Jagex Calling Police

[Zierro]

Most of the time, since it's an ONLINE GAME, kids are just joking around. It's just internet etiquette to fool around about stuff like that. Now, I'm not saying it never happens, but it's such a rare occurrence, and I highly doubt somebody who legitimately wanted to would be swayed by some random police at their front door. They are wasting the police's time. I mean, if somebody has a bulge in their pocket, there is a very small chance that it could be a gun. Does that mean police should search anybody with a bulge in their pocket? No, it's a waste of their time when they could be doing something where they know (or have a high suspicion) that there is a real problem. Like somebody said earlier, instead of trying to save people who do want to die, why not use that valuable police time to save people who don't want to die from murderers or something?

 

You obviously don't value human life, and have not been in a situation where someone you know has taken their own life.

 

Those are some pretty presumptuous and unfair claims. For what it's worth, I do agree with him and I have been in a situation where someone very close to me has tried to several times. And honestly, getting officials involved only exacerbates the problem. 1. It's humiliating. 2. They're more likely to listen to people they know who are seriously concerned than a stranger who is getting paid to "help".

 

PS: I think suicide is a pretty pathetic solution to fixing your problems, but if you want to do it then that's your own business. It's your life. Now, I think it's completely fine to argue somebody out of suicide if you deem it as the wrong move to make, but you're not in the position to enforce it upon someone. Give them your reasons. Try to convince them. Don't lock them up in a room with a straight-jacket.

 

PS2: I think this would be cooler in Off-Topic.

[Cloak]

They've been doing this for a while. A friend of mine about a year ago got muted, and in his appeal, he said (jokingly) that he was going to commit suicide over it. Well, Jagex sent the police to his house.

[mcneilp]

I think it's quite a good thing. People saying that they're overreacting or whatever but you've got to remember Jagex only passed the information on to the police. It was up to the police authorities wether to act on the information or not and they were either having a slow night or thought it was serious enough to pay the dude a visit.

 

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.

There was an incident over here where some nutter pulled out a replica ("toy") gun in a busy nightlife area, where people were queueing to get into bars and restaurants. Armed police arrived and only found out it was a toy after having a standoff and arresting the guy. It's the same with the suicide thing, there's no way to tell if they're for real or not.

[I_am_Geed]

Lol.

 

It is a good thing. After the Dutch kids that suicided its good to see that Jagex is cracking down on this.

 

Because if it happens and its real. Killing yourself over this game is a crying shame.

[Misterknowitall]

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?

They do. There was a Dutch kid who committed suicide some years ago after being scammed out of a D Chain by an irl friend.

[Masarius]

I support Jagex's position on this.

 

Perhaps most people are too young but does anyone else remember in the very late 90's early 2000's when EverQuest was being referred to as "EverCrack" on the internet and some magazines? Essentially people were getting so attached to EverQuest that they were showing all the signs of full addiction. There were people starving to death as they were so driven to play EverQuest that they would forget to sleep or eat. This is perhaps why so many games of the era have warnings about taking a break from the game, I remember the warning that would pop up during the loading screens of Baldur's Gate 2 "While your character doesn't need to eat YOU DO, remember to take breaks often" (or something like that). And yes, there were also accounts of people committing suicide over in game events. The EverQuest addiction got to the point that several support groups were set up to help people cope with the effects of video game addiction. The one I remember was "EverQuest Widows" which was essentially a support network of women who had divorced there husbands because they had been spending all their time playing EverQuest and were being lousy husbands and fathers.

 

The point is people do get very attached to there in game persona's, especially in MMO's. Given the history of addiction in these sorts of games, and the fact that people have actually died over in game events in the past, it would be irresponsible of Jagex not to take this kind of talk seriously.

 

With regards to the people saying that Jagex shouldn't interfere with peoples personal lives I feel that any person, whether they be a mod on a video game or a family member, have a responsibility to protect another person from harm if they have the ability to do so. I think that if the police showed up and stopped my son or daughter from hanging themselves over something so silly as not reaching a particular agility level (or whatever) I would be praising Jagex as a responsible company, not complaining that they tried to interfere with my private life via the police!

[das]

I'm going to pretend the story is true - but the timeline here has to be fabricated.

 

For starters I work for an ISP.

 

With an IP address alone - jagex has no clue where you live, they can geo-locate you to your city at best., but nothing like your personal address.

If they had an IP - They would have to call a provider. Even if the tech identified right away it's not a prank (happens often) - your regular email/phone contact guy isn't going to just be able to say "this IP belongs to customer X" That's unrealistic to give a front line guy that much power - they will NEVER need it.

 

For starters there is a load of confidentially laws involved with handing over that information (Contact info) got from the IP - I doubt an ISP would just "Give" jagex the name/address/phone of the person - Most ISP's would only hand that over with a warrant, it's not a selfish thing to do - You have to protect yourself in lawsuit happy america. thats a big opening for a lawsuit on the ISP side for the ISP - But even if they did - engineering would have to get that IP connected to a customer - and depending on the workload of that department that might take 20-30 minutes itself - lets not forget that at night or early in the morning it might take longer.

[Silver_Corner]

@ Above and everyone who was talking about the police arriving in 30 minutes, That's not what he said.

 

He was reported and muted within a half hour and what completely baffled me was that the police actually showed up at his door!

 

He said that he was reported and muted within 30 minutes, not that the police actually arrived to his house within 30 minutes. For all we know the police could of showed up at his house later that day. (Maybe 8-10 hours later).

 

OT: I think that its good that Jagex does this. Sometimes people don't know where to look to for help, even in their own household. So that 1% that is telling the truth may actually be saved.

 

Also, for those who joke around with subjects like this and have the police actually show up may think twice about joking around about it again. "The boy who cried wolf" comes to mind as an example.

[Big_Stingman]

Ah so now we know how to get Jagex's attention. Just say you are going to commit suicide. And then when the police come, say, "Yeah so um I have a message for the people that called you. Can you tell them to fix PVP and bring back unlimited trade limit? kthnxbai"

 

On a more serious note, I am kinda glad they look after their players. It's nice to know.

[Byzantine279]

meh, i suppose that is a bit excessive, but at least someone is taking all of the online bullying issues seriously.

[1230abcz]

I'm going to pretend the story is true - but the timeline here has to be fabricated.

 

For starters I work for an ISP.

 

With an IP address alone - jagex has no clue where you live, they can geo-locate you to your city at best., but nothing like your personal address.

If they had an IP - They would have to call a provider. Even if the tech identified right away it's not a prank (happens often) - your regular email/phone contact guy isn't going to just be able to say "this IP belongs to customer X" That's unrealistic to give a front line guy that much power - they will NEVER need it.

 

For starters there is a load of confidentially laws involved with handing over that information (Contact info) got from the IP - I doubt an ISP would just "Give" jagex the name/address/phone of the person - Most ISP's would only hand that over with a warrant, it's not a selfish thing to do - You have to protect yourself in lawsuit happy america. thats a big opening for a lawsuit on the ISP side for the ISP - But even if they did - engineering would have to get that IP connected to a customer - and depending on the workload of that department that might take 20-30 minutes itself - lets not forget that at night or early in the morning it might take longer.

 

 

I thought OP's story was fake, but I'll still believe it. Anyway, Jagex can get your phone number from your membership information or your home address with your billing stuff. It's not impossible, but the short response time seems off to me. Either way, I like the stance Jagex is taking. Good to know someone cares about something.

 

To the people ranting about Jagex's actions, depression works in stages. Anyone who can joke about suicide can commit it.

[Zierro]

To the people ranting about Jagex's actions, depression works in stages. Anyone who can joke about suicide can commit it.

 

Alternately, anyone claiming that they've had a bad day can commit it too.

[Dbzruler72]

I admit I'm impressed if this is true.

[Mightybigboo31]

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

 

Even if this was serious, how is that hilarious? Yeah, lets all laugh at the fact that some people have no one else out there to listen to them. Haha at other's misfortunes! You sir are ignorant. :^_^:

 

It's funny too that those who are saying "This is stupid!" or "Waste of police's time!" don't consider the fact that what if it was your child/brother/friend and it was serious? Would you consider it a waste of time then? :huh:

 

Also for those who don't realise it, I am posing a "What if?" situation. Granted I know this case wasn't serious.

[Mightybigboo31]

Before I head off to classes, maybe you can look at it from this (over-the-top) example:

 

For those of us who do live in the United States, you should know that since Christmas time, we have not had another terrorist attempt on US soil. Well how about this situation? Since the last person to attempt didn't honestly have a "bomb" on their person, lets just let the flight keep flying. Lets not land the plane unless we have proof of an actual bomb. Since I mean there is no actual proof, would it not be a waste of tax payer money, and time to land the plane and have the guy indicted?

 

My point that I am trying to make is that if JaGex doesn't do anything, they are in the wrong. If they do something about it, they could have saved a life.

[oXMutilateXo]

ive read every reply and frankly its just '' lool why would they get involved, waste of police time'' and '' jagex are right to do this, WHAT IF IT WOZ U !''

 

they BOTH make good points, only way to resolve this is they should read the past 5 mins of chat log and the 5 mins after they say it, and then make a rational decsion , which they probably dont, what happens now is probably '' HE SAID SUICIDE, SEND IN THE PIGZ!''

[Misterknowitall]

ive read every reply and frankly its just '' lool why would they get involved, waste of police time'' and '' jagex are right to do this, WHAT IF IT WOZ U !''

 

they BOTH make good points, only way to resolve this is they should read the past 5 mins of chat log and the 5 mins after they say it, and then make a rational decsion , which they probably dont, what happens now is probably '' HE SAID SUICIDE, SEND IN THE PIGZ!''

More like: "Call the Party Van!"

 

But yeah, I also think they should place those coments in the right context instead of calling the police because of a joke.

[91soldin91]

A person I know IRL also had this happen. He got his account banned for macroing (for like the fifth time) and in the appeal he said he felt like killing himself (he was joking). Later that day the police came to his house and brought him to the station until he didn't feel like killing himself. Needless to say that this kid is an idiot. But it really make you think about what you say in-game, thats for sure.

[Zierro]

ive read every reply and frankly its just '' lool why would they get involved, waste of police time'' and '' jagex are right to do this, WHAT IF IT WOZ U !''

 

they BOTH make good points, only way to resolve this is they should read the past 5 mins of chat log and the 5 mins after they say it, and then make a rational decsion , which they probably dont, what happens now is probably '' HE SAID SUICIDE, SEND IN THE PIGZ!''

 

I agree. A single mention of the word "suicide" shouldn't warrant an investigation.

 

I remember one time my brother was talking about the special move called "Spirit Bomb" from Dragon Ball Z and the teacher reported him for making a bomb threat. People really need to look at the context before making big leaps such as contacting the police.

 

Even if this was serious, how is that hilarious? Yeah, lets all laugh at the fact that some people have no one else out there to listen to them. Haha at other's misfortunes! You sir are ignorant. :^_^:

 

Why are so many people ignorant about the actual meaning of the word "ignorant"? :huh:

 

It's funny too that those who are saying "This is stupid!" or "Waste of police's time!" don't consider the fact that what if it was your child/brother/friend and it was serious? Would you consider it a waste of time then? :huh:

 

I've had it happen to someone close to me. From my experiences, contacting officials doesn't really help the situation. It made it worse. That's not to say they probably haven't helped some people before, but it's silly to think that the police are some kind of superheroes who magically have the power to get depressed strangers to appreciate life. I bet you that most people in that situation just lie about being happy and whatnot to get the police out of their hair. And like I said before, it can be humiliating. Sometimes people just want their friends and family to pay attention to them and getting the police involved is way more attention than they wanted.

[lionesshunt]

While I agree completely with what others have been saying- that Jagex reacted as any other human should, let's look at this situation from another point of view.

 

What if they hadn't done anything, and the boy had actually committed suicide? Not that the mainstream media cares much about Jagex, but the proposed situation would be the type of story that they love. "Major company ignore young boys plea for help and boy ends up dead." If Jagex hadn't reported this to the police and the boy had committed suicide and it was revealed that they had ignored the report, not only would there image be tarnished, but they could even have a lawsuit against them. In this sue-happy world that we live in it would not be unimaginable for the parents of the boy to try suing them- not that the parents would have a very strong case, but still.

 

I'd also like to point out a very similar story for all you doubters. A few years ago a young Dutch Runescape player was hacked and committed suicide. Apparently, before he went through with the act, he posted about it on a forum.

My link <- Link to forum post with full details (not the forum the boy posted goodbye message on)

[Masarius]

A person I know IRL also had this happen. He got his account banned for macroing (for like the fifth time) and in the appeal he said he felt like killing himself (he was joking). Later that day the police came to his house and brought him to the station until he didn't feel like killing himself. Needless to say that this kid is an idiot. But it really make you think about what you say in-game, thats for sure.

 

I am really not understanding the mind set of these posts that qualify a suicide threat with 'he was joking'. An email can not portray emotion or the fact that your being sarcastic, there is no little smile. raised eyebrow, giggle or anything like that at the end of the sentence suggesting you're joking - you can only take the words at face value. The person receiving the email does not necessarily know you are joking. Take this possible email for example:

 

"Dear Jagex,

I am writing to complain about the recent banning of my account. I have spent many hours and hundreds of dollars tailoring my account and you take it away from me for no reason at all! This has made me very upset and If you do not cancel the ban on my account I might go and kill myself!

-Hypotheticus"

 

Is the sarcasm in that hypothetical email obvious? Is it even there at all? Is the threat very serious? Who knows. Going back to my EverQuest example I used earlier I've done a little more research. The name of the man who killed himself was 21 year old Shawn Woolley. Essentially Shawn was a person who suffered from epilepsy and depression (amongst other things) but it is felt by some that an addiction to EverQuest is what pushed him over the edge. In fact he was playing EverQuest when he killed himself and the game was still running when he was found! A couple of articles relating to the death are here and here. Given that Shawns death can potentially be linked to playing an MMORPG, and Runescape is also a somewhat addictive MMORPG, Jagex have very logical grounds to take suicide threats seriously. Who knows if Hypertheticus in the above email is just some kid making a joke or another Shawn Woolley - a severely depressed individual that has just been pushed to the edge by being banned from a game he is addicted to?

 

To the people complaining that Jagex is wasting the Polices time, I think youre blaming the wrong people here. MMOs have a history of being destructive of peoples lives and so Jagex has both solid grounds and a responsibility to take these threats seriously. Its the polices job to protect people from harm even personal harm. The people who are wasting everyones time are those that are making the false claims of being suicidal.

[noble_aloof]

pics or it didnt happen

[Mightybigboo31]

Why are so many people ignorant about the actual meaning of the word "ignorant"? :huh:

 

And you are positive you know why I am calling him ignorant? I call him this because of the fact that he doesn't really care what anyone else thinks of the situation. He doesn't look at the situation from anyone's but his own ideal. I mean I do understand the other side of the situation, "JaGex shouldn't have made a rash decision," but what if they hadn't? :wink:

 

I've had it happen to someone close to me. From my experiences, contacting officials doesn't really help the situation. It made it worse. That's not to say they probably haven't helped some people before, but it's silly to think that the police are some kind of superheroes who magically have the power to get depressed strangers to appreciate life. I bet you that most people in that situation just lie about being happy and whatnot to get the police out of their hair. And like I said before, it can be humiliating. Sometimes people just want their friends and family to pay attention to them and getting the police involved is way more attention than they wanted.

 

My point is not that 'Oh the police are superheroes' but the fact that any kind of help, whether it be from officials, friends, or family, can potential strike that person in a positive way. In my eyes everything CAN make a difference but not to say that it will. Why not try and fail then to not try at all? Would you have honestly felt better if you didn't try to find them help but instead let it pass by? I don't think anyone would. Another point you make, 'Sometimes people just want their friends and family to pay attention to them and getting the police involved is way more attention than they wanted,' well consider the fact that some people also don't have anyone else to listen to them, which is sad in its own right but it happens. :-?

[Danqazmlp]

pics or it didnt happen

 

 

 

Can everybody please remember that suicide is a very serious topic, and that it can be very offensive to many people if others do not see it so. If people don't want to discuss it sensibly then they won't be allowed to discuss it.

 

Thanks.

[Giordano]

While I agree completely with what others have been saying- that Jagex reacted as any other human should, let's look at this situation from another point of view.

 

What if they hadn't done anything, and the boy had actually committed suicide? Not that the mainstream media cares much about Jagex, but the proposed situation would be the type of story that they love. "Major company ignore young boys plea for help and boy ends up dead." If Jagex hadn't reported this to the police and the boy had committed suicide and it was revealed that they had ignored the report, not only would there image be tarnished, but they could even have a lawsuit against them. In this sue-happy world that we live in it would not be unimaginable for the parents of the boy to try suing them- not that the parents would have a very strong case, but still.

But how many suicides get mentioned on the news? I mean, really. We have thousands of deaths, murderers, robberies, suicides, bad things in general, but not all that is on the news.

 

So about the media coverage, check that off. Because it's highly unlikely the media will even make a story for a suicide when the Edwards scandal is going on.