World of Warcraft has enriched the life of a young man. However, his parents only realized this after his death.
Every now and then, we tell stories on MeinMMO about players who have found good friends or even their spouses through World of Warcraft. These tales are usually nice to read, but not all aspects are pleasant. Such is the case in the story of Mats Steen.
His parents only truly understood after his death how many good friends Mats had found in WoW.
Mats Steen suffered from a rare disease since birth, which caused a defect in his muscles. Instead of being able to build muscle, his muscles would atrophy over the years, increasingly restricting him.
Due to his illness, Mats always felt like an outsider. He could soon only be transported to school in a wheelchair and had to constantly have a caregiver with him. Physical education was out of the question.
However, his parents still tried to offer him leisure activities and allowed him to use the family computer when he was 11 years old. For Mats, this was the beginning of completely new opportunities. It didn’t take long for Mats to discover World of Warcraft and immerse himself further into the game world.
He became a true gamer, which led to new conflict situations with his parents. After all, he now spent a large part of his free time in front of the computer and was supposed to go to bed at 10:00 PM – which is quite a hurdle for a gamer.
A second life on a WoW server
Mats played on a role-playing server and took on the role of the character Lord Ibelin Redmoore. It didn’t take long before he came into contact with other role-players and eventually ended up in the Starlight guild.
He became a solid member, a constant conversational partner for the concerns and worries of all members. In WoW, Mats was one of many friends, equal and not a “freak” who was marginalized due to his physical condition.
Mats’ parents were still worried. They thought he would be isolated in front of the PC, and that he was only interested in playing itself, just to reach new high scores or the next level.
They didn’t really engage with the hobby and didn’t understand that Mats’ friendships with his guild were deep and that the players cared for each other.
At the age of 25, Mats passed away quite suddenly. His life expectancy had previously been estimated by doctors to be “not much longer than 20 years,” yet his death came as a surprise.
Realization after the death of their son
After Mats’ death, his father used his password to gain access to his son’s blog. This had been agreed upon while he was still alive.
The father wrote a blog post explaining the passing of his son. He did not expect to receive many responses, but that was exactly what happened.
One after another, guild members responded via email, expressed their condolences or shared stories about Mats and his character Lord Ibelin Redmoore.
They reported on the adventures they had experienced together, funny or sad situations, and other moments in which Mats had been a support for them.
It was only after his death that Mats’ parents realized how many good friends he had found in Azeroth. Several members of the Starlight guild attended the funeral and stated that candles would be lit in memory of Mats all over the world, for he had had good friends in many places who would remember him for a long time.
Thus, Mats’ parents only realized in the days and weeks after their son’s death that he was not sinking into a lonely game world.
He was among many like-minded individuals with whom he spent a large part of his free time, who had grown dear to him and to whom he had grown dear. In a world where his illness did not matter.
If you are interested in the whole story in the original English version with many heart-wrenching passages, you can find it in our sources.
A sad yet beautiful story that shows how virtual worlds and friendships cross the boundaries of the “real world” and what a positive impact games can have on the lives of people.
