"He was diagnosed with depression and a schizoid personality disorder and put on medication."

As someone who's participated in a 20-year-+ D&D game and went without doing housework for 2-days straight playing "Half-Life" I can honestly say that if your life has no connection to reality you can get into real trouble here. The fact that this guy quit his job and became homeless just to have the opportunity to interact with other people says a lot about what this person's existance was like.

Silly to blame a video game. Clearly the responsibility here is on Iron Maiden.

Hi, my name is spodefly, and I am a Motocross Madness 2-aholic ... I sometimes play on-line for hours a night ... so far, it has not impacted my work or friends, as I work from home and have no friends ... I pretty much have the addiction under control, except that I still want to kill people that quit in the middle of a race ... it screws up my frame rate ...

Virion:

mentally ill people also walk around neighborhoods, go to supermarkets, ride on trains, post on fark, go to church. I stated before and will state again that there are also many many normal people who play this game. I would have to say that the number of normal people far outweighs the number of freaks...although, there are some freaks. But freaks play pac man and halo and the sims too. if you are a psycho, everquest didn't make you a psycho, you were always a little off. If that mother neglected her child, she was an unfit mother with or without everquest.

As for the mother's lawsuit about chat logs, she's in for a surprise. i used to work in the online gaming industry and can tell you that people do not keep records of this stuff. Do you know how giant those files would be? chat isn't monitored unless there are complaints - in which case the moderatorss are only able to pull up tell command statements. she's looking for a suicide note and some way to blame other people for her son's problems. Sony has protected themselves by use of the privacy agreement and being that her son was not a minor, there really isn't much she can do. if you ask me, she doesn't really have a leg to stand on.

Get Mame, Play Gauntlet 2 at work

woop

Someone shot the food!

Don't shoot the potion!

Red Elf is about to Die!

Hello, my name is Jeezus and I'm an EQ-holic.

I need an intervention. Will someone put me on medication? Preferrably the type that will allow me to level up my new Rogue alt so that I can get the skill to make poison? I promise I won't take it myself mom. It's for theeeee, ah, monsters...yeah, that's right, it's for the MONSTERS that I'm trying to kill so that they don't kill me and take my experience and, and...

Never mind. I'm feeling MUCH better now. ummmmmm vodka and EQ. Must remember to pee.

Yep, some people just think there is no way out in these situations, and that happens to be complete bullshiat. If they just thought rationally about it for a few minutes, they'd realize that there is always a way out (other than suicide) even though it might not be very easy.

Never understood why people liked EQ so much. I really hated it. Now, Meridian 59 was a different story. Ah yes I can still remember the days of nearly failing 7th grade because I would stay up all night playing. Eh, it was only 7th grade, so those were good times.

I swear, some of these farking emotional gamers are gonna ruin my fun. I see an anti-gaming future on the horizon.

Writer6608:As someone who's participated in a 20-year-+ D&D game and went without doing housework for 2-days straight playing "Half-Life"...

WHOA there, trigger...I go 2 months at a time without doing housework. That's what rommates are for.

if you put the everquest cd in a cd player and play it backwards and wait for 45 minutes you can distictly hear a sound that sounds like 'kill yourself' or 'call your sister' or something. anyway, its creepy

I'm addicted to Trouble. That pop-o-matic reminds me of a clear plastic boob.

Just like peanuts kill people allergic to peanuts, Everquest can kill people with propensities to loserdom and suicide. Sony could put a warning label on it, but that just might make it sell more. Plus anyone who would be in danger of killing themselves over the game would not be deterred by a warning label. That'd be like admitting 'hey I'm a weak willed loser I better watch out for myself'.

So I'm going to start playing. Anyone want to let a newbie into their secret guild and give him magic swords?

From christiananswers.net Some wear little, while others are modest. While only 7% of the online players in "Everquest" are actually female, a little over 50% of the played characters are female.1 This means about half of the male players can create female characters and dress them out of a Victoria's Secret catalogue.

Well, if the graphics where better and this were possible, I bet there'd be far more people "playing."

It will get worse: Sony is seriously jacking up the price.
My father recently bought a Sony Vaio. It came with an EverQuest disc! I believe he uses it as a drink coaster.

We should all thank Sony for thinning the herd.

Sheseala

Or maybe they're just homos.

point

Besides, for shear trampiness, nothing beats Fredericks of Hollywood.

}{owie!!

Don't do it! Don't start everquest. If someone gives you powerful weapons, it'll only make you jones for more.

It starts with a short sword of ykesha and then you want 2! Then it's flowing black silk sash to make you attack more often.

Then you end up creating a female wood elf and offering to cyber with dudes for platinum!
uh...oops! Did I reveal too much?

If only they were homos. No, most of them are teenage d00dz who jack off watching their female avatar run around, and then jizz themselves with excitement if they find out that somebody else playing is, like, a REAL GIRL.

People that play EverQuest should die.

R()cketscientist

So should people who study their rockets too much.

An Everquest addiction sure beats mutilating your testicles with needle-nosed pliers.

Jeezus,

You can't beat a red rocket...

I wonder what's worse, moving back in with your mother to play EQ or painting a sex doll to look like a Dark Elf from EQ (a link that was on Fark a while back)?

Really though, what a waste of time for a lawsuit... a guy who is diagnosed with several severe mental problems including depression kills himself, it must have been caused by that game he played? Come on...

And by the way, for people who don't know how the game works, there is no way to permanently lose your character on EQ unless you get caught hacking or something and the developers ban you.

44 DE Necro LFG on Drinal server, Please help me with my Epic Quest.

/shout Hello, anyone there ? Hello ?

Now, if they had a Domo-kun based MMORPG, I'd be right THERE...

It is sad since I guess it is possible that he might have gone kind of crazy about the game. Of course what we don't know is, did he have a girl who broke off with him, was he totally depressed over losing his job; that is did he quit or was he fired? What all else are we not being told.....maybe he just wanted to get out of town and could not afford airfare.

MUDing is basically the same as this without the GUI. Anyone killed themselves MUDing? Please speak up.

My friend sold some weapon his character had while mudding for $50.00... WTF? We went out to a bar on that one...

I thought MUDing was having sex during her period.

Having some friends and outside interests would probably have helped this man. The fact that he suffered epeliptic attacks if he played the game to much would in my mind have counted as a warning sign. Personally, I'd rather his mother just dropped it completely. I look forward to the days of botheads and such. They won't breed IRL so that particular gene sequence won't get passed on. With any luck.

it's just a game people. play for yourself and this you will see. personally, i think dodge ball is a lot more scarring than EQ.

Clarkins

No I think that's BLOODing.

/t skinink 52 enc lfg in cs, up for wyvs?

/shout damn lag...the game is locked up
/shout damn lag...the game is locked up
/shout damn lag...the game is locked up
/shout damn lag...the game is locked up
/blush

dibs on the elf doll!

"You Dungeons and Dragons geeks are a bunch of losers who will never get laid!!! Now get out of here, I wanna play Everquest in peace without having to listen to you dorks."

VIRION: I'm not judging anyone who plays EQ. I'm simply saying that in my opinion the game is dull and pointless. Besides, "Everquest is latin for dead homo"??? If you truly think that makes a point, you are scum.

Props to HPZ for the "toilet user" point, he he.

I know this is in incredible bad taste, but I couldn't resist a bit of Photoshopping...

GU Comics
with an appropriate comic.

However, I think he has the situation slightly misunderstood. But it's all speculation what the lady's intentions are.

(If the link above fails, try http://gucomics.keenspace.com/)

/shout donating for crack at windmill.

Now what is this game called 'Everquest' and why is it such a big deal? I have no idea of what you're speaking of.

Sazerac - So wrong, yet I almost shot coffee out my nose.

I've worked in online games a long time, and I'll say this much: the addiction isn't from whacking rats, it's from the friends that are inside the game. Call these people 'losers' if you will, but one of the gratifying things about making online games is that the cancer-suffering bald-headed deathbed kid can walk around, feel like a superhero, and have relationships with other persons judged by who they are, and the cleavage their high elf cleric is showing. Granted, this is an extreme case, but most 'addicted' people I've run into in online games are people who are dissatisfied with their real lives.

So the real question is "why would you kill yourself?" Lots of possible answers, but I suspect something went horribly wrong in his online community. Perhaps, he proposed marriage to a 50th level dark elf, not knowing that in real-life, she was a lumberjack named "Bob". But whatever it is, it's almost definitely something that happened in the space, and not the game's fault at all.

As a parting shot, there are two kinds of addiction: physiological (your body chemically wants more, as in drugs), and psychological. Virtually anything that makes you feel good about yourself or life is psychologically addictive, and trying to hold anyone responsible for a 21-year old not knowing his limits is plain stupid.

Veruca: I apologize to your sinuses and your monitor.

It was worth it, Sazerac!

Sazerac:ROFLMFAO

oh god sazerac...that was farkin hilarious.

nice. tho on a technical note, i dont think the fat boy would've pierced himself. i believe it would've been a bludgeon or 'assaults himself with his lack of dignity'.

and my god, have you ever seen the mother class w/the bash ability? PUH-LZE. i'm sure she would have slammed. (did SEE that picture? OC she's a troll!)

Sheseala: I guess you haven't seen the new high poly graphic engine...they 'accidently' over endowwed 50% of the female models (the others were short or ugly, and hence endowwing alot would look terrible.)

I just find it interesting the mother says he didn't have any major crises in his life... ahh, well, that settles that then. I guess quitting your job and being depressed enough to sit infront of a game for an entire week isn't a major crisis. Games can't 'make' you do things... oh well, same old same old... Dungeons and Dragons, Heavy Metal, Doom, and EverQuest. One more way for a parent to say it wasn't their fault... granted by 21 maybe the guy should be more sorted, but still.

/shout WTB 200000 unts of fod lbvl 32!!!
/shout I wll get yu!
/ooc I an in been playin for yers now!!!
/bow
/laugh
/point
/bleed
*you bow then point and laugh while you bleed silently*
/spawncamp
/die

What I saw the first time I came back to GFay...
IT was better in the first 3 weeks the game was out, when it was pure chaos...

You know when I bought EQ it had a bunch of customer quotes on it that read like warning labels. Things like "This is the most addictive game I have ever played" "Do not get this for your friend if you ever want to see them again." "Leading cause of divorce is 48 states". You go online and play it the OOC channels are full of commentary about EverCrack's addictive properties. I play the game. I play it often, maybe 10 -12 hours a week, occasionally I will "Crack out" and play all day on a weekend or something. But unlike a menatlly disturbed person I realize it is only a form of entertainment (I like the frustration sometimes) For 13 dollars a month a pretty damn cheap form of entertainment, (One night at movies or 48 hours of my own intensly boring movie) This kid was ill, the reasons for his suicide are simple. He was not EQuiped (HAHAHA oops) to deal with real life, he was not able to see the diffrence between fantasy and reality, he had insanely low self worth and was mentally ill and not properly supervised (Mom or states fault for not commiting him to residential treatment depending on your lawyer). How did he get that way.. Genetics or Environment, basically either his mother did not raise him in a way to give him the skills nessisary to deal wiht the real world (MOMS FAULT) Or his mother and father had some shiatty genes that they passes on (MOm and DAds fault. Where does Sony come in on this?? Nowhere. As for EQ being a game designed with out end, how about tetris (Keeps going and going never really ends) Space invaders, Halflife, diablo, any game that you can play online at all for that matter. This is like the BS D&D lawsuits back in the day, lots of shiat very little substance. Good parenting solves this problem I say Sony should sue the mother for loss of revenue.