15 Year Old "SWATs" fellow gamer in Battlefield 4, gets 25 to life

[yourbeliefs]

I doubt he'll be in jail for the full 25 years, but I hope news of this discourages other young punks from wasting valuable municipal resources simply because they suck at a particular online game..

http://www.secretsofthefed.com/15-y...estic-terrorism-25-years-life-federal-prison/

 

[Annie61]

The same kind of thing happened here. http://wwlp.com/2014/05/29/videogame-threat-becomes-fake-report-to-police/
But the kid here was the target. Hopefully this sentence will make kids think more. But I kind of doubt it..... I'm glad the games I played on line didn't involve that kind of personal interaction. I got smashed bashed and knifed in the game but that's as far as it went.........

 

[Zookster]

Sentencing seemed too stiff for a 15-year-old kid. I hate that mandatory "tried as an adult" BS. It only turns a kid who made a dumb mistake and had a chance at a decent, normal life into a career criminal, or at the very least, a lifelong burden on the social welfare system, unless he's put into some kind of minimum security reform program where he still gets a good education, proper encouragement, and therapy instead of mentoring by other career criminals and being treated like scum of the earth by the prison system. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying some sort of serious punishment wasn't in order. I just hope there are different standards and programs of reform for a minor who may otherwise have been a decent kid.

 

[king3pj]

http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/swatted.asp

According to snopes, this story is fake. It apparently came from a fake news satire website similar to The Onion. The fact that I can't find anything about this on credible news sites or video game news websites makes me think that snopes is right.

That being said, I hope people think this story is real. If it keeps getting around it might help deter the dumb kids who think this is ok. I do hope they catch the people responsible for the incidents that have already happened and give them jail time even if they are minors. 25 to life is obviously excessive for a 15-year-old kid though.

This is incredibly dangerous and I can easily see how the victims or their family could be injured or killed because of these pranks. These are police officers busting into a home expecting to find an armed criminal. The police have also been known to use excessive force from time to time. All it takes is a mistake from one cop who is a little too high strung and you have an innocent person killed. You also have a cop who has to deal with killing an innocent person for the rest of his/her life.

These are the people who give gamers a bad name. You never hear anything mentioned in the news about video games until something like this happens. Between this and all the death/rape threats towards Anita Sarkeesian it hasn't been a very good week for video games. No wonder people look down at adults who like video games but watching 3 hours of reality TV every night is just fine.

 

[yourbeliefs]

http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/swatted.asp

According to snopes, this story is fake. It apparently came from a fake news satire website similar to The Onion. The fact that I can't find anything about this on credible news sites or video game news websites makes me think that snopes is right.

That being said, I hope people think this story is real. If it keeps getting around it might help deter the dumb kids who think this is ok. I do hope they catch the people responsible for the incidents that have already happened and give them jail time even if they are minors. 25 to life is obviously excessive for a 15-year-old kid though.

This is incredibly dangerous and I can easily see how the victims or their family could be injured or killed because of these pranks. These are police officers busting into a home expecting to find an armed criminal. The police have also been known to use excessive force from time to time. All it takes is a mistake from one cop who is a little too high strung and you have an innocent person killed. You also have a cop who has to deal with killing an innocent person for the rest of his/her life.

These are the people who give gamers a bad name. You never hear anything mentioned in the news about video games until something like this happens. Between this and all the death/rape threats towards Anita Sarkeesian it hasn't been a very good week for video games. No wonder people look down at adults who like video games but watching 3 hours of reality TV a night is just fine.

That's what I get for not doing proper research. This popped up on my feed because for some damn reason Facebook feels like posting every single time my cousin posts stuff on his clan's Facebook page. Seemed legit. Still, I do hope that some real reform is done on these laws to make sure little punks don't pull stuff like this.

Still, in case I needed yet another reason to not talk to people or trash talk on multiplayer games, this provides me with another one: Piss off the wrong guy and you may get swatted.

 

[Ronnie-]

I generally suck bad enough at those games that any trash talk I do would not be worth the effort of a "swat".
This is the first I have heard of such idiotic practices. Some people have a real disconnect from the real world.

 

[king3pj]

For those who haven't seen it, here's the video of the kid getting "swatted" while doing a live stream that brought all the attention to this prank. I saw this clip everywhere from CNN to local news.

 

[Ronnie-]

And people do that because they think it is funny?

 

[Zookster]

I hadn't heard about the Anita Sarkeesian threats. But yeah, every time video games are in the news it's for something negative. I edited a book recently where the author went on an anti-video game rant for several paragraphs because of the guy that shot those first graders in Connecticut a year or so ago was supposedly affected by violent video games. Her opinion was completely uninformed and baseless, but since it wasn't my place to debate her views, I simply pointed out that her rant had nothing to do with the subject at hand (alternative healing techniques for a chronic disease). I hope she listened.

Someone (not me) needs to organize a viral campaign where video gamers give up a few hours of their gaming time for charity work or picking up trash in public parks... something like the ice bucket challenge where people submit videos of it.

 

[king3pj]

And people do that because they think it is funny?

Apparently. If you watch that video on youtube instead of the embedded version I posted here there are lots of similar cases in the related videos side bar. Some of these live streamers have a couple thousand viewers watching them play. These idiots know that when the police bust in it will be broadcast in the corner for everyone to see. A current fad is to do this to people who have a following on Twitch or other game streaming websites

They somehow find the person's address and call the police over voip saying that the streamer has killed people, is holding hostages, has a bomb, etc... In this case local schools where on lock down because police thought there was an active shooter situation. Those active shooter situations often end with the police killing the shooter. If this continues to happen, eventually someone is going to be killed because of these idiots.

 

[Zookster]

"Tea-bagging" the Real Trash Challenge. If someone wants to use that, be my guest.

 

[king3pj]

I hadn't heard about the Anita Sarkeesian threats. But yeah, every time video games are in the news it's for something negative. I edited a book recently where the author went on an anti-video game rant for several paragraphs because of the guy that shot those first graders in Connecticut a year or so ago was supposedly affected by violent video games. Her opinion was completely uninformed and baseless, but since it wasn't my place to debate her views, I simply pointed out that her rant had nothing to do with the subject at hand (alternative healing techniques for a chronic disease). I hope she listened.

Someone (not me) needs to organize a viral campaign where video gamers give up a few hours of their gaming time for charity work or picking up trash in public parks... something like the ice bucket challenge where people submit videos of it.

The Sarkeesian thing was pretty messy. People were sending her messages with her and her family members' names and actual addresses saying they would rape/kill them.

For those who don't know, she is famous for feminist documentaries criticizing video games for their portrayal of violence against women. She also had some earlier videos about games like Mario using Princess Peach as the helpless victim.

I disagree with a lot of her stances for a couple reasons. First, the violence against women in video games is not real. It's part of a story, just like when it happens in movies, TV, books, plays, any other kind of media. Second, there is just as much, if not way more, violence against men in video games. Her video uses an example from Bioshock with a dead woman right next to a dead man. It's basically just a highlight reel of all the dead women she could find in video games. I don't see the point of a highlight reel like that. If you decided to put together a highlight reel of all the dead men in video games you could put together a much longer show. I thought the point of feminism was to make men and women equal, not to single them out.

I obviously disagree with her but to threaten her, and her family's lives is not the way to get your point across. It's just more fuel for the anti-video game army.

 

[yourbeliefs]

The Sarkeesian thing was pretty messy. People were sending her messages with her and her family members' names and actual addresses saying they would rape/kill them.

For those who don't know, she is famous for feminist documentaries criticizing video games for their portrayal of violence against women. She also had some earlier videos about games like Mario using Princess Peach as the helpless victim.

I disagree with a lot of her stances for a couple reasons. First, the violence against women in video games is not real. It's part of a story, just like when it happens in movies, TV, books, plays, any other kind of media. Second, there is just as much, if not way more, violence against men in video games. Her video uses an example from Bioshock with a dead woman right next to a dead man. It's basically just a highlight reel of all the dead women she could find in video games. I don't see the point of a highlight reel like that. If you decided to put together a highlight reel of all the dead men in video games you could put together a much longer show. I thought the point of feminism was to make men and women equal, not to single them out.

I obviously disagree with her but to threaten her, and her family's lives is not the way to get your point across. It's just more fuel for the anti-video game army.

Her stance isn't just about violence against women vs violence against men. It's also that overall, women are not well represented in games or not well personified. For one, I think she rightly points out that in many instances, a female player is simply a female version of the male protagonist (Ms. Pacman, Lala, any girl in the Gears of War series, etc.) Also, often the number of females is significantly less than the number of males, and while the male characters all have distinctive characteristics, oftentimes the female's distinction is simply that she's a female.

Still, I too don't agree with ALL her stances. Personally I see nothing wrong with the whole "Damsel in distress" issue. That's been around since the dark ages and in numerous other forms of storytelling. There's nothing wrong with tried and true storytelling. Also, she complains that oftentimes, abuse against women is used as a weak storytelling point to show how bad someone is. If you want to paint someone as a despicable villain, simply have her hit a woman and you don't have to do anything else. I also don't see anything wrong with this. So, should it be then that we should NOT think negatively of people who hit women, or hell hit ANYONE for that matter? And finally, her presentation is rather drab and dull. I mean given how much money she raised with her Kickstarter she should have at least upped her production values a little.

It does suck though that she's had death threats and other harassment thrown her way (although there are a number of people who say she's faking it for sympathy and publicity.) It just paints us all in a bad light. I'm also not really sure what all the fuss is about over her. It's not like she's trying to censor violence or change main story plots, she just wants females to be represented in a way similar to males. That's hardly something worth grabbing the torches and pitchforks over. Hell I was ready to grab my arms (figuratively, not literally as I have no weapons) when the Southington SOS game destruction rally was going to go on after the Sandy Hook shooting because I felt that was a true destruction of art as a vapid excuse to not deal with a bigger problem. I won't go into what I was going to do to protest that, but I decided against it when after about a week the story basically slipped into obscurity as it should have.

I do think her videos are worth a watch, even if you end up not agreeing with her stance in all of them. If nothing else, they do bring some ideas to light and make you think about the current state of gaming.

 

[king3pj]

Her stance isn't just about violence against women vs violence against men. It's also that overall, women are not well represented in games or not well personified. For one, I think she rightly points out that in many instances, a female player is simply a female version of the male protagonist (Ms. Pacman, Lala, any girl in the Gears of War series, etc.) Also, often the number of females is significantly less than the number of males, and while the male characters all have distinctive characteristics, oftentimes the female's distinction is simply that she's a female.

Still, I too don't agree with ALL her stances. Personally I see nothing wrong with the whole "Damsel in distress" issue. That's been around since the dark ages and in numerous other forms of storytelling. There's nothing wrong with tried and true storytelling. Also, she complains that oftentimes, abuse against women is used as a weak storytelling point to show how bad someone is. If you want to paint someone as a despicable villain, simply have her hit a woman and you don't have to do anything else. I also don't see anything wrong with this. So, should it be then that we should NOT think negatively of people who hit women, or hell hit ANYONE for that matter? And finally, her presentation is rather drab and dull. I mean given how much money she raised with her Kickstarter she should have at least upped her production values a little.

It does suck though that she's had death threats and other harassment thrown her way (although there are a number of people who say she's faking it for sympathy and publicity.) It just paints us all in a bad light. I'm also not really sure what all the fuss is about over her. It's not like she's trying to censor violence or change main story plots, she just wants females to be represented in a way similar to males. That's hardly something worth grabbing the torches and pitchforks over. Hell I was ready to grab my arms (figuratively, not literally as I have no weapons) when the Southington SOS game destruction rally was going to go on after the Sandy Hook shooting because I felt that was a true destruction of art as a vapid excuse to not deal with a bigger problem. I won't go into what I was going to do to protest that, but I decided against it when after about a week the story basically slipped into obscurity as it should have.

I do think her videos are worth a watch, even if you end up not agreeing with her stance in all of them. If nothing else, they do bring some ideas to light and make you think about the current state of gaming.

Lots of good points there. It's obvious that women are not as well represented in games as men are. I'm all for more games with female protagonists. I have no problem playing games like Tomb Raider where a woman is the hero.

Here's the thing. Games are still predominately made and played by men. That's starting to change with people like Amy Hennig playing a big part in game development. Still the majority of this industry is male. As long as this is true, the protagonist in most games will be male.

I think having more female driven stories would be great. If nothing else, it would give you a wider variety of stories to experience in games. I do have a problem with bashing a developer for choosing to make their protagonist male though. They are creating the story and they should be free to tell whatever story they want to. Bioware giving the option to play as either a male or female Shepard is great but I don't think all games should have to do that.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Back on topic of swatting, a gamer discusses what it is like:

 

[Scherrman]

Wow. I had never heard of this before. What a terrible thing to do. It's amazing how messed up people are and how they get their kicks on messing with others.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Wow. I had never heard of this before. What a terrible thing to do. It's amazing how messed up people are and how they get their kicks on messing with others.

I think it's more a case of kids being kids and not understanding the consequences of their actions.

 

[Scherrman]

I think it's more a case of kids being kids and not understanding the consequences of their actions.

I would agree with that being a lot of it but I think some of these kids have some serious issues too. Some people really get off on feeling like they have power over others. It blows my mind hearing what kids say when you are playing online. Sounds like a bunch of girls with potty mouths.

 

[yourbeliefs]

I would agree with that being a lot of it but I think some of these kids have some serious issues too. Some people really get off on feeling like they have power over others. It blows my mind hearing what kids say when you are playing online. Sounds like a bunch of girls with potty mouths.

It all has to do with anonymity. Think of all the disparaging stuff you read directed towards you or others online. People only do it because they "know" that they can't be held accountable for the most part. 99% of these kids would never say this stuff if the people they were playing were right near them. Again I'm by NO means defending the actions of these kids, but I feel that for the most part it's more of a case of kids being kids and not understanding the breadth of their actions. Of course, if you SWAT someone then you're in a whole new class of a$$hole.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Accused SWATer and hacker could face 5 years in prison..

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...-in-Las-Vegas-Could-Face-Five-Years-in-Prison