If You Die, Who Will Tell Your WoW Guild Friends?
If You Die, Who Will Tell Your WoW Guild Friends?
March 16, 2009
Online game guilds and clans often become something of a second family for devoted players.
But if a WoW gamer unexpectedly dies, how will fellow guildies know?
The Associated Press looks into the issue:
When Jerald Spangenberg collapsed and died in the middle of a quest in an online game, his daughter embarked on a quest of her own: to let her father's gaming friends know that he hadn't just decided to desert them.
It wasn't easy, because she didn't have her father's "World of Warcraft" password and the game's publisher couldn't help her. Eventually, Melissa Allen Spangenberg reached her father's friends by asking around online for the "guild" he belonged to.
The AP notes that some hardcore MMO types are leaving detailed instructions in the event of their demise. There are even online resources that have been created for the purpose:
David Eagleman... set up a site called Deathswitch, where people can set up e-mails that will be sent out automatically if they don't check in at intervals they specify, like once a week...
If Deathswitch sounds morbid, there's an alternative site: Slightly Morbid. It also sends e-mail when a member dies, but doesn't rely on them logging in periodically while they're alive. Instead, members have to give trusted friends or family the information needed to log in to the site and start the notification process...
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Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:30am
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:44am
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
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Comments
fainaly it's adressed so that your online freinds can know if you have past on
This is something I thought about during HALO2, played with this one guy who told me that if he wasn't on at least once a week that he was dead, he stopped playing a month after have not seen or heard from him since.
This is one of the reasons I fundamentally disagree with the rule of "never give out your password, even to loved ones" that many MMOs have.
Of course, I understand why.. even people you love can decide to mess with your game.
But ultimately, things happen, if you can't trust your wife not to use your password wrong.. you have something wrong with your relationship.
"We never paid any heed to the ancient prophecies... Like fools we clung to the old hatreds, and fought as we had for generations"
Just have a sealed envelope with instructions to only be opened upon your death. Inside you can have all the usernames and passwords for all the games and websites you visit. That way loved ones can alert your friends and close all your accounts.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma
Unless you change your password in between making the envelope and dying. :)
/b
Or unless one of those accoubnts is a Second Life account, may not want people seeing that shit. ^^;
Why do I see this article backfiring somehow.....?
I've always wondered this, ever since a huge hubbub on a forum I used to belong to... a user's sister came on and claimed she'd passed away from complications of diabetes. Everyone just assumed it was a hoax... but what if it wasn't?
I have real friends online that I would want to know if I died.
Similar thing happened to me in an MMO guild I was in.. someone my wife and I got on with very well, and her husband, vanished.
Months later a guildie stumbles accross a newspaper ad of them dying in extremely tragic circumstances.
Suppose at least we know what happened :/
"We never paid any heed to the ancient prophecies... Like fools we clung to the old hatreds, and fought as we had for generations"
hehe, good point
It's a good idea. When I was GL of a guild in WoW, my mother was dying of cancer. That made me think of my own mortality, and what would happen to the 60+ members of my guild if I croaked. I mean, aside from me suddenly not doing my duties or my friends needing to know what happened, there's also the fact that to remove me from the Guild Leader position, they'd have to disband the guild and start over.
I typed up instructions for my family and left it in an envelope in the computer desk, letting them know that it existed. Considering that my family is "gamer illiterate," I had to be very specific. From how to log on, how to open guildchat, how to type a message, how to respond to questions, and how to assign someone else as Guild Leader. Then it got really technical. How to use a hearthstone, how to find and empty the Bank, how to find a vendor and sell off everything, how to find a mailbox, and finally how to send all my gold to an officer in the guild! Yeesh! Finally, how to discontinue the account. Getting your affairs in order in a virtual world is as complicated as it is in the real world.
I also had instructions on how to tell people in a couple forums that I frequented, but I ended up removing those, since most people on a forum wouldn't believe it. Nowadays, I don't play MMOs, so I don't need to keep the instructions at all.
But Slightly Morbid sounds like a good idea.
Well.. technically, any Guild Leader can be removed and the position given to another Guild member by the GMs if the account has been inactive for 30 days.
But.. get your point :)
"We never paid any heed to the ancient prophecies... Like fools we clung to the old hatreds, and fought as we had for generations"
Unfortunately, this won't be understood by any outside the gaming community. To many, especially in older generations, the idea of having meaningful relationships via an MMO or even simply online is alien.
If I left an envelope with instructions on how to notify any guild I happened to belong to my wife would probably do it. But my parents? No way. They simply wouldn't get that I really did have friendships with these people despite never actually meeting.
For many outside the gamer community a person arguing that they have real friends online is akin to saying:
"I live in my parent's basement. I have no social skills. I have no human contact. I live through this game. I'm totally addicted and the game is to blame!"
To this group having actual friends via a game is an indictment of the game. It means that you have sacrificed "real" friendship for "fake" friendship.
The thing is though, with more sites like Facebook becoming just as important as any single game, more and more people are going to treat their online lives, no matter what form it takes, as just an extension of their offline life. So, I see this as perfectly logical and reasonable for people to leave instructions.
I've actually thought about this kind of thing before. Not WoW specifically, but I have clan members that I'd like to let them know if something happened and give out my gear or.... somethin along those lines.
I have a few real-life friends who have connections with the online communities they frequent. Some of which are friends with my other real-life friends.
Should I ever pass away, hopefully the news will spread and said connected friends can let my online friends know. From there it's not too long before all of my online friends get the news and know why I haven't gone on IRC or forums or whatever in weeks.