EVE Search - "Batman" mass-murderer.....hopelessly addicted to EVE?

Herr Wilkus wrote:

Here's the link.
Wow. Not a pretty picture for the MMORPG industry....this is big.

From the article:
"It is believed Holmes was due to be kicked out of his flat and may have recently broken up with a girlfriend, while one friend said his addiction to video games meant he had lost touch with reality."

"It is not known exactly when Holmes stopped going to classes but it is thought he was nearing the end of the 30-day grace period. A former classmate from the University of Colorado suggested another cause for the killings, saying Holmes had lost touch with reality after becoming 'obsessed' with video games.

The classmate told the Daily Mail: 'James was obsessed with computer games and was always playing role-playing games.

'I canGÇÖt remember which one but it was something like World of Warcraft, one of those where you compete against people on the internet.

'He did not have much of a life apart from that and doing his work. James seemed like he wanted to be in the game and be one of the characters.

'It seemed that being online was more important to him than real life. He must have lost his sense of reality, how else can you shoot dozens of people you donGÇÖt know?'"

Witness the destruction and downfall of your typical 24 year old nerdish introvert.
Addicted to a MMORPG - completely loses touch with reality, wants to be a character in the game,
his girlfriend dumps him, he trashes his grades and drops out of grad school. No job or friends. Eviction notice was in the mail.

Life spiraling out of control, he goes and massacres dozens of people as if he was a character in a video game.

Its well known that companies such as CCP intentionally introduce countless positive feedback elements to entrap gamers - force them to continue consuming their highly addictive product....much as nicotine entraps smokers. Companies such as CCP in effect, are profiting from their socially irresponsible product.

For every James Holmes, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other victims who manage destroy their lives in many smaller, but less shocking ways.

While individuals are capable of making their own choices, that argument no longer flies in civilized society. 'Individual responsibility' is the fig leaf that all purveyors of addictive products hide behind. A large share of blame should fall on the corporate entities that profit from the carnage.

The discussion should start now.
First, what can CCP do? What steps should CCP take to sell their product in more socially responsible way? How can CCP market EVE in a way that earns them a modest profit - while still protecting those (like James Holmes) most vulnerable to abuse? Because if they don't get ahead of this emerging threat, the federal government will.

What can the government do? The MMORPG industry is literally the Wild West, federal regulations almost non-existent. Yet the destructive/addictive properties of the internet and gaming are becoming quite evident. Reasonable regulations should be drafted to restrain the irresponsible elements of this industry. Oversight and firm enforcement "with teeth" - to prevent bad actors within the industry from doing severe damage to the fabric of our nation. The threat of stiff financial penalties have a way of bringing errant corporate entities around.