Lineage II clan rivalry ends in real life murder
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Jan 20th 2008 at 1:30PM }
We've all faced off against some frustrating adversary in an online game; be it a sword-hogging, trash-talking, rabid teabagger on Halo 3; or a cocky member of a rival faction in an MMORPG. However, the boundaries established between virtual enemies are never impermeable, and when online rivals decide to settle their differences in a real world context, the result is almost always tragic -- as was the case for Albert, a 33-year-old Lineage II player who was allegedly beaten to death by a vindictive member of an opposing clan.
Albert is survived by his sister Albina, a fellow member of Albert's Platanium clan, who reports that she's received a number of death threats from members of her brother's alleged murderer's guild, the Coo-clocks clan. Considering this is Russia's second Lineage II related murder in one year, perhaps warring clans and other sparring members of the gaming community should momentarily cool their jets and firmly reestablish those necessary borders between video games and reality.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
RudyHuxtable @ Jan 20th 2008 1:36PM
Showing up to a real-life "rumble" after getting whooped in game is already pretty stupid, but to kill someone over it? Wow. Worse still, there are continued death threats after the young man died? What really is there to say?
Kamizar @ Jan 20th 2008 3:14PM
Next time have more than basic armor and weapon equips, and try to bring some hate reducing items aswell...
Chris @ Jan 20th 2008 3:35PM
"What really is there to say?"
We're destroying your abusive clan =)
GI-Joe @ Jan 20th 2008 1:38PM
How stupid can one get?
Limezor @ Jan 20th 2008 1:39PM
You know what I do when people start being dicks? Turn off the game.
Mr Khan @ Jan 20th 2008 1:41PM
Russia is the new wild, wild west
CJC @ Jan 20th 2008 1:51PM
Alternate theory: Russia is freaking insane.
JakubK666 @ Jan 20th 2008 2:41PM
Realistic theory: Russia is hell drunk.
The further to the East, the more drunk people are. I'm Polish so think about it.
UK
GreyFox @ Jan 20th 2008 2:41PM
I know someone from Russia and it's getting /real/ bad living there.
Cal @ Jan 20th 2008 2:57PM
Is it just me or are game related killings moving west? I remember hearing about killings over games in Korea last year, this year it's Russia...
jovin6 @ Jan 20th 2008 4:34PM
@GreyFox
Don't be silly. It's only getting better and better to live there.
Think about what was it was like in the early 90s, after the Soviet Union collapsed. Then think about how shitty it was in the 70s. And what about the 30s, when Stalin established the Gulags.
Mr Khan @ Jan 20th 2008 4:52PM
It is getting better, even as the political environment gets more restrictive
I believe that European Russia (i.e. West of the Urals and North of the Caucasus) now has a standard of living which is fitting for a European nation, and their economy is 9th on Earth, ahead of Canada
Killswitch On @ Jan 20th 2008 11:54PM
Talk bad about Russia and crimes all you want. But are you guys not aware of all the insane and heinous crimes that occur here in the U.S.?
Why dont you start tuning into the news once or twice a week. There's plenty of evil happening in our own country as well.
Todd @ Jan 21st 2008 10:13AM
This Just In: Russia IS insane!
BIGGEN @ Jan 20th 2008 1:46PM
“Beat everything that moves, and everything that doesn’t move - move and beat!”
what the hell does this even mean?
NATO_Duke @ Jan 21st 2008 9:49AM
That they're idiots.
Nigeria @ Jan 20th 2008 1:48PM
Games aren't that serious. They're tools to relieve boredom. How can somebody be so attached to a virtual world that you'll shed another persons blood for it. How empty must their lives be.
This saddens me.
Actually, I don't think this has anything to do with video games. This is a case of unfocused testosterone.
Reading the article, some of these gamers seem like brutes.
Investing so much time in something which is not tangible is s pointless exercise.
MMORPGS are weird, or the people they attract are weird.
sheppy2.0 @ Jan 20th 2008 1:56PM
I've played a lot of MMOs and frankly, they are not weird. You do get a sense of community in them. However, people who take games like this to THAT much of an extreme are weird. Especially when they name their little gang the coo-clocks.
Trickob @ Jan 20th 2008 1:49PM
while we gamers widen our eyes in shock at this terrible news, i can see the jack thompsons and kevin mcgallows (sp?) of the world smiling, licking their lips and rubbing their hands in satisfaction that FINALLY, somewhere, someone actually comitted a violent act in real life because of a videogame...
I hope people will stop being stupid and this guy's sister is ok.
playwhutyalike @ Jan 20th 2008 1:50PM
Here is the whole problem with this: They agreed to meet each other to settle this. The "victim" wasn't hunted down. So, fuck em both.
tc @ Jan 20th 2008 2:04PM
i doubt death was an intended outcome. Regardless, not having some sympathy, at least for the familes of those involved, is just callous.
playwhutyalike @ Jan 20th 2008 2:54PM
I didn't say "fuck both of their families".
playwhutyalike @ Jan 20th 2008 2:57PM
“I think they have confused the game and reality. And after we buried him on December 31, they continued to threaten us,” Albert’s sister Albina says.
The alleged murderer hasn't shown regret and hasn't justified himself. 22-year-old student just calmly explained why he killed his opponent.
Yeah, I'm the heartless one.
lilguy @ Jan 20th 2008 2:01PM
IN SOVIET RUSSIA...
Nah, that's kinda old... But still, killing people over a online rivalry? That's just kinda taking it too far.
sp @ Jan 20th 2008 2:06PM
If you're being a dick online, it doesn't make you a "virtual dick", it makes you a dick. And if you piss someone off enough and then agree to waive your tiny shred of online anonymity and meet them face to face, it shows you've got the IQ that people you've been a dick to expect you to have.
Not saying this is what happened here or specifically trying to blame the victim, just speculating. Obviously, the fucktard that killed him deserves his own special fate.
Bluebrake @ Jan 20th 2008 2:56PM
Very true. So often people say that game worlds aren't real, and therefore nothing that happens in them is real. But guess what? When it's online, those aren't bots you're dealing with -- they're *real* people, which means that it matters.
Killing someone over this is stupid, but no more stupid than most of the things people are killed over.
WiNG @ Jan 20th 2008 2:04PM
That is beyond fucked up.
Kamizar @ Jan 20th 2008 2:20PM
That's the first time i've ever heard of a mob having an aggro range outside the dungeon...
BananaBoat @ Jan 20th 2008 2:24PM
When real money is at stake, as it often is in MMORPG's, it's no wonder that it eventually comes to this. I'm not saying that it's always money, but as a veteran of the early MMORPG's, I can't say I'm in any way surprised.
ShankShank @ Jan 20th 2008 2:26PM
Yeah, its sad and all that someone died. But at some point, things go beyond being called a "tragedy". Things like this are just so ridiculous that I cant help but laugh at this farce.
TWiNKiE @ Jan 20th 2008 5:05PM
Agreed. I mean who agrees to meet up somewhere just to argue with people you really hate? Sounds dumb to me, which is why I LoL'd my way through this article.
Obie @ Jan 20th 2008 2:26PM
In Soviet Russia game kills you!
playwhutyalike @ Jan 20th 2008 3:06PM
Family Guy Reference! +1 internets!
PointyThings @ Jan 20th 2008 3:16PM
Damnit it was Yakov Smirnoff. He started the "In Soviet Russia..." thing, Family Guy referenced HIM.
playwhutyalike @ Jan 20th 2008 4:08PM
Oh no, I didn't know that, sorry to make you upset Pointy Things, now go choke somewhere.
Ryoga Vee @ Jan 20th 2008 6:08PM
Hahahah...
playwhutyalike @ Jan 20th 2008 7:27PM
Sorry for being such an ass, I bought my friends PS2 for really cheap with GTA SA and I forgot how much I suck at video games.
Todd @ Jan 21st 2008 10:16AM
@playwhutyalike
What does buying a used PS2 have to do with being an ass? Hopefully you didn't choke your friend for this.
KushielsScion007 @ Jan 20th 2008 2:29PM
Thats so NOT Laguna...
finnith @ Jan 20th 2008 2:33PM
That's just sad.
GRANTED @ Jan 21st 2008 10:30AM
the real tragedy is that a 33 year old had spent the majority of his final years of life playing an mmorpg
konajinx @ Jan 20th 2008 3:00PM
To quote a really shitt and pompous Sting tune, "I hope the Russians love their children, too." Jesus, that's a really, really terrible song.
Slaziman @ Jan 20th 2008 3:18PM
So there are clans full of sociopaths on Lineage II? KK, I'll be sure to avoid.
Superstar90 @ Jan 20th 2008 5:54PM
Did you read the last bit of the article?
"And a twenty-year-old from Petrosavodsk killed his grandmother after she interrupted his game calling him to eat."
I think the guy killing his own grandma is 1000x worse than a guy killing some random internet dude. Some people need help, like seriously.
Slaziman @ Jan 20th 2008 11:07PM
What the hell, that's just crazy.
Goddamn addicts. Who the hell is capable of hitting an ancient woman anyway?
Ryoga Vee @ Jan 20th 2008 6:05PM
Did He Drop Any Good Loot?
Ryoga Vee @ Jan 20th 2008 6:07PM
OK, no seriously, this is sad, but videos games is not the issue here, this person was already messed up in the head.
ThornedVenom @ Jan 20th 2008 6:41PM
You have no idea how much I hate that "joke" to death.
Ryoga Vee @ Jan 20th 2008 6:49PM
About at much as the Wii photo of the girls busted eye.
svenhoek @ Jan 20th 2008 6:40PM
Ya its tragic blah blah...
Heres what im wondering, how did a MMORPG nerd BEAT someone to death? I didnt know any of us were that strong :\