kindness - how far is too far?

[syal_antilli]

You guys are probably right.

 

 

 

I did tell him that virtual items (a.k.a. RuneScape gold) won't help him very much, but he said that RuneScape was his life. I asked him why he didn't seek real-life friends for comfort, and he said that he didn't have any because nobody liked him. :?

 

 

 

probly because he plays runescape insteed of trying to hang with people

[mrmyk]

I'm pretty ssure that was a scam but there is no way of telling the truth so I will have to go form what I have read in this thread that it was a scam.

[Xx_Flare_xX]

I would've said something like "sorry to hear that" and the minute he started mentioning wanting you to give items i would've backed off and said no.

 

 

 

If i was in that situation i would prefer emotional support off my friends over free items.

[LordBlk]

ok so there are two things here

 

1. this mught be a scam

 

2. this might have happened

 

 

 

well i personally think this is a scam because my grandpa recently had a heart attack(he pulled through, thank god) when i was at school and when i got home my family wasnt home so i cooked lunch for me and my sis and went upstairs to play rs and my sis went to bed

 

 

 

i recieved a call frm my mom at the hospitle tellin me that grandpa had a heart attack and i literally told my friend i had to go at that moment and logged off in the middle of the wildy, i told him it was a family emergency and we knew eachother well so he teled to varrock and i logged off

 

 

 

i waited for my aunt to pick me up and until then i changed and literally cried until she arrived

 

 

 

after i he pulled through i almost quit runescape but instead i quitted frm some other ames like tribal wars, unification wars and inselkampf

 

 

 

it took me a month to get over how close i was to loosing him and when i finally got the courage to log bak onto rs and tele to lummy i couldnt bare playing and retired for a few months after which i was totally over it and managed to play rs in a better manner never swearing again and reporting every rule breaker. and through this time i only told my friend 6 months after the heart attack had actually taken place coz i didnt want to ruin his gameplay coz if some1 told me i would be very disturbed

 

 

 

but as he was insisting i told him

 

 

 

all this time i was filles with grief and never asked for an item

 

 

 

looks like u got played sorry but thats the truth

[wurmskin]

^

 

 

 

Too true.

 

 

 

The story you wrote seemed as though you were about to be scammed from the very beginning, and yes, did go too far in my opinion. Despite me saying this though, if his story was as convincing as you described it to be, I would've done the same.

 

 

 

Call me soft or anything, but I would've given him a whip if I were in your shoes. Thinking that something like that happened to a friend (even if I've known that friend for a short amount of time) and me not doing anything beyond the whole "Sorry to hear," thing would've driven me insane with 'guilt'.

 

 

 

If it actually did happen, then I'd be happy knowing that I've done at least some good to help him in his time of need, no matter how unusual the nature of his request is (in this case, the whip). However, if it didn't happen at all, instead of being angry knowing that I got scammed, I would actually pity him. I mean, who (supposedly) values a pixelated item over such things in the real world?

 

 

 

Must have a very, very sad life :| .

 

 

 

...How very off-topic .

[primadog]

It's probably a scam, but so what? What happened speaks more about your character than of his. Given that you know what the other person tries to do, you still are willing to part with your valuables, that can only mean that protecting a stranger is more important to you than some virtual possession (even if the chances are what was said is not true). There is no evil on your part, so no worries on your side.

 

 

 

Here, I salute your kindness. You should have no other thought but pride for your actions.

[toolskies]

I think that you did the right thing but sadly it does seem like a scam..

 

 

 

Its amazing the lengths some young children go to just to get some pixelated items #-o ..I mean seriously lying about a families death is just plain disrespectfull and sick

[HoldenMick]

Your a really nice person. :

 

 

 

Personally i think it was a fake, just going on what you said. Still though, I think its great that you did it.

 

 

 

I guess you can be as "nice" as you feel comfortable with.

[psycho1701]

A week before I was banned...

So how'd you get banned? :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I appauled you being such a nice person to this kid. Maybe it was a scam, but it sounds like you knew that was a possibility and you decided to help him anyway. While I have no idea what it would be like to loose a parent I know that distraction is good for other types of pain. And acts of kindness is always a good idea. And it IS just a game. If there is a possibility that he's telling the truth it was a small thing to do that he thought would help him.

[All_Bogs]

You guys are probably right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did tell him that virtual items (a.k.a. RuneScape gold) won't help him very much, but he said that RuneScape was his life. I asked him why he didn't seek real-life friends for comfort, and he said that he didn't have any because nobody liked him. :?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Y'know, the entire story seems a bit far-fetched to me. First he comes and begs for freebies for his birthday, and then he goes and makes up that story in order to still get some items out of his rich "friend". Seems like the most likely explanation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personally, I would've told him a story among the lines of how getting some items on RS won't do much to ease his pain, and that he could instead motivate himself to try and reach whatever RS goal he has in mind in order to escape reality for a bit, which is far more satisfying anyway. He might learn something from that, regardless of his story being true or not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But it's no doubt just a scam. So yeah, nobody likes him he says. Not surprised if he tries to screw over people in RL too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, that far is too far, I'm afraid.

[LordBlk]

it wouldve annoyed me but i think giving him the stuff made you win anyways

 

1. you wouldve gained ease to your heart and

 

2. even if he did scam you ,you would still know that he is a real loser

[jou_maan]

Story seems like you've been scammed. But i cant think of any sicko who would say that their parents died to get better stuff. And it aint possible for him to be playing Runescape, hes 12, when his mother died he would be VERY sad and maybe depressed. I doubt you'd still be able to log on and ask for stuff.

 

 

 

If it happens to me, I'd just say that i feel sorry for him. Thats it.

 

 

 

I agree with you being scammed, however the guy I quoted obviously doesn't have much experience of death of loved ones. First of all, you have no idea what kind of filth lives in this world. I've seen more disgusting scam attempts. Secondly, I've lived with deaths as far as I can remember and it's totally possible to do normal things eg. play games in these situations. You might think you'd be very sad if person who is very close to you died, but for first, you feel nothing/emptiness.

[ixfd64]

A week before I was banned...

So how'd you get banned? :P

 

 

 

http://forum.tip.it/viewtopic.php?t=713268

 

 

 

Apparently, Jagex thinks I hacked someone. Ironic, eh? :lol:

[Tyrsbreath]

I would say you went too far but hey its only pixels.

 

 

 

Funny story kinda related.

 

I was training my noob character and talking to a friend. My noob is only lvl 45 and my friend is 125. I lost my left hand a few months back and we were talking about that and different types of replacment hands or whether I should just get a old fashioned pirates hook. A couple of low end 100s came by and overheard part of the conversation and spent a good solid 30 minutes trying to convince my friend that I was noob scammer trying to get free stuff and the whole time claiming they were reporting me for item scamming.

 

Gets stupid in RS now days dont it. \

[SportsGuy]

Note: This is a sensitive topic, so be prepared.

 

 

 

A week before I was banned, a player befriended me because he thought I was nice. He asked me if I would give him something for his 12th birthday, and I said "maybe." Some time later, he said that his mother had a heart attack, and he logged off for a while. After he came back online, he said that his mother had passed away.

 

 

 

Previously, he had wanted some money from me, so I told him that he had to work for it, and I gave him some job options. However, after his mother's reported death, he said that he was no longer in the mood for working. That was totally understandable.

 

 

 

Of course, I knew that this was likely to be a scam, and that he hoped that I would feel bad for him. I asked myself, why would a kid be playing an online game if his mother just passed away? However, there are people who indeed try to "escape" real-life problems by various means, such as playing games, drinking, taking drugs, and gambling. I also wondered, shouldn't this kid be with his mother at the hospital?, but I decided that it was also possible that his father made him stay at home. After all, many parents would not want to let their young children watch a loved one die.

 

 

 

It all happened within a rather short time, but OK, it's possible that he lives close to a hospital.

 

 

 

Yes, there are some disgusting people who will fake the death of a family in order to get virtual items, but this person's story seemed pretty convincing to me at first, and it wasn't like the generic "I have cancer, free stuff plz" scams. After all, I like to go with the concept of "innocent until proven guilty."

 

 

 

He told me that he had access to his mother's character, and that she had always wanted a whip. Some of you may have heard of organizations like the Make-a-Wish Foundation or the Dream Foundation, which grants certain requests ("wishes") to people suffering from terminal illnesses. I decided to help his mother's character get one posthumously. Her character didn't appear in the hiscores but was already taken, so I assumed that the kid would train her character to 70 attack. I didn't really have the heart to report him for breaking rule 6, assuming that he was telling the truth.

 

 

 

I finally decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, and I gave him about 1.3m worth of stuff, knowing that this could all be part of an elaborate scam.

 

 

 

He asked for more, and while I told him that I felt sorry for him, I couldn't give him any more items.

 

 

 

After some chatting with fellow player moderators, most had believed that this was a scam, but said that I handled this situation very well.

 

 

 

After all, I think that it's important to help others recover from grief, and I will always try to make someone happy if I have the chance. Of course, real-life is far more important than a game, and I'd rather get scammed for 5m instead of facing the fact that someone's mother had just died.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

Did I go too far? What would you have done in this case?

 

 

 

Comments welcome.

 

 

 

I think you gave him too much and would have reported him once he asked for more. I think you did the right thing by humoring him in such a nice way and giving him gifts were certainly the right thing to do, but even if it were genuine, people who ask for help in such situations and then ask for more must be shown that it's inappropriate. Yes, even if he or she really was suffering in that way.