Jagex Calling Police

[lordkafei]

And if they hadn't called, they'd be catching no end of grief.

 

This should serve as an excellent example that what you type in a virtual gaming environment can have real world consequences.

[atestarossa]

For a start this story seems complete BS. Police getting there in half an hour? They didnt come at all when I rang them to report someone weilding a baseball bat outside my house smashing in bins. This scenario would require Jagex systems to pick up on keywords such as "suicide" and escalates it to a Jagex staffer who double checks it wasn't a typo or the sorts. Then that Jagex staffer probably has to tell their line manager. That line manager will then have to do one of the following:

 

Use the billing address on file (if p2p) to find out the address of the user. Then find out the local police department for where they live. This may or may not be the right number to call. For example where I like the station is only staffed for a few hours a day. Outside of those hours you would need to call the county wide police department. Then the police would have to see if a unit is close by and dispatch them to the house with the information they require.

 

If the person is f2p or there is no p2p address on file (membership paid with prepaid cards for example) then it's a bit more complicated. Jagex cannot request from the ISP who owned a particular ip at any given time, this is something that only the police can do and even then I think they need a court order. Without any address information to hand it would be very difficult to find even the local police department of a user. There is no way on earth this could be done in half an hour.

 

 

If the story is true then I applaud Jagex for their efforts in trying to prevent something which could have been very disastrous leading to the loss of life. However it smells too much like bulls stuff to me.

 

 

Considering that post on the rsof, it's pretty much confirmed that jagex do contact the local police in matters like this, no matter if this particular story is true or not. However, to get that done in half an hour would not be a problem in my place at least. Remember that the quality of the police service varies a lot from place to place, and not to speak about different countries.

[Mercifull]

I'm not disputing that Jagex DO contact authorities on occasion. I am saying that this particular story has got more holes in it than a slice of leerdammer. Suicide is NOT a joking matter and I feel that this post is making a joke out of it.

 

Prove me wrong, tell us your local police authority and we'll contact them.

[JoeDaStudd]

I find this very disturbing.

 

Player says suicide related message

Jagex replies by muting them, causing the player to get more frustrated.

Player tries to relax.

Police knock on the door.

 

IMO that's extremely bad.

 

Think of it this way.

I have had a **** day, I play RS get a little frustrated for whatever reason and type something silly. Something like "[curse words] I could just die right now and be happy".

I get muted which makes me more frustrated. So I decided I'll go for a walk, the pub or a bath.

I just start to get relaxed. If I'm in the bath and don't hear the door, I'm naked with police officers in my house and no door lock. Or I get back to find my front doors lock broken, a police search out for me and the possibility some kids have looted my house.

Now I feel I can't relax, can't sleep in my house and I'm now extremely frustrated, angry and annoyed.

 

Which of those events is more likely going to make someone really hurt themselves?

 

Companies and the police are hyperactive at the moment about comments online. There's a large line between saying something and doing something.

[atestarossa]

I'm not disputing that Jagex DO contact authorities on occasion. I am saying that this particular story has got more holes in it than a slice of leerdammer. Suicide is NOT a joking matter and I feel that this post is making a joke out of it.

 

Prove me wrong, tell us your local police authority and we'll contact them.

 

 

Okay. I can agree on that. But i rather think the story is exaggerated, rather than false. I did not believe that this thread is making a joke out of it at all, but both the OP, and most people in here is discussing the matter without making fun out of it at all.

 

As in my views, this is really fantastic that they do. They are obliged by law to do so, but I really hope that they would do so, even if that wasn't the case.

I've heard way too many sad stories, where people have known things that if handled correctly, could have saved someones lifes.

 

I am certain that the police here could easily get to me in half an hour. And in the place I'm from (the place which I used for the comparison) Would have made it in less. But these are small places. The current is with only 150,000 citizens, and the one where I lived before, only have 7,000. But this is still slightly off-topic. (And here in Norway, it's unlegal to call the police, if there's no valid reason for it.)

[jijilentosmi]

I find this very disturbing.

 

Player says suicide related message

Jagex replies by muting them, causing the player to get more frustrated.

Player tries to relax.

Police knock on the door.

 

IMO that's extremely bad.

 

Since 99% of people who say anything like that are not actually suicidal, just making sick jokes its defiantly justified. You can't let players break the rules just because there is small chance they're threat is legit. That's like the IRS not taxing you because the stress might make you kill yourself. At the same time Jagex must take these threats seriously, so its no surprise that they take action on even misconstrued jokes. Its defiantly a disturbing situation but players who actually mean these things are reaching out, so the interest in them by other people might make them reconsider. As for those who say such things jokingly: they deserve to be frustrated, its a terrible thing to joke about and they deserve the mute.

[JoeDaStudd]

I'm all for the mute its the police call after the mute thats the trouble.

The mute adds fuel to the fire with the police being more fuel, if Jagex truly believe they are going to kill themselves yes ring the police. However by muting then calling the police its like egging the person on.

O your having a bad time, lets make it a little worse before we check if your ok.

 

You make sure the person is fine before you do anything which may make the situation worse.

 

Its like watching someone stood at the edge of a building and giving them words of encouragement to jump then calling the police after you've encouraged them.

[Demario]

OMG, POLICE!!!!!!!!

 

i don't hack

i don't scam

i don't cheat

 

i only eat pizza while i play.

[Omali]

OMG, POLICE!!!!!!!!

 

i don't hack

i don't scam

i don't cheat

 

i only eat pizza while i play.

 

"GET ON THE GROUND! Put down the hacks and put your hands behind your head!"

[Returned3]

I really do applaud Jagex for taking such actions, but truth be told, a part of me is really curious to know if Jagex would've called all the way to Asia in Singapore should someone here did such an action.

 

But if the person was really serious about committing suicide, wouldn't the attempt be useless? Half an hour to an hour is more than enough to kill yourself and the police would simply find a dead body. I once read that a man successfully chainsawed his own head off.

[bored321]

Better safe than sorry, they have done it in the past too. Just imagine if he did take his life, and they didn't do anything. I don't think it would give them much good publicity. :unsure:

[BloodAngel]

I agree with Mercifull that this is most likely not the full story but I am not surprised JagEx contact the local authorities. Most human beings would contact authorities if they felt that a life was in danger, so I don't see why JagEx should be any different. Although I do think context should be taken into account, if someone says something like "I've had an awful day for X reasons, I feel like killing myself" then that would be a cause for concern but if someone says something in not such a light hearted context then they could still mention it to authorities just to bring it to their attention just in case something does happen.

Look at it this way, if you were an assistant in a shop and someone came in, seemed anxious and started telling you that they had had a terrible few weeks and were thinking about killing themselves and you half believed they would, would you tell someone? JagEx do not have the luxury of actually seeing someone in the flesh to understand if they might actually take their own life so gamble and tell the authorities. It's better to take the gamble and tell someone than tell nobody and someone dies.

 

Also parents are getting increasingly wary of computer games because of all the bad press the violent ones are getting, so if someone kills themselves after saying the will on RS and JagEx had done nothing and a parent found out, with this suing culture the world has developed it is likely that someone would sue JagEx. So really JagEx are taking care of its customers as well as themselves, as they unfortunately need to in this day and age.

 

I understand why some people would disagree with what JagEx are doing, but at the end of the day if they think there is a possible threat to another human's life, no matter how insignificant it may be they have a duty to report it to the respective people.

[ValaraZ]

Heard about something similar on a CC not too long ago.

 

Someone got banned and threatened to commit suicide, cops came over and, well, the guy was then later online hyping about it.

 

I find it calming that if someone really is depressed and talk about their dark throughts while playing the game, Jagex cares enough to contact law enforcement agencies and try to help that person.

 

And from what I know, the police can get the name from the ISP quite easily. At least in Finland.

[Carl]

I actually can't believe that many of the comments on this thread are actually joking about it. And an above poster said it's only because one's paying that they'll help? You must be kidding me. That attitude's awful to have. It's someone's life, I don't think any of you really understand that. Life is worth more than money. I am actually horified at some of the replies on here.

 

Think of how much time they are wasting for Law Enforcement to go out to somebodies house each time they get a suicide threat reported. Don't say that one life saved is all worth it, because the Police could have saved 10-20 lives in the amount of time they spent chasing 10 year olds who rage over a game.

 

Yeah, sad that some people care about every single life. :wall: Perhaps it was a slow day for police? :-P

 

Sad that people care for others? Wow. I don't understand that, at all, why on earth would you say such a thing? It baffles me. What makes you think there was 10-20 people with their life in danger at that given time? And that their seperate situations weren't as possibly serious as this one? You do realise there's many local police stations in countries. Not all operating out of the one branch trying to "save the world". Each life counts.

[Soulthresher]

I'm amazing he was muted within a half hour.....Jagex was never that fast when I played.

 

Hell, it took them over 6 months to mute me once.

 

As for the cops, they're overstepping their boundaries and I doubt they would have any legal obligations. People joke about that stuff all the time, its not a big deal.

[Carl]

I'm amazing he was muted within a half hour.....Jagex was never that fast when I played.

 

Hell, it took them over 6 months to mute me once.

 

As for the cops, they're overstepping their boundaries and I doubt they would have any legal obligations. People joke about that stuff all the time, its not a big deal.

 

They're overstepping their boundaries? How, and who's set these so called "boundaries"? Again, I say, you're on their property. You threatening to end your own life isn't something they'll ignore. They are a big company, and they are human. It's humans nature to react and respond to things like this - you should be thankful they do. People do end up ending their own lives because others didn't understand the help they were so desperately crying out for.

[Jodie]

This is a topic that should not be taken lightly. I am personally glad Jagex steps in and actually does something. There has been too many real world news reports of students killing themselves (even killing others) which might not have occurred if someone had cared enough to take actions. Does it over-step boundaries? Of course; but if it were your son/daughter/friend whose life was held in this balance, would you not want someone to step up and do something?

 

I play RuneScape because I am quite proud of its makers. I have been playing well over 5 yrs and continue because of my admiration for its creators. It has become obvious to me that Jagex staff care about the people behind the RS avatars. Would you want your young/naive/innocent loved ones playing a game whose administration did not care? I think not!

[Soulthresher]

I'm amazing he was muted within a half hour.....Jagex was never that fast when I played.

 

Hell, it took them over 6 months to mute me once.

 

As for the cops, they're overstepping their boundaries and I doubt they would have any legal obligations. People joke about that stuff all the time, its not a big deal.

 

They're overstepping their boundaries? How, and who's set these so called "boundaries"? Again, I say, you're on their property. You threatening to end your own life isn't something they'll ignore. They are a big company, and they are human. It's humans nature to react and respond to things like this - you should be thankful they do. People do end up ending their own lives because others didn't understand the help they were so desperately crying out for.

 

If they're honestly crying out for help on an online game, hoping to get some help, they are waaay far off. I find all of this hilarious. Good fight bro.

 

Edit: Tenses

[Carl]

I'm amazing he was muted within a half hour.....Jagex was never that fast when I played.

 

Hell, it took them over 6 months to mute me once.

 

As for the cops, they're overstepping their boundaries and I doubt they would have any legal obligations. People joke about that stuff all the time, its not a big deal.

 

They're overstepping their boundaries? How, and who's set these so called "boundaries"? Again, I say, you're on their property. You threatening to end your own life isn't something they'll ignore. They are a big company, and they are human. It's humans nature to react and respond to things like this - you should be thankful they do. People do end up ending their own lives because others didn't understand the help they were so desperately crying out for.

 

If they're honestly crying out for help on an online game, hoping to get some help, they are waaay far off. I find all of this hilarious. Good fight bro.

 

Edit: Tenses

 

You obviously don't value human life, and have not been in a situation where someone you know has taken their own life. It's not hilarious, at all. And I really would wish you stopped making a joke out of it. It's far from a joke. Even if a user's said they'll take their own life, jokingly, they should be thought how it's not something to joke about. So I'd hope if they were joking, the police did actually teach them that it's no joke.

[testbotxyz]

Its the same as police shooting down 11 year old kids wielding a toy gun at a mall. Some organizations don't know their limits.

[Asmodeous4]

Its the same as police shooting down 11 year old kids wielding a toy gun at a mall. Some organizations don't know their limits.

Except that with a toy gun you know it is a toy gun. You never know what someone is thinking. I am sure Jagex don't report every single person who says somethign along these lines. They'll look at the context, as will the police.

[Carl]

Its the same as police shooting down 11 year old kids wielding a toy gun at a mall. Some organizations don't know their limits.

 

You can't use that example with this situation, not only that, but many toy guns do look just like the real thing. And, as guns are illegal in most countries, what can you expect? Chances are no-one will be shot, however, they will of course be approached with caution.

[Makoto_the_Phoenix]

Its the same as police shooting down 11 year old kids wielding a toy gun at a mall. Some organizations don't know their limits.

Except that with a toy gun you know it is a toy gun. You never know what someone is thinking. I am sure Jagex don't report every single person who says somethign along these lines. They'll look at the context, as will the police.

 

 

Even if you'd suspect that the context is a joke, it's still a lot safer and smarter to call the local authorities and get them to look at it, anyway. Besides, self-harm/suicide just isn't something you joke about, for any reason, ever.

[A0166]

i guess you might find some wierd ppl that may do stuff like that over a game? lol idk

but glad to see jagex are concerned?

[HAR]

Sounds like a very considerate move my Jagex tbh. Impressive.