DotA Trash-Talking Results in Real-Life Beatdown

[Crimsane]

Self-censorship isn't such a bad thing sometimes, especially if it saves you a trip to the hospital.

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen"

-Samuel Adams

What are you, some sort of tea party troll?

 

[Dogstile]

Hah, i've turned up to a guys house, knocked on the door, calmly repeated the list of obscenitys he said to me, and watched as he turned pale and slammed the door. Its so, so satisfying. And that was because the idiot added me to facebook /then/ insulted me.

I'm all for doing that, but breaking fingers? Slightly harsh. Can't say i've never thought about it though.

 

[Danish rage]

All of this have brain dead written all over it.

 

[tgcPheonix]

And this children is why we stay clear of DOTA and clones of DOTA at all costs

elitist jerks

 

[theSovietConnection]

"I guess some people take these things exceptionally seriously," said Constable Lindsey Houghton of the Vancouver Police. "It's something that is exceptionally rare, given the number of people who play videogames. Most people can separate reality from online fiction."

And for this, I say we nominate Constable Houghton for a Friends of Gaming award.

 

[BENZOOKA]

A teenager with both hands basically useless for quite a long time? That's gotta hurt more than the beating itself.

 

[LoopyDood]

For the record, I don't condone violence, especially not over something as insignificant as winning or losing a videogame. That said, I think maybe it's time to review one of the easy-to-remember yet ever-so-useful rules for good living, both online and off: If you're about to say something to someone online that would get you punched in the mouth if you said it to their face, don't say it.

Seriously Andy? Trash talking on a video game justifies a violent assault? This wasn't a simple pop in the mouth that resulted in a bit lip, they broke his fingers . With batons. That could easily have evolved into an even bloodier assault if adrenaline had driven one of the attackers to further violence.

I think the better lesson to take from this is that if you get worked up enough over a game to break someone's fingers over it, maybe you need to seek both counseling and another hobby.

With that statement he's not saying "Trash talking over a video game will get you punched in the mouth and/or your fingers broken, and you'll have deserved it," he's saying "There are people out there who will punch you in the mouth and/or break your fingers if you trash talk over a video game, don't do it."

 

[Enkidu88]

For the record, I don't condone violence, especially not over something as insignificant as winning or losing a videogame. That said, I think maybe it's time to review one of the easy-to-remember yet ever-so-useful rules for good living, both online and off: If you're about to say something to someone online that would get you punched in the mouth if you said it to their face, don't say it.

For the record, this statement explicitly condones and encourages violence. You are justifying face punching(violence) by claiming that some words are so powerful that their utterance it the same level of threat as physical force. And that people should cower in fear and censor themselves on the offchance some violent thug might be listening.

He's not justifying it. He's stating a pretty clear fact that words have power and there are things you don't say without expecting some sort of repercussion - you don't scream "Fire" in a crowded theater. I'm not saying what this kid said had the same magnitude of wrong, but the kid shouldn't be surprised and we shouldn't be morally outraged either, if he said anything like what I hear from preteens on game chats these days.

No, he's totally justifying it. The statement implicitly condones violence against someone who hurt your feelings. Online . If your that thin skinned you shouldn't be playing online games.

I'm not exactly a shining paragon of morality myself, but I've never attacked someone over something someone's said to me . Sure I've defended myself if someone's physically attacked me, but that's quite different. This also wasn't a drunken argument in a bar where someone insulted someone's mother and things got out of hand. It wasn't in the heat of passion. This happened after a video game match.

That means they had time to think and with malice of forethought planned to beat someone up over a video game. That is exactly the kind of shit that makes people want to ban selling video games to minors, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this case isn't cited in the upcoming Supreme Court Trial by Schwarzenegger's lawyers.

If I were the Escapist I would seriously consider editing this article.

 

[mParadox]

for some reason this reminds of the song Bleed it out by Linkin Park.

 

[FollowUp]

"I guess some people take these things exceptionally seriously," said Constable Lindsey Houghton of the Vancouver Police. "It's something that is exceptionally rare, given the number of people who play videogames. Most people can separate reality from online fiction."

Glad that someone can speak out against violence caused in reaction to a video game scenario without going completely over the top.

But this is similar to that story about the person in Europe who plotted the murder of his Counter Strike rival. Apologies for not being able to find the link to the last one though.

EDIT:

All of this have [sic] brain dead written all over it.

... Normally I'm not so petty about grammar, but in the context... It's amusing.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen"

-Samuel Adams

And which part of your brewmaster's screed says you have to kiss the mouth that degrades you or bow to the fists that beat you?

I'm very much of two minds about this incident... the beating was definitely unacceptable even ignoring the serious injury inflicted, but some kids really do need to learn unequivocably that their "free speech" can have real-world consequences and that maybe they should think twice before breaking Wheaton's Law.

-- Steve

 

[Kukakkau]

"I guess some people take these things exceptionally seriously," said Constable Lindsey Houghton of the Vancouver Police. "It's something that is exceptionally rare, given the number of people who play videogames. Most people can separate reality from online fiction."

I want to shake this guy's hand - someone who understands that these are rare cases and blaming games for crimes etc isn't justified, it's the person committing the offense who is at fault

Also I'm wondering if they were at the same school or whether or not these kids invaded another school's premises. In which case it is a lot worse

 

[Caprice0083]

Eventhough the little crap talker wasn't right, this goes to show you that the pack of idiots are no better and they're more punk than the crap talker. What ever happened to the mute button or leaving the room? Imagine if I went and beat down every little red neck, trailer park, posh suburban white kid that's ever called me a fat ****** or used the notorious Modern Warfare 2 "Your mom is a fat ******" taunt, I'd lose my mind and never have time to play and enjoy the game!

 

[White_Hawk]

WOW, i play warcraft 3 and there are very annoying people
but who goes and hunts down a damn annoying noob?
just beat them in the game, that enough satisaftion right?

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

I'm very much of two minds about this incident... the beating was definitely unacceptable even ignoring the serious injury inflicted, but some kids really do need to learn unequivocably that their "free speech" can have real-world consequences

The fact that you put free speech in quotes betrays you as having authoritarian sympathies.

There is no room here for nuance or equivocation. One party used words, the other party used clubs and fists.

Either you accept and tacitly encourage violence because, for whatever reason, some people "deserve" it. Or you condemn violence without qualification. The article author is obviously in the first camp.

 

[AngryMongoose]

I think maybe it's time to review one of the easy-to-remember yet ever-so-useful rules for good living, both online and off: If you're about to say something to someone online that would get you punched in the mouth if you said it to their face, don't say it.

Pff, the attacks were just bitter that they got curb-stomped.

 

[Enkidu88]

With that statement he's not saying "Trash talking over a video game will get you punched in the mouth and/or your fingers broken, and you'll have deserved it," he's saying "There are people out there who will punch you in the mouth and/or break your fingers if you trash talk over a video game, don't do it."

There are people out there that will shoot your for your political beliefs as well. There are people that will beat you to within an inch of your life because you looked at them funny. Hell there are people who would murder you over skin color. That doesn't make the response to it justified. Whether unintentional or not, and I'm hoping not, Andy with that statement has condoned the use of violence for online trash talk. The qualifying statement at the beginning doesn't help either, because if he weren't condoning it he wouldn't need to make the qualifying state of "well I'd never do this but ".

Granted, the kid was probably an online douchebag but who the fuck cares? If your skin is so thin that your willing to beat him up, then you have no business being online. That he was trash talking online will not in any way mitigate the jail sentence his attackers are likely to receive.

 

[Dr. Whiggs]

Video games: for mature, stable people.

 

[BenzSmoke]

Separate fantasy from reality? Really?
I'm pretty sure they were just tired of this kid being an ass.

Still, breaking his fingers isn't cool. Scaring him a little would have been fine.
But breaking bones is a little to far.