A Real Death in a Virtual Community

[Memory]

I don't know how many have read the story here (It's probably been mentioned elsewhere) About some Dark Age of Camalot players paying homage to the player of a character called Warsinger who died.

There is a picture of a lot of players standing in the shape of a heart during Warsinger's funeral.

However the main reason I bring this up is a couple of comments in the Slashdot post...

The line between virtual reality and reality...

...becomes blurred
Possibly these people spend more of their social time in front of a PC than in the genuine outdoors... so it's unsurprising that a funeral and other social rituals might take place.

Followed by...

You're kinda missing the point. There was a community that has been developed through the guild. One of its members died - not left, not terminated his account, died. As a result, the community felt a rather sharp sense of loss. His character didn't die, he did. I think it's a very good example of being in TOUCH with reality, and choosing to take a moment out of the virtual world's rules to honor him. If they were disconnected from reality, they wouldn't really have given a rip. They were holding a funeral for HIM, the player behind Warsinger, not for the character Warsinger. They chose to honor him in a way rather well suited to the game.

I think it's pretty cool.

Thoughts/opinions?