older person, a sort of curmudgeon, but not an angry, bitter one, more in sorta amusing cranky witty ways. It was all in good fun, and he had many friends in the community.

Then he faded away and was showing up less and less. Everyone assumed he was just between games and would be back once the next big game hits. Turned out that was not the case. He was trying to move away.

He had family and not a happy family life. Not really sure what was the cause of the problems, we never saw that side of him. But, the games and gaming community was a good place for him, a place where he had friends. His life was balance between bad personal life and good online life. Games and gaming friends is where he was happy.

So, when he made decision to focus more on RL and give up gaming, he cut off the part of his life that made him happy and focused on part that was making him miserable. He could not take it, and the next thing we know is a family member posting under his account that he committed suicide.

vfwiffo hit the nail on the head. Not every gamer is a nutcase, some are just trying to find like minded people, and to get away from a possible empty, or unfulfilling homelife.

like the emo chick in the wheelchair from "the Guild"