Taiwanese Teen Dies Following Diablo III Binge

[surg3n]

Isn't this a problem with the environment that these people are playing games in. If I ran an internet cafe, and someone spent 40 hours there, well I might notice - I might notice when I attempt normality and close at night.

The cafe's pander to gamers childish habits because that makes them money, then they have no responsibility. Why not hold them in the same regard as employers - if someone was forced to work for 40 hours straight, then the employer would be nailed to the wall. Clearly there are people who don't have the cognative capability to know when they should have a break, so someone has to take responsibility, or at least show some bloody concern. Cafes should be forced to only employ people with first aid training, and they should adhere to health and safety common sense (not even legislation!) - things like the height of the screen, the adjustability of the chair, things that need'nt even cost money could save lives.

There is no stupidity insurance, but how stupid is it that this was even possible!

That reminds me...

(crick neck, crack knuckles, stand up and stretch, and goes and has a coffee)

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

I wonder if in blizzard HQ there is an oversized Diablo 3 box which has a gold skull stencil for each "kill" it gets.

 

[The Funslinger]

Seriously of all the games to died from, Diablo 3 is not one of them. Ok any deaths from gaming too much are bad but Diablo 3 isn't a good games to worth spending that many hours on! In another word he wasted his life over that game.

Also I didn't know Taiwan got the game since I thought that game isn't available in Asia?

One of the Civs would have been an acceptable game to die from.

 

[Alandoril]

Something doesn't seem right here. At 18 years old 40 hours should not kill you. I've stayed up for nearly that long cramming for finals and pumping so much caffeine into my system i'm surprised my heart didn't just explode.

Maybe he had a heart condition already, I don't know. But I feel like there is something more to this. Maybe he took some sort of drug to keep him awake? Took a hit and OD'd or something.

OK, this is one thing people bring up repeatedly that really seems odd to me. Cramming for 40 entire hours? Is that something people actually do?

 

[Findlebob]

Wonder if he is from the same family as this guy

http://www.astahost.com/info/tldio-dies-playing-warcraft-gaming-harmful.html

 

[D-Class 198482]

And of course everyone in media is going to go "U SEE NAO VIDYA GAIMES ARE KILLING PEOPLE NONVIOLENTLY!!!!!!!111!!!"

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I'm sorry, but I don't really get how this happens.

The maximum I ever stayed up was around 56 hours straight (I was an architecture student long ago). I was hunched over a drafting board while trying to build a model at the same time. At the end of it, I was delirious, I found the secret to flying (it's whistling really hard), and was assured that the only reason why I've never really seen smurfs running around is because I was too busy with my own life to really notice.

That was in 1998. I was also driven by Surge Soda.

How are these people dying in 23 hours or 40 hours? Maybe it's the conditions of these cafes...

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

Just how many lives are you willing to claim before you're satisfied Blizzard?!?

HOW MANY!??!?

 

[rob_simple]

How often does this happen in the western countries? I just find it amazing how much more seriously gaming is taken in Asia.

Actually some dude in Germany died after a Diablo III binge semi-recently. According to the police he played for roughly 50 hours straight and died.

And there were those two guys that died of heart attacks after setting new high scores in Berzerk many decades ago, although I can't remember if that was said to have been caused by mammoth play sessions.

 

[DugMachine]

Something doesn't seem right here. At 18 years old 40 hours should not kill you. I've stayed up for nearly that long cramming for finals and pumping so much caffeine into my system i'm surprised my heart didn't just explode.

Maybe he had a heart condition already, I don't know. But I feel like there is something more to this. Maybe he took some sort of drug to keep him awake? Took a hit and OD'd or something.

OK, this is one thing people bring up repeatedly that really seems odd to me. Cramming for 40 entire hours? Is that something people actually do?

When you have multiple finals to take and you're really serious about your grades, yeah.

 

[Treblaine]

How often does this happen in the western countries? I just find it amazing how much more seriously gaming is taken in Asia.

RACTIST!!!

Or not.

This is a legitimate question, why does this keep happening? And why does it not keep happening or at least not get reported as happening in the west?

Is it rather that the rate is in fact the same, I can find a few examples of this happening in Europe and North America, but it could simply be that Asia has a HUGELY GINORMOUS population, that even if there was the same rate of young people going on insanely long gaming binges then there would be more in more populous countries.

But I don't think it is that as these games have the highest sales in North America and Europe.

PS: to make it absolutely clear, I don't think this is a race issue, I think if anything is is cultural or some quirk or society or statistics.

 

[Treblaine]

Isn't this a problem with the environment that these people are playing games in. If I ran an internet cafe, and someone spent 40 hours there, well I might notice - I might notice when I attempt normality and close at night.

The cafe's pander to gamers childish habits because that makes them money, then they have no responsibility. Why not hold them in the same regard as employers - if someone was forced to work for 40 hours straight, then the employer would be nailed to the wall.

It's worse than that. It's illegal to even ALLOW an employee to work for a 40 hour shift, even if they really really want to do it to get the money, even if you don't pay them afterwards or never promised to pay them you are in trouble.

But there is also the problem with people in their own homes, do adults REALLY need to be checked on and forced to take breaks every 24 hours? If society did need to do this then society would fall apart as everyone would need to be checking on and ordering about each other.

I think the necessary effort is to identify these few adults who are clearly hugely dysfunctional.

But lets consider the alternative. Maybe he did not actually game for 40 hours straight, maybe he did eat moderately and take rests and have some gentle exercise that people simply did not notice. Maybe he just had a congenital heart condition that was going to kill him and he was unlikely to live to thirty unless the rare condition was identified and given special treatment. Older children and young adults die all the time from sudden heart heart attacks that are mainly genetic, their heart is a ticking time bomb and normal environmental stresses could be fatal.

 

[Nantucket_v1legacy]

I think anybody willing to spend this amount of time on a game is either seriously ill or just plain stupid.
I think it is shocking to read so many replies reading, "I've done longer and lived!". Really guys? That's nothing to be proud of. Just put the game on pause and walk around. Maybe talk to your spouse, siblings or parents? Take the dog for a walk? Do anything!