<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[The Dish]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://dish.andrewsullivan.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Andrew Sullivan]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://dish.andrewsullivan.com/author/sullydish/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[The Intimacy Of&nbsp;Gaming]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[
<p><em><span style="font-size: 12px;">by Chris Bodenner</span></em></p>
<p>Sebastian at Obsidian Wings <a href="http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2009/12/strange-connections.html">shares</a> a poignant story about a guy he played World of Warcraft with:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Last month a little before Thanksgiving, I heard while we were playing that he was coughing <img alt="Wow" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d83451c45669e20120a76022f1970b " src="https://sullydish.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/6a00d83451c45669e20120a76022f1970b-320wi.jpg" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px; width: 190px; height: 208px;" /> rather loudly.&#0160; I jokingly said he should consider taking up smoking if he was going to cough so much, and he admitted that he had pneumonia.&#0160; He was on antibiotics for it and the doctors said it was a fairly bad case, though not awful.&#0160; After the raid was over I wished him well and told him &quot;no more coughing&quot; in my best big brother voice.&#0160; I logged in the next day and his friend from college told me that he had died, presumably of a pneumonia related pulmonary embolism.&#0160; At first I thought that the friend was playing a joke in very poor taste.&#0160; Then, what an obnoxious irony to have my last words to him be &quot;stop coughing&quot;.&#0160; He never listened to me before.</p>
<p>So after an initial shock, I then found myself crying over a person I had never met.&#0160; I didn&#39;t even know what he looked like until I saw his obituary! </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ta-Nehisi <a href="http://ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/12/wow_the_virtual_and_the_real.php">offers</a> his own thoughts and anecdotes from his online social world.</p>
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