"We hate hearing about stories like this one. This was spotted at Avault. It's a story about a 25 year old man, Tony Bragg Sr.,who killed his 9 month old son. He "assaulted" the child and left him to die. At the time he was playing EverQuest and was upset at being disturbed. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

"Both sides claimed that EverQuest had nothing to do with the crime and claimed that it would have been something else that triggered it, such as Bragg Sr. watching a football game and being interrupted.

"We agree that you can't blame EverQuest, but this does highlight just how addictive games like EverQuest are. There are stories of people losing jobs because of EverQuest, marriages breaking up, and so on.

"What do you think? Is this just the beginning of a problem with game addiction? As games get more realistic and life-like, will we see more and more people shunning work and family for games? Post here to comment."

That's just disturbing.

I can't help but wonder if similar stories didn't pop up when radios and TV started to become more popular. Probably not but only because addiction was not as well understood (or blamed) back then. It is unfortunate that as computer and video games become more and more mainstream that we will hear about stuff like this but in the end, I don't think it will cause any more harm to the hobby than the perception that big sporting events bring about a rise in domestic violence.

�Will we see more and more people shunning work and family for games?� I don't see why not. People do that now for any number of things: gambling, alcohol and work, just to name a few. Does this make it the fault of anyone other than the �addict?� No, it does not.

Huh, I should have proofed that a little more. I've got people shunning work for.... work.

Yeah, I agree that 100% of the blame rests on the man. It's also bad publicity for gaming, which of course I promptly contributed to by running the story. It got some play in the mainstream press in Florida, where it occurred. I wouldn't be surprised to see some more mainstream publications pick it up and run with it.

As a father of two, it angers me beyond reason. I play Asheron's Call, but if my son starts crying, well...too bad if my character gets his clock cleaned and dies. The precious gift that is a child, particularly an infant is worth more than every other possession a person has or ever will have.

I don't blame Everquest, though. I can even see how this could just have been a tragedy...if it weren't for the other facts of the case. Malnourishment, children as wards of the state...the blame rests solidly on the failure of the 'parents'. Are children frustrating? Sure they are. But it sounds like these poor children never had a chance. I just don't understand how someone could sit and play a game while a child lay nearby suffering. The mental image makes my blood boil. Grrrr.

I'll stop now. I'm starting to get upset about it. Think my daughter's getting a free trip to McDonalds out of this. :->

From the gaming community's perspective, aside from the obviously horrible human tragedy involved, the publicity will probably be the worst thing, Inevitably the mainstream media will highlight the gaming connection, and it will be unfair and unwarranted, at least to a certain degree.

I say "unwarranted" because, as has been pointed out in the previous posts, what happened here was symptomatic of addiction in general, not just an addiction to a persistent online game. Compulsive gamblers, alcoholics and drug addicts have committed exactly the same kinds of crimes, but they don't get the same media play, probably because gambling and alcohol are more entrenched in American culture than computer gaming.

I also say "to a degree," because I think we need to acknowledge that the advent of the PC and the Internet (rather than just games played using these devices) has created new outlets for compulsive/addictive personalities. I don't think that addiction to EverQuest is functionally different from addiction to Diablo ladder games or functionally different from addiction to chat rooms for that matter. All are creatures of the Internet age. How different is this EverQuest addict, I wonder, from the hacker who gets arrested for hacking, and goes right back to hacking upon release?

There are, of course, also other addictions associated with PC games. Bruce Geryk does a wonderful job of skewering the Strategic Group crowd who can't resist buying every new game the day it first appears on EB shelves, never mind waiting for a "60 seconds" review on Quarter to Three, let alone a full review on one of the big gaming sites. Then, too, just the other night I got grumpy with my wife when she interrupted my BG2 game to help her with preparing dinner....

"How different is this EverQuest addict, I wonder, from the hacker who gets arrested for hacking, and goes right back to hacking upon release?"

Not at all different, I suspose. MMORPGs look like just one more possible addiction we can fall prey to. They worry me a bit because they seem more capable of providing the escape that a lot of people crave and hence might be more addictive than other types of recreational activity.

Heck, even if you're an EQ addict, there's nothing wrong with playing the game a couple of hours every night as long as you keep up with your other responsibilities. I guess that's not the definition of an addict, though.

You all make great points about this incident. It is the fault of the man, and no one else. It's an unfortunate thing, but this is what happens in a world of imperfection, and people aren't going to get any more perfect anytime soon.

I find one positive thing here. Some of you have mentioned the addictiveness factor of games. I've heard stories that some doctors actually like this and have found that some children with attention disorders don't have attention problems when playing games. Perhaps games and interactivity will open new forms of education that can work for these children. OTOH, it's also possible the whole attention disorder thing is bunk, and just the fallout from a society so hung up on entertainment that anything boring is difficult for us to adhere to - more a sign of lack of discipline than a true attention disorder. I know in college I really didn't enjoy reading chemistry books...but you sort of had to if you wanted to pass the class!

Al: "I can't help but wonder if similar stories didn't pop up when radios and TV started to become more popular. Probably not but only because addiction was not as well understood (or blamed) back then."

Well, computer games and TV/radio differ markedly in their respective degrees of interactivity; games -- especially first-person and roleplaying games -- are much more of an "enveloping" experience than TV or the radio have ever been. I can sort of imagine some socipathic parent in the 1930s doing the same thing to a child who interrupted his listening to "The Shadow" at a suspenseful moment, but a radio play or TV simply doesn't demand the attention that a game does. You can still hear them when doing something else, and they go on without you; your active participation and attention is not necessary to the "story," as it is in a computer game.

Al again: "'Will we see more and more people shunning work and family for games?' I don't see why not. People do that now for any number of things: gambling, alcohol and work, just to name a few. Does this make it the fault of anyone other than the "addict?" No, it does not.

The offhand equation of gameplaying to gambling or alcohol addiction would surely raise some hackles in the gaming community at large, but I agree with you to a point. To say that it's always the addict's fault, though, is a gross simplification of a very complex issue involving the community surrounding the addict, a free market economy, and a host of other factors.

Saying it's just the addict's fault is a cop-out (no offense). There is a vaccuum of responsibility in American culture -- certainly on the personal level, but most damagingly on the corporate level.

The thing is, very few of us are *not* addicts of one kind or another. Only the most stable and secure human beings don't have a poison of some sort. That our free market economy creates, encourages, and seeks to fulfill these addictions in the interest of ever-increasing profit is part of what's rotten at the root here.

What kind of a pervert would hurt his or her baby for a pc game, tv or anything else!?!?
It doesn't matter what caused this guy to go crazy, he should be put away for life or given the green needle.
This kind of thing just makes me sick!

Hmm, I wonder why it happened in the US instead of Europe. It's so damn typical, I mean, the US prisons are all full, and crime rate is high. Would have been surprised if it'd have happened in Norway is Iceland for example. Stupid Americans..

Jason Lutes said: "Saying it's just the addict's fault is a cop-out (no offense)."

None taken. In rereading my post I can see that my post *was* pretty callous. Really what I meant is that the behavior of an addict is not the fault of whatever the addict is using, whether it is alcohol, heroin or games. Nor was I trying to say game player is a game addict, though I would say that a game player *could* be one. (But not me! No way. Nope. I can stop *any* time I want.)

Then he said: "That our free market economy creates, encourages, and seeks to fulfill these addictions in the interest of ever-increasing profit is part of what's rotten at the root here."

Well, I don't think I'd go that far. The only industry that has been proven to really do this is the tobacco and cigarette industry and they have shown that you can't keep everyone quiet forever. (The fact that they got away with it for as long as they did is still pretty damn amazing, though. Rent _The Insider_ if you don't know the story.) The computer gaming industry doesn't have that kind of cash. Yet. Muhahahaha.....

Norway *IS* Iceland in: Europeans can be bigots too!

"Norway *IS* Iceland in: Europeans can be bigots too!"

It's Iceland's aggressive program of expansion and annexation. First Norway, then what? Finland? Russia? Turkey? What, are they looking for a warm water port or something? It must stop! The US must stand up to Icelandic aggression! This is a job for Dubya!

-Tom

Haha, I was so upset whhen I wrote I made a mistake. Supposed to be "Norway *OR* Iceland".

For crying out loud! Can I post ONE message w/o any spelling mistakes? wehhen = when

As someone once said:

You have to have a license to fish for a stupid fish, but they'll let any butt-licking asshole be a father...

Hehe...good point.

But consider the consequences of _not_ allowing anybody to be a parent. Who'd make the judgement call?? What criteria should they use? This is one branch of birth control I'm not enthusiastic about!

These guys get playing their games and they forget what reality is.

Sure you can say that games are not to blame, but how much of that is the truth?

An avid EQ player feels like they are entering another world... they feel lucid! They are splitting their consciousness between two worlds, so obviously there will be reprocussion when that tie is severed.

The true enemy to games today is a lack of education. People need to learn how to handle fantasy realms, because these places in the computer are only getting more realistic!

But they are not real... and we have to accept that some things in the real world will require immediate attention, and we have to learn, as human beings, how to differentiate between right and wrong in one world and right and wrong in the other. This discrimination is hard!

It's not easy to pretend that you are some warrior who can slay enemies for reward, and the next second you must tend to a crying child.

The answer to this problem is simple.

Don't play games near children. If you can't remove yourself from people for a period of time to 'go away', then you will have to forfeit your right to the fantasy world.

Just like drinking and driving, you know?

We have to make laws that regulate online gaming, because it is an addictive drug that is entertaining, but counterproductive to society at the same time.

Our technology will allow people to take 'vacations' on these distant worlds. I think that would be better than playing EQ for a few minutes, getting upset at interruptions, and trying to get back to it.

When the link is severed, you'll need to regroup before getting it back.

Anonymous Game Designer

You're kidding, right? Is this some kind of modest proposal? Where to start....

"An avid EQ player feels like they are entering another world... they feel lucid! They are splitting their consciousness between two worlds, so obviously there will be repercussion when that tie is severed."

Aside from looking like something out of an EQ press release, this statement doesn't make much sense.

"This discrimination is hard!"

No, it's not. *Millions* of parents do it *every day*. It's called being an adult and accepting your responsibilities.

"It's not easy to pretend that you are some warrior who can slay enemies for reward, and the next second you must tend to a crying child."

Yes, it is. I've done it for two years now, thank you very much. I've pretended I'm a medieval warrior, a mercenary, a pilot in World War II, the Korean War and the Fringe, a pro hockey player in the NHL, all sorts of aliens and even, rather ironically, a Dad.

All without *killing* my kid.

Being a Dad has forced me to change my game playing habits some. I won't buy a game that doesn't good game saving support, nor will I buy a MMORPG, mostly because of the amount of time I'd have to invest in the game. Once again, this is all part of that being an adult and accepting responsibilities thing.

"We have to make laws that regulate online gaming, because it is an addictive drug that is entertaining, but counterproductive to society at the same time."

Have the FDA (at least here in the US) regulate on-line gaming?!! Can we, maybe, agree that just because *one* guy who is clearly unfit to be a parent *and happens* to play EQ, we shouldn't regulate a whole freaking industry?!

in a country as big as the US we will hear about strange stories. There ARE real social issues having to do with games, but child neglect due to addiction is not one of them.

The issue that bothers more people and leads to more real bad publcity for the industry is the perception that all games are very violent. The first step to solving this is to make sure that the rating system is taken seriously. For example one chain has made it a policy not to sell M rated games to teenagers below a certain age, IIUC.

In a similar vein i was in EB the other day and a mother was looking for a game for her 12 year old. She understood he wanted a game like Diablo. She say teh mature rating and was concerned. The clerk suggested Baldurs Gate2, and i said they are both Role playing games. ( i could give no other info, as im not an RPG player.)

Teh ratings need to more widely publicized. Parents need to know what they mean. Retailers need to take them seriously.

"For example one chain has made it a policy not to sell M rated games to teenagers below a certain age, IIUC."

Which makes perfect sense and is as it should be. However, gamers are quick to glory in any perceived siege mentality. There's a widespread belief that several retailers have decided to stop carrying M-rated games, which is untrue. They should, however, decline to sell them to minors.

-Tom

Its a sick world. . . and of course it isn;'t Verant's fault. . . though from the days i played EQ i can remember alot of ppl being depressed playing the game yet keep playing it. . .and of course its not the fauit of the game . . . i think it points more towards the whole internet phenomenom . . . how addictive and the craving of it is for some ppl . . . compared to tv (which is more passive than an online game) it can be dareisay dangerous to your health . . . especially those mentally unstable . . . though you can say that for anything really. . .

still though this guy didn't really care about ppl. . . and even his own children . . . sad thing is that this type of killing happens over meaningless things such as EQ . . .

also i wouldn't be surprised how some eq "addicts" reading this article would toss it aside and camp another 24 hours for there next umpteenth item etc barely aware how much is being wasted. . . but who am i to judge

etc