Is it ethical to kill people at an online funeral?

Wait, what did I just ask? Here's the story:

"A man dies in real life, so his World of Warcraft friends log into his account to allow players to pay their respects. Opposing guild promptly shows up at the virtual funeral and slaughters everyone in attendance."

(the full article is here:
http://www.shoutwire.com/comments/8726/WOW_an_Online_RPG_Funeral_Gets_Ambushed_Without_Mercy INCLUDING a very amusing video of the event)

I don't play these games, but what do you think of this? I would praise the "guild" that "killed" everyone attending the dead guy's funeral (including the dead guy) just because I think it's so damn funny. Plus, if they're trying to get ahead in this virtual world, it was a great opportunity for an ambush.

This does have ramifications in real-life; the real-life friends were doing a "memorial" in their own way--one which might have meant something to the dead guy. So maybe this was morally wrong? But it IS still a video game, so...

Hmmm... I'm torn. On the one hand, I find it extremely hilarious and on the other I find it quite disrespectful.

Faint said:

Wait, what did I just ask? Here's the story:

"A man dies in real life, so his World of Warcraft friends log into his account to allow players to pay their respects. Opposing guild promptly shows up at the virtual funeral and slaughters everyone in attendance."

(the full article is here:
http://www.shoutwire.com/comments/8726/WOW_an_Online_RPG_Funeral_Gets_Ambushed_Without_Mercy INCLUDING a very amusing video of the event)

I don't play these games, but what do you think of this? I would praise the "guild" that "killed" everyone attending the dead guy's funeral (including the dead guy) just because I think it's so damn funny. Plus, if they're trying to get ahead in this virtual world, it was a great opportunity for an ambush.

This does have ramifications in real-life; the real-life friends were doing a "memorial" in their own way--one which might have meant something to the dead guy. So maybe this was morally wrong? But it IS still a video game, so...

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I am totally lost...............but I don't think I like it.

This has to be the most important question about modern ethics ever asked. Hahaha...what an insane situation! I think all is fair in love and war. "Bad taste" does not constitute "morally wrong".

I just watched the video...what a massacre.

Presuming no rules were broken, morality doesn't really play into it without putting the morality of the whole game into question. Sad, yes, but really hilarious.

Faint said:

I don't play these games, but what do you think of this? I would praise the "guild" that "killed" everyone attending the dead guy's funeral (including the dead guy) just because I think it's so damn funny. Plus, if they're trying to get ahead in this virtual world, it was a great opportunity for an ambush.

Click to expand...

I agree with Alyssa (for once) that I am stuck in the middle on this one. It is really funny but also really disrespectful.

This does have ramifications in real-life; the real-life friends were doing a "memorial" in their own way--one which might have meant something to the dead guy. So maybe this was morally wrong? But it IS still a video game, so...

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Hopefully the family members will realize what morons people can be online and take it with a grain of salt.

That is kinda deep. I thought at first, "so what it is only a video game" but I realize that it isn't "just a video game" to a lot of people. I remember when Christopher Reeves died, players of "City of Heros" flew to cities in the cyber game to pay their respects to "superman" by saluting and having a moment of silence. I could only imagine the outrage if they had been ambused (which isn't possible in that game) during this event that year.

It seems quite complex upon introspection.

It was in bad taste, but still totally hilarious. I've seen (and participated) in massacres during online weddings, but during those, the victims generally get a good laugh out of it, especially when I pretend I'm a viking.

Ormiston said:

This has to be the most important question about modern ethics ever asked. Hahaha...what an insane situation! I think all is fair in love and war. "Bad taste" does not constitute "morally wrong".

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Ah, to swim in the eternal waters of your immortal wisdom.:bow:

If you havent' watched the video you should.

Thats quite sad really, in both meanings of the word sad...

sad because the guy died and they attacked his 'funeral'
but sad in the 'get a life, its a video game' way.

It wouldnt be so funny if it wasn't for the music playing throughout the video. I thought they chose the right songs for the situation.

angellous_evangellous said:

Ah, to swim in the eternal waters of your immortal wisdom.:bow:

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You love it. :takeabow:

robtex said:

If you havent' watched the video you should.

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It was somewhat hard to make out the details on my screen, but I believe they save the character of the dead fellow for last. It looked like the guy video taping does end up killing him. And how about the angry quotes at the beginning? I actually feel bad for laughing about the irony all day.

Not only is it ethical to kill online, it's ethical to kill everyone everywhere!

Mwahahahahaah!

Well, it is extremely disrespectful..... but I find it amazingly hilarious. I really cannot say whether this is alright or not. Both are very good arguments.

What happens to someone when they die in the game? Do they have a certain number of lives? Do they have to start over? Do they get booted off permanently?

This reminds me of a similar ethical dilemma from years ago when online multi-user games had no graphics and relied solely on typed text. Ordinarily there was a limited range of "behavioral" options open to the gamer. But one day on one particularly popular game, a couple of guys hacked the game so that they could "do" things to the other characters in the game. So, bunch of gamers are in "a room" in this game and these two guys enter and "violated" them in different hideous ways. (I hope you guys all can picture what that means and that I don't have to spell it out.) Mind you, this is all just text scrolling across the screen and the violated gamers were free to log-off at any time and the characters suffered no permanent conseuqences within the game itself. But most of them stayed and "watched" and several said that they felt like they had been violated in real life. And afterwards, it was all over the internet for a couple of weeks, the ethics of online gaming and whether emotional trauma inflicted constitutes real harm.

There is no "harm" if there is no attachment, is there? But then I suppose the same could be said in real life.

heh heh heh... im not sure, i mean.. it WAS disprespectful... but who holds a funeral on line? (ive played that game alittle) and the only way that coulda happend is if they were in a place waaaaaaaaaaaay outside of a safe zone.... so its kind of their fault really.

Faint said:

"A man dies in real life, so his World of Warcraft friends log into his account to allow players to pay their respects. Opposing guild promptly shows up at the virtual funeral and slaughters everyone in attendance."

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That is the coolest thing I've heard all week.

Ormiston... they kill the dead chick first. They go invisible and backstab her. Then the rest of the massacre begins. The dude bows to her dead body at the end and then said, "She loved fishing, and snow, and PVP," or something to that effect. PVP = Player versus Player. The real irony is that the "good" side ambushed the "evil" side.