I don't know how it works over there, but here when entering an internet cafe you pay for the exact time you wish to stay at a computer. So if anything, the owner should've noticed that his time had expired (pun intended) and that he was at that computer for hours.
That's sad, poor dude. You'd think the person next to him would've noticed he was just sitting there not playing.
The people in there must become really immersed in their gaming to not notice a dead dude in there for up to 9 hours. Also, the comments beneath that article. Dear God, my eyes and the comments beneath that article.
Let's see the comments... We have soccer moms: See I told you those vidjiagames were bad for your health! Neoludites: I can understand the need for escapeism, after generations of straying away from nature, producing this ugly world. Jocks: LOL nerd More soccer moms: I have two teenagers that wouldn't notice the house burning down around them while playing WOW. RAGE.jpg
Doesn't sound like a dramatic change from your average living net cafe dweller. They're still huge in many asian countries. Korea and China too.
Indeed, it's a sadder reflection of the people around the guy, than the guy himself (even though playing that long is certainly unhealthy). Also I'm surprised they thought it was normal for someone to be staring at the same image on a monitor for several hours without getting bored. How dead do you need to be before someone realises!?
Based on the assumption that people take fairly regular breaks in such a place (even just to pee or eat), I really would have thought someone would have realised he hadn't moved at all and neither had his screen after at least a couple of hours. But then it comes down to the whole social awkwardness thing. Perhaps someone did realise before alarm bells were raised but just didn't want to get involved? Like "Hey, that guy is like, frozen, that's creepy" but not telling anyone or anything. Could happen, I suppose.
Are you ****ing kidding me though? up to nine hours? Granted, Ive never been addicted to anything, and therefore dont know the mindset, but I really just cant comprehend how someone can sit there and play until they die. Surely your body begins to send warning signals? And you just ignore them and sit? Tiredness? Ive gone days, sometimes weeks, with barely any sleep in an extremely high-stress enviroment. Sooner or later I found that I just fell asleep, whether I wanted to or not. Sitting up, lying down, anywhere. Just ZZZZZZ. I just dont get how you can do that to yourself.
I used to frequent Internet Cafes, and I think it is entirely probable that people might not actually notice. I once noticed a drunk guy sleeping in his seat in front of his computer, and I think it's entirely possible that people simply thought he was taking a nap. Being immersed in gaming is one reason, yes, but the other is more simple; people were trying to respect his privacy. I dunno how it is in Taiwan, so I have some doubts.
Room of people engrossed in something don't notice someone not moving in the corner. Shock horror. The humanity. I'm sorry the dude died, but not surprised nobody noticed, as sad as that sounds.
Unless you're looking for something out of the ordinary, what would make someone staring at a computer in an Internet cafe noticeable? The fact that he was there for 9 hours? Most people in there are going to be glued to their games, and the only time they'll notice this person is on their way in and out (which is also likely to be less than a 9-hour period, so it's even less weird. From the article, "he might have died of a cardiac arrest triggered by low temperatures". Whatever the cause of death, it apparently caught him off guard, otherwise he would have at least fallen out of his chair or slumped into a decidedly non-lifelike pose. It's tragic because he was young, not because it was in an Internet cafe. It's a blessing because it was (presumably) pretty painless.
Reading the comments on the article made me think, "What if you replaced the words "playing League of Legends" with "reading a book." Would it generate the same amount of controversy?