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Dad Hires In-Game 'Assassins' To Get His Son To Stop Gaming 338

An anonymous reader writes "An irritated father of a 23-year-old gamer hired 'In-game assassins' to attempt to make his son quit playing video games and have him get a job. 'Feng's idea was that his son would get bored of playing games if he was killed every time he logged on, and that he would start putting more effort into getting a job.' While the son recently had a job at a software development company he quit because he decided he didn't like the work."
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Dad Hires In-Game 'Assassins' To Get His Son To Stop Gaming

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  • Just kick him out. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by h4rr4r ( 612664 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:10PM (#42478495)

    No need for that, just kick him out.
    He will find a job when he needs a place to live and food to eat.

    • by geekoid ( 135745 ) <dadinportland@yaFREEBSDhoo.com minus bsd> on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:15PM (#42478567) Homepage Journal

      Yes, finding a job when you don't have an address, money, food or means will be a snap!

      The US street are littered with kids whose parent did that instead of actual get professional help.

      .

      • by interkin3tic ( 1469267 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:25PM (#42478693)
        This was in China though. And the Dad evidently gave up after the kid said "No, I'm STILL not going to look for a job." Sounds like the problem may have been lack of tough love. Furthermore, h4rr4r's suggestion doesn't need to be an immediate and total severing of all ties and support.

        "You have a month or two to find a job, after that time you'll either be gainfully employed and enjoying your hobby on your off hours, or you will be sleeping on the concrete and won't have a computer."

        If the kid chooses the latter, that's his fault.
        • by Jah-Wren Ryel ( 80510 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @03:08PM (#42479303)

          his was in China though. And the Dad evidently gave up after the kid said "No, I'm STILL not going to look for a job." Sounds like the problem may have been lack of tough love.

          Sounds like it might be 421 aka Little Emperor Syndrome [wikipedia.org] at work.

          • Someone give this guy mod points. If you have one child, and you're entire purpose in life is to have a successful son, it's awfully hard to just kick them out and sever ties. Even if that would be the best course of action.

            One definite advantage of a big family is that it easy to boot out the sociopath who is just mooching off of everyone else. Tough if you are stuck with one of them as your only off-spring.

        • by Hoi Polloi ( 522990 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @03:40PM (#42479721) Journal

          Don't give him internet access at home and don't give him any money to spend at the cafes there. If he wants to play his games he came pay for them himself.

        • Kid's probably too old to work at Foxconn now. Heck to be 23 and not FORCED into a job in China means he's pretty well to do.

        • by StillNeedMoreCoffee ( 123989 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @06:43PM (#42482507)

          The problem is loosing your child. China's one child policy has left much of the country with families with one child (little emperors) that know that they can just leave there parents which for a Chinese family is a horrible idea, unthinkable, especially a son. So you have children that know they have presure that threat to disown their parents as extreme leverage. So the "Just kick him out" is truly a scary , not to be considered because of the consequences action. No wonder the father took indirect steps to make his son want to stop game playing. The Chinese do things indirectly and communication is an art in a way that we don't fully understand. So assuming the same value system, and behaviours we would take in the West have any resonance in the East.

      • by razorh ( 853659 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:27PM (#42478709)

        The US street are littered with kids whose parent did that instead of actual get professional help.

        Really? Where? Reference? Honestly, I've never heard that parents kicking deadbeat children out of their homes was a serious source of homelessness.

        • by spiffmastercow ( 1001386 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:41PM (#42478911)

          The US street are littered with kids whose parent did that instead of actual get professional help.

          Really? Where? Reference? Honestly, I've never heard that parents kicking deadbeat children out of their homes was a serious source of homelessness.

          They're all in Portland. Also, most of them deserve it and would not contribute to society in any meaningful way regardless of whether they're on the streets or in their parents' homes.

          • Are they the ones walking around asking for money, with the big ass golden retriever, and the $300+ hiking backpacks? Those guys got on my nerves.

            • They might have been the ones sitting outside of the Starbucks on their 350lbs ass playing on their iDevice asking if you can spare some change while in the same breath asking if they can buy a smoke from you. Or possibly the ones asking if you can spare some change so they can get to down town on the train even though they are in the free zone for the train. I got real sick of the bums in Portland when I was there and thought about building a potato cannon and shelling them from my apartment windows. And t
          • by n7ytd ( 230708 )

            The US street are littered with kids whose parent did that instead of actual get professional help.

            Really? Where? Reference?

            Honestly, I've never heard that parents kicking deadbeat children out of their homes was a serious source of homelessness.

            They're all in Portland. Also, most of them deserve it and would not contribute to society in any meaningful way regardless of whether they're on the streets or in their parents' homes.

            Are you saying that organizing drum circles or juggling in the park for tips doesn't contribute to society? Man, you're a total sell-out, man. You used to be cool. BTW, can I crash on your couch tonight?

        • by geekoid ( 135745 )

          Lettered was probably the wrong word. I did not mean to imply its a serious source, but I use to help those kids. So the idea that you can toss someone out and that will fix it annoys me.

      • by MightyYar ( 622222 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:27PM (#42478713)

        The US street are littered with kids whose parent did that instead of actual get professional help.

        No, they aren't. They are littered with people who have schizophrenia and other mental illness, but cannot be compelled to take their meds. This dude isn't hearing voices, and he doesn't seem to be self-treating his "illness" with alcohol or heroin.

        • by VortexCortex ( 1117377 ) <VortexCortex@[ ] ... m ['pro' in gap]> on Friday January 04, 2013 @03:49PM (#42479853)

          They are littered with people who have schizophrenia and other mental illness, but cannot be compelled to take their meds. This dude isn't hearing voices, and he doesn't seem to be self-treating his "illness" with alcohol or heroin.

          Have you ever been homeless? I suspect not because that's a load of bullish. I have been homeless. The streets are littered with unfortunate souls who for one reason or another wound up on the streets and either can't get a foothold back into modern civilisation. There are the deranged, lazy, addicts, etc who won't work, but these are a SMALL portion of the homeless population. I guess you think "all niggers are lazy thieves"? No, of course not, that's racist? Then why the fuck would you think in much the same way about homeless people?

          I couldn't get along with my abusive step dad. Out on the streets at 17, despite having been running a software business since age 15 (selling my wares on Compuserve and other online services), I found it near impossible to get a job doing ANYTHING, even cleaning toilets. Homeless are thought to be thieves, murderers, rapists, etc -- They must be really horrible people if they have no place to live, they did something to deserve that life -- WRONG. Maybe some have, but it's not the majority. The majority I've encountered made bad financial decisions, or specialized in a field that became obsolete, simply had a home foreclosure while being laid-off and unable to find work. Entire families may seek help from other relatives, even giving legal guardianship of their kids to relatives until they themselves are homeless. Sometimes they have no one to turn to, the shelter is full of folks like this. What did I do to deserve homelessness? What dysfunction caused me to live on the streets? I provoked an abusive man to keep him from abusing my two younger brothers. My mother finally wised up when he started abusing them, originally thinking that I was just an ungrateful problem child, and thus was the black sheep of the family. My other relatives thought it would be better for me to live on the streets and learn "tough love" than to give me refuge.

          In short: Get bent you ignorant prick, you're pulling shit out of your arse, typical slashdot armchair sociologist, you're worse than any homeless person I've ever met.

          • by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @04:35PM (#42480557) Journal

            The majority I've encountered made bad financial decisions,

            This is true of every homeless person I've ever met; every single one of them (anecdotal) had problems managing money. A lot of them know how to earn it, I knew one guy who could manage a team and make $2000 for himself in a single week doing construction.

            He spent it all. In general, if you give a homeless guy $10, he'll spend it immediately. If you give a homeless guy $100, he'll call his friends and spend it immediately. If you give him $1000, he'll have it spent by the end of the week. He might even do something silly like stay in a hotel, instead of renting an apartment.

            • He might even do something silly like stay in a hotel, instead of renting an apartment.

              Speaking as a landlord, if a homeless guy is looking for an apartment, and his credentials are "haven't had a home or job for 12 months, but some guy just gave me a grand", he's not going to be able to get an apartment. It costs money (advertising, legal costs) to arrange for a new lease. You're not going to pay that just to get someone in who can only afford the place for a couple of months.

          • by LordLimecat ( 1103839 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @06:47PM (#42482559)

            I guess you think "all niggers are lazy thieves"? No, of course not, that's racist? Then why the fuck would you think in much the same way about homeless people?

            From [pbs.org]:

            What are the greatest causes of homelessness? ...
            For singles, the three most commonly cited causes of homelessness are:
              * Substance abuse
              * Lack of affordable housing
              * Mental illness

            Guess PBS is racist now?

          • by fatphil ( 181876 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @07:01PM (#42482831) Homepage
            It is tales like these that are why practically the only charitable donations I make are to homeless charities (and very closely related causes such as soup kitchens, food banks, clothing banks, etc.). All the diseases that you get when you're old, and might die of, fuck it, I couldn't care less about - you've got to die of *something*, finding a cure for one of them just means you die of a different one; so all those charities miss out completely. I rarely give cash in person (I find it hard to overcome an "they might spend it on the wrong thing" attitude), but will often offer food to those who look like they need it most.

            I think those with a negative prejudice against the homeless should be forced to play "The Bum Game": http://www.globalgamenetwork.com/bumgame/ . And not be allowed to stop until they win, or recant.
      • Owing to my own stupid decisions as a teenager, I've had to obtain a job without a fixed address and about $10 in my pocket. The guy was working as an IT professional, and obviously wasn't overly concerned about his finances, as he simply quit because he didn't like the job. I'd give the kid 30 days to find a job or go couch surf somewhere else. The US is littered with people whose parents coddled them into adulthood and have no idea how or desire to deal with real life. It's time for the school of hard kno

      • by tnk1 ( 899206 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:30PM (#42478757)

        My parents let me stay at home between college and my first (post-college) job. That was a total of one week. They probably would have let me stay for longer, but I didn't want to. I like them just fine, but how precisely was I ever going to be an adult, have good relationship with women, and learn to take care of myself if I kept living with them? I love video games, but not so much that I can stand to play them all day, every day. After work and on weekends is more than enough time for that.

        If this kid doesn't like his job, he needs to do what every responsible adult does: work it until you can get a better one somewhere else. You're never going to get a good job unless you're really lucky or you work through the bad or mediocre ones first.

        I haven't liked every job I have worked. Some I downright hated, but they were a means to an end. Now, I have house, cars and family of my own, and my parents get to enjoy the rest of their lives without me hanging around mooching off them.

        That is not to say I am not in favor of using your parents as a springboard to get you there. If you truly can't find a job, you need to do what you have to do. There's no shame in living at your parents' home to get back on your feet, just as long as that is what you are trying to do. In this person's case, I'm not sure he's being an adult.

      • At 23 it is no longer the parents responsibility to provide anything.

        An eagle tosses it's young out of the nest not to kill or out of malice but to teach them how to fly on their own.

        This guy has all of the things you list but isn't interested in employment if he is playing games instead of looking for work. And since he is 23 his parents can't force him to get "professional" help.
        • by PhxBlue ( 562201 )

          An eagle tosses it's young out of the nest not to kill or out of malice but to teach them how to fly on their own.

          When humans try this, it doesn't kill the young. Probably because we don't build our nests high enough off the ground. I'll leave it up to you to determine whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

      • by h4rr4r ( 612664 )

        I would assume he has friends and some money in the bank from living at home.

        I did this, so can he.

      • At some point you need to realize that work is less fun than games, but you still need to do it. The kid in the article can find a job, he just doesn't like it. He said, "I'm not looking for just any job, I want to take some time to find one that suits me."

        Find a job you don't like, then while you have a positive cash flow, look for a job that better 'suits' you.
      • by PRMan ( 959735 )

        My parents coddled my brother and he was a live-at-home deadbeat until he was 37 years old. And he took money from my 70+ year-old retired father until he was 43. I finally told my dad that if you want him to grow up, you have to just cut him off. Tell him he's done in 6 months and that you are reducing the amount you give him by 1/6 every month until it's zero.

        Amazingly(?!?), my brother got a job (a really good job) and is now on his own doing great, by far the best ever in his life. And he's growing u

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by capoccia ( 312092 )

      probably mom wouldn't let dad kick him out.

    • by jjsimp ( 2245386 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:17PM (#42478593)
      It is just so simple, but parents these days are just so stupid. My dad gave me three options when I graduated from HS. Join the military, go to college, or GTFO. And for the current teens/twenty somethings I do not hate my father. In fact I respect the man.
      • by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        Works great when you can, doesn't work so well when you can't. Like say, housing prices ensure that at best, you can rent some terrible squalid place and you're still paying 3/4th of your paycheque for it (or spend two hours commuting from next town over).

        For many, the "GTFO" option is "Start paying rent" (which can be a pretty sweet deal when you figure what's actually included).

        And really, that's the best option - pay the damn rent. Else no electricity and especially, no internet. (Really, why is the fath

      • Mine was much the same way. I was allowed to live at home as long as I was going to school/college. Once I was done with my education, I had six months to move out. It worked well for both of us and it's the same thing I'll probably do when I have kids.

      • My dad didn't mention the military, but essentially I was given the same options.

    • Still... a really creative way to dish out punishment for being a slacker. I sense a motivation poster pending.
    • My son seemed to be exactly like this. He was living with me and had gotten us to allow his girlfriend to move in. After 6 months of broken promises regarding rent money and work around the house exchanged for missing rent, I finally blew a nut and told them both they had 90 days to get out. They're still living in my sister's basement, but he's now a manager at a sandwich chain and his girlfriend is being considered for management training with the same chain. That kick in the ass is what it took for him t

  • WTF? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:10PM (#42478505)

    How does this crap get on Slashdot? Seriously! Can we possibly have some tech related news that promotes some form or interesting and educational discourse?

    Please!

    • Take a look at Slashdot’s demographics. You have people with time on their hands and tend to be good at games. This is obviously a recruitment ad - thinly disguised as a news story.

  • in game assassin. 200 bucks a day, plus expenses. I can even see the misspelled gold lettering on my office door.

    • in game assassin. 200 bucks a day, plus expenses. I can even see the misspelled gold lettering on my office door.

      And the professional association of in game assassins would be "The Assassins' Creed".

  • Just pay the son (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:15PM (#42478575)

    Because he thinks his son should make money instead of game all day, he hires someone to make money by gaming all day?

    • Do you continue to pay your assassins long after they get the job done? Because I don't.
    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Maybe his kid should look for a job as an in-game assassin? Apparently there's a market for that kind of thing.

  • by TechyImmigrant ( 175943 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:15PM (#42478577) Homepage Journal

    If you kill him, he will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

  • Useless (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Blindman ( 36862 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:17PM (#42478605) Journal
    At best, you would be encouraging him to find a different game. Presumably, he would find one without player kills.
    People generally find jobs because they need a job--not because they are too bored to do something else.
    • Re:Useless (Score:5, Insightful)

      by AK Marc ( 707885 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:48PM (#42479029)
      If he can't hold a job because he's addicted, and he doesn't want to look for a job because he's addicted, then souring the high may work. They do it with alcohol, so his father was trying the online version of disulfiram. Now, if he's just lazy and fills his lazy with games, then he'll find a different game to fill his time.

      And yes, some people find jobs because they are too bored to do something else. Lots of retired people get a part time job or something like that because they are bored. People plan all their life to retire, but don't plan what happens after.
    • by Jeng ( 926980 )

      I quit Everquest for awhile because I found doing over the phone dsl tech support was more fun. At one of those places that tell you you'll have two weeks of training, but they toss you on the phone after 2 hours of training.

      It got old after awhile though and I went back to EQ.

  • Career (Score:3, Interesting)

    by biojayc ( 856286 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:22PM (#42478647)
    I'd love to see someone try to make a career out of this! Pick a game like WOW and then advertise that you will make the game hell for whoever for a fee in an attempt to get them to quit. Two main clients I'd image: dad's and girlfriends. Wonder how long before Blizzard or lawyers step in.
    • I'd love to see someone try to make a career out of this! Pick a game like WOW and then advertise that you will make the game hell for whoever for a fee in an attempt to get them to quit.

      Depends on the game mechanics. I don't play WoW, but I bet it's pretty hard to grief others. Most MMOs these days are like that. It would be easy in EVE though.

    • by Shinobi ( 19308 )

      Already been done in lots of online games....

      I know for a fact that there's been such things in EQ, UO, WoW etc. And well, there's EVE, where you have had entire mercenary alliances etc...

  • Irony (Score:5, Funny)

    by Nadaka ( 224565 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:22PM (#42478661)

    What if his son is running a business by selling his services as an ingame assassin?

    • Irony: What if his son is hardcore PvP'er and relish the new challenge? Or just curbstomps the assassins.

  • Considering that a 1st grader just got suspended from school for making a gun with his finger and saying "pow" http://abcnews.go.com/US/maryland-grader-suspended-pointing-finger-shape-gun/story?id=18123294#.UOcsEaXstuo [go.com] , I can totally see the son pursuing his father in court for "attempted murder". And then he won't need a job. He can just sue and live off the money he gets from his father. Oh the irony...
  • Sounds like the kid is living a good life at home; he's fed, he's got internet, presumably some pocket change. Time to cut off the internet, stop paying for the cell phone, etc. Kid needs incentive to get a job it sounds like; he needs to learn to appreciate what it takes to afford the life he's been living. Don't kick him out; that's draconian and it risks the kid winding up on a street with no food, etc. and no prospect of landing a job.
  • Given some reports [latimes.com], I'd have to say that getting killed by virtual assassins might be better than getting sent to addiction camp...

    On the other hand...

    Unhappy with his son not finding a job, Feng decided to hire players in his son's favorite online games to hunt down Xiao Feng. It is unknown where or how Feng found the in-game assassins—every one of the players he hired were stronger and higher leveled than Xiao Feng.

    You've got to wonder how addicted the so-called assassins were to the game to get to a higher level than his addicted son (or perhaps how inept the son was at playing the game) and what the father's contribution to the assassins' addiction. I guess if it isn't specifically your problem, you don't care. Welcome to the wonderful new virtual social media world

  • If you're assassinated in a video game, what happens to your assets? I can totally see a new a career here. First, I play video games all day long and get really good at them. Then, I offer to assassinate other players with the stipulation that I get to keep all their goods. So I get real world cash for the hit and virtual world goods from the person I just wiped out. And all while sitting on my ass playing video games. Hmmm I think I need to take this idea to a good VC firm before Zuckerberg steals my idea
    • by Sulphur ( 1548251 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:53PM (#42479093)

      If you're assassinated in a video game, what happens to your assets? I can totally see a new a career here. First, I play video games all day long and get really good at them. Then, I offer to assassinate other players with the stipulation that I get to keep all their goods. So I get real world cash for the hit and virtual world goods from the person I just wiped out. And all while sitting on my ass playing video games. Hmmm I think I need to take this idea to a good VC firm before Zuckerberg steals my idea and integrates it into Facebook.

      He'll make a killing.

  • If a dad tried this in the USA he'd probably find himself, along with the assassins, being charged with some cyberbullying statute. The kid would then sue successfully, making enough money to move out, get his own place and continue gaming full time.

  • I thought South Park already covered this idea or at least the idea of getting whacked every time you start a game. Doesn't seem like it deterred them. http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s10e08-make-love-not-warcraft [southparkstudios.com]
  • Just cut his internet connection ... a perfect incentive for the internet gaming addict to move out and find a job

  • Seriously? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by roc97007 ( 608802 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:42PM (#42478927) Journal

    I think the father is overthinking this. I can't get at TFA from here, but if the son is living at the father's house, there are much better solutions. If it's a game console, disconnect it and donate it to the Salvation Army. If it's the son's personal property, fine, but if the son is living at the father's home, the internet connection probably belongs to the father. Login to router, disallow son's device. (And change the admin password.)

    What it comes down to is this: "It's my house. If you want to live as you please, go out and get your own place. You're old enough. And if you think you can keep an apartment as a professional game player, let me know how that works out for you."

    We had a similar issue at my house. I was at work and missed the fireworks, but I'm told they were spectacular. Wife was absolutely addicted to a Facebook game, wouldn't get off the couch except to go to the bathroom. Daughter needed food, couldn't get wife's attention. So daughter went out to the garage and turned off the router. (Wife doesn't know a router from a coffee pot, didn't know what to turn on.) Whoo boy. Initially wife's reaction was "I'm not going to do anything for you until you turn the internet back on" (imagine that much louder and a bit hysterical). Daughter's response "you weren't doing anything anyway, so what have I lost?" I'm told that after shouting back and forth for awhile, and a half hour of sulking, wife finally got up and made dinner with very bad grace. As soon as the food was ready, daughter turned on the router.

    Later, I got home, said "hi" got no answer. Said "Hello" a little louder, still no answer. Called wife's name, got "Don't. Talk. To. Me." Ooookay then.....

    I tend to be self-correcting on games. I may have mentioned before, I was a Warcraft addict for awhile, and when I realized I couldn't stay away, I gave the disc to daughter and told her to hide it. A year and a half later, I still don't know where it is. But I have so much more time at home to actually interact with my family (when wife isn't playing facebook games) and do stuff around the house.

    In yet another instance, I had a nephew staying with me, and when he quit college because it's "too hard" and decided he could make a living as a game tester if he just put in enough practice, it was time for him to find some place else to live. I hear he slept in his car for awhile.

  • How long until moms in Texas [wikipedia.org] hire in game assassins as a means of removing their own children's competition?
  • Spoiled. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MaWeiTao ( 908546 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @02:56PM (#42479137)

    This is a fairly common problem in Asia, and possibly more prevalent in Chinese speaking nations. Sons continue to be revered to the point of being spoiled rotten. So they go through school and enter the workforce incapable of handling the responsibilities and stresses of life. They expect everything handed to them and many have trouble being told want to do in the workplace. It's not fundamentally different than the entitlement culture parents are creating in the west, but it's a bit more focused in Asia and manifests itself a little different.

    Where American youth expect they should be free to pursue a life of leisure young men in Asia have it in their heads that they're budding entrepreneurs. So they'll refuse to get a job because they don't want to work for the man. They leech off the parents and because of the strong sense of family and obligation parents will support them indefinitely. They'll even go as far as helping them start a business which doesn't improve their work ethic. For the guys with wealthy and connected parents they'll get a cushy, high paying job doing not much of anything. The irony is that the daughters still get the short of the stick, but end up being the responsible ones who in the end support the parents and the slacker brothers.

    Of course, there is the subset who have no aspirations whatsoever, like this guy. So his father didn't kick him in the ass when he should have, let the problem persist and grow, and now is trying to do something about it when it's too late.

  • by GodfatherofSoul ( 174979 ) on Friday January 04, 2013 @04:06PM (#42480105)

    I'd quit and do what they said out of pure geek respect for pulling it off!

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