Taiwanese Teen Dies Following Diablo III Binge
- Thread starter The Wooster
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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.
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.
Let me put it to you this way. Do a search for "Taiwan" and "Pirates", you'll notice that along with all the discussions of game piracy there are issues with real pirates, as in the murdering sea faring kind. Something that has even snowballed into the "Pirate Party" (dealing with software piracy) changing it's name due to concerns about connections. Not to mention recent articles about a Taiwanese fishing boat fighting off Somali pirates, and if you do reading you'll also find that Taiwan has a tendency to be a hotbed of piracy itself where it's own pirates rob and murder people on boats themselves, kidnap and ransome tourists, and other assorted things. Taiwan gets decent press because of it's dealings with the US, but it's basically kind of a hellhole.Anoni Mus said:
With all of this going on, I very much doubt that the law enforcement really gives a crap about some kid who died playing games an an internet cafe. This kind of thing matters more to those of us from the first world, looking at the "disease" of gaming from a very much outside perspective. It's not exactly something I'd expect them to spend a lot of time and resources on, if they even have the technology availible to do a real investigation of something like this other than a basic autopsy (while some people in Taiwan probably do, like in the US resources vary from department to department), and if they have the resources if they really want to use them for this. Unlike TV all of this DNA stuff, and detailed testing costs money, they don't throw it around at every case that comes around, and a nation like Taiwan has to be even more careful with it's resources than the US. Not to mention that the police in places like Taiwan, Thailand, etc... aren't exactly known to be nice guys, oftentimes they ARE the thugs and criminals. As an outsider tourist bringing money into their economy they do have some concerns about what happens to you on a basic level, but as far as their own people go... well life is cheap. Again this is a place where you have fishing boats and pirates, exchanging gunfire, and honestly which is which probably depends on the circumstances since most of the pirates are probably also fisherman who just get involved in the robbery and murder when they think they can get away with it.
Seriously, I'm not kidding, or just making this up to knock Taiwan, it's nothing like things are like around here. It's sort of like how when Bob went off about cultural insensitivity in the "Hangover 2" review, which he kind of recanted to some extent if I remember (at least in response to what I posted). The basic point being that the portrayal wasn't quite as racist or bigoted as he let on (with the movie more or less not being funny because what happened is kind of what you'd expect on a lot of levels), and again one of the things I pointed out was the issue with piracy.
See, when we occasionally get attention on these forums about piracy, and naval actions against them, or how first world navies moving in or out of the region has an effect, etc... this is exactly the neck of the woods where this kind of thing is going on, which says a lot about the countries that are playing host to this crap. As much as we'd like to think that Taiwan, Thailand, etc... are just like here, but with the people being a differant color, that's not actually the case.
More information than was probably needed, but all of this is why I don't put a lot of faith in the police doing much with this. I suspect that we care more about it because of the gaming connection, than the authorities in Taiwan do. I could be proven wrong, because there is after all some level of first world journalism being aimed at it, and it's a good chance for them to show off in front of the world, but in all likelyhood I imagine we won't hear anything more about it. Some coroner will probably do a basic autopsy and maybe a low-end tox screen to see if he was poisoned, probably consider it inconclusive, and everyone will move on because the good cops have much worse things to worry about, and the bad cops have no money to be made off of this.
It's quite strange that you feel someone is missing out by NOT going on a nearly 2 day straight binge of anything, and I seriously doubt ADHD is to blame for people not participating in binges. I've always considered myself an avid gamer, yet I've also never gone 40 hours straight playing anything.Therumancer said:
It not only speaks to someones psyche but also their life in general to even be able to do something like this in first place. Most people have responsibilities, activities, social relationships that keep them from being occupied by one thing for a consistent period of time. Either this kid had none, or he did have them and chose to willfully ignore them, in which case that would be a sign of addiction (willful neglect in order to obtain a fix).
And no, I seriously doubt anything goes 40 hours straight. I've never met anyone that crammed for that long without some sort of change of pace. As a helpful measure of framing, the average full-time work week is 40 hours. That's 5 days of standard work. Do you know that fatigue some people feel after the work day, or after the work week? Now imagine all of that compressed into one consecutive period. It's not healthy, and considering the amount of research that's showing the act of sitting as being unhealthy as well, I'd say a 40 hour gaming marathon has a very real possibility of killing someone.
A similar case was featured in an episode of Spike TV's 1,000 ways to die. If you sit without moving for over 40 hours, a blood clot can form in your leg. When you stand up, the clot breaks loose and goes into your lungs and kills you. This is why I'm always getting up while gaming usually to use the bathroom or get a drink.
I read somewhere that sitting in the same position for very prolonged periods of time can cause blood clots which eventually lead to heart attacks. Whether this is the official cause of death for the guy, I'm not sure, but there have been reports of people fainting after extended plane rides for similar reasons.
Anyway, may he R.I.P.
Anyway, may he R.I.P.
It's pretty sad if this guy didn't have anyone to look out for him :-( I know my parents would have wondered if I'd disappeared for almost two days. It's also a shame that the internet cafe doesn't impose some sort of restriction on the time blocks you can buy or something, or dictate mandatory downtime every X hours. I don't advocate for a nanny state, but I would have thought the cafe would have preferred not to have people die on the premises of something that they could potentially have prevented.
Mind you, knowing human nature, it might actually boost the cafe's business when people stop by to 'surf the net in the chair where that crazy gamer guy died' or something... :-S
Mind you, knowing human nature, it might actually boost the cafe's business when people stop by to 'surf the net in the chair where that crazy gamer guy died' or something... :-S
I'm someone whose done it, more than once, and with a number of things. I mean crap, some of the power sessions (of whatever) I did were flat out insane. Plus as I mentioned, working casino security I've seen many people do gambling binges which are even worse, with them soiling themselves not even taking time for a break.irishda said:
The differance between 40 hours of gaming or something and a 40 hour work week is a matter of enjoyment. With cramming it's typically fueled by desperation.
In theory something like that could kill an older person, but not an 18 year old, and even an older person is unlikely to just collapse and die like that. "Exposure" and fatigue doesn't kill that quickly when it finally catches up.
As far as missing out on life goes, having not done it means you never really got thta into anything, or in with a peer group that was, which is kind of sad. I've never had much of a social life, but some of my fondest memories were intense binge gaming sessions.
Trust me, you'd be surprised at what a bunch of sleep deprived nerds can come up with. Attacking Cthulhu with a #2 pencil... the ring of spam... using the ring of spam on Cthulhu.
In this case "the ring of spam" was a variation on the old Otto's Irresistable Dance powered up to the level of an epic faerie curse. It forced the target to basically sing the Monty Python "Spam" song uncontrollably, and do nothing but, even singing themselves to death (much as someone in a faerie ring might dance themselves to death). Totally stupid, but it was kind of funny at the time (in an otherwise series campaign) and then forgetting about a joke item like that and then going "hey, I wonder what happens if we use it on Cthulhu" (who was in the 1E Deities and Demigods book, even if we were playing 2E)... yeah. It's not funny in the retelling, you kind of had to have been there, and that's kind of the point. That's the kind of thing that only realy happens when you take stuff to excess (in this case PnP RPG gaming).
Damn... the governments have finally finished a disease that targets gamers and then forces them to play until their body can take no more! All as a devious plot to take control of the gaming industry and regulate it as a dangerous product! Thus forcing geniuses to go out and get lives and jobs! Diseases will be cured and life will improve! WE HAVE TO STOP THEM! Rise up!
-Ned
-Ned
After I played for about 35 hours straight I felt all woozy, collapsed in my bed because servers went down and when they came up 5 minutes later played for another 8 hours. At that moment I understood how is it that people die.
If it weren't for the döner kebaps we had stashed to sustain us maybe I would have kicked the bucket
Anyhow, be careful people, and R.I.P. taiwanese dude, may you finish your battle with Diablo irl
If it weren't for the döner kebaps we had stashed to sustain us maybe I would have kicked the bucket
Anyhow, be careful people, and R.I.P. taiwanese dude, may you finish your battle with Diablo irl
I'm just going to comment on your first paragraph here. Please point me to some resources about Taiwanese pirates. I am well aware of Taiwanese fishing boats being the victims of piracy near Somalia, in fact a family friend is in the fishing business and has had to pay a ransom to get his boats released more than once. However, your casual mention of Taiwan as a hotbed of piracy itself is the first suggestion I have ever heard of this fact. Also, as someone who has lived here in Taiwan for nearly a dozen years, your description of Taiwan as a kind of hellhole is grossly inaccurate and personally offensive.Therumancer said:
Asians dying due to gaming binges have happened so much that I've begun to find them funny. I just imagine the poor bastard waking up a daze from a hazy dream of a fantasized continuation of play, only to get up, take a few awkward steps, then crumple to the ground dead.
I just can't sympathize with someone who sits in the same position for 40 hours straight, hunched over a keyboard, so absorbed in, what is in my opinion, a mediocre gaming experience, to the point upon which you don't take the time out to move or manage bodily functions. I understand games are fun, and that people can spend alot of time playing them, but I mean come on. Can you not take a minute or two out of your time to get up and walk to a restroom, or go to pick up a snack?
OT: You can't tell me no one saw this coming.
I just can't sympathize with someone who sits in the same position for 40 hours straight, hunched over a keyboard, so absorbed in, what is in my opinion, a mediocre gaming experience, to the point upon which you don't take the time out to move or manage bodily functions. I understand games are fun, and that people can spend alot of time playing them, but I mean come on. Can you not take a minute or two out of your time to get up and walk to a restroom, or go to pick up a snack?
OT: You can't tell me no one saw this coming.