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Filed under: In the news, Weird but trueEven pretend marriages can go horribly wrong -- a Japanese woman engaged in an online game "killed" her virtual husband following their virtual divorce, and how she's been arrested on the suspicion of hacking.The game, called "Maple Story," lets players create avatars that represent themselves. Then, they role-play relationships, engage in social activities and (get this one) fight against monsters -- hey, just your average day in the virtual 'burbs, right?According to Japanese police, the 43-year-old woman illegally accessed her "ex-husband's" computer, using his ID and password to log into the game and commit the make-believe murder sometime back in May.Investigators quoted the woman as saying, "I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. It made me so angry."OK, let me get this straight -- she was pretend-divorced, and so she pretend-killed the guy, and now she's in real jail? And she faces a fine of up to $5,000? All because of a video game? Dude, why didn't she just go to pretend-small claims court? I just don't get it. "Dungeons and Dragons" mystified me as a teenager, because some kids seemed to take it so very seriously. Now we're living in entirely virtual worlds, and committing virtual crimes of passion.Lest you think this is some kind of strange Japanese thing, how about the woman in Delaware, who was charged in August with plotting the abduction of a "boyfriend" she met through another online virtual world, "Second Life?"What's next? I shudder to even think. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Posted on Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:01:00 EST at http://www.parentdish.com/2008/11/06/wom...l-husband/
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