A World of Warcraft World

An anonymous reader writes "On ebay people are paying real money to buy WoW gold... while some guy in Korea murdered another guy over a rare sword that existed only in an MMORPG. This essay looks at the way more and more people are failing to draw a distinction between their real and online lives and takes it to its logical, yet utterly insane, conclusion." Amusing, and with more than a few ounces of truth.

As Fark might say..

[kevin_conaway]

Personal responsibility surrenders. Its not the game. Its not the weapon. Its not the sex. Its the person!

All those wacky Asian countries are the same?

[nunchux]

... while some guy in Korea murdered another guy over a rare sword that existed only in an MMORPG.

CHINA, not Korea. It happened in SHANGHAI. Geez, do a little research, tens of thousands of people are going to read your submission...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8143073/ [msn.com]

Dupe

[melikamp]

Dupe [slashdot.org]

WoW is serious business

[StandardCell]

In case you haven't heard how serious (read: messed up or funny, depending on your disposition) MMORPGs can get, have a listen to this:

http://wowseriousbusiness.ytmnd.com/ [ytmnd.com]

This was recorded from a voice chat on WoW. All I can say is...WOW...

Zero players before 1998? Excuse me?

[SynapseLapse]

I seem to recall Meridian 59 [neardeathstudios.com] being around long before that.

And before even that I remember wasting a lot of time playing Legend of the Red Dragon, Usurper, the Pit, and many many more game titles I have since forgotten.

Not actually

[5n3ak3rp1mp]

If you look at this Thottbot entry [thottbot.com] it appears to be from some other game.

They do say that one sign of MMORPG addiction is if you get far too emotionally involved in the ups and downs of the game.

Re:Well

[vmardian]

5000 yuan is in fact $617, however, when you factor in per capita GDP, which is a very good indication of cost of living, you'll understand that $617 in China "feels" more like $4300 in the US. GDP is not only valid for comparison but its a much more meaningful comparison too. I'm not sure how the parent arrived at their number of $3000.

Re:It IS arguable

[nicxz]

this site you use for backing up your claim, it claims to get its stats from an interpol page which says 'The International Crime Statistics are only available to authorised police users.' when I try to access it. NOFI, but that doesn't really to much in the way of bolstering your argument, seeing as I can't check those numbers, not being a law enforcement dude and all. So really, you complain you get no citation of research backing up an argument, you then turn around and do the same.

Re:It IS arguable

[ozmanjusri]

Homicide rates are regarded as a key balanced metric for violent crime (ie, not heavily influenced by variants of law). US homicide rates vary widely by region, but their average of about 10 homicides per 100,000 people is high in the context of region and comparative wealth (Canada is 1.7/100,000, for example).
Washington DC's homicide rate of 45.8/100,000 is more than a hundred times that of the capital of the European Union, Brussels
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/homtrnd.htm [usdoj.gov]
http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/murder.html#world [benbest.com]

Re:It IS arguable

[bonch]

Britain and Australia top U.S. in violent crime [kc3.com] (the U.S. wasn't even in the top 10!)

Crime is higher in the UK in every major category except rape and murder, which are declining in the U.S. and have for the past decade [straightdope.com]

Official crime rate facts [usdoj.gov]

No matter how much some need to believe it, the U.S. is not some downtrodden, crime-ridden hellhole. Europeans and other foreigners need to stop watching Law & Order to get their idea of what the U.S. is like.

Re:Well

[nelsonal]

Actually, the GP did a pretty good job equating the two, on the exchange rate market, 5000 yuan is worth about $600 but since the amount of wealth required for a similar standard of living differs, the poster appears to have compared it to wages or something similar. Well trained factory workers make more than a dollar a day, but still considerably less than their counterparts in the US.