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On Thanksgiving Day, 2001, Shawn Woolley’s body was discovered in his Wisconsin apartment by his mother, Elizabeth Woolley. Two days before, he had put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger while sitting in front of his computer. When found by his mother that morning, he was logged into Everquest (EQ), the most popular of the Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). Mrs. Woolley has filed a lawsuit against Sony Online Entertainment, the game’s producer, saying “This isn’t just an online game, it’s dangerous. I believe if he hadn’t been playing that game, he’d be alive today” (Duluth News Tribune). Mrs. Woolley has found a convenient way to absolve herself of guilt in the death of her son. While Everquest can be time consuming, it is not inherently addictive. Neither is work, food, sex, or any of the other “aholics” that we have become accustomed to viewing as being addictive. Admittedly, it can pose a danger to those already predisposed to addiction, but so can many things. By demonizing the game, she is refusing to admit that her son was responsible for his own actions. Everquest did not kill her son. Her emotionally disturbed son killed himself. Adding fuel to the fires of