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Everquest Connection Alleged In Child Death

Posted by simoniker on from the addiction-and-loss dept.

Thanks to NWAOnline.net for their story regarding a mother facing manslaughter charges which may relate to videogame addiction, following her 3-year-old daughter's death after being left alone in an overheated car. According to the piece, "Authorities said [Mary Christina] Cordell and her boyfriend, Eric Long, 21, may have been so fixated with the interactive game EverQuest that she neglected to pay adequate attention to Brianna's whereabouts on Aug. 8, the day the child died." The article also points out posts to the Spouses Against Everquest mailing-list from Cordell, one of which is controversial, but tragically prescient: "Verant is also an enabler by providing a type of 'entertainment' that requires an inordinary amount of time to do basic functions of the average role playing games... I'm afraid that eventually many more people will be hurt or even killed by this 'service'."

7 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. Don't confuse the cause for the effect by Quixotic+Raindrop · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People who would be addicted to Everquest are addicits, anyway. Blaming the developer and distributor for the psychological problems of the player places the blame in the wrong place.

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. (Einstein)
    1. Re:Don't confuse the cause for the effect by psyco484 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Addiction is a disease and should be treated as such. The people who are addicted to Everquest are, as you said, addicts. I'm not suggesting a 12 step program for Everquest, though I'm sure there must be one, but to say that this child died because of Everquest is just stupid. The child died because of neglect, it's a horrible situation, but it happens. There are bad parents out there, you don't fill out an application to be a parent, in a lot of cases it just takes enough alcohol and an insistent guy. Did anyone take into account that the mother was irresponsible enough to get pregnant at approximately 17 years old and that she's just not a responsible adult yet? I'm guessing no one has brought that up. There are certainly deeper issues than Everquest addiction here....

  2. Nothing to do with Everquest by SteWhite · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This child died because the parents neglected it, simple as that. What they were doing doesn't matter.

    Just because they were playing a computer game, it makes the news. If they were distracted watching TV instead, we would never have heard about it.

  3. This is joke... by wbav · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Right? Come on, doesn't anyone take responsibility any more? If she was in front of the TV, would it be called an addiction to Fox?

    You are responsible for your children, and if this lady ignored her child due to a computer game, well that's not the game's fault.

    --

    =================
    Unix is very user friendly, it's just picky about who its friends are.
  4. Slippery Slope? by Captain+Rotundo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I ussually hate the slippery slop arguement more than anyone, but this issue is the perfect case to point it out. We are trending towards a society in which no one is ever held responsible for their actions. I know addiction is a serious problem for people but where do we draw the line? Adults have to be treated like adults.

    Now that I have a small child I cannot possibly fathom doing anything to harm his wellbeing. Everyday I wake up I have the urge to earn the most I can and provide the best I can for My son, and when I see negligence like this I can't understand how it happens. I don't think there is an addictive substance or activity that would ever have greater sway over me than my son. I can't explain the bond, and I don't try to, but neglecting him to play a game?

    What happened to the responsibility people used to have for their children? We live in a world where far to many parents feel like they are entitled to entertainment of some kind and the child be damned if it gets in the way? People constantly drag their kids to places they shouldn't, they constantly bitch about poor teachers when they don't care themselves. I used to feel this way and think to my self that maybe my perspective would change when I had a child. Now I am even more disgusted when I see they way kids are treated/ignored in public and the lack of responsibility people take for them.

  5. Responsability by ptaff · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Am I the only one tired of this "It's never the criminal's fault" fashion?

    It's videogame's fault, television's fault, society's fault, and so on - when they don't blame insanity or psychological disabilities.

    Here in Canada, a girl who got drunk in an office party - thanks to the boss, with an open bar - drove her car and had an accident.

    She sued her boss and won.

    I mean, with DNA analysis kicking in, in a couple of years, there will be no more responsability for any crime. ... but on the other hand, people, when they succeed at something, are 100% responsible for it.

  6. When life hands you lemons... by Dr.+Bent · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...sue sombody because it's not your fault.

    What the fuck happened to the concept of personal repsonsibility! Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ!

    "I murder people because I was abused as a child."

    "I rob people because the system keeps me poor."

    "I'm addicted to drugs because nobody will give me a job."

    BULLSHIT!

    It's not the government's job to take care of you. It's not Verant's job to take care of you. It's not Nabisco's or Microsoft's or Anyone's job to take care of you...except you. And if you can't take care of yourself, I'm sorry; But that's no excuse to drag the rest of us down too. If we keep heading down this road, eventually they'll be nobody left but laywers and 'victims', and modern civilization will grind to a halt.