At first, I thought this story was funny, and it is. But, coming from a family of grinders [people that spend many hours on MMOs to build levels, currency, and skills], made me take a second look at this concern. Personally, I've only played Final Fantasy XI, and only for a week. Don't get me wrong: I loved it! But, a little too much. I tucked myself away every night into a private, study room on the 4th floor of the library. While sipping on Mountain Dew, and chewing absently on a cheese sandwich, I walked my cute little white mage around healing random adventurers, hoping they would give me a chance to earn some XP [experience points].
For that week of online euphoria, I gained five levels and bragged that I was the most attentive--if a little co-dependent--healer in all of Vana'diel. In the real world, of course, I was quickly becoming the creepy kid with bloodshot eyes that lurked in dark corners of the study rooms, nipping at Muggles. My boyfriend at the time, whose FF account I was using, became a little concerned about the amount of time we spent together . . . and more importantly, the lack thereof.
Quickly, I kicked the habit and have never gone back.
Though virtual life is not for me, a growing number of people receive a great deal of satisfaction from MMOs. My grandmother's hobby, for instance, is grinding on Runescape (she's level 99 in almost every skill. Eat that n00bs!). My aunt likes Guild Wars; my brother, World of Warcraft; my cousin, Maple Story. Which gets us back to this morning's article. Maple Story is the MMO in which all of these horrific facts took place.
The man divorced his wife on Maple Story, and the woman used his screenname and password to login as him and kill his character. The article is not specific, but I'm inferring that "kill" means "delete," as I don't think it is possible for a character to be completely destroyed in the game itself (Yay for re-spawning). The man's stupidity aside (what possesses you to online-divorce your tech-savvy partner and fail to change your password?), the woman's actions are both laughable and deplorable. She stands to be charged with a five year prison sentence or $5,000 for "illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data." I'm sure laws against hacking have something more sinister in mind when they are prohibiting such actions. Further, bringing criminal charges against this woman seems ridiculous. First of all, criminal charges are typically committed against a person or an entity that is legally considered a person, like a business or a nation.
This woman did not attack her ex-husband; she attacked his avatar, which has not been deemed legally as a person . . . at least not to my knowledge. Still, this electronic avatar should probably be considered a piece of electronic property. The ex-husband did spend a great deal of time developing this avatar (though my cousin's avatar could probably have p00ned him). Add to this that some avatars are sold on e-bay for money. There is an EVE character that someone is selling on E-bay with a bid of $510. So, avatars have economic value like any piece of physical property.
The fact that this woman has criminal charges against her is ridiculous; but, she should be sued for property damage.
If anyone tried to delete any of my family's avatars, legal wrath would rain down upon there heads in the key of Ka-ching Ka-ching.
Link to Yahoo! Games News Article:
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