[Manic!]

Chinese father hires virtual hitman to kill sons online character.

BBC News - Gamers hired by father to 'kill' son in online games (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20931304)

Gamers hired by father to 'kill' son in online games

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.

"It's not going to do much for family relations," Prof Mark Griffiths, a gambling and addictions expert at Nottingham Trent University told the BBC.

"I've never heard of that kind of intervention before, but I don't think these top-down approaches work. Most excessive game playing is usually a symptom of an underlying problem."

Prof Griffiths said he heard from many parents who were worried about their children's gaming habits but often it was not an addiction.

"I've spent 25 years studying excessive video game playing," he said.

"I've come across very excessive players - playing for 10 to 14 hours a day - but for a lot of these people it causes no detrimental problems if they are not employed, aren't in relationships and don't have children.

"It's not the time you spend doing something, it's the impact it has on your life."

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.

"Being killed by someone happens all the time," she said.

"People are just like that online."

[XplicitLuder]

Heard it on sonic this morning. I lol'd
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[StylinRed]

lol

wasn't there a family guy or simpsons episode like that

[GLOW]

:considered: :accepted:

i like it :fullofwin:

[jeedee]

:lawl:

[Gumby]

Imagine the son vowed to play even harder so he could fight back against these "virtual hitmen".

[bcrdukes]

Imagine the son vowed to play even harder so he could fight back against these "virtual hitmen".

Or take it to the very extreme. I recall some news reports where kids end up taking their own lives. :badpokerface:

[Noir]

Omg! haha. Whether that was ultimately effective or not... he still gets props for creative parenting.

:lol

[Horditruck]

ROFL, this is hilarious. I could never imagine someones father hiring a virtual hitman to do that haha

[Drow]

Cut the internet u noob

[Ulic Qel-Droma]

the dad has to hire several guilds to constantly harass him and body camp him.

imagine having 150+ people constantly stalk you in a game.


lol. sounds like something i'd do to my son for fun.

"son, that dickwad is me."

[StylinRed]

Cut the internet u noob

he'll just go to an icafe

[toyobaru]

Im still at a loss as to how people can spend 10+ hours a day gaming their ass off, spending night and day on a computer chair. I have a good handful of close friends who have an excessive gaming problem. They get all emotional if someone goofs up. For example Dota or League of Legends. They start raging and yelling.

I think excessive gamers who have this problem have a superiority complex due to a lack of social acceptance or personal success. By that they thrive on climbing to the top of a virtual reality. But lets face it being number one in your video game isnt gonna help you find a job.

I give this pops props for being creative. Had the right idea but gotta take it a step further and body camp his kids character. haha

[SkinnyPupp]

He hired someone to troll his son on WoW... What he should have done is hire someone to log into his account and steal all his gold and items

[yogenfruz]

He hired someone to troll his son on WoW... What he should have done is hire someone to log into his account and steal all his gold and items

Someone probably would have been stabbed if that happened.
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[b0unce. [?]]

Has he ever called just tried turning off the computer, pulling his kid aside and hitting him?
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[GLOW]

he needed to make a point and rip out his heart....in game....:lol

[optiblue]

lol that's awesome!
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[Manic!]

Someone should start a site were you can hire virtual hitman.

[twitchyzero]

Is WoW persistent as in you lose your items as you die?

Otherwise wtf is the point?

[Graeme S]

More detailed version: Father Hires In-Game "Hitmen" To Deter Son From Playing (http://kotaku.com/5972406/father-hires-in+game-hitmen-to-deter-son-from-playing)

Sick and tired of his son playing video games and not listening to him, a father in China decided to take matters into his own hands... well, sort of. Instead of sending his son off to addiction camp or stripping him of internet and gaming rights, Mr. Feng (冯先生) chose to hire an online "hitman" to school his son.

Feng's 23 year-old son, "Xiao Feng" (小冯) started playing video games in high school. Through his years of playing various online games, he supposedly thought himself a master of Chinese online role playing games. According to his father, Xiao Feng had terrible grades in school because of his gaming habit; he couldn't even land a job. He, however, says he simply couldn't find any work that he liked. Feng was annoyed that his son couldn't even tough it out for three months at a software development company.

Unhappy with his son not finding a job, Feng decided to hire players in his son's favorite online games to hunt down Xiao Feng. It is unknown where or how Feng found the in-game assassins—every one of the players he hired were stronger and higher leveled than Xiao Feng. Feng's idea was that his son would get bored of playing games if he was killed every time he logged on, and that he would start putting more effort into getting a job.

Despite being sick of getting killed every time, Xiao Feng decided to stick up to his father and tell him how he felt. He was quoted as saying, "I can play or I can not play, it doesn't bother me. I'm not looking for any job—I want to take some time to find one that suits me."

Hearing his son's earnest plea, Feng said that he was "relieved". It's unsure if Feng has called off his assassins or if Xiao Feng has found a job. One thing's for sure; Feng's way of deterring his son from playing games might be one of the best ideas to come out of China recently, particularly as reactions to "gaming and internet addiction" have been very extreme.
Original Sauce: ¸¸Ç׹͡°¸ßÊÖ¡±ÍøÓÎÖÐ׷ɱ¶ù×ÓÒÔÖÆÖ¹ÆäÍæÓÎÏ·--ÈËÃñÍøÓÎÏ·_×îȨÍþÖÐÎÄÓÎÏ·ÍøÕ¾--ÈËÃñÍø (http://game.people.com.cn/n/2012/1228/c48662-20041705.html)

[SB7]

http://i.imgur.com/XqOBz.jpg

[Ronin]

What if he was on a PVE server?

Hitman: "...well, um...so this is awkward..."