Russia: Online Rivalry Leads to Real Murder, Killer Blamed not Game
By Shawn on Thursday, January 17th, 2008 at 2:40 PM PST In Computer, Game Companies, Game Platforms, Games
An online gang rivalry has resulted in the murder of a Russian man. According to the video of the Russia Today news cast, two rival clans from the Lineage II MMO met in real life after one of the member’s avatars was killed in an online battle. The encounter resulted in the fatal beating of a 33 year old man and the arrest of a college student in the Russian town of Ufa.
The alleged killer is a member of the Coo-clocks clan, made up of mostly students, and Albert the victim was part of the Platanium clan made up of more mature gamers mostly in their thirties.
Albert’s sister believes the players lost touch with reality.
“I think they have confused the game and reality. And after we buried him on December 31, they continued to threaten us,” Albert’s sister Albina says.
Members of the Coo-clocks continue to threaten Albert’s family. The killer shows no signs of remorse, and has calmly explained:
“Beat everything that moves, and everything that doesn’t move - move and beat!” – this is one of the rules of the Coo-clocks clan.
It sounds like this man was a sociopath to begin with. That he found an outlet in an MMO where he interacted with real people is tragic. However what I find most interesting is the reaction of the Russian press. After mentioning two more incidences of deaths related to players of MMOs, the report relays what experts have said about the situation.
Internet experts say these cases shouldn’t be lumped together just because some people can’t handle the situation.
“Not many talk about the benefits of internet games for disabled people who don’t have a chance to communicate with others like themselves or able-bodied people. Nobody mentions the benefits the internet can offer in education,” says Aleksandr Kuzmenko of a computer game magazine.
It’s refreshing to see a piece like this end on a positive note with a firm grip on reality. So many times, the mass Media sinks it’s teeth into a tragic situation and blames the game, rather than the individual that was playing it.
via Russia Today
