Digital Plagues

            May years ago, there was a plague released into the game of World of Warcraft as part of an event. It wasn’t supposed to last very long, but there was a flaw in the code that allowed characters’ pets to carry it out of the region it was supposed to be contained to – and to spread it to others. Before long, there was an epidemic – low level characters couldn’t withstand the disease, while higher level ones were practically immune. It was out of control before the developers could do anything about it.

            The community rallied into different groups – with most of them working to fight the plague. Stronger players helped the weak to safety. Then, of course, there were others working to actively spread the plague, for reasons of their own.

            When the Center for Disease Control heard about this, they were intrigued – because the various reactions of the people playing the game matched what happens during an outbreak. I don’t know the whole story, but I believe they were able to make great use of the data gathered in the game during that time.

            It’s interesting to reflect back on that, though I have – shockingly – never played WoW, as I’m currently helping fight a somewhat more intentional virtual plague that was released upon the community of the Chronicles of Elyria. We’re seeing the same sort of things happening – some people fighting for the plague, while the majority are fighting against it. In the middle, there are some people who just want a shot at the free copy of the game they can possibly earn through participating in this event.

            While some people find the comparisons surprising, I’ve come to expect it. Whenever you get enough people in one place, they form a microcosm, reflecting reality in almost every way. What people forget is that people are people, and if you hand people a situation, you’ll always find someone in the group whose opinion differs from the others.

            Massively multiplayer games have been around for a long time, and they’re very popular within certain circles. I know human experimentation is wrong, but really... look at how perfect these test groups are for exploring how people react in different circumstances. It’s a perfect medium for delving deeper into the human psyche...

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.