Chinese dad hires virtual hitmen to try and end son's video games addiction

[Lights]

A man in China hired virtual "assassins" to hunt down his son in online video games and kill off his avatar, according to local media.

The man, named by the Kotako East blog as Mr Feng, was concerned about the amount of time his 23-year-old unemployed son was spending online.

He hoped his actions would deter his son from playing the games, he is reported to have said.

His son eventually asked one of the gamers why they kept targeting him.

Father and son are said to have reconciled but World of Warcraft expert Olivia Grace said she did not think Mr Feng's actions would necessarily act as a deterrent.

Full story here. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20931304)

I thought this was quite amusing. The lengths some parents will go to, eh? I think I'm just imagining something like a World of Warcraft Mafia style gang surrounding this guy, wanting to kill his character off so they can claim their bounty which is actually real life money. :P

But, as I'm sure they'd say:

It's nothing personal, it's just business. :cool:

[Lost in the Echo]

Haha, that's fucked up. This is not what I expected to read when I saw the title, I thought the hitman was going to attempt to kill the son in real life. Good thing it was just in a video game. :P

[Infidelitas]

Why the fuck would you bother?

Just ban him off the computer if you think it's that bad.

[Steve Jobs]

That's pretty hilarious :P

[Mirage]

This is actually really funny, but it's an outside the box approach to say it in the nicest way possible

[PinkFloyd]

Haha, that's fucked up. This is not what I expected to read when I saw the title, I thought the hitman was going to attempt to kill the son in real life. Good thing it was just in a video game. :P

That's EXACTLY what I thought! :D

[Jupiter]

LOL this made me giggle.

[Castle of Glass]

Well, i can see this happening, but in reality(might not work as his son is over 18) he could ask Blizzard to ban his account. And in Theory, the dad is breaking one of the world's main MMO rules. No real life trading(paying for something and so on)

[FreeFall]

See, most people around here would either a) unplug the Tv, consoles and computers/take away the laptop battery and charger. b) kick their mooching adult child out c)give up and continue to raise adult child.

This dad was pretty clever to try and kill his son's avatar via his own game ; D

[Castle of Glass]

See, most people around here would either a) unplug the Tv, consoles and computers/take away the laptop battery and charger. b) kick their mooching adult child out c)give up and continue to raise adult child.

This dad was pretty clever to try and kill his son's avatar via his own game ; D

well, my parents have tried all except b. My parents know that i love computers and stuff so they let me do what i do, but they make sure i sleep, eat and stay in shape. But then again, we are talking about asia. Did you know, that in South Korea, people run away from home just to play games like WoW(world of warcraft) and LoL(league of legends).

[FreeFall]

well, my parents have tried all except b. My parents know that i love computers and stuff so they let me do what i do, but they make sure i sleep, eat and stay in shape. But then again, we are talking about asia. Did you know, that in South Korea, people run away from home just to play games like WoW(world of warcraft) and LoL(league of legends).
I do now. That's weird to me. I'm starting to judge us even more now. Hardcore gamers man. I'm all for loving your hobby but when it controls your life...not so much.

[Hypers]

that dad clearly has no idea on how a game works..... and has no idea on how to parent properly...

[StoneColdNicky]

That's really cool.

[Mortal Coil]

I know a lot of you find this funny and I can see why but I'm not in a funny mood right now so I'll just say that it sounds like the son was a real loser.

[Castle of Glass]

I do now. That's weird to me. I'm starting to judge us even more now. Hardcore gamers man. I'm all for loving your hobby but when it controls your life...not so much.

well, it doesn't control me like it does with some of the asian community. it is just i want to make a career out of Game Development(working on a game currently) but i do have rules. Like i can't play during the week. unless it is a special day(minimum day or holiday). I can stop if i want to, but i rarely want to if i am in a 5+ winning streak in LoL

[Derv]

Ugh... I could imagine my dad doing that..

[Guillermo]

I know a lot of you find this funny and I can see why but I'm not in a funny mood right now so I'll just say that it sounds like the son was a real loser.

Did you not care to think a little bit when you posted? A lot of your posts in the Daily Chronicle and Ramblings point to little reasoning and thinking. The man was obviously addicted to the game. There are causes of addictions. And being "a real loser" isn't one of them.

[Melkor]

23 years old unemployed son ??? That's ridiculous , he can kick his son out of the house instead of wasting money on some virtual assassins . ( I don't remember Chinese people have been doing this , or have they ? )
Well , I enjoy dying in the games my self :D , like what the heck is this father trying to do ? It might even addict his so to the games too .
Well , I no longer play WOW , the game got so boring after Cataclysm released , at least I'm not facing these problems :P

[Castle of Glass]

Did you not care to think a little bit when you posted? A lot of your posts in the Daily Chronicle and Ramblings point to little reasoning and thinking. The man was obviously addicted to the game. There are causes of addictions. And being "a real loser" isn't one of them.

you are in for a bad time.

23 years old unemployed son ??? That's ridiculous , he can kick his son out of the house instead of wasting money on some virtual assassins . ( I don't remember Chinese people have been doing this , or have they ? )
Well , I enjoy dying in the games my self :D , like what the heck is this father trying to do ? It might even addict his so to the games too .
Well , I no longer play WOW , the game got so boring after Cataclysm released , at least I'm not facing these problems :P

well, maybe not Chinese people, but a lot of Korean ppl do it.

[Mortal Coil]

Did you not care to think a little bit when you posted? A lot of your posts in the Daily Chronicle and Ramblings point to little reasoning and thinking. The man was obviously addicted to the game. There are causes of addictions. And being "a real loser" isn't one of them.

He was 23 and not employed. I never said that being a real loser was the cause of his addiction. I said that from what the article said, he sounded like a loser. Furthermore, the article doesn't actually say how long the man spent playing video games, so you are not in any position to determine whether or not he was in fact addicted and from the tone of the article I doubt he was - true addictions are not usually "fixed" in the time period or with the limited assistance implied by the source.

[Guillermo]

He was 23 and not employed.

And what exactly does that imply? Some people are 43 and not employed and others are 63 and not employed. So what are you trying to get after? He may be looking for work but at the same time he may not be able to find employment. Sometimes that happens in the real world. There could be a whole load of other reasons why he isn't employed. You don't know his life.

I never said that being a real loser was the cause of his addiction. I said that from what the article said, he sounded like a loser.

Nice. So if someone's in their 20s, sounds like this guy, and they're excessively playing video games, then they're a loser. Cool. That's one point lost for faith in humanity. As I said above, you don't personally know this man. He could have had other problems within his life that were tied to his excessive gaming.

Furthermore, the article doesn't actually say how long the man spent playing video games, so you are not in any position to determine whether or not he was in fact addicted and from the tone of the article I doubt he was - true addictions are not usually "fixed" in the time period or with the limited assistance implied by the source.

Eh, call it whatever you'd like; addiction, obsession, hook, etc. Though the article did say that the father and son "reconciled" it also said:

World of Warcraft expert Olivia Grace said she did not think Mr Feng's actions would necessarily act as a deterrent.

And by the way, the word you are looking for in "true addictions" is dependency. That's when you're psychologically hooked thus making the addiction harder to overcome. Who knows, he may or may not have been psychologically addicted. Either way, it does seem that he was addicted to gaming but maybe not 'truly' addicted.

[Mortal Coil]

You don't know his life.
Well then honey, I take it you do?

Nice. So if someone's in their 20s, sounds like this guy, and they're excessively playing video games, then they're a loser. Cool. That's one point lost for faith in humanity. As I said above, you don't personally know this man. He could have had other problems within his life that were tied to his excessive gaming.
I didn't say that. The man is pissing his life away playing video games instead of trying to get a job. I'm entitled to my opinion, and I'd ask you to stop twisting my words. I said that this particular man sounds like a loser. I did not say that every guy in their twenties who plays video games is necessarily a loser.

He could have had other problems within his life that were tied to his excessive gaming.
That may be true, but I'm just going by what the article said. From that information - the facts that I as a reader was given - I came to the conclusion that he sounded like a loser. Had I been given any information whatsoever about these potential problems in the man's past, my answer would have been different because I would have been responding to different material.

[Guillermo]

Well then honey, I take it you do?

No, 'honey', I don't. I'm just saying that you don't. Neither do I. All I'm saying is that you don't know his life and what he could be going through. That's all.

I didn't say that. The man is pissing his life away playing video games instead of trying to get a job.

And where did it say that he wasn't trying to get a job in the article? Where? As I said before, he might be looking for a job and may not be able to get hired.

I'm entitled to my opinion, and I'd ask you to stop twisting my words. I said that this particular man sounds like a loser. I did not say that every guy in their twenties who plays video games is necessarily a loser.

Obviously, you are entitled to your opinion. And I'm entitled to my opinion to call you out on how 'wonderfully' thought provoking your response was.


Had I been given any information whatsoever about these potential problems in the man's past, my answer would have been different because I would have been responding to different material.

You were; just not exactly about the man's past or possible problems:

Most excessive game playing is usually a symptom of an underlying problem.

Just understand this: I wanted you to see from a different, less judgmental viewpoint.

[Skyline]

hahahaha i love it!!!

[Jess]

Haha who knew.

Now if only my dad (and yes we're Chinese) -- would use his computer skills to persuade my little brother from playing Minecraft so much >_>

[Mortal Coil]

Just understand this: I wanted you to see from a different, less judgmental viewpoint.

I judge based on the information I have. It's how human beings operate. Your claim that your viewpoint is "less judgmental" is really just you saying that you have inferred nothing about the man's character from the facts given.