Topic: Teen Dies After 40-Hour Diablo III Session

[Chozo Ghost]

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/07/17/teen-dies-after-40-hour-diablo-iii-session.aspx

A teenager in Taiwan collapsed and died Sunday morning after playing Diablo III for 40 consecutive hours without eating, according to the United Daily News. The report says the teen, identified by his surname Chuang, booked a private room in a cafe on July 13 and was discovered in his room two days later resting on a table by an attendant. Chuang was awoken and stood up, but quickly collapsed.
He was pronounced dead at a local hospital soon after. The cause of death is being investigated by police. It's believed prolonged sitting created cardiovascular problems.

It must be a really entertaining game... that's all I can say.

[Oblivion]

All I can say is is that he deserved to die. Natural selection at it's best.

[TJ Spyke]

I came to this thread expecting it to be South Korea, where this has happened many times.

[Oblivion]

No, see, they play StarCraft there. Or was it something else?

[Chozo Ghost]

I came to this thread expecting it to be South Korea, where this has happened many times.

Nope, but Taiwan isn't far away. Why is this always happening in Asia? Why aren't Americans or westerners in general dying from video games like this? You'd think it would be happening more often here in the west because aren't we supposed to be more obese and unhealthy and lazy?

[broodwars]

Well, there's another candidate for this year's Darwin Awards.  I'd say I felt sorry for his family, but really what fantastic parents could he have had for him to spend 40 consecutive hours in an internet cafe playing Diablo 3 without intervention?

[Morari]

Why aren't Americans or westerners in general dying from video games like this?

Americans are fat as ****. They can easily live off of that, without moving their lazy asses, for weeks.

[Chozo Ghost]

Well, there's another candidate for this year's Darwin Awards.  I'd say I felt sorry for his family, but really what fantastic parents could he have had for him to spend 40 consecutive hours in an internet cafe playing Diablo 3 without intervention?

The article says he was a Teen but didn't give a specific age. He could have been 18 or 19 which is also considered a Teen, but it would also mean he is an adult and able to make his own decisions so his parents wouldn't have been able to stop him... assuming they even knew about it in the first place.

Plus its not like someone starts playing a video game expecting they are going to die from it. Obviously he got carried away with it, but I don't think he realized the danger he was in. If it wasn't for reading stories like this would we even know that video games could be fatal? We know they can make you fat, and making you fat can in turn lead to other health problems down the road.... but a direct death in the near future?

[broodwars]

The article says he was a Teen but didn't give a specific age. He could have been 18 or 19 which is also considered a Teen, but it would also mean he is an adult and able to make his own decisions so his parents wouldn't have been able to stop him... assuming they even knew about it in the first place.

Well, I know at least in my family if I went 40 hours without talking with or e-mailing one of them, they'd probably check on me to be sure I'm alright.  Maybe social norms within families are very different in Taiwan, but you'd think someone might have cared about this guy enough to check in on him (for that matter, you have to wonder how long this guy was passed-out before the staff at that cafe checked on him).  And if not, I'd say chances are good that he won't be missed that badly.

[Chozo Ghost]

Its also possible he didn't have a family. That would explain why he would want to spend so much time in a cafe, because where else would he have to go? Either way, you're probably right that no one will miss him.

[ShyGuy]

He was killed by the Devil's game.

[Ceric]

What if the Family talked with him on Diablo 3?

Still I have to agree with Natural Selection here as sad as it is.

[Khushrenada]

Wonder if it was dehydration instead of starvation. Body can last much longer than that without food but no water and one is dead in 3 days which fits the timeline of this story.

I mean, seriously, would it have killed him to drink a glass of water every 3 hours?

[Morari]

RTFA?

The cause of death is being investigated by police. It's believed prolonged sitting created cardiovascular problems.

[Ian Sane]

I wonder if this sort of things seems to only happen in Asain due to some cultural difference.  Do we even have 24 hour internet cafes here to begin with?  Also I find that Western culture is a little more assertive.  Some would say we're more rude (which is probably true) but I think in North America or Europe it's more likely some busybody would have asked the guy if was alright while in Asia that might be considered rude or impolite.  I might be totally out to lunch here or just going on very vague stereotypes.  And I'm not trying to crap on Asian culture either like they're bad for letting this happen.  I'm just trying to think of a reason why this seems to only happen in Asia.

[Oblivion]

I'm fairly that it happens here too. I'm sure most parents would step in at that point, but who knows?

[ThePerm]

I came to this thread expecting it to be South Korea, where this has happened many times.

Nope, but Taiwan isn't far away. Why is this always happening in Asia? Why aren't Americans or westerners in general dying from video games like this? You'd think it would be happening more often here in the west because aren't we supposed to be more obese and unhealthy and lazy?

American's need to eat, they have to get up to do that.

edit: Morari beat me to it. Different punchline though

[Khushrenada]

RTFA?

The cause of death is being investigated by police. It's believed prolonged sitting created cardiovascular problems.

I had and the topic started turning to fat and weight and I chimed in on that. As for the prolonged sitting creating cardiovascular problem theory, I don't believe that was the main cause of death.

For counter evidence, I present the case of the woman who sat on a toilet for 2 years to the point her legs had shrivelled up from being numb and non-use and her body had begun to grow around the toilet causing rescue workers to have to remove the whole toilet and surgically remove it from her.

If sitting for a long period of time causes such severe cardiovascular problems as to cause death instantly then I don't see this lady as being able to survive that long sitting down.

[Chozo Ghost]

That's a good point. Plus there are really huge people that literally live in their bed and in order to get them out of the house they have to tear a whole side off the house because they can't fit them through the door. And yet somehow people are able to live for years like that... so I can't believe someone sitting still for just 40 hours would die, if others can go years doing it. There had to be something else to it. Maybe as someone else suggested he didn't drink anything during that period of time. That might have done it, but considering this was a cafe he wouldn't have had far to go to get some sort of beverage.

[oohhboy]

DVT, deep venous thrombosis is a likely cause of death. His lack of movement combined with probable lack of liquid intake and the continued stress from playing the game for that length of time with the sudden movement then death fits pretty well. He might also have an undiagnosed risk factor.

The fatties probably suffer a lot from this, but it doesn't make the news since it's common, nonfatal, medicated for in advance with blood thinners and fatties. It's news when it's videogame+youth+sudden death.

[SixthAngel]

Any chance of this happening because it is his job?

That real money auction house has to have tons of people in Asian countries putting in unbelievable hours to make a buck.

[oohhboy]

A far better explanation than "D3 is so good that you will die for it".