Lineage II Gamer Kicks Player to Death

A 22-year-old Ukrainian gamer, considered one of the top Lineage II players in Europe, stomped another gamer to death after the man tried to stop a fight between rival clan members, The Moscow Times reports.

Alexander "DVP" Ponamorenko has been arrested and charged with the beating death of Alexander "Sverkh" Blyoskin, 22, who was trying to break-up a fight between Ponamorenko and his online nemesis, known only as Shtai, a friend of Blyoskin, according to the Basmanny District Prosecutor's Office.

The three were at a gathering of 20 to 30 Lineage II gamers at a cafe in central Moscow on Jan. 12 when the fight broke out.

Everybody in the room noticed how the expression on DVP's face changed when he saw Shtai," a witness and fellow gamer, identified only as Pavel, told Rossia television on Saturday.
Ponamorenko and Kirill took things outside, and after the two came to blows, Blyoskin, a student at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute and a friend of Kirill's, tried to calm Ponamorenko down, Tatarinova said.

Accounts differ as to what happened next. Some witnesses say Ponamorenko punched Blyoskin, who played Lineage II under the nickname "Sverkh," and that the student fell and hit his head on the asphalt, Rossia television reported.

Tatarinova, however, said Ponamorenko stomped on Blyoskin's head while he lay on the ground.

Blyoskin was taken to a local hospital where he died four days later. He was buried at Moscow's Domodedovskoye cemetery on Jan. 19.

As one of my friend's pointed out when I told him about this sad story: If it wasn't a game gathering it would have been a soccer match or just everyday barroom brawl.

via kotaku