Man Dies From Playing World Of Warcraft Gaming? Harmful?

[Running With Scissors1405241561 0]

50 hours straight Thats insane. I have never played World of Warcraft so I don't know how addicting it can be but seriously it can not be so addicting that you forget to eat and drink. I can hardly play a game for an hour straight without getting bored let alone fifty.I think they should have some sort of built in game feature that after the game is one for 12 hours it saves and shuts off. If any of you have the Wii if you play for 30 minutes or something like that a box pops up telling you to go outside or something like that. World of Warcraft should follow the Wii and do something like this as well.

[khalilov 0]

Perhaps he had enough money in his bank acount and thought he could take an early retirenment and quit his job. As for him dieing from heartfailure i doubt the game could have caused that O.o. Well maybe not completely, maybe he had a weak heart or something + lack fo rest/food/water made his body weaker. Then the game's explosions,graphics and perhaps he was about to loose a rare item lol. I think thats what killed him. Poor guy. *Gets DSL connection and downloads WOW*

[Arbitrary 0]

Honestly, the game may be "addicting" and all, but to play for 50 hours straight is just taking it too far. I've played the World of Warcraft for about three years and, although I have played for large amounts of time now and again, I've never come close to playing for that long. It's really the guy's fault for thinking it was a good idea to play for so long.

Well yes, but that's obviously because you realize it was just a game, and so you don't really gravitate towards playing with the same amount of time a regular person might spend on work. Some people though, literally become engrossed and stop thinking of it as a game. To them, it's a way of life, and they're probably going to need some outsiders (friends, family, a psychologist) to interfere and get them help.
I did have a small bout of mmorpg addiction, and I have to say I did quite a bit of merchanting in Runescape. It was quite fun while I did it, and I remember banking a lot of cash off those newly released rune berserkers (and other awards in the new cave). I guess the "buy low, sell high" principle was working pretty well for me. However, after a certain time, I realized that I was spending far too much time merchanting, and began contemplating quitting. I also noticed that the profit gained from merchanting was lowering day by day (expected, since the price of a new commodity starts high but will always drop over time). Eventually, I told myself it was a huge timesink and just stopped playing mmorpgs altogether.

I used to also play a text mmorpg, and I must say that one wasn't nearly as addictive (not because it was a text mmorpg, but because death was a really serious matter in the game). Once you died, none of your stuff could be retrieved, meaning that not only would you have to begin making money again, you'd have to regain all your levels. This led to tedium, as every new area of the game I discovered would lead to a death, meaning that I had to repeat the process multiple times before I got anywhere. In the end, my concentration gave in and I just quit.

I think they should have some sort of built in game feature that after the game is one for 12 hours it saves and shuts off. If any of you have the Wii if you play for 30 minutes or something like that a box pops up telling you to go outside or something like that. World of Warcraft should follow the Wii and do something like this as well.

Obviously this is not going to happen. WoW profits off the fact that people become addicted to their game and come back month after month to lengthen their subscription. If they do what you say, they wouldn't make nearly as much money. That defeats the point of commercializing their product. Also, I've never seen that on the Wii (I've played multiple times at several friends' houses); perhaps this is a newer version of the Wii or something else special you had to install first? Now, if this exists for the Wii, it still matters less because they're not exactly forcing you to go outside, they're merely suggesting it. Such a suggestion on WoW might be nice, but everyone knows their developers won't do something to harm their business. The fact that the man got himself killed can't really be attributed to the company; there are plenty of others who are doing fine. It's the way he managed his time that resulted in his death.

Blizzard is rich...If subliminal is happening, which from what ive seen it is (everyone I know whos not played who ive asked who's not played too much aggrees, and everyone who plays a lot argues) it needs to be investigated. NOW. And also they need to take steps to STOP...THIS...HAPPENING. Its really important. The companies putting us, young people, and the older generation too, need to spend some of thier millions (possible billions) of profit investigating how to help us play in moderation. Anyone aggree?

Hmmm, I think I might be of the personal responsibility camp. For instance, by now most people know and understand that WoW is addictive. Therefore, anyone who chooses to play WoW now knows that they are taking a risk, especially if they've had problems with addiction in the past. They know they might become hooked and yet choose to mess with it anyway. I believe this means that they should be responsible for their own actions. Moreover, whether or not WoW is really addictive the same way heroin or morphine is addictive is debatable. I highly doubt the endorphin high for WoW is anywhere near as high as that of the aforementioned drugs. WoW isn't a drug; it obviously gives addicted gamers a certain amount of endorphin release, but it doesn't do so by forcing the release. There are incentives in WoW, and accomplishing those incentives gives you a award, which causes the endorphin release. That incentive could easily be replaced by something else. Cue the workaholics, or the shopaholics, or whatever.
Now, I'm not a psychologist, and I'm not trying to say that gamers should be left on their own. People around them (friends and family) should definitely try to help them get help. I think, however, that gamers, like those who eat McDonalds and then get fat should stop blaming the companies and instead think about why they made the decisions they made. Blizzard isn't holding a gun at their throat telling them to play, just like McDonalds isn't doing it to its customers. (Although, the last point can be debated due to the poor's tendency to eat unhealthy fast food).

[MoonLightCity 0]

that sounds pretty bad, I would play MMORPG games all the time a few months ago, I would play for about 20 hours a day.. but I would get up to eat and sleep and drink though. But I wouldn't see not drinking or eating for 50 hours playing video games...

[Jezstarr 0]

I have heard so many people who are addicted to this game and are trying to get me into it but I just don't like these sorts of games. Sure it may be extremely fun, I might never know but c'mon playing for 50 hours straight. Well that's just stupid really. Some of my games I will play for 2 hours if that but for 50 hours. I can't even pull off an all nighter.

It is still sad though but it was a bit immature really. And i seriously doubt that they will get sued as it wasn't there fault they made an addictive game. They didn't want you to play for 1 whole day let alone 2 days. Some people may blame them but seriously.

Anyone sane will atleast get up and have something to eat or drink... even if they are playing non-stop. This guy must have been a complete whacko to have completely forgotten everything while playing Warcraft (a strategy game at that... not even an FPS wink.gif).

Exactly I am always up and about looking for something to eat and drink when I've been playing a game for a while. I also take a rest from it a lot.
Edited October 12, 2008 by Jezstarr (see edit history)

[tenytinytom 0]

It seems mad that anyone could completely withdraw themselves from life and sit there for 50 hours and do nothing but play. You have to eat and drink to live and to stop doing that for a game just seems insane

[laniczech 0]

I think i may have to play that game then, Guess the parental advisory should read, prelonged exposure may cause death

[iGuest 3]

i knowMan Dies From Playing World Of Warcraft

thats insane right getting a little into the game is okay but playing for 50 HOURS straight thats gotta hurt your bladder or something and I mean its fun to play and all but that guy was downright in love with it or something you know what I mean 

-reply by money

[y4nzi 0]

That is insane! Was it definitely the gaming and stress and not just an underlying medical problem made worse?But either way I guess gaming had some sort of implications.Ultimately though, you cant blame the game. There are millions of people out there playing the game as it should be (not too excessively) and these cases are rare. Still, it is quite scary and kind of sad, I can't imagine myself being so engrossed in a game to not pee drink eat etc.I enjoy gaming and graphic design and so on but there are still the basic needs of life that come before that.Hopefully this is a one off case.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

This topic is still alive? Oh geez =\!xboxrulz

[sakmac 0]

Thats actually completely out of order because how is it that someone would completely forget about life. I've played world of warcraft and thought it was pretty lame, so hearing that someone's played it for so amazingly long and actually died is quite a shocker. But on the other hand, i think that it's not true becuase that is completely like, unbelievable.

[Atomic0 0]

Gaming can be harmful in some situations, but in others, it can help you gain new skills in your life. Most of the time, gaming is only harmful is you become too obsessed, addicted and absorbed into the game so much that you neglect your own health and ignore the realities of the damage you are causing to yourself. Or when you get involved in a virtual argument in-game which soon spreads into a real life situation (I have seen many newspaper articles of people getting killed over a online dispute that occurs in-game over the Internet).However, games can be useful in that you may gain new skills of teamwork and leadership when you play multiplayer or co-operative games, where you interact which others and work together to complete a common objective in the game.It is just which perspective you take when you decide for yourself whether games are harmful or not.

[thasoldier 0]

I am not fom UK, or Korea but i've heard this. I cannot get is... how can he play 50 hours.I mean..WOW is great game, but how can he play 50 hours. He wasn't eating? He was standing up from the chair just to go to toilet? This is ironic...

[iGuest 3]

Well, sorry if this has been said above but.

1) the man was mostlikely drinking energy drinks. These have been proven to over stressthe heart when drunk in ecsess(staying up 50 hours straight is hard).

2)if he was going on large binges, chances are he had previously, gamerswho spend this amount of time on one game generaly don't have a verygood diet lack of nutritional goodness also attributes to a weak heart

3)lack of sleep plus the above reasons kinda results in some form ofdeath, plus if he was really into the game other things are put aside.He was probly in some form of semi concious state that only worried about the game... Meh, my two cents

-reply by Spoony

[iGuest 3]

 Why are people still discussing this stuff? It's ignorant to think that in any way, a game can be responsible for someones death. Every man and woman is responsible for they're own lives. And in the case of the child... Who the *bleep* forgets they have a child to take care of?! Immersive game or no, that's messed up. It wouldn't surprise me if a war on technology began, cause that's really where this ignorance will lead. And I suppose I was addicted to WoW at one point. Playing for days at a time...Never once did I lose my sense of reality. I ate every meal, and I'd even stop for smokes:P

I don't want to seem unsimpathetic. But I am, so that's how it comes across...

And yes...I know I just joined the discussion. Can you blame me?