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Categories: Commentary
Tags: mmorpg
Upset over her virtual divorce, a Japanese woman murdered her virtual ex-husband.
MapleStory, the scene of the crime, is a free MMORPG played by millions of people around the world. The social aspect includes in-game marriages complete with guests and rings. Things soured in one marriage between a 33-year-old office worker and an unnamed 43-year-old woman. Says the woman, “I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry.”
Angry enough to kill.
In addition to trading rings, the doomed spouses traded passwords allowing the spurned wife to delete her ex-husband’s character. Discovering the dead avatar, the man called in the cops who arrested the virtual killer for hacking his account. If convicted, she could serve up to 5 years in jail or be fined up to $5000.
The problem I have with this story is the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. She doesn’t need to sit in jail or hand Yen to the government – she needs to have her avatar stand in a pillory. Her avatar needs to be branded and she should walk around Maple World with a scarlet letter (or whatever color murder gets). Any fine levied should be in Mesos, the currency of the game. She should be banned from Guilds and have her Fame replaced with Infamy.
Unless we go the other way. Get killed in a Deathmatch – call 911! Has someone stolen your flag? Bring in the detectives! Upset with the wanton violence in many games? Ask your legislator to support NPC-rights!
Lou Chou:
haha. that story is ridiculous. five years in jail for getting pissed off at a virtual boyfriend? if those kinda laws passed across the western world half of the teenage population would be sitting in jail.