PSA: Do not threaten suicide to Blizzard customer support

A 17-year-old Ohio gamer was arrested Monday after he allegedly threatened to commit suicide to a Blizzard customer service rep, presumably over World of Warcraft. The rep called 911 and the boy was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor. The police report says the juvenile's excuse was that it was a joke to get "what he wanted" in the game. He'll appear in court Jan. 6.

Although some might find Blizzard's response in calling 911 a bit extreme, just imagine the mess that would have resulted had the kid gone through with it. Regardless, we've learned that telling your MMO's customer support rep about your impending suicide is a bad idea (much like suicide, kids!). They have your account information and know where you live.

[Via GamePolitics]

Reader Comments (68)

Gotta love how World of Warcraft ruined Blizzard.

Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and the next-gen MMO say Heeeellllloooo!!! lol

I used to do phone support for a couple of now-defunct (read: swallowed up by Comcast) cable companies in the area, and it amazed me how frequently people would threaten to do illegal stuff AFTER giving us all their info.

"Tell me where you're located!"

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to come there and kick your ass!"

"Umm...how about no? Maybe you could just pay your bill on time?"

"YOU HEAR ME?! I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS!"

"I also heard you ask me where I am, so you aren't going to do that because you can't find me. But I know exactly where 123 Main St. is..."

"WHAT?!"

"Is there anything else I can do for you today, sir?"

*click*

If you're ready to DIE to get that last piece of T8, you NEED to be reported to the authorities. Lord only knows what might happen if you go out in public!

I love the Dog, I have a Black one..Pugs are the best damn dogs in the world...

Those of you overreacting about him being arrested are missing the point. Like the guy who used to be a GM said, they have to take suicide reports seriously. This dude said he was going to kill himself, the GM calls 911 to get him some help. The important thing is that the kid himself told cops it was just a joke, and THAT gets you arrested.

"...just imagine the mess that would have resulted had the kid gone through with it."

The world would be one WoW addict better off?

That kid trying to get Bob's Game released on the DS should give this whole suicide angle a shot.

Brats like this are why I don't often play WoW. There's no role-playing in that game; It's a bunch of people treating the game like MySpace with fantasy avatars. Bleh.

And now that City of Heroes is going OS X, I get all the MMO I need. Even CoH has its share of idiot kids, but the number is much lower.

I don't usually comment on posts, except for Joyswag of course, but this one is serious. I think that Joystiq's tone on this one is a little wrong. First of all, suicide is very serious and shouldn't be taken so lightly; maybe this is personal, but whatever. Second of all NO ONE should ever maliciously and deceptively threaten suicide. And last, please do not suggest that blizzard did the wrong thing. It was win-win: they covered their legal asses, and/or did their part to prevent a potential suicide.

Vote me down or mock me if you want...I could really care less (really).

What an absolute tool. Threatening suicide? If the kid was that much of a spoiled brat, he'd be doing us a favour. That's not even something you joke about. What an absolute shmuck...he should have his account deleted.
Kudos to the Blizzard rep for doing the right thing. Maybe next time he can argue using INTELLIGENCE (remember that, kids?) if he can't get what he wants.

Its nice to know the Blizzard is looking out for us and actually takes action. Seriously, that is nice.

why

How does one take away his own life if one has none to begin with?

WTF happenned to freedom of speech, America is getting sadder by the day, im going to canada screw this, you dont even have the right to die

lolz0r lrn 2 SCOTUS n00b.

Freedom comes withthe responsibility of not abusing that freedom. I have the right to own a gun, and the responsibility of knowing when to use it. But if I abuse that right, I go to jail. The same goes for free speech. If I shout fire in a movie theater and cause a panic, I go to jail. If I threaten suicide casually, I go to jail. Just because you have the right to say something, doesn't mean you should.

why would someone do something like that?? i bet this guy's account was suspended or has lost thousands of wow gold. ;)

PSA: Do not threaten suicide to Blizzard customer support

Reader Comments (68)

Posted: Jan 1st 2009 3:20AM (Unverified) said

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