Shawn Woolley
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Shawn Woolley (1980 - November 22, 2001) was an avid player of the computer game EverQuest, an MMORPG, who had been diagnosed with epilepsy, depression and schizoid personality disorder, and committed suicide at the age of 21. He shot himself and was found dead at his computer, which was still running EverQuest.
His mother, Elizabeth Woolley, describes Shawn's playing as addictive, arguing that the last few epileptic fits he had were caused by the amount of time he spent playing EverQuest and it was this addiction that ultimately led to his suicide. Shawn began playing EverQuest in 2000, and Elizabeth Woolley asserts that by 2001, it had taken over his life. During this time Shawn Woolley was evicted from his apartment and had to move back in with his mother, a move which is also suggested as being a result of Shawn's addiction.
A week before the suicide he had quit his pizza parlour job in order to play upwards of 12 hours a day, and bought a gun. He was finally pushed over the edge by unknown events that had occurred within the game, which might have included the betrayal of a six-month associate who stole Woolley's character's money and refused to return it. Elizabeth Woolley said that he was in tears after this particular incident. Furthermore, he made a character that was supposed to look like him as much as possible, and named it "iluveyou", suggesting to his mother that he might have been rejected by a girl online, in the game, something which furthered his depression.
Elizabeth Woolley says that EverQuest is dangerous and addictive by design, which is what she claims led to her son's suicide, "I think the way the game is written is that when you first start playing it, it is fun, and you make great accomplishments. And then the further you get into it, the higher level you get, the longer you have to stay on it to move onward, and then it isn't fun anymore. But by then you're addicted, and you can't leave it."
In order to deal with her son's death and help other gamers avoid his fate, Woolley created On-Line Gamers Anonymous, a twelve-step program support web site devoted to helping online gamers quit gaming.
[edit] Sony's point of view
Sony Online Entertainment CEO John Smedley, one of the creators of EverQuest, said that the game did not cause Woolley's death:
"When I spoke with Ms. Woolley, I expressed my condolences. And it's really one of those terrible things that happens. And there's just nothing to suggest that EverQuest had any role in his death. EverQuest is a game. And I don't see any connection between a form of entertainment and somebody's tragic suicide. It's entertainment. Is a book dangerous? Is a TV show dangerous? I think the answer is no. People need to take responsibility and say, 'Hey, you know, this is too much. Enough's enough.' It's a game."
