Would you ever be this hardcore for a game?

nintenho

Veteran
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/sex,-cri...get-password-using-fake-orkut-date-280966.php

An armed gang of four kidnapped one of the world's top RPG gamers after one criminal's girlfriend lured him into a fake date using Orkut, Google's social network. After sequestering him in Sao Paulo, they held a gun against the victim's head for five hours to get his password, which they wanted to sell for $8,000. And yes, the story gets even better.

Surprisingly enough, after five hours the hostage wasn't talking. The group leader had a gun against his head all that time but the guy didn't say a word. At that point, the crooks gave up and decided to let him go. The brazilian police then caught the four suspects, aged 19 to 27.

According to the police, the captive is the world leader in GunBound, a turn-based RPG-style multiplayer online game. Developed in South Korea, in this artillery game you get more experience points, offensive and defensive capabilities depending on your skills during battle, as well as money to buy more weapons, armor and all kinds of gear for your multiple avatars. You can only play with one of your avatars each time, but all of them belong to a single account.

The game looks to be quite popular, so the four gangsters decided they could make some quick cash if they kidnapped him to steal his user. Their plan: use one of the criminal's girlfriends, called Tamires, to get him into a date using Google's online social network Orkut, which is also extremely popular in Brazil. After contacting and seducing him, she told the GunBound wizard to meet her in a shopping mall.

But she never appeared. Instead, Igor the boyfriend did. Gun in hand, he abducted and held the player prisoner, planning to rely the password to his mates using a cellphone. Against all odds, our hero (or very stupid guy) resisted. Probably using some Stamina +357 spell. Or a Big Cojones +577 mana potion.

Whatever he did to resist the torture for a stupid game password, boys and girls, there's a moral to this story: if you live in Brazil, keep playing Tetris.
Does he think they would have shot him when they got the password? If not, then he's an idiot.
 
Online crimes?!?! "City of God" was all wrong!!

In all seriousness, real life violence clashing with the virtual world is nothing new. Countless people are beaten or even killed over MMO's.
 
but have you ever heard of an elaborate kidnapping attempt with the guy refusing to give his password out at gunpoint?
 
Does he think they would have shot him when they got the password? If not, then he's an idiot.

Well, he's the world leader in the game. So I can almost understand him. The game is probably everything he cares about, and given the amount of time he obviously has put into it he doesn't want to throw it away. I'd compare it to someone that has spent years on developing an invention, he would probably hesitate to give his secret away even looking down the barrel of a gun.
 
yeah I can get really into games and understand how this guy could be really obsessed with it if he's so highly ranked, but this guy sat there for five hours and didn't do anything.
 
<quick googling>
"The region combines the highest living standards in Brazil with pockets of urban poverty. In 1994 São Paulo boasted an average income of US$4,666, while Minas Gerais reported only US$2,833."

$8000 seem to be a lot of money there, and he probably knew what the account was worth. It's irrelevant if it just was a game password that might be uninteresting to you. If someone is willing to pay two average yearly incomes for it, then it's worth that much. (And if the thugs wanted to sell it for $8000, then it would probably be worth a bit more if it wasn't hot.)

So the question is "Would you keep your mouth shut for five hours under gun point for two years income?"
It would of course depend on how agressive the thugs was, and we don't know that. But at least it's a lot more understandable.
 
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