Police Attempt to Link Vicious Murder to D&D

[sageoftruth]

Calm down people. They didn't say they were blaming it, they said there was a connection to it.

If the kid went straight to D&D after killing someone, then yeah, I would take a look at the connection too if I was a police officer on the case. It could be that the child has trouble distancing themselves from the fantasy, and those types of angles need to be covered or the child could end up living with an undiagnosed mental problem and not receiving the help he needs.

That's a good point. Sherlock Holmes did point out that even the most insignificant bit of information could serve a purpose in a case. I think we are the ones jumping to conclusions here.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

so, uh, did she have any good loot?

 

[Waif]

Scapegoating video games is not news. We all had a good laugh when it was first suggested, as I'm sure that everyone who has a thinking an rational mind knows that such a connection is not possible. Nowadays we even have research evidence stating that video are likely not to affect anyone negatively unless they already have some issues themselves. The sad fact is, that it's not really funny anymore, as there are some people who actually think the claim for video games having a connection to violent behavior is credible.

 

[Kwaren]

Well this makes me upset. Time to turn my barbarian rage loose on some helpless kobolds.

 

[Gasaraki]

Someone used intelligence as a dump stat....

 

[Jack Nettle]

Please excuse my language choice when I say: "The first thing I said after reading two paragraphs was 'Haha, that's fucking stupid!' "

 

[rekabdarb]

His name is Wolfegang Savage... he can do whatever the fuck he wants

 

[Canid117]

These cops shouldn't get any Christmas bonuses this year. Thats for people who actually do their jobs.

 

[Jared]

Well, there will always be people who take anything further than it should be. I dont see it as blaming a game, but, a persons already present mental defects.

Will see once they catch him

 

[Flamezdudes]

I wonder if where he would of ate a bannana to calm down afterwards, would be blamed if he did that. Or perhaps if he played football afterwards, would they blame that?

Stupid Police are stupid. (Not all of them.)

 

[Mana Fiend]

*facepalm*

seriously, gah. I'm off to the 'oh for christ's sake' room.

Save me a spot, I'll be right there. I'll also bring cookies.
Please, for the love of the gods, let's not go this again humanity. You used to be cool.

It's a terrible incident, but DnDO isn't even a violent game, and the guy probably wasn't the most stable of all people.

 

[squid5580]

Tyler Wolfgang Savage? Someone with that name was always going to kill something.

Clearly just a nutjob, not attributable to D&D so much as his being a psychopath.

also, what's with the picture of tom hanks?

I'm with you. Forget looking for a connection between the murder and a game. Lets look for a connection between the murder and his name. Dammit that won't work though since his parents named him. And we all know in cases like this parents are never even remotely close to the blame train.

 

[poiuppx]

police are now looking into whether the game "somehow became his point of reference on reality."

I'd have to wonder what that police department's "point of reference on reality" is.

Remember people, these are the people whose job it is to protect you.

This.

Also, did I wake up in the 80s? I thought DnD was the moral corrupter a few iterations back in the blame-game cycle. What's next, Magic: The Gathering cards fueling terrorism due to 'land destruction'?

In all blunt seriousness, this is a terrible crime, and one should look into every factor... but why in the name of all that is vorpal would you feel the need to comment on the game as something you're looking into? Couldn't you... I dunno... check into his home life? Interactions with friends and family? School? Job? Medical history? Nah, screw all of that, clearly it's DnD Online's fault! Someone go dig up Gary Gygax's remains so we can arrest him for facilitating this travesty!

 

[Quaidis]

Who knows, maybe the disabled girl was dressed like an elf and was murdered with the Sword of Avalon, while police found a pair of D20's down the path.

 

[Jamous]

*sigh*

 

[Carlston]

Who has violent d&d fantasies about raping retarded children?

No one... if your having that kind of fantasy your having it reguardless of any rpg in the room and you need a bullet to the head.

 

[ace_of_something]

There's probably some clinical explanation for how a videogame could both inspire a vicious murder and help the perpetrator forget about it, but Savage gave no indication that the game was anything more than a way to block out the memory of his horrific crime, much the way other people might get drunk out of their heads or immerse themselves in some other activity. Even his lawyer called the videogame link "pure speculation and a rush to judgment." But people like easy answers and in the eyes of the police, at least, it looks like videogames are still a good place to find them.

Okay I hate to argue here. But speaking as a Police Officer, Detective, D&D Player and Video Gamer. I feel like you're using broad strokes to paint 'the police' as the people spearheading this. It's got equal parts media, DA, and glory seeking detectives written all over it.
Firstly, if the guy confessed getting a motive is totally irrelevant in any legal sense. (It does help the victim's families sometimes though). So, I think Tacoma's PD is wasting time... this sounds like the kind of pointless investigation a mayor, city council, or District Attorney LOVVVEESS to force on them. Though you'd never see anything stating "the mayor wants to know why so the community can rest easy" is not going to show up any official report. The big reason they're looking down this avenue is because the kid has NO criminal record. The rarity of suddenly out of the blue becoming a rapist/murder without some documented mental illness or the like is remarkable.

They should be investigating other theories it would be amateur investigation skills to spend the kind of money they are talking about (hiring a psychologist or FBI profiler? Not clear on what the expert is) and not try to make sure it isn't something else. The only reason we're hearing about this theory is because the MEDIA finds it's sensational and they love causing a panic. They don't like to bring up stuff like 'his parents divorced and fought in front of him all the time even in public' or something like that. It's not nearly as interesting. Chances are they wouldn't (and shouldn't) be putting this much time and effort into an already solved crime without something we're not being told.

That being said I assume much here, they could just be, really lousy investigators. Not all of them are going to be greats.

 

[Acting like a FOOL]

leave it to a dude named Wolfegang Savage to kill a disabled chick and then go play some D&D....

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

*facepalm*

seriously, gah. I'm off to the 'oh for christ's sake' room.

I'll join. I'll make a graph showing the decrease in human intelligence while I'm there.

I don't think I can say much more, but let's try: He went to 'forget' meaning he thought of the game as an escape, like a lot of people do. It's not a case of 'maybe it was D&D' it's actually a case of 'he has problems'.