Online divorcee jailed after killing virtual hubby
By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press
TOKYO: A 43-year-old Japanese woman whose sudden divorce in a virtual game world made her so angry that she killed her online husband's digital persona has been arrested on suspicion of hacking, police said Thursday.
The woman, who is jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his identification and password to log onto popular interactive game "Maple Story" to carry out the virtual murder in mid-May, a police official in northern Sapporo said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations. The woman had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said. She has not yet been formally charged, but if convicted could face a prison term of up to five years or a fine up to $5,000.
Players in "Maple Story" raise and manipulate digital images called "avatars" that represent themselves, while engaging in relationships, social activities and fighting against monsters and other obstacles. The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married, and killed the character. The man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar was dead.
Soooooooooo…………….NOWWWW back to life, back to reality……..(and yes, that was a TRUE news story released by the AP Friday)
Am I the only one that finds that entire news story disturbing? I mean REALLY??? I can’t decide which bothers me more, the fact that this chic lost ALL touch with reality and decided that she “needed” to off this guys AVATAR,(heaven forbid his little pixilated character remarry some little gigabyte tart! LOL) or the fact that this guy was so attached to his cyber self that he needed to go to the actual human police to report the “murder”. Then again it could be the fact that these two were so absorbed in an internet GAME…..G-A-M-E…..GAME…..that they actually thought these two responses were NORMAL!!! Wackos!
If they can’t handle marriage in a cartoon computer world without going over the edge, when they don’t have to deal with dirty laundry, clogged toilets, smelly sneakers, lawns to mow, and no budgets to try and maintain, how will they EVER handle the real thing?
