In these games, nationality can get you killed

There are many stories about crossovers between virtual world role-playing games and the real world, mostly to do with money (and sometimes with love). Now you can factor in international politics as well.

South Korean players in certain online games are reportedly waiting for Chinese gamers to log on, and then executing their characters, according to a report in the Financial Times.

The motive is not explicitly political--the paper says that the Chinese players are perceived as being rude for failing to follow some of the etiquette rules of the game. But a backlash against some of those players has spread to other gamers perceived as Chinese.

"Korean players stand there waiting for Chinese players to enter--you can tell they are Chinese because they can't speak Korean--and then they kill them," a gamer told the paper. "I befriended some Chinese teenagers and tried to teach them, but Koreans kept trying to kill them so they all left the game. I just cried."

Blog community response:

"Online gaming is getting more and more real, not excluding bad side effects."
--Derschaefer

"From my own experience, gamers are some of the nicest, most non-violent, down-to-earth people one could ever have the pleasure of knowing. They've learned to take real world aggressions and channel them into something completely harmless (beating the virtual crap out of monsters, fragging their friends, etc). The fact that the Chinese & Koreans are airing out their racial tensions online is a glorious thing IMHO. Far better that, than the alternative."
--Robert's World

"All in good fun, right? And just imagine what would happen if Japanese players got onto these servers."
--billsdue