Russell Shirley
It’s been out only just over a week, and somebody has already died playing Diablo III, although maybe the only really surprising bit is that he wasn’t Korean.
According to a blog post linked over on Tumblr, a 32-year old American man named Russell Shirley died sometime over the weekend of an apparent heart attack, in front of his PC, while playing Diablo III.
“Please, if only for yourselves, take time out of your day to get some exercise,” writes blogger Ben Dornis, who was apparently a friend and colleague of Russell’s.
“Go outside and enjoy the sun. Ride a bike. Do something active. Video games are great fun when played in moderation. This may be an extreme example but take it as advice to not go overboard. Or at least don’t do it alone. He took 3 days off and played Diablo 3 pretty much the whole time. He called in and asked to take Friday off as well. We are placing the blame on ourselves at work wondering if we made him come in on Friday would he still be with us today?”
Be careful, people.
James! James! I wrote the whole article without making a tasteless, obvious joke (well, I deleted them). Can I get a raise now?
Source: BuildStarted (via Tumblr)
Related Articles
Diablo III is fastest selling PC game, ever
Names banned in Diablo III – let’s start a list!
Diablo III accounts hacked, gold and gear swiped
Diablo III auction house launch delayed (obviously)
Diablo III’s secret level is over the rainbow
Loading ...
I’m sorry to have found this information 2 years later about Russell Shirley. Reading some of these comments however about how someone said they wanted to thank the gaming company for his death I would like to respond about what kind of person Russell Shirley was since he was a friend that I had regretably lost contact with. I first knew Russell from Everquest he loved to play online games and after getting to know him it had a lot to do with a very high intelligence which was in some way satisfied by the challenges certain online games offered him. I helped him get a job at the company I had worked for during the last 18 years and he was the only person out of all those who asked including other friends that I did this for. The reason was he was smarter than me (before you sneer at me I have 2 degrees and graduated with my B.A. well over 3.0 g.p.a.). He was so smart and fast thinking that on the games EQ and WOW he would do the mental calculations, adaption of tactics, etc. as fast as 3 guild raid officers combined. His only problem was his physique. He was always heavyset this was so even before Diablo 3 came out……years before even. There are many who are genetically predisposed to being overweight I’ve seen plenty and no matter how much they do excercise they simply can’t override their body’s programming to store more body fat than say another “thin” person might. I think those who threw cheap shots at him without ever knowing him are things that belong in the toilet and I’m sorry your mother gave birth to a waste of space like those of you who I am referring to. Russell was the kind of guy who would help you out when you needed help so his passing is not an occasion for throwing barbs.