US man kills himself live on gamers' forum

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

dipdude

Forerunner
Source : The register

Webcam suicide

A 20-year-old US man killed himself live on a webcam on Bulgarian gamers' forum www.metalgearsolid.org, AFP and other agencies report. Mitchell "Mitch" Lee Stuekerjuergen, aka "Kuja105", reportedly swallowed antifreeze and pills "after complaining about family problems and a lack of money", forum administrator Boyan Georgiev told Bulgaria's BGNES news agency on Wednesday. Stuekerjuergen subesquently died on 4 January in hospital in Illinois.

A certain amount of controversy surrounds the whole sorry affair, with some claiming that other forum members "thought the man was joking, even though he rambled for six hours about the effects of the substances and disappeared from view several times", as AFP puts it.

Indeed, one indignant Slashdotter fumed yesterday: "Pulling from the AFP newswire, Yahoo, CNN, and others have been reporting about how a gamer broadcast his own suicide on a gaming forum via a webcam, and that members of the forum continued to ridicule the gamer while he killed himself. Gaming Horizon has just learned that this is completely untrue. The newswire reporter failed to check the facts, and, in turn, painted this simple gaming forum as cruel monsters."

As a result of the suicide the forum was recently "pulled offline via the request of a government agency pending an investigation regarding the unfortunate passing of TUS forum member, Mitchell Stuekerjuergen", as a site statement notes.

It is now back online with a number of tributes to Stuekerjuergen.
 
this is real sad...
a true example of a person who failed to understand the difference between reality and virtuality .. though the forum guys shud have taken this in serious accountance btw.. may his soul rest in peace in heaven .. amen
 
These are weak people who dont have guts to face up to the world.

I mean, I do feel a little bad for him. Myabe his life was really screwed up. but then commiting suicide is not an option. You have to stick it out and fight. But then again, maybe it was not only his financial troubles. Maybe his wife left him recently. Maybe he was alone(no parents)... who knows.....
 
IMHO what they are saying is untrue is the fact that the other members made fun of him and ridiculed him....

I dont think the whole incident of the guy committing suicide is false.
A certain amount of controversy surrounds the whole sorry affair, with some claiming that other forum members "thought the man was joking, even though he rambled for six hours about the effects of the substances and disappeared from view several times", as AFP puts it.

Indeed, one indignant Slashdotter fumed yesterday: "Pulling from the AFP newswire, Yahoo, CNN, and others have been reporting about how a gamer broadcast his own suicide on a gaming forum via a webcam, and that members of the forum continued to ridicule the gamer while he killed himself. "
Click to expand...

I guess this is untrue.
 
Can you guys believe this?! Jack Thompson is on that forums now! blaming the 'video games' for the suicide...as usual again.

click 'In Response to Jack Thompson'

'on the main page - http://www.metalgearsolid.org/

In Response to Jack Thompson,

20 Jan 2006 by Nitroid

who had a few things to say about us after reading a report by GamePolitics.com

In reply to the GamePolitics.com article regarding Mitch's unfortunate passing, anti-video game activist Jack Thompson had the following to say:

_______________

"Your "gamer friend" will find peace through the Lord, Jesus Christ, but sadly it's too late for that.

There is a void in every heart. You can fill it up with the things of God, or the things not of God. This unfortunate soul chose to fill it up with combat games. The playing of these video games is masturbatory activity, meaning senseless self-stimulation. If you gamers could use a dictionary you would know that that term is not necessarily a sexual one.

The real tragedy here extends beyond the life and death of this one fellow. There are literally millions of young people and young adults whose despair is deepend by turning to the things of this world and then finding them meaningless.

All of you gamers need to put down the controllers and get a life. The utter inanity of the vast majority of postings here shows how vapid "gaming" really is.

You are one of the cheerleaders for this wasting of time and the wasting of lives. Do you feel any remorse for having contributed to this "culture of death?" Of course not. Hey, let's all play MORE games, and ignore all the really productive things to do with our lives.

Let's pretend to be shocked that a gamer might descend into deeper depression, as his gamer "buds," knowing he was killing himself, couldn't figure out how to call 911 themselves for him. That would have involved leaving their computers I guess.

Sad. Sad for all of you."

_______________

The following is our reply:

_______________

"Once again, Mr. Thompson, you've proven that your ignorance knows no bounds. We're not going to participate in this war you wish to wage against us -- we're bigger than that. We're bigger than you.

This is a case where our tragedy is greater than the sum of our transgressions. The fact that you want to exploit the loss that both we and his family have suffered to forward your own selfish, religiously driven ambitions speaks volumes about the integrity (or lack, thereof) of your character, and it only serves to strengthen our resolve.

You can continue to try and discredit us and insult us, though no true man of God would do such a thing. We pity you and your ignorance, and only hope that someday you can come to terms with and mature away from your biggotry. As Metal Gear Solid fans, we have learned to believe in the best of individuals. We've learned to show charity. We've become better people, and through the loss of our friend, we've become a closer-knit community.

We forgive you, Jack, and we hope that God will do the same for you."
Click to expand...

Jack got Pwned!

And here's the bigger story - It's a very sad read....

http://www.gamepolitics.com/

This is one of those tragic stories we wish we never had to write.

Reports - and a lot of misinformation - are circulating concerning the death of a 21-year-old hardcore gamer who killed himself while talking online in a gaming forum. Surprisingly, the U.S. mainstream media hasn't picked up on the story, although it has been reported in France, Bulgaria and Australia. Friends of the victim, however, take issue with the European coverage, claiming it is inaccurate, insensitive and sensationalizes the tragedy.

The story began on the evening of January 2nd on a private forum at Metal Gear Solid: The Unofficial Site, an MGS fan site created by a Bulgarian designer but hosted in the United States. The site is known as "TUS" among devotees. One of TUS' regular users was "Kuja105", real name Mitchell Lee "Mitch" Steukerjuergen, a journalism major at Western Illinois University.

Mitch, apparently beset by financial and housing problems, posted a message with the subject line "Bye guys." He related that he could no longer go on living, had chosen a painful way to die, but would continue to post on the board as long as he could. Apparently the troubled young man had consumed a combination of anti-freeze and pills. He concluded his message with, "It was a blast knowing you guys. I'm getting kinda scared about it, so it would be great to see some good things posted."

While the Bulgarian Sofia News Agency reported that other users made fun of the dying young man, a GamePolitics review of posts in the TUS forum reveals that to be untrue. Much concern was shown as well as increasingly frantic offers to help. Some TUS users even reached Mitch by phone, advising him to call 9-1-1 and induce vomiting. The online friends of the victim are especially outraged by reports in the French AFP news service suggesting that Mitch was in live chat with a webcam turned on.

GamePolitics spoke at length with "Nitroid," an admin at TUS and an online bud who tried to help Mitch during that terrible night. Here is an edited version of the AIM log:

GP: ...sorry to hear about your friend.

Nitroid: Yeah.. We just found a message from his sister a bit ago, and we've talked to his dad some more... They're all taking it pretty hard, but are supporting our endeavor to clear this up.

GP: his sister posted on TUS?

Nitroid: No, on Digg

GP: have a link, by any chance?

Nitroid: http://digg.com/gaming/Gamer_Commits_Suicide,_Media_Misreports ...near the bottom.

GP: cool... did I understand that you spoke with him that night?

Nitroid: I spoke with Mitch over the phone, yes... Only for a short while, though, but I tried my best to convince him to get to a doctor... To my knowledge, he did with help from his roommate, and died shortly after in the hospital.

GP: was he at home or school when this happened?

Nitroid: Apartment, apparently. he went to school out of state

GP: did you know Mitch on a personal level or just via TUS?

Nitroid: I knew him for a couple years. We talked almost every day, and I originally met him through an old site that I used to run. He was one of my first moderators.

GP: this must have been pretty traumatizing for you.

Nitroid: well, we all panicked pretty fast.

GP: horrible way he chose to do it.... are you getting over it, or still too soon?

Nitroid: really, it's only now starting to register. we got a lot of unwanted drama and attention over this. all we want is for people to know that he wasn't some attention monger. he didn't kill himself over a webcam, and he wasn't trying to make a spectacle of himself.

GP: yeah, the foreign press really screwed that story up... let me ask you what games Mitch was into.. MGS series, obviously... anything else?

Nitroid: He was a big Star Wars fan... Loved Calvin & Hobbes, hence, the Calvin & Hobbes images on our tribute page... the image at the end of the tribute was his avatar... We really just wanted a quiet rememberance for him -- not some crazy gamer-slandering story.

GP: ok... and did you say there is a thread up on TUS now, like a memorial?

Nitroid: www.metalgearsolid.org ...top left

GP: okay... thx much. take care of yourself...

Nitroid: Thanks again, man. Really.

Here is the TUS tribute to Kuja105. Mitch's obituary is also available online.

May you find peace, gamer friend.
Click to expand...

Well, Press is obviously going to misuse this against video gaming like Thompson did.

And as it develops, he was Kuja105 in gamefaqs.

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=914828&topic=25899948&page=0
 
I hope someone shuts jack thompson's mouth permanently,this guy is beginning to bug me:@ .

Bet he just wants the publicity and doesn't care a damn abt kids.*Just like a lawyer*:no:

I hope he gets poop diesease.;)
 
madmonkey said:
I hope someone shuts jack thompson's mouth permanently,this guy is beginning to bug me:@ .

Bet he just wants the publicity and doesn't care a damn abt kids.*Just like a lawyer*:no:

I hope he gets poop diesease.;)
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree more.Uwe Boll and Jack Thompson are two people that I want to see die in the most painful,torturous and insulting way possible.
*thinks about the Blood Rayne movie and starts crying* :'(

Okay why in the world cant I see the EDIT button? :huh: Anyway sry for the double post.I was going through the 'net and came across this...Ever wondered why Thompson hates video games so much? :ohyeah:
 
madmonkey said:
I hope someone shuts jack thompson's mouth permanently,this guy is beginning to bug me:@ .

Bet he just wants the publicity and doesn't care a damn abt kids.*Just like a lawyer*:no:

I hope he gets poop diesease.;)
Click to expand...

Exactly! :P

deathdemon89 said:
Okay why in the world cant I see the EDIT button? :huh: Anyway sry for the double post.I was going through the 'net and came across this...Ever wondered why Thompson hates video games so much? :ohyeah:

Click to expand...

Rofl. That just has to be true!
 
^^ goldie.. he didnt do it coz of games man.. he had some personal n financial problems .. still, it aint the right thing he did :(
 
Two things

- Jack Thompson has a point when he says that (some) violent games are unsuitable for children, and that games manufacturers are not doing enough to stop sales to such persons, indeed, they are encouraging it, and hiding information (GTA hot coffee mod anyone?). I shudder to think of what kinds of games we would have today if Acclaim had not gone bust.

- He was WAY out of line here. Have some respect for the dead. Turning a troubled, down on his luck individual into some zombie, game obssessed freak is unacceptable.
 
deathdemon89 said:
Okay why in the world cant I see the EDIT button? :huh: Anyway sry for the double post.I was going through the 'net and came across this...Ever wondered why Thompson hates video games so much? :ohyeah:

Click to expand...

Awesome!!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

This guy is a totaly maniac. I agree with him only for abt 2%. 98%, I disagree with him. He is not just targeting games which are for kids. He is targeting adults too....

And the GTA game was anyway for 17 yrs and above. And the grandmas and aunts buying the games for kids less than 17 yrs should not complain abt the GHot coffee mod. Most guys above the age of 17 are already exposed to that kind of stuff. And when you are buying the GTA Game, you are already something like that(of couse maybe not as explicit as the HC mod).

I personally dont have a problem with the HC mod.

PS: The Edit feature is for abt 1 hr after your original post. After that, you need to make a new post...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom