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23 Nov 2005
The parents of a 13 year-old boy who fell to his death are suing Blizzard Entertainment, the makers of online role-playing game World of Warcraft, claiming that their son died re-enacting a stunt from the game.
Zhang Xiaoyi killed himself in December 2004 by jumping off a 24-story building in the northern China city of Tianjin.
Now 63 other families are to join the legal case, according to the official Chinese news agency.
Computer game addiction, or 'e-heroin' as it has been dubbed, is an increasing problem in China. According to the report one student cut his little finger to show his determination to kick his web addiction.
Zhang Chunliang, a Chinese cyber-addiction expert, maintains that there is no difference between being addicted to drugs and being addicted to internet games.
"A child's addiction to internet games means the ruin of a whole family," he told the news agency. "Indulging in a virtual cyber-world causes players to mix the virtual world with the real world."
China's online game market has generated $580m so far this year, and is the fastest-growing market in the world, according to research firm DFC Intelligence. The market is set to nearly triple in size to an estimated $1.7bn by 2010.
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Do you agree?
Seriously stupid
Video games may not be the best thing in the world, but sueing a game company for a retarded kid? I'm suprised. Even an 8 - year old kid has more than enough common sense to not jump off a building because of a game. Games are obviously not real. Kids notice the lack of Murlocs and tauren roaming the streets.
Posted by: botts 21 Dec 2005
History repeating itself
Honestly! This is just like the whole 'does dungeons and dragons lead to suicide?' debate! Sure games are getting more realistic, but even so you would think you would notic the screen edge! Sueing the company is just shifting the blame and is complete nonsence, the unfortunate child probably had other problems such as bullying at school. The parents should have identified this and responded to it. Also, what where the parents doing while this situation wwas developing? Playing games themselves, maybe?
Posted by: The Magistraitor 06 Dec 2005
Dead son=$$$
It is simple, one day his parents looked out the window and said, "Oh, look, he fell off a 24 story building. Let's sue Blizzard and get rich." Good grief. Every game has stunts that would kill someone. Why not sue the builders of the building? If he thought the game was real, wouldn't he be puzzled that his home was never attacked by orcs? I am sympathetic, but those parents have problems if they think the game said "Kids, please try this at home!"
Posted by: Viper 06 Dec 2005
Who pays
Actually in china the internet cafe is the venue of choice for online games. You go there with your friends and only spend 2 yuan an hour at some of them. Most people can't afford to put up the cash for a super cool gaming system or the space in the apartment for it. He probably spent all his time at one of these places and then one day turned up dead. It's understandable that traditional chinese parents would be hysterical over something like this. His parents probably didn't pay his subscription. And unplugging the internet isn't the solution when you don't have a computer.
Posted by: Lin Biao 29 Nov 2005
Sad
Wish there was some way to inforce which people are allowed to have children, in this case it looks like they are from the shellow end of the gene pool. Looks like they win the trifector of bad parenting... neglect, stupidity and greed.
Posted by: Lucan 28 Nov 2005
Who was paying for his account?
Funny thing is that they were probably paying his subscription fees too...
Posted by: omegabyte 26 Nov 2005
Just blaming parents?
I agree with the statements around parent responsibility to watch over their kids and monitor the amount of time their kids play games. However this general trend of the kids becoming addicted to games is understandable. Games are getting better and more real each year, sooner or later we will get to the point where it will be very difficult to tell the difference between reality and games. If you were a kid that grew up in this kind of situation why wouldn?t you choose the world of the game to the world of reality!. Reality sucks! If you could live in a reality where you can do and be almost anything, why not! I would?I say bring on this virtual world so we can all unplug from our problems and ignore our responsibilities. I am looking forward to it. But obviously events such as these will become more frequent as a result. But who is to blame? Maybe everyone (i.e. the gamers, parents, gaming industry, society) ?
Posted by: Zephyr 24 Nov 2005
... and in other news.
And in other news, Child services is looking into an incedent of child neglect. It was reported a 13 year old child was left unattended on top of a 24 story building by his parents. "It is a shame this child died - someone has to be responsible for this", Chen Lee from child services said, "it is the parents responsibility to provide adequate care for minors - not to do so is simply negligent."
Posted by: Brian Green 24 Nov 2005
What are we doing
People are such horrible parents! You know what I would do if my kid was "addicted" viedo games?! UNPLUG THE COMPUTER!!!!!!! I can't understand why parents say they can't stop their kids, no computer=no internet! I play World of Warcraft and I enjoy it alot but I don't think I would cut myself to stop playing.. Again when your kid spends more than 2 hours on a game! Make him turn it off! Again you are parents!
Posted by: Dan 24 Nov 2005
Tragic fall blamed on World of Warcraft video game
Sue the parents for not taking the childs problems seriously if they think it is that bad. Since when did it become the game makers responsibility to raise everyones children. Take some parental responsibilities and grow up.
Posted by: jason 23 Nov 2005
Lunacy
To think that a 13 year old would jump off a building because of a game... Obviously he had other problems. The kids family is wrong to sue blizzard. How insane, and to think they'd actually win! HA! The obvious answer to this is depression or some other disorder. It was obviously suicide because he knew what he was doing, at 13 you would think that he would know the difference between the real world (which has gravity) and a reality world, (which obvoiusly, does not.)
Posted by: Sean Anderson 23 Nov 2005
Of all the idiotic...
Look, jumping off of a 24 story building will kill you IN GAME. He wasn't reenacting "a scene from the game," there is NEVER any point in the game where you are supposed to jump off of a building. The opportunity is there, yes, but there's penalties for it.
Posted by: Knight 23 Nov 2005
Ridiculous
People need to stop scapegoating pop culture, and realize that the problems that they have are of their own fault. It's right up there with Jack Thompson accusing videogames of just about every fault of America. Entertainment is meant to be hand in hand with responsiblity, and it is an unfortunate thing that, that is not the case most of the time. Parents and sanctimonious politics alike, just point the finger at whatever they can. They don't have the ability to do anything else except for blame and sue. Parents should be able to step into a childs life, and reassure them that videogames are fictional entities. I also believe in this paticular case there was something a little more to do with than just reancting a stunt. I mean at 13 years old, I believe the kid would have enough knowledge to know he wouldn't survive a 20 some story drop. However there might have been different circumstances, all I know is that parents don't bother to raise their kids anymore, and the apathy and irresponsiblity that breeds from their actions will take its toll on the world in one way or another.
Posted by: Rob 23 Nov 2005
Parents?
Didn't his parents notice his obsessive gaming habits before his last stunt?... It seems China has caught on to tried and true USA style litigation instead of actually dealing with the root cause.
Posted by: go back to sleep.... everythings fine. 23 Nov 2005
Parents Responsbile
Where is the parent's responsibility in this? Don't buy the games and/or limit the amount of time your child is allowed to play.
Posted by: Kerry Taylor 23 Nov 2005
lame parents
1. there is no excuse for parents ignorance 2. where were they when they spent 100s of hours spent on a game 3. as much as the childs death is a sad dilemma, it does not mean that the game maker be sued, the parents shoudl be blamed for that 4. gaming is not harmful, its how you bring up the child (i have been a gamer ever since i can remember and a v hard core gamer) 5. would you sue plastic bag makers vuz some boy suffocated or some boy swallowed a toy and died? 6. ratings too 7. When the parents are there to look after their children, they know what their child wants, how he reacts to things and hwo delicate or responsive he it; if you didnt judge it, you're to blame, noone else is going for it
Posted by: Ali 23 Nov 2005
Stop shifting the blame
Irresponsible parents who don't teach their children that video games aren't real (assuming the 13 yr old was too mentally challenged to figure it out by himself) have no right to sue the game makers. If the parents think the child is addicted to the game and that that addiction may be detrimental to his life or anyone else's then they should stop him from playing the game. If they were more involved in his life they would have realized his problem and acted before he did. Do they not own the home? Have they no authority over their own child? Do they not have the right to take away his computer? Uninstall the game? Ground him from the game? It's not the game maker's fault that kids aren't smart enough to separate game life from real life. It's the parents' fault. Why don't they sue themselves?
Posted by: Tim 23 Nov 2005
All I have to say is...
Parents, you need to take some responsibility and watch your kids. These parents obviously were not. It is not Blizzard's fault that the child could not distinguish fantasy from reality, it is yours.
Posted by: Someone sane 23 Nov 2005
Parents = Bad
It's not Blizzard's fault you're bad parents. Quit trying to make money blaming other people. If you have another child, please take time to be proper parents.
Posted by: Shane 23 Nov 2005
Trying to make a quick buck
Stop blaming others for poor parenting. What is a 13 year old boy doing alone on top of 24 story building in the first place? Gravity has a nasty effect on free falling objects...a 13 year should know that. They are just trying to make a quick buck! Monitor what your children watch, listen to , play and do!
Posted by: EB 23 Nov 2005