Suing Sony for Everquest Related Suicide?

daoine writes "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a story about how Sony could be sued by the mother of an Everquest player who recently committed suicide. The lawsuit itself doesn't seem all that interesting (she's aiming for warning labels) -- but it is interesting that Sony won't release any of the game data citing privacy policy, even if it could help unlock what exactly drove the guy to end his life."

He was Nerfed

[poena.dare]

The poor guy, three years to work his Rogue up to level 50 and then suddenly they nerf his Sneak skill! There outta be a law!

sigh...

[EnderWiggnz]

i wonder how long it took to prepare that brief...

Lawyer: Hey - does anyone have the old AD&D suicide brief? cool, thanks.

s/AD&D/Everquest/
s/TSR/Sony/

there, done.

Probably won't be the only one ...

[moominpapa]

From the article:

A psychologist diagnosed him with depression and schizoid personality disorder, symptoms of which include a lack of desire for social relationships, little or no sex drive and a limited range of emotions in social settings.

Sounds like most Slashdot readers are in danger,

Oh Goodie!

[thedbp]

Now maybe video games will take the heat for teen suicide and Ozzy can get some rest.

Sony games lead to suicide....

[Alien Being]

And as George Carling once said "Mother's milk leads to everything"

Ya!

[sllort]

"It's like any other addiction," Elizabeth Woolley said last week.

"Except for the chemical dependency, the violent interference with the brain's core function, the hallucinations, ability to ignore pain, increased heart rate and risk of heart failure, sexual disfunction, and massive expense, it's just like any other addiction. Addicts always look like my son: fat, sedentary losers with glasses."

Re:Goes a bit far...

[sdflkgfljdqshgjkqsfg]

I gotta agree with you on that one. Yes I'm a programmer, and I know a lot IT related people read /. too, I (as some others here surely), have also played computer games for 12+ hours straight. Maybe even 12h/day for an entire week, but after that, I'm just washed out: head-aches, sleep-deprivation, undernourishment, aven after a week I can physically feel these symptoms... I usually stop playing such a game when vision of said game appear in my sleep... that's just too freaky for me.

Then of course reality slowly kicks back in and urges me to spend the next week in a bar with friends (whom I actually call, Mark, Eric and Fred and not Kueller, Vodobass and toString) thus leading to more hadaches, sleep deprivation and undernourishment I guess.
Then I usually find a job.

Re:Of course it's posted NOW...

[sergio.garcia]

Ok, but please dont commit suicide because your story wasnt posted, your mom might sue slashdot :(.

Ok, bad joke.. sorry.
Sergio

I said sorry!

Re:He was Nerfed

[TheDick]

Has anyone looted his corpse yet? And, are we sure it was a suicide? Maybe he was on a PK server...

Its possible.

Re:Warning Label

[archen]

Warning Label Proposal A:

"Don't play this game if you're crazy"

Warning Proposal after the marketing guys see it:

"This game is so cool, it just might kill you! You have been warned!"

Re:My prediction - Mass online suicide

[bbh]

Well, the leader of the group will do it, then the rest of his party will laugh and split up the loot on his corpse. Sometimes it sucks to take the lead!

bbh

In a related story...

[goldspider]

"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."

In a related story, area cocaine and crack dealers are now affixing their product with warning labels to avoid similar lawsuits.

But seriously, has it gotten so bad that companies have to warn consumers that their product is of too high quality?

As If

[Barlo_Mung_42]

"but it is interesting that Sony won't release any of the game data citing privacy policy, even if it could help unlock what exactly drove the guy to end his life."

As if there is any data in there that would lead us to think 'Ah. That makes sense. His 78th level character died and he lost his powerful HackMaster +12 sword. That must be what drove him over the brink!'

The sad fact is probably that he came to the stark realization that EQ only brought temporary relief to his days of quiet desperation.

Suicide Solution

[Zaphod-AVA]

This is a plea to someone out there planning suicide..

First off, are you sure that your temporary problems are worth a permanent solution?

That being said, if you do go through with it, would you *please* make certain you are playing Mozart's requiem for the dead, and obsess over Edgar Allen Poe, and Macbeth before you go?

Maybe if these pinheads see someone committing suicide to the tune of classical music and literature, they will wake up, and frantically wave down the clue bus. (Thanks for the quote Tweety)

-Zaphod

warning labels?

[slackwalker]

well now i can use warning labels to gauge how good a game is, just like i use violence labels to gauge how good a movie is.

suing for warning labels is just idiotic.

Re:Of course they won't release it.

[gartogg]

I found a copy of the message logs stored on a backup of the server:

To: Gr8dragonslayer9025
From: Suicidalwreck428
Subject:RE RE Suicide
It's not the equipment you lousy jerk!
I'm gonna kill myself, ok? It doesn't matter what
you say, my life isn't worth living since you
stole the kill that I camped for a month for.

>From: Gr8dragonslayer9025
>CC: The Management
>To: Suicidalwreck428
>look, stop being so overly dramatic, if
>you really want the equipment then I'll
>give it to you, ok?
>
>>From: Suicidalwreck428
>>To: Gr8dragonslayer9025
>>You bastard, I hate you! you stole that kill!
>>I've been camping for 6 days for that, and
>>you come by and steal my kill? That's it, my
>>life isn't worth living anymore!

No Ma'am, You're Wrong

[Icephreak1]

Said the silly woman:

"It's like any other addiction. Either you die, go insane or you quit. My son died."

Said me, the matter-of-fact Slashdot poster:

Quite frankly lady, your son did all three at once. He went insane and had no choice but to quit because he chose to frag himself.

Icephreak One
Toronto, Canada

The Warning Label

[The Turd Report]

***WARNING: If your despressed epileptic kid sits inside playing video games for 12 hours a day, has no friends but has access to firearms, the surgon general has determined you might want to take a bit more interest in his life you cottage cheese chugging, Oprah loving, soap opera watching piece of trash. Get your 275 lbs ass off the damn couch. ***

Did they look at his MP3 collection?

[asv108]

Someone should tip off the police and tell them to investigate his song collection. There is a song called "Suicide Solution" by a devil worshiper known to his followers as "Ozzy." Here are the lyrics, do not sing them out loud! It has been proven that singing these lyrics aloud will induce a trancelike state which causes the singer to kill himself immediately upon finishing the last verse.

Wine is fine, but whiskey's quicker Suicide is slow with liquer Take a bottle, drown your sorrows Then it floods away tommorows Away tommorows

Evil thoughts and evil doings Cold, alone you hang in ruins Thought that you'd escape the reaper You can't escape the master keeper

'Cos you feel life's unreal, and you're living a lie Such a shame, who's to blame, and you're wondering why Then you ask from your cask, is there life after birth What you saw can mean hell on this earth Hell on this earth

Now you live inside a bottle The reaper's travelling at full throttle It's catching you, but you don't see The reaper's you, and the reaper is me

Breaking laws, knocking doors But there's no one at home Made your bed, rest your head But you lie there and moan Where to hide, suicide is the only way out Don't you know what it's really about

Wine is fine, but whiskey's quicker Suicide is slow with liquer Take a bottle, drown your sorrows Then it floods away tomorrows

Re:Maybe EQ *saved* him...

[sharkey]

what the hell is 'sexual anorexia' anyway?

A really, really thin penis, perhaps?

Re:Goes a bit far...

[thud2000]

Nah, the worst game for this kind of thing was the original X-Com: UFO Defense. I'm not talking about the standard stuff, like ducking for cover every time I walked out to my car, or instinctively evaluating every room I walked into for the tactical possibilities. One time, after playing for about 8 hours, I saved my game and went outside for a food run. I saw a couple of guys across the street - and I promise you a little red box with a "2" apeared in the lower right corner of my peripheral vision. You old-school X-Com players will know what I'm talking about.

Re:Probably won't be the only one ...

[schiefaw]

Sounds like most Slashdot readers are in danger, Hey! It says "little or no sex drive" not "little or no sex opportunity"

Re:There's a good reason for this:

[Skapare]

And we know that thousands of people have already committed suicide because their Slashdot submissions are rejected or their comments are moderated down to (Score:-1, Troll). But we know CmdrTaco just laughs because it's not his fault.

:-)

You forgot

[aztektum]

Picking your nose, eating your hair, sucking your thumb, washing your hands fifty times a day, sex...

Clicking Refresh on April Fools hoping for real news.

Re:It's always something...

[tshak]

I would argue that Sony is no more at fault than NASCAR is for unsafe teenage driving.

These are completely different cases. NASCAR is most definitely liable because:

A) They teach poor driving habit's by only turning the stearing wheel in one direction. All of the sudden, the teen has to make a right turn and he's very confused.
B) They encourage "sleeping at the wheel" via bordem by driving around in circles for hours on end.
C) They are encouraged by their sponsors to "crash" to make driving more exciting to watch, and to help offset the affects of B.

Re:Goes a bit far...

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a friend who drove into a crate on the highway because he wanted the item inside. Except it wasnt a video game, and the item gave him a flat tire and a busted headlight.

Re:Downright Dumb

[Carmody]

I'm sorry he's dead... no, wait, I'm not sorry he's dead. He was the one that was dumb enough to sit in front of a computer screen being completely unproductive 12 hours a day.

I am a theoretical mathematician... I suppose that means you won't be sorry when I am dead.

Re:Warning Label

[Ooblek]

Gee, if you have a kid and get the kid to play, you can legally classify your pastime as an ideology. You could declare that your religon only lets you work a few hours a day and you have to play Asheron's Call for at least 8 hours. Then you can force your employer to let you play since they can't discriminate against you based on your religion.

I knew there was a solution!!!!