[MUD-Dev] Death of a game addict

[Patricia Pizer]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I personally don't stay up
late at night trying to figure out ways to make people ruin their
lives. I've played computer games since they've been around and I've
been addicted to plenty of them. Do I blame Alexy for all those
hours lost to stacking blocks and the phenomenon of "Tetris-vision?"

My favorite snippet of this particular article is this: (Jack
Thompson, a Miami attorney) "I am sure we are going to find things
akin to the tobacco industry memos where they say nicotine is
addictive," he said. "There is a possibility of a class-action
lawsuit."

C'mon! Are you all harboring such memos? Who needs to questions
their morals? Game designers?!?

I've been spending a great deal of time and energy of late trying to
work out elements of social responsibility in online games as I
honestly believe the medium is significant and has moved beyond the
realm of "games." I ran into folks at the GDC (such as a woman from
a parents' advocacy group) that made me feel quite insulted; after
all, none of us are parents, right? None of us are members of
society who give a damn about what we're doing....

My mother died at age 44 from a drinking-related
brain-hemorrhage. Am I going to spend the rest of my life trying to
get restitution from Smirnoff?  No, I'm not. Why not? It was her
responsibility and she paid dearly for it.

I know I'm not saying anything new here. I'm simply frustrated with
irresponsible people (and the lawyers who goad them into) blaming
someone else for their problems.


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