Thoughts on wrong virtual couples and what to do?

[The Real ET]

Okay, well I won't name names unless it's to a Jagex Mod, but I have a slightly disturbing story. So, I'm at blue dragons and one way or another I met two new people I'm going to call Rabbit and Doll. I have no idea how, but within a few hours Rabbit and Doll have turned into a sterotypical "virtual couple". I know they were in different time zones at least because we were talking about what times it was for each of us, so I know they had never met in real life. I got pretty close to both of them and Rabbit trusted me with clue items and such, but after a week or two Doll started telling me details of her life. Some of them including: she had a daughter, she was 34, and Rabbit was 16. I thought something like that would cause them to stop being a "couple", but it didn't. Later, Doll was telling me how she wanted to meet up with Rabbit when he was 18, but less than an hour later she said some things making me think that she'd be okay with meeting him now. That immediately sent up a red flag so I tried to talk some sense into Doll as she seemed like the one I'd be able to reason with. The day after doing this, Rabbit pms me and goes on this rant about me trying to ruin his life and how Doll didn't listen to me. Needless to say, they both blocked me. Now, I'm at a loss of what to do... even if I had gotten them banned, they were already talking outside of Runescape. I feel really bad about this whole thing happening, and I really don't want to see them in the next news story...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you've read this whole thing congrats, now here's where the discussion comes in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do you feel about this sort of thing? What can be done if you encounter this? What can I still do about this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ugh. :wall:

[armadillo48]

It doesn't bother me. What people do is up to them, as long as they don't try and force it onto me i don't care. If they're happy who am i to stop them?

[rareghoul1]

i figure if they want to base a relationship on what you say in a game, they are piking people the wrong way, but there's nothing to say it should stop. unless the person is offended, i'm okay with it. just don't ask me out, i'd rather hit on someone in real life while drunk than behind a pixelated character.

[Adventurer]

Hmm. That's a bit less than what I would call human behavior. There's not much you can do about it now, but good fight

[The Real ET]

Hmm. That's a bit less than what I would call human behavior. There's not much you can do about it now, but good fight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks mate, but I still feel bad for not being able to do more. That woman is 18 years older and he's not even 18 yet... I just feel like I let a heinous crime happen (though the age of consent in many places is 16).

[fatdog16]

well...all you can really do is report them to jagex. i think its against the rules to have a relationship in rs, although you cant really prove it unless you have a screenie or something with proof.

[Ralvn]

hm. i really dunno what to tell you. cant do much but live and let live :-k

[sessie]

Why should a woman of 34 and a boy of 16 not be allowed to meet eachother. I think some people should start minding their own business.

[The Real ET]

Why should a woman of 34 and a boy of 16 not be allowed to meet eachother. I think some people should start minding their own business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

18 years difference with an underage boy... I'm a great believer in love at any age, but there are limits...

[iRange]

Thats pretty wierd...why "date" someone who you'll never see?

[Ginger_Warrior]

This is wrong. Simple. There is no way that a 16 year-old can have a mature relationship with a 34 year old. Maybe a mature relationship with people of his own age, but certainly not 18 years older!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are dating sites for people to meet up with relative security; RuneScape is not one of them, as proven with the case with the Potsdam boy. This is simply wrong, dangerous, immoral, and against the rules of Jagex, and as thus you should contact them through the "Contact us" form on their main page immediately!

[Giordano]

If they really want to meet, then let them. Only problem that I see, is that Doll is 34...red flag alert! Couple of hours knowing each other and they want to meet can only mean trouble. But hey, you tried. *shrug*

[Danqazmlp]

It doesn't bother me. What people do is up to them, as long as they don't try and force it onto me i don't care. If they're happy who am i to stop them?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You didn't say that when me and Lulu had an affair :(you secretly wanted her for youself

 

 

 

to be honest i'm not so sure about virtual relationships, i don't think it does you any good, just stick to rl.

[The Real ET]

This is wrong. Simple. There is no way that a 16 year-old can have a mature relationship with a 34 year old. Maybe a mature relationship with people of his own age, but certainly not 18 years older!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are dating sites for people to meet up with relative security; RuneScape is not one of them, as proven with the case with the Potsdam boy. This is simply wrong, dangerous, immoral, and against the rules of Jagex, and as thus you should contact them through the "Contact us" form on their main page immediately!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's the least of the problem (I just did that anyway). They already have contact out of runescape...

[Defender2516]

I don't like RS Dating, but I don't believe its bad to the degree some people here claim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Runescape is a video game, its on the internet, its multiplayer. When you enter into the game, its JUST LIKE one of those virtual chat rooms where you make your own charater and go around chatting to folks. The only thing different is this is action based.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imagine it like a Chat room with pictures. People are literally getting money for dating services over the internet, with no pictures of a actually person, as their is in Runescape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So you meet, talk for awhile, get a few pictures. Then you get off Runescape, get on your Messenger and learn about each other in real life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at whats his name.. he's been waiting 5 years to meet his runescape girlfriend and he's finally going, wish him the best of luck too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are REAL people behind the text and charaters. The only thing different is the way of communication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Defender~

[jessy87]

honestly, you did what you felt was morally correct. due to age restrictions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes, they might be free willed beings, but no one is free..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i feel you approached the situation, dont take this the wrong way but incorrectly. your correct in assuming the older would be the most logical solution however, not always the case. perhaps if you had approached rabbit and said you were worried about doll following through and getting in legal troubles that perhaps he should think it through, yet wish him luck that nothing like that had happened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

very interesting topic today. i feel bad that you lost friends, sometimes that is what is necessary when you try to protect people.

[m4tty]

l0l that 16 yr old would get pure abused in school if people found out he was trying to date someone on rs old enough to be his mum :lol:

[The Real ET]

honestly, you did what you felt was morally correct. due to age restrictions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes, they might be free willed beings, but no one is free..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i feel you approached the situation, dont take this the wrong way but incorrectly. your correct in assuming the older would be the most logical solution however, not always the case. perhaps if you had approached rabbit and said you were worried about doll following through and getting in legal troubles that perhaps he should think it through, yet wish him luck that nothing like that had happened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

very interesting topic today. i feel bad that you lost friends, sometimes that is what is necessary when you try to protect people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, but I had reasons for approaching the older one about this. From talking to them, I could tell the woman was the type that was easily manipulated and the boy, I knew, wasn't going to listen to me. I did it based on personalities, not age. I still failed though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit: I also based it on the fact that the woman had a daughter between the ages of 5-10 (I won't specify the exact age), and the woman had made it clear that she put the daughter first for everything. I did bring up the point of how well a teenager could raise a daughter of that age already. She insisted that he was mature for his age... :(

[jessy87]

id also like to state, i had not realized the potentially dangerous situation. either person could be some1 whom they say they are not and could lead to, harm of 1, other person 2, each other 3, other bystanders

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i purely assumed it was a legit thing and everyone told the truth and had a love interest type thing going on. that was just my first train of thought

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

also, most people should realize a friend ship romantic or not over long distances is fine. i am good friends with a few people, 1 namely in finland and we hold a great friendship. and contacting people outside of RS is not a big deal nobody should worry about it, unless you give them your phone # and get phone stalked, an Email address can be changed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

anyway, i hope it turns out fine and you were the only person who suffered because, honestly your burden is small compared to the potentials of the others

[Lugia_Lvl138]

Eep, I have a 34 year old woman with kids on my friend list :shock:. Although we have no contact outside of rs, she has never talked about meeting me at 18(about a month away from now), and we do not talk about things of a sexual nature. Closest we ever came was talking about marriage(not to each other) and I stopped because I just couldn't talk about marriage with a near stranger double my age. We're still friends but if she "steps it up", then i'm leaving.

[The Real ET]

Eep, I have a 34 year old woman with kids on my friend list :shock:. Although we have no contact outside of rs, she has never talked about meeting me at 18(about a month away from now), and we do not talk about things of a sexual nature. Closest we ever came was talking about marriage(not to each other) and I stopped because I just couldn't talk about marriage with a near stranger double my age. We're still friends but if she "steps it up", then i'm leaving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry, didn't mean to worry you. Not all (or most for that matter) are like that. Worry not unless you are given a reason to worry.

[jessy87]

 

Eep, I have a 34 year old woman with kids on my friend list :shock:. Although we have no contact outside of rs, she has never talked about meeting me at 18(about a month away from now), and we do not talk about things of a sexual nature. Closest we ever came was talking about marriage(not to each other) and I stopped because I just couldn't talk about marriage with a near stranger double my age. We're still friends but if she "steps it up", then i'm leaving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry, didn't mean to worry you. Not all (or most for that matter) are like that. Worry not unless you are given a reason to worry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes to stop a conversation of marriage not regarding each other is somewhat, well strange. what is the worst that could have happened? internet stalking over a broken heart? just try to relax and not think about those things so deeply. at least though you seem to look out for your self considerably.

[underu2000]

Well, two things established. One thing is that Rabbit is an immature, stubborn and inexperienced (at any rate) teen, trying to hit off with a 34 year old woman, who could be anything from a nice lady to a 60 year old male pedophile pretending to be a woman.

 

 

 

Second thing is you did your part, no use feeling guilty or disappointed. Perhaps you can report it directly to jagex or something, but other than that I doubt there's much to be done.

[Lugia_Lvl138]

Quote:

 

 

 

Sorry, didn't mean to worry you. Not all (or most for that matter) are like that. Worry not unless you are given a reason to worry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know, and I know what to do if I did have a reason to worry. She seems to really care for my well being. Like sometimes if I tell her i'm going somewhere, she almost acts like my mom. Lol, it's probably because she's nearly old enough to be my mom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote:

 

 

 

yes to stop a conversation of marriage not regarding each other is somewhat, well strange. what is the worst that could have happened? internet stalking over a broken heart? just try to relax and not think about those things so deeply. at least though you seem to look out for your self considerably.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Um, about that. No I was not worried about a heartbreak. See, I plan to get married in my 20s. Not sure exactly when, but sometime in my 20s would be good. I told her I would start my wife search at like 21 or 22 and she told me I should wait until at least 30 and that 21 is way too young. While 21 may be too young, I hope to be married by 30. I stopped it because I just didn't know what to say. We had just met that day. She took notice of my being shush and I told her I didn't know what to say. Me and her went back to talking about RS.

[Lenin64]

21 may be be too young for some people, but my parents got married at 18. It is still working. However, they are a statistical anomally, so it usually doesn't work out, but the moral of that story is to not let other people tell you that you're too young. I think.