[Godeskian]

Long story short. One of the players of World of Warcraft died, and some of his online aquaintences decided to hold an E-funeral for him.

'Serenity Now' one of the guilds apparently got wind of it, and learned that all the participants were planning on coming unarmed to this event, and on a PVP server no less, and 'SN' decided to crash the party.

Please note, the video is not work safe.

http://video.google....876573666&q=pvp

I have somewhat mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I think what they did is incredibly crass and insensetive, but on the other hand, anyone wandering around on a PVP server unarmed, for whatever reason is asking to get killed. Plus i'm not sure how I feel about the idea of an online funeral.

anyway, I saw this and thought to myself, that it was somethign worth discussing.

[Enkanowen]

shows you how sick people can be if they know they can get away with it.

[Godeskian]

Enkanowen, on Mar 17 2006, 01:38 AM, said:

shows you how sick people can be if they know they can get away with it.

Well yeah, but to be honest the whole point of PVP servers is that you can kill other PC's. I agree it's sick, but at the same time walking around unarmed in the one type of enviroment where you can be killed is kind of dumb.

[Enkanowen]

yeah and then making a video about it... I dunno... the internet is bringing out people's perverseness when it comes to cruelty and such. It disgusts me.

[Narc]

Godeskian, on Mar 17 2006, 01:39 AM, said:

Enkanowen, on Mar 17 2006, 01:38 AM, said:

shows you how sick people can be if they know they can get away with it.

Well yeah, but to be honest the whole point of PVP servers is that you can kill other PC's. I agree it's sick, but at the same time walking around unarmed in the one type of enviroment where you can be killed is kind of dumb.

I'm inclined to agree with you, but I'm not sure whether or not I do... you can be killed (or harmed physically or verbally assaulted or whatever) when attending a funeral in real life, as well... maybe it would be better put that this is going on in an environment when other players are encouraged to kill you.

Honestly I think in the spirit of the game they should've had a fragfest instead of a peaceful commemoration - their friend would probably have approved.

Eh... I don't have enough feeling left in me to worry about this - I'm using all my emotion elsewhere. And logic doesn't say anything one way or the other. So I suppose this comment is pretty much useless. So be it.

[D'Monix]

I know most of the guys in this guild, they're out of a forum board i hang out at.

true, twas crass and insensitive. but on the other hand the area the funeralgoers were in is one of the most hotly contested PVP zones in the server, they really should have chosen a scenic place out of the way, and then not broadcasted their location to the server as a whole on chat and on the forum boards.

[Corwin]

Tasteless, yes. Disrespectful, yes. But man, I still enjoyed it... it was classic.
Mafia funerals, Scottish/English peace talks.... lots of fantasy or sci-fi plots.... happens all the time.... Still doesn't make it right, but.... as Gode said, it's a PVP server, so what's right got to do with it?

Sometimes its fun being a bad guy, almost especially if you're an a$$h%le doing it...

Of course, Paybacks are going to be a B*tch!!! and that group has justly earned whatever comes their way.

Corwin

[Dev F]

Corwin, on Mar 16 2006, 11:44 PM, said:

Tasteless, yes. Disrespectful, yes. But man, I still enjoyed it... it was classic.
Mafia funerals, Scottish/English peace talks.... lots of fantasy or sci-fi plots.... happens all the time.... Still doesn't make it right, but.... as Gode said, it's a PVP server, so what's right got to do with it?

"Right" isn't something that can be escaped, though. Yeah, it's just a game, but the people playing it are real, and when you cross the line between making war on their fantasy characters, and harrassing and humiliating the individuals behind those characters, you've wronged them, plain and simple.

[LiberalBob]

PVP is player vs player right? I'm not into that stuff and know very little about it but I know the basics.

The guy who died, died in the REAL world, right? It's odd, in a way, I would see no problem with it if the guy only died in the game and they killed them while they were holding a funeral for his Warcraft character. But these guys were presumably from different locations, from what I gather, and couldn't attend a real world funeral so chose this method to honor him in a game the dead guy enjoyed. So it is very crass that they chose that time to perform their mass execution.

The funeral goers weren't smart not to carry weapons but is nothing sacred? It's just a game only explains away their behavior to a point. It says something about their character that they would do that when they knew the guys were paying respects to someone who had really died.

Then again, an online funeral truly shows we are living in new times. What does one wear to an online funeral? Basic black? They obviously had a discussion about whether to carry weapons or not. I'm sorry, but this is making me laugh. It's touching that they wanted to pay respects in that way but just thinking about the convo, "Should we carry our weapons or not", something about that is funny and scary at the same time.

Video games and the internet do seem to bring out the mean spirited side of people. Some people claim it's a form of release but it makes one wonder. Sometimes about where what people feel the need to release is coming from inside.

I think it was beyond tacky.

This post has been edited by Ceasar of the Stars: 17 March 2006 - 03:13 PM

[sierraleone]

^ the funeral or crashing it?

[Redshirt #24]

I actually don't mind the idea of folks in cyberspace getting together to pay respects to a person in "realspace" that way. It's a little odd, perhaps, but I suppose it's good that people still feel, you know?

And having said that...I tend to agree with you, Ceasar. Since the concept of PvP as implemented here means that the more enemies you kill the higher your player's "rank" (reputation, after a fashion) gets, it was probably inevitable that someone would get a group together and show up with weapons drawn to get some easy points...but that doesn't mean Serenity Now (or whichever subgroup of it was involved) wasn't being a bunch of complete jerks.

[Dev F]

Redshirt #24, on Mar 17 2006, 09:33 AM, said:

And having said that...I tend to agree with you, Ceasar. Since the concept of PvP as implemented here means that the more enemies you kill the higher your player's "rank" (reputation, after a fashion) gets, it was probably inevitable that someone would get a group together and show up with weapons drawn to get some easy points...

But "world PvP" -- killing enemy players you come across in outdoor areas, instead of in designated "battlegrounds" -- yields comparatively small amounts of the "honor points" required to gain rank. If these guys were really interested in scoring some quick honor, they would've gotten a good Warsong Gulch team together and played a few games of capture the flag.

No, this was about harrassment, plain and simple.

[MuseZack]

Ah, the Internet, where anonymity and little threat of real-world violence lead to ever more creative ways for sociopathic douchebags to express their inner natures.

[Redshirt #24]

Well, when you put it that way...

[QueenTiye]

Well... this sounds vicious to me. From what I heard - it sounds like some people just don't "Get" the whole "empathy/sympathy" thing...

Anyway - I thought this had something to do with the whole Phelps garbage, until I realized this topic was in General Media. Now that I see what it is - how cool...if when my time comes, and I'm still a member of online communities, I hope someone has an online funeral for me! (Albeit, in a safe location, away from gatecrashers there to be mean...)

QT

[Corwin]

MuseZack, on Mar 17 2006, 10:17 AM, said:

Ah, the Internet, where anonymity and little threat of real-world violence lead to ever more creative ways for sociopathic douchebags to express their inner natures.

Zack, anyone ever tell you that you have a way with words?


Corwin

[Cardie]

MuseZack, on Mar 17 2006, 11:17 AM, said:

Ah, the Internet, where anonymity and little threat of real-world violence lead to ever more creative ways for sociopathic douchebags to express their inner natures.

It really dismays how widespread these impulses seem to be. I think there may be something to this original sin stuff. Or at least gives Hobbes bragging rights over Rousseau.

Cardie

[Natolii]

It is crass, but it is also a risk you take when you participate on a PVP server. Looks like the funeral goers were trolling for trouble by broadcasting over the General Chat channels. Unless it is manually shut off by the player, Everyone on the server can see the message.

I have participated in on-line memorials when a player we knew died RL when I was playing on Ultima. As was stated before, it is a way to remember the good times with that player especially if you cannot physically attend the actual funeral.

[LaughingVulcan]

I know comparitively little about WoW (both my nephews play) - I always settled for Runescape myself... Could they have their memorial on a non-PVP server? Seems like if so, then they were just asking for trouble. (Of course, even then there'dve been cretins coming in to shout their heads off, I'm sure.)

But, I once did a wedding in Runescape. It was great fun, and the couple involved had a great couple of months playing together playing 'married.' Then they had an argument and split up. Just like real life

[woody000]

... one more thing for the list of reasons why I hate PvP servers.