A Time For Mourning For One Of Our own

There is a time for laughter and there is a time for weeping. I was on Kutaku this morning when I came across this tragic article. Melissa Batten, a software developer for the Xbox 360, was horrifically murdered by her estranged husband on Tuesday, July 29. After he brutally slaughtered his wife he turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.

This is a great loss for the gaming community. I read more on what happened on the Seattle Times website. According to the news article she had requested a protection order against her husband and told the court that he had recently purchased a gun. He at one point called her about 30 times and threaten her not to hang up. The man even barged into her place of work but was luckily caught by security personnel.

This really struck home not only as a gamer or as someone who hopes to get into the industry, but as a woman. Domestic violence is no laughing matter. Its horrifying to think of living in fear of someone like that. To be constantly be looking over your shoulder and worrying where or when the other individual is going to strike just sends down shivers down my spine.

I was reading the comments to the article on Kutaku. Most were respectful but there were a few that were highly inappropriate for the situation. Thankfully these offenders have been banned (eight thus far) from commenting on the site. have had a bad reputation for being lazy, apathetic, testosterone driven, violent, immature, and sadistic. Still, we can't let a few ruin things for us.

I would like to give my condolences to both sides of this tragedy. I didn't personally know this woman but its still sad when these things happen to a fellow human being. We shouldn't just lend our thoughts and our prayers to the dead but to the ones left behind as well. May your spirit rest in peace. She will be missed.