If Chinese news reports are to be believed, these corpse runs were real.

As reported previously on GamePolitics, online game addiction is somewhat of a national concern in the People's Republic of China. Reports that two MMO players have died are only increasing worries about the effects of gaming addiction there.

In one case, a young female World of Warcraft player whose avatar was named "Snowly" reportedly died after a WoW binge that lasted several days. The official language describing Snowly's demise is revealing:

"Snowly's friends, who share the same game community, say that Snowly was a very diligent member and a key official of their community, who was always connected to the Internet."

We might say that "Snowly's guildies say she was an officer who was on 24x7 and always willing to jump in on a Molten Core run."

As related by Xinhua, several days before her death, Snowly was preparing for a "relatively difficult part of the game and had very little rest. She told her friends that she felt very tired."

An online funeral commemorating Snowled was marred by the death of another WoW player named "Nan Ren Gu Shi." A timing system mandated by Chinese officials went into effect on October 20th, limiting players to a three-hour gaming limit.