The only dangerous thing about this is parents blaming a game for their own failures. Does WoW provide your inability to make sure your child eats? I am a undergraduate student studying psychology, and I play WoW, so where is your excuse now? Games didn't stop me succeeding. Take responsibilty.

Terri, Derby, England

I think that the game itself should have limits placed upon it, so it allows it's users to only play for so long at a time.
Several close friends of mine became obsessed with the game and it's ruined our relationship. They practically became noctural and wouldn't do things normal teenagers do.

Sheri Hall, Swansea,

Everything in moderation? Anyone who does something for 24 straight hours with lack of sleep and food deprivation is bound to suffer some kind of condition. I've been playing WoW for over 3 years and during that time have successfully completed all of my uppergrade college work with no less than a B

Rossi, Roseville,

know even father and son playing together. Its much about self-control really and pretty dangerous for teens.

and I think playing 10 hr straight is much more harmful than 20 hr with 10 min breaks

Nikos, Tbilisi, Georgia

This story is evidence of how WoW can be bad. This story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,432383,00.html is evidence of how WoW can be good. We cannot fault Blizzard (the manufacturer) for making an enjoyable game (even when in their tips section they tell all WoW-ers to take Wow in moderation

Jake, Muncie, Indiana

I am an avid Wow player, 3+ hrs on a weekday, and (make sure you're sitting down) I just achieved a 90% in my university level math class, with similar marks elsewhere. I experience the urge to play when i shouldn't and I easily repress that urge. The issues are self-control 1st, and parenting 2nd.

Adam, Toronto, Canada

Too bad you all prove the media's point. Come on, addicts, at least PRETEND you aren't lying.

What digusts me the most about this game and about people is that stupid parents let young children play it and it steals away their childhoods in ways that other games could've never even IMAGINED. Sad.

Chris, Honolulu, USA

I used to play world of wacraft...in all honesty it ruined my life. I did nothing but play it as much as I can and experienced all the same feelings as those who still play it, the achievement and self-worth, but its not as if its anything special...Keep it real if you wanna feel alive!

Jack, Hereford, England

Too bad that the media only shows us computer games through one point of view. I have never read anything about how games can affect children positively.

I am sixteen years old, do well in school, have a social life and play World Of Warcaft.

Lars, Stockholm, Sweden

it's not the games fault or Blizzard's fault.If someone doesn't know when to quit,or,when to at least slow down a little,then that person is resposible for their own behavior.When will people stop looking for someone or something else besides themselves for a scapegoat? Games are fun.Not drugs.

Hilton Alligood, Oakland, CA. , U.S.A.

People love to blame popular media for their ills. In the 80's heavy metal was the culprit, "my son commited suicide because of your song". Then the 90's it was rap music and the expliotation of women and violent lyrics. Now video games are the culprit. Theres a thing called responsibilty. Come on.

Shaun, San Diego, USA

This game is a drug, it can ruin lives just like any chemical drug can.
So parents who pay for this game should know that they are actually buying "drugs" for their kids.
Parents should pay more attention to their children and communicate with them more often so these things don't happen.

Farzad, Thornhill, Canada

Sam Triggs: I'm glad to hear that despite spending eight hours a day playing games you are 'doing good' in Sixth Form. Perhaps spend a few hours fewer and you'll learn that 'doing good' is dreadfully ungrammatical and that the pronoun 'I' always requires a capital letter.

Hmm.

Laura, Edinburgh,

I just posted a comment on wow forum like 2 days ago about folks doing EXACTLY this. Thank Blizzard for implecating "First" achievements. Some achievements which prompt people to do exactly what that kid did, and probably worse. Of course it's not Blizzards fault directly, but what did they expect?

Lex, Flint, USA

Parental controls are not the way forward. Restricting access is not the way forward.

The answer is to teach self-control and an understanding of the consequences.

If you box kids into a corner they will want to escape it, if you grant them full access they are more likely to explore with caution.

Leyton Jay, Crawley, UK

How can you describe people as socially withdrawn when they spend so much time socially interacting online?

Chris, Slough, UK

I think that it is really sad that people play video games for longer than an couple hours a day. They should get out and do some exercise because you are not going to get much moving a computer mouse and pressing some buttons. I also think its quite sad that the parents are letting them do this!!!

Andrew, Glasgow, Scotland

The game actually has parental guidance limits for time on the game in it's "parental control" part. It will turn off the game at a certain time (not sure time or after so many hours). The parents need to use these controls and stick to it.

Kathleen, Wausau, WI, US

Yes, yes, games are to blame.. How about alcoholism, smoking and drug-abusing? Suddenly, the greatest threat for the civilizaton is World of Warcraft..

Aleksandar, Nis, Serbia

This is the 21st century I think parents in this country need a crash course on how to look after their kids. All this boy needed was for his parents to remove the keyboard before bed so he wouldn't be able to play at night.

thomas, kent, uk

Some games are quite addictive, but to become completely hooked you've got to have an addictive personality yourself. I played computer games as a kid and always got bored after a couple of hours.

James David, Newcastle upon Tyne,

Games like these could help warn parents whose kids have strong habit and/or addiction forming tenancies. Breaking and learning to deal with these issues early on could save these kids from screwing up later. Maybe it could be used to get drug addicts onto a tamer addiction!

R Wilson, Salisbury, UK

Perhaps gamers should try Real Life.... much more fun!

Philip, Málaga, España

So... Boy collapses after barely eating and not sleeping for 24 hours straight - would that be a more accurate headline? I think it probably would.

Noel Mellor, Manchester,

Is that all these boys and men (some women I suppose) do? What about studying, working, creating? making lerve? What a superb mind-control system, I'm sure someone will make use of that.

Kathy Stephen, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England

I've played WoW for the last 2 yrs, and I tend to play for 18hrs every weekend and about 6hrs on weekdays. At least I know to take 1hr breaks for food, and I only spend 18hrs on weekends cause I can sleep in and make up for the sleep. The best parental control however is the parent themself. *wink*

Sherry Reilly, Norfolk, USA

Gaming addiction isn't just a problem for children. I no longer play these sort of games because I tend to become quickly addicted to them.

And there are no parental controls that will work on a 53 year old.

Keith S, Winnipeg, Canada

There's not much else to do in Sweden apart from play spot the Volvo, have a sauna or just resign oneself to a life of sheer boredom.

Tony Finch, Lancaster, UK

Convulsions can be caused by many things. And what appears to be an epileptic seizure is not always an epileptic seizure.

24 hours without food or drink will usually cause problems due to low blood sugar and dehydration.

But you don't learn that spending 18 hours a day playing video games.

Keith S, Winnipeg, Canada

To be honest i think its all down to whether you can handle it, for the past 7 years i have pretty much played games of some kind every day for around 8 hours, yet i still got excellent grades at school and im currently doing good in 6th form. I love world of Warcraft as it provides social topics.

Sam Triggs, Bedfordshire,

I liked the "Peter, London,

24 hours only !?.... part timer." That about sums it up. if you can't handle the pressure then don't play the game! This guy who collapsed is obviously a total n00b, and he should maybe try playing something a little more intense, say COD4, for 24 Hours. WoW for n00bs

Will, Lewes, UK

It's Quite sad really.
I'm a Computing college student in Swindon,
And some of the people in my class play it all day,
Then when they come to college they talk about it with the other people who play it, Then go home to play it!
It seems like a common thing amongst alot of people my age nowdays.

Ian Matthews, Swindon, Wiltshire

The manual for every game states that you must have breaks periodically (I think it says every hour) and explains the risks of epilepsy.

I mean, if we had a story about someone smoking for 24 hours straight and developing cancer then why would that be news? Says on the box that you'll get cancer.

Chris, London,

@Ro, Cheltenham

Who told you taking ecstacy was dangerous? You appear to have been seriously misinformed.

Danny, Boro, UK

You can't really compare a platform game like Sonic the Hedgehog to World of Warcraft, designed to be almost completely immersive. Alot of people would, and often do, play it 24+ hours straight , especially in the post-launch race to reach level 80 and have your name boomed across the server.

Kubi, London,

I know plenty of people who spend > 16hrs in front of their computer at work. If at the end of the day someone or had an epileptic fit, i would argue that they would probably still turn up for work the very next day, and no one would blink an eye... At least he was doing something he enjoyed.

Ben, London, UK

I think it is very bad for any under 18 year old to be playing this much and although I play a lot of WOW at the age of 32 I would of never been allowed to play this much as a child and eventually my parents would have blatantly taken my PC away from me. Parents need to get more involved.

matzi, reading,

longest i would play a game like that would probably be 3 maximum cuz it bores me

mik, phila, united states

This is nothing new. When 'Sonic the hedgehog' was released back in the early 1990's a small number of children and adults around the world were playing it for over 12 hours straight and were experiencing epeleptic seizures. The games even came with health warnings and advised you take breaks.

John, Birmingham, England

If you do ANYTHING for 24 hours straight you run the risk of collapsing from a variety of factors.

It seems to me that this article is unfairly biased against computer games.

A Mark, Birmingham,

"I'm addicted to Eve Online. -ian, sheffield, UK"
Eve is MUCH harder to get addicted to, because of the skillpoint system where you learn outside of the game as well. ExP systems encourage people to play for hours to level up

Ruth, slough,

Severe consequences? Like repeating the same “Some of my clients will discuss playing for 14 or 16 hours a day without breaks and for those the consequences are very severe. " in an article twice?

John King, Ezeroth,

jeez...
nothing wrong with being a game fanatic, cuz i'm one too, but 24-hr straight is a little too much...
where the hell were his parents? I remember my dad setting curfew for me. 2 hrs a day.

Peter, London,

24 hours only !?.... part timer.

Ledrok, Southport, England

1 of the 11 million gamers. The world would be a better place if there would be only a single idiot in every eleven million people in some countries...

Slp, Dublin, IE

patent? lol.

andrew, London,

It can be seen from the death of various Korean games players that this sort of intense gaming can be as dangerous as taking ecstasy. However it was only exacerbation of a condition which was probably latent in the boy.

Ro, Cheltenham,

I believe that any parent who allows a child to play a game for 24 hours straight, or allows unsupervised access to the internet should be charged with child endangerment. Their are plenty of software programmes that can filter what sites are visited, or for how long, I used them ten years ago.

Joe Delaney, Hailsham, East Sussex

Some monitors have a flicker to them, the same sort of flicker as TV screens, flourescent lights and sun on water, all things thought to initiate epileptic seizures. Has anyone considered this as a possibility?

Tricia, Virginia, USA

I have no doubt that WOW is an entertaining game, but some choose to take to a level it was never intended for. Stories like these ruin the reputation of games for being good things for kids and teens. Same concept with the "GTA promotes violence" rant. Some people just don't know when to quit..

Cory, Louisville, United States

Yes, parental guidance is necessary. Yes, a 16 year old should show better judgement. But this behavior may be an indication of the ever-growing problem of addiction...lack of supervision, withdrawl from "society" poor judgement, are all indications of an addict in the making. WoW not to blame here

Steve , Ft Lauderdale FL, US

I am a fan of W.O.W. and so are my two kids and my boyfriend. Never would I allow my children to play a computer game for more than 2 hours. What were the parents doing that were so blind to their child playing for so long? Don't blame the game, blame the parents for their lack of parenting.

Grisselle , Chattanooga, US

Parents need to teach their kids a lil something about Self Control and make them pay for their habit...

Duy, Naperville,

Listen to you lot eh?? I have some excellent parental controls - they don't use an e-mail address, not a password, and you don't even need to touch a computer!!!! Have you guessed what they are yet??

Mark, Oxford, UK

I'm addicted to Eve Online. I think about it at work and get anxious if I'm not playing it at home. I guess we all have our escapisms though. If not online alternative worlds then drink or drugs or football.

ian, sheffield, UK

If anyone has doubts about the validity of the article I can corroborate it. It's figured in Swedish media as well.

LAN-partys (LAN meaning Local Area Network) are actually quite common among young teens here. Playing for 24 hours won't really hurt you. The kid likely had a pre-existant condition.

Daniel Ströberg, Gothenburg, Sweden

World of Warcraft has a parental controls system in place any parents who choose not to use it are failing their kids. Children are irresponsible and don't know their own limits it's up to the parents to impose them not the government and not the manufacturers.

James, Lerwick, Scotland

Blizzard Entertainment provides parental controls from within the account management system that can control when and for how long each day an account can be online. The parental control password is set up with a different email address and password than the account so as to prevent tampering.

jason, Goontown, USA

"Watch the South Park World of Warcraft episode - true genius. Very similar to this story! "

Very well said. It is the same. You must choose, real life or gaming. For many there is no in between.

Ron, los angeles, usa

Perhaps the game makers should introduce a time limit to how long an account can bplay for each day. Because there has to be some inevitable way that control us teenagers.

James, Hornsea, United Kingdom

I agree with Will, I read the article with South Park, and Red Dwarf, in mind.

Yes, the parents are at fault, but I would like to think my two teenage kids would have more common sense than this kid, and know their own limits.

Nigel, Arundel,

It's everybody's right to take risks in the pursuit of happiness, and "addiction" in the context of computer games is just a scathing word for enjoyment. Besides, I think nobody could predict that staying up 24 hours would cause epilepsy - never happened to me - and it was probably latent.

_Felix, Nottingham,

This is a clear cut example of lack of parenting on the part of the parents. Video games have become the scapegoat of irresponsible behavior and issues caused by parents refusal to interact with their kids just like Rock music was blamed for the same things back in the '80's. Parents, PARENT!!

Mike, Tupelo,

This is the kind of story that makes me wonder if the parents ever heard of a little thing called "Parenting".

Tony Harkness, Auckland, New Zealand

Very bad on the parents. I was never allowed to use a computer for more than an hour or two.

As for the game itself, it does ask the user to immerse themselves in it from what I can tell, as opposed to having set levels and a definitive end.

Edward, Reading,

What about the millions of people sitting in front of television sets every night, slowly killing themselves with alcohol, lack of exercise and obesity?

Warcraft can involve common sense, team work and problem solving - so I guess it wouldn't be fair to compare the two...

John Turner, Chester, United Kingdom

I play Warcraft, and, as much as I can agree that there is an appeal to the game, this kind of problem doesn't lie with the game, it lies with the parents. Perhaps the kid isn't sitting on a street-corner drinking, or robbing passers-by, but just because means the parent should ignore their kid.

Paul, Belfast, Antrim

The parents are to blame. how can they be so irresponsible?

tete, buenos aires, argentina

There's been such great PR for this game! We've had record queues, virtual affairs and marriages, and now a boy collapses (fortunately in Sweden so it's harder to validate the story). Full marks to Jonnie Bryant the Blizzard PR man. You're doing a cracking job that man!

David Mclean, Newport, Wales, UK

Nothing wrong with a few hours of play but 24 hours? Where are the parents? Force them to read the classics for an hour inbetween gaming at least, it worked for me by jove! A balanced life is imperative!

David Foster, London, UK

its clealry all the games fault...and nothing at all to do with the the stupid little kid

darwinsism in action perhaps?

Andrew, Leeds,

Watch the South Park World of Warcraft episode - true genius. Very similar to this story!

Live to win!!!

Will, London,

And of course they blame the kid for playing too much, but why was his father letting him play for 24 hours straight!! If I had a kid who decided not to eat and sleep, but would rather play computer games... I'm pretty sure I would intervene. Common sense.

Kevin, Albany,

Wow, I hope people don't get the wrong impression of gamers from this article. Naive children like this kid ruin games for everyone by giving them a bad reputation (and not every plays Warcraft, infact it is generally seen as the polar opposite of console games).

Oliver, ASton Clinton,

Darwinism?

Tom, London,