The Shade said:
CantFaketheFunk said:
Said funds went to cover [...] medical expenses for his son.
I have a hard time condemning him, if for no other reason than this. Wouldn't we have done the same?
He's a thief. If it had stayed in game it would be part of the cutthroat nature of the game (and he'd merely be a virtual thief), but by taking those assets out of game he became a thief. Even if some of the expenses went to pay for his kids med bills he still didn't use ALL the money for that cause and it doesn't negate the fact that it was essentially stolen. Virtual or not the man is a thief and he's lucky they don't prosecute him for violating game rules- hopefully the Australian authorities will at least have the sense to tax him.
I love the idea of a huge bank run in game though.
Stealing to help someone is still stealing and it never mentioned that he didn't have any alternatives to paying those bills. Perhaps he could have helped pay for the bills by giving up his eve account and selling his computer if his son needed the procedure so much. What if someone he fleeced needed that $ to pay for their kids bills? Wouldn't that make the man essentially guilty of depriving the kid of medical care or essentially injuring a child?
If someone is broke should they go rob just to help their family? Are they fully sure that robbing someone else won't make someone else's family destitute thus killing any possible ethical defense for the act? Stealing from someone at the wrong time can be the same as a death sentence even if you just wanted to take material possessions.
Spektre41 said:
If the guy did it to help his son out, not to mention he seems remorseful for what he did, It's a bit hard to condemn him to the fullest.
He had no remorse- he said he'd do it again if he had to. My friends dad has cancer should I go on a robbing spree to help pay for his treatments? How would you feel if it was YOUR assets compromised?
AkJay said:
Well, if it paid for his sons medical bills, then i guess it's worth it.
No it isn't. Does Australia not have any medical care for the poor? Until he sold his luxury items stopped spending $ on nonessentials such as his eve account then he has no moral ground to stand on. If he was too broke to pay for his kid's treatment he shouldn't be playing a pay to play game.
Sevre90210 said:
For medical expenses I can safely say we all would.
I wouldn't. Begging > theft. The man is a thief no matter how noble his intentions. He may have been able to do a fundraiser or talk to the government for aid. Did anyone else not read the part where he was buying a house?
I wish I had his correspondence info so I could tell him what a self-righteous scumbag he was bringing his kid's medical expenses into what was a blatant selfish cash grab. He is using that as his aegis because it makes it seem ok at the end. He had other options and chose theft thus he's just gutter trash.
Stealing bread to feed a starving family isn't excusable if there is a food bank down the road. He didn't indicate that he had pursued other options for treating his child and looks like he may have just taken the easy route. The sick child was incidental most likely would have been able to have been taken care of through alternate routes. How many people defending the thief would still defend him if all the money went into making a house payment instead of just some of it? How about if he decided to buy a new gaming rig instead?
My issue isn't the ingame theft - thats part of the game. By converting to cash he turned the ingame theft to IRL theft and made himself no better than the creepy dude selling stolen goods at a pawnshop.
