THE DEATH OF CIVILIZATION

There are many ways it can happen.

But if society is too screwed up to know the difference between reality and fantasy and treats them the same, events do not bode well for long-term survival:

Countries in Asia are considering new sets of laws governing in-game crime. This has been highlighted recently by the murder of a Chinese man who didn't pay up for the purchase of a super sword for the game Legends Of Mir 3, by the seller. Whilst places like South Korea which has a section of its police force that investigates in-game crime, the BBC reports that, "The row is thought to have blown up partly because China has no laws that cover the theft of virtual in-game items."

Many of the magic weapons, armor, artifacts and money from online games, such as EverQuest and Ultima Online, change hands for large sums of money. At any one time millions of dollars in game items are being traded on places like eBay or specialized sites. The China Daily said that increasing numbers of players were going to court to resolve disputes over stolen money and game items.

Or maybe there's something even more sinister taking advantage of things. SOMETHING has to be the opiate of the masses, right?