Another Law-Suit for Blizzard

[DeTaiLs]

In the latest saga over online gaming addiction in China, the parents of a 13-year-old Tianjin boy are suing the makers of World of Warcraft, blaming the game for the death of their son, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua. The parents filed a suit against Blizzard Entertainment on Wednesday, saying their son jumped to his death while reenacting a scene from the game, the report said. The parents are backed by the anti-Internet addiction advocate Zhang Chunliang. Mr. Chunliang has spoken to 63 parents whose children have allegedly suffered from online gaming addiction and plans to file a class-action suit, according to the report.
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=14551&hed=Youth%E2%80%99s+Death+Linked+to+Game

[Hazard]

Hrm, suing a video game company for the death of an obviously mentally disturbed boy, interesting.

Its like saying my parents could sue Virgin records for selling that death metal that has the lyrics "Slash my wrists, kill myself, slash my wrists, kill myself, worship the devil, slash my wrists!" Its just stupid.

[Forged]

Why would blizzard even bother showing up in China?

[shout]

Why would blizzard even bother showing up in China?

If you are asking why they are releasing games in China, because it has the fastest-growing online game market in the world.

[iago]

Hrm, suing a video game company for the death of an obviously mentally disturbed boy, interesting.

Its like saying my parents could sue Virgin records for selling that death metal that has the lyrics "Slash my wrists, kill myself, slash my wrists, kill myself, worship the devil, slash my wrists!" Its just stupid.

I don't know of any death metal like that. Maybe more like, "Kill the bitch and drink her blood" or "Slash his throat and fuck the wound"... but what do I know?   [note: I did not intend to say the real lyrics, I know that it's not correct]

But anyway, yeah, that's ridiculous.  Parents hate taking responsibility for their own children, though, which is why they blame everybody else. 

It's actually a very similar situation to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre

From that page:

Both Harris and Klebold were fans of violent video games such as Doom and Wolfenstein. Harris often created levels for Doom that were widely distributed, and can still occasionally be found on the Internet as the Harris levels. Rumors that the layout of these levels resembled that of Columbine High School circulated but have been debunked. [22] Some analysts argued that part of the killers' problem may have been a result of their constant exposure to violent imagery in such video games, as well as music and movies, theorizing that their obsession with these forms of media may have led them to have difficulty telling the difference between reality and fantasy. American media compared the massacre to a fantasy sequence from the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries in which protagonist Leonardo DiCaprio wears a black trenchcoat and shoots six classsmates in his school's hallways. Some eyewitnesses at the school compared the events to scenes from the 1999 film The Matrix. Several unsuccessful lawsuits against video game manufacturers were filed as a result by parents of some of the victims.

Blame for the shootings was also directed at Marilyn Manson and other rock music groups. However, an overlook of Harris' website showed both shooters disliked Manson and most other mainstream music. This claim was also backed up by close friends of the pair who have testified they were more into German rock bands, such as Rammstein. Upon release of this information, Rammstein came under heavy criticism from conservative and Christian groups in the United States, who claimed (among other things) that lead vocalist Till Lindemann's rolling Teutonic Rs were an imitation of Adolf Hitler's diction. In response, the band issued this statement:

[.....]

German-industrial band KMFDM received similar criticism. Harris' website featured lyrics to KMFDM songs and the shooting coincidentally occurred on the release date of their album Adios. KMFDM frontman Sascha Konietzko released a statement to the press the day following the shooting, expressing his own grief at the shooting, and emphasised their music is "a statement against war, oppression, fascism and violence against others" and that "while some of the former band members are German as reported in the media, none of us condone any Nazi beliefs whatsoever." [23]

Detroit-based rap outfit Insane Clown Posse was also singled out for their aggressive and occasionally violent lyrics and the incorporation of black trenchcoats into their stage apparel.

For Columbine, it seems like they blamed everybody in the world EXCEPT the parents..

[l)ragon]

Hrm, suing a video game company for the death of an obviously mentally disturbed boy, interesting.

Its like saying my parents could sue Virgin records for selling that death metal that has the lyrics "Slash my wrists, kill myself, slash my wrists, kill myself, worship the devil, slash my wrists!" Its just stupid.

I don't know of any death metal like that. Maybe more like, "Kill the bitch and drink her blood" or "Slash his throat and fuck the wound"... but what do I know?   [note: I did not intend to say the real lyrics, I know that it's not correct]

Could allways search up on a band named Cannible Corpse (probably spelt their name wrong)

[Newby]

Could allways search up on a band named Cannible Corpse (probably spelt their name wrong)

iago listens to death metal, if I recall correctly.

[Yegg]

Although I know Cannibal Corpse is a violent death metal band, I don't know much more about them, so I decided to read up about them. Here's a link incase anyone else is interested:
http://www.answers.com/cannibal%20corpse

[Forged]

Why would blizzard even bother showing up in China?

If you are asking why they are releasing games in China, because it has the fastest-growing online game market in the world.

I meant why would they bother attending the trial.

[EpicOfTimeWasted]

First thing's first:

their son jumped to his death while reenacting a scene from the game

Ha!  Haha!  Feel free to call me an insensitive bastard if you like, but I about died laughing when I read that.

Secondly:

I don't know of any death metal like that. Maybe more like, "Kill the bitch and drink her blood" or "Slash his throat and fuck the wound"... but what do I know?

I personally prefer "Rip, and cut, and mutilate the innocent!  His friends, and again and again, and on, and on!"

[iago]

Could allways search up on a band named Cannible Corpse (probably spelt their name wrong)

iago listens to death metal, if I recall correctly.

Absolutely!  Cannible Corpse was one of the first bands of that style that I listened to.  Some guy at work had one of their albums.  I missed their concert when they were here, though :-(!

I don't recall ever hearing lyrics about slashing wrists in a death metal song, though.  Slashing wrists just sounds too lame for death metal.

[Explicit]

Could allways search up on a band named Cannible Corpse (probably spelt their name wrong)

iago listens to death metal, if I recall correctly.

Absolutely! Cannible Corpse was one of the first bands of that style that I listened to. Some guy at work had one of their albums. I missed their concert when they were here, though :-(!

I don't recall ever hearing lyrics about slashing wrists in a death metal song, though. Slashing wrists just sounds too lame for death metal.

Too "emo."

[iago]

Absolutely! Cannible Corpse was one of the first bands of that style that I listened to. Some guy at work had one of their albums. I missed their concert when they were here, though :-(!

I don't recall ever hearing lyrics about slashing wrists in a death metal song, though. Slashing wrists just sounds too lame for death metal.

Too "emo."

I took care to avoid using that word.  But yeah

[AcidAngel]

remember when WoW made you stop playing to sleep, then people spazzed out and they pretty much removed the entire feature, that was a good decision.

[hismajesty]

Ugh. Linking violence to media directly is stupid. Sure, I beleive it can enhance somebodies mental instability (such as the Scream copy cat crimes) but a sane person should have no problems watching/listening to/etc. violent media.

For example: I fantasize about being a Mafioso, a Special Operations Soldier, and even a great Roman General. However, I'm not going to jump on a horse, equipped in armor and go ride through my school killing everybody with a sword.