I don’t know what it is about online role-playing games, but they seem to attract the weirder side of life. I’m not talking about the socially withdrawn people, who find social interaction difficult when face-to-face, no, this is more about the ones who are just outright strange. This story should illustrate my point quite well.

A woman in Japan has been arrested over a murder related to a popular game in Asia called Maplestory. Its the usual kind of fare – quests, killing beasties and the like – but it has also taken a leaf out of other games by replicating real life with things like relationships and marriages. So, of course, the murder didn’t happen in real life – it happened in the game.

She was ‘married’ to a Japanese man who also played the game, and although the two had never met in real life, it seemed all was well. That was until he ‘divorced’ her, with apparently no warning. “I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry” was her line when asked about it by police. Maybe he ran off with another e-woman?

Essentially, she gained access to his account through login details she had obtained when they were closer in-game, and proceeded to kill his character. Of course this means she doesn’t actually face a count of murder, more a case of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating data, but that still carries a weighty sentence. She could be facing up to a maximum of 5 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $5,000. All that just to get revenge on someone she didn’t know, over a game.

It just adds to the growing list of weird happenings related to online communities. There was a case where a man from Germany who had a falling out with the owner of a forum about the popular Gameboy Advance game Advance Wars ended up travelling to Nottingham in the UK and actually killed him in real life. He’s currently being prosecuted for it.

There’s also a bunch of cases where people have stolen virtual money or items which has some value in the real world, and have been charged with it, along with a raft of character ‘assassinations’ carried out by miffed individuals exacting revenge on their fellow players.

Its all just a bit weird, isn’t it?

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