Unfortunate News in Lineage 2 - Violence leaves one dead.

[damijin]

This has been known for quite a while, but I refrained from posting on it until the sources reporting on it became more credible than a bunch of guys on a fan forum.

A few weeks ago, a well known Russian player from the European "Teon" server of North American L2 got involved in a fight with a fellow player at a get together in Moscow. The players were in warring clans in the game, and reports of players who were there said that there was a verbal argument preceding the fight in which DVP's girlfriend was insulted. In the end it resulted in a short burst of anger where one person was left in a coma and DVP was arrested.

The player in the coma remained in that state for 3 or 4 days before passing away to the shock and horror of the entire community. DVP, who caused the injury which eventually caused the other players death, was widely known for his PvP videos and for being one of the most powerful characters on his server. Kotaku has the news poorly reported and inaccurately titled (the kick to the head is the most disputed part of the accusations of the entire encounter, some claim it happened, others claim it did not) here: Lineage 2 Gamer Kicks Player to Death.

I have an image of the Moscow Times article which can no longer be accessed without a subscription to their paper, if anyone is interested. I think it's important to remember though, that this fight had very little to do with the game itself, and more to do with the attitudes of the people involved, and the harassment they had dealt each other over the years on forums and through PMs. The L2 community has been relatively hush about it because they didn't want rumors to get our of control, and I just hope this doesn't end up as more fuel for the political fire of "GAMES ARE CAUSING YOUNG PEOPLE TO KILL EACH OTHER!" when what it really shows is the common sense of "HEY, PEOPLE WHO ARE ENEMIES ON THE INTERNET PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HANG OUT IRL."

-editted a bit for punctuation and because my writing style is crummy.

[squirrel]

Bleh. So much to say but so little point. In the end those who are unable to separate fantasy from reality are doomed to make errors of unspeakable scale. I remember we had some D&D fans locally that were engaged in a similar issue that resulted in a fatality. Sad shit.

[Tebonas]

Insulting girlfriends in never a good idea, regardless of topic on hand. With the wrong people thats all you need to get a beating. So I don't see this as a MMOG-related death. Same would have happened if they would have been fans from rivalling soccer teams.

[squirrel]

Insulting girlfriends in never a good idea, regardless of topic on hand. With the wrong people thats all you need to get a beating. So I don't see this as a MMOG-related death. Same would have happened if they would have been fans from rivalling soccer teams.

Good point - I missed that. The initial hostility might have been related to something in game but you're right, the escalation was likely totally unrelated.

[WindupAtheist]

Proof positive that PKs are violent maniacs IRL.

/derail

[damijin]

Insulting girlfriends in never a good idea, regardless of topic on hand. With the wrong people thats all you need to get a beating. So I don't see this as a MMOG-related death. Same would have happened if they would have been fans from rivalling soccer teams.

It mostly isn't related to MMOs, but I think as more people pick up the story they'll make it sound like it's an exact parallel to real MMO related murders such as that one in China where the kid killed some friend because they were sharing a Sword of Uberness and the other guy sold it for $800 without asking him.

I mostly wanted to make a thread because if Kotaku and some of the bloggers are going to dismiss it as grind addicts going crazy over some in-game issues, someone from the L2 community might as well throw in his 2 cents.

[Arthur_Parker]

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37339

Man charged with beating fellow MMORPG player to death

Lineage 2 spat boils over

THERE'S BEEN ANOTHER case of MMORPG-related drama in the news again, this time over in sunny Moscow.

MMORPG Lineage 2 regular Alexander Ponamorenko has been arrested and charged with beating to death fellow player 22 year old Alexander Blyoskin after Blyoskin tried to interfere with a real life brawl between Ponamorenko and his online nemesis.

Around 30 Lineage 2 fans met up on the 12th at a central Moscow cafe, according to senior investigator Olga Tatarinova. Unluckily for all involved, a member of Ponamorenko's rival clan, going by the web name of "Shtai," showed up. Supposedly the two bickered a-plenty both on the game and in Lineage 2 forums.

All the drama erupted when Ponamorenko's rival showed up, who was instantly flashed dirty looks straight away from Ponamorenko, according to some witnesses.

The two took things outside where they began to fight, followed soon after by Blyoskin and another fella who tried to stop the fight. It's said by some witnesses that Blyoskin fell to the floor and smacked his head on the concrete, while others say that Ponamorenko stomped on Blyoskin's head while he lay on the ground. Unfortunately for Ponamorenko, Blyoskin was not carrying any "phat l3wt" on his person. More unfortunately, Blyoskin didn't respawn.

May it be known that Moscow is a no PvP zone.

[Soln]

dumbdumbdumb

[HaemishM]

In Soviet Russia, Lineage 2 pK's YOU!

It had to be said. Speaking ill of the dead is one thing, talking about two idiots who couldn't control their e-peens in real life without bashing each other's skulls in is another.

In short, don't be a douchebag IRL.

[damijin]

In Soviet Russia, Lineage 2 pK's YOU!

It had to be said. Speaking ill of the dead is one thing, talking about two idiots who couldn't control their e-peens in real life without bashing each other's skulls in is another.

In short, don't be a douchebag IRL.

According to most accounts the person who died didn't start the fight, in fact he was trying to calm DVP down and stop DVP from beating the shit out of another guy. DVP didn't like that and took him out first.

Really, theres nothing even remotely funny that can be said of the person who was killed, DVP is a roid raging ego-centric murderer, but the kid who died was trying to stop a fight, not start one.

[jpark]

It made me rethink player griefing.

But then I decided to continue  :-D

[Nebu]

Didn't someone die while playing this game for days?  If so, that means Lineage is thinning the herd in two ways. 

[HaemishM]

In Soviet Russia, Lineage 2 pK's YOU!

It had to be said. Speaking ill of the dead is one thing, talking about two idiots who couldn't control their e-peens in real life without bashing each other's skulls in is another.

In short, don't be a douchebag IRL.

According to most accounts the person who died didn't start the fight, in fact he was trying to calm DVP down and stop DVP from beating the shit out of another guy. DVP didn't like that and took him out first.

He should have let the idiots remove themselves from the gene pool, then taken their stuff.

[Strazos]

Unleash Nerd Fury!

[damijin]

In Soviet Russia, Lineage 2 pK's YOU!

It had to be said. Speaking ill of the dead is one thing, talking about two idiots who couldn't control their e-peens in real life without bashing each other's skulls in is another.

In short, don't be a douchebag IRL.

According to most accounts the person who died didn't start the fight, in fact he was trying to calm DVP down and stop DVP from beating the shit out of another guy. DVP didn't like that and took him out first.

He should have let the idiots remove themselves from the gene pool, then taken their stuff.

PKers almost never drop their gear anymore, so looting them probably had not crossed his mind.

[HaemishM]

I'm sure DVP didn't go into that fight naked.

/aside I am so going to hell for this thread.

[Soln]

shameless shillin blog linky  Must know what he plays.

Sword-swinger terrorizes shoppers
Man subdued after stealing weapon from mall kiosk
By CHRIS LAMBIE Staff Reporter

Shoppers fled with their tots in tow Thursday afternoon when a man stole a sword from a kiosk in the Halifax Shopping Centre and started swinging the weapon at shoppers.

Halifax Regional Police took a 28-year-old man into custody and he is to appear in Halifax provincial court today. Police weren’t sure Thursday night what charges he would face, Staff Sgt. Jim Butler said.

The man was taken to hospital after police used a stun gun to subdue him, Staff Sgt. Butler said.

"He was very distraught and taken into custody," he said.

"But as far as if he had an issue with somebody, that hasn’t been determined at this point."

The incident started at the House of Knives, where a man punched a glass case and removed a large, shiny sword.

"He started waving it around and twirling it over his head," one eyewitness said.

"He was also dragging it on the ground and making this horrible scraping noise."

The man sounded like he was trying to confront someone, she said.

"He was going, ‘Come on, come on.’ He sounded like he was yelling at someone, like he was already in a fight. And he kept swearing."

The eyewitness, who did not want to be named, backed away from the man.

"I tried not to make eye contact," she said.

"I thought he was going to hurt someone."

Word circulating at the mall Thursday night was the swordsman was going after some men who had been picking on him, she said.

"He didn’t do anything to them; he just went down toward the escalators."

The man then ran back to where he had stolen the 1.5-metre sword, grabbed his bag and jacket from the floor and headed toward Sears.

"He just ran down the hallway swinging the sword," said Arran Thorpe, who works at Birks.

Police got the call at 5:35 p.m. and were on the scene in about a minute.

"There were all kinds of cops and they were running and had their batons out and Tasers ready to go," Mr. Thorpe said.

"It was crazy."

The man waved the sword at shoppers as he walked through the mall, Staff Sgt. Butler said.

"Nobody was hurt, nobody was struck," he said.

The swordsman came within three metres of one shopper.

"Security at the mall were trying to get behind him but they couldn’t get near him because he was just swinging like mad," said the man, who didn’t want his name used. "I don’t know what the hell he was on."

The 47-year-old eyewitness ducked under the escalator to avoid the swordsman.

"I don’t like walking home with my head under my arm," he said.

People sought shelter in nearby stores.

"A lady (and her young son) came running in the store yelling at me to close the doors right away — there was a crazy guy down the hallway swinging his sword that he apparently stole from one of the knife places," said Roger Bosch, who works at Athletes World.

"There were a lot of people running in every direction after she came in. The next thing you know, all the stores started closing the doors and people started running like it was a bomb threat or something."

Security and police were quickly on the scene, said another eyewitness who watched the arrest.

"He was swinging (the sword) at a lot of people — swinging randomly," he said.

"He was coming awfully close to anybody who was nearby."

The swordsman, who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and jeans, was yelling at police, who located him near a mall exit beside Sears.

"They drew guns on him and they eventually Tasered him and incapacitated him," said the eyewitness, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

"They took him out on a stretcher," Mr. Bosch said.

Stores in the mall reopened soon afterward.

"We were only delayed for about 13 minutes," Mr. Bosch said.

The incident left shoppers and store staffers shaken.

"A lot of people were very jittery," Mr. Bosch said.

The manager at the House of Knives refused to comment.

"Apparently the sword isn’t sharpened, but it’s still big and heavy," the female eyewitness said.

[UnSub]

The 47-year-old eyewitness ducked under the escalator to avoid the swordsman.

"I don’t like walking home with my head under my arm," he said.

Yeah, that can be a bitch of a thing. Also makes it hard to wear a hat.

[pxib]

The 47-year-old eyewitness ducked under the escalator to avoid the swordsman.

"I don’t like walking home with my head under my arm," he said.

Yeah, that can be a bitch of a thing. Also makes it hard to wear a hat.

Tell me
Why'd I have to go and get myself decapitated?
This really is a major inconvenience, oh man, I really hate it
Such a drag, now ... Can't eat, I can't breathe, I can't snore
I can't belch or yodel anymore
Can't spit or blow my nose or even read Sports Illustrated

Oh no
Why'd I have to go and get myself all mutilated? (yeah, yeah)
I gotta tell ya, life without a head kinda makes me irritated
What a bummer
Can't blink, I can't cough, I can't sneeeze
But my neck is enjoyin' a pleasant breeze now
Haven't been the same since my head and I were separated
No no no

[Tannhauser]

Maybe he just needed one more kill to ding?


/What?