Times Online examines WoW's zombies and the connection to real life
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 29th 2008 at 3:00PM
Forget Fox News -- the Times Online has an analysis up of Blizzard's zombies event, and their main point seems to be that you can't compare a plague outbreak in the World of Warcraft to one in real life. Risk is what defines real outbreaks, and since there was really no risk in whether you became a zombie or not, players didn't necessarily act as they would in the real world. Some players even willingly submitted to infection, which of course presumably wouldn't happen with a real widespread fatal disease.But there are parallels to be drawn, and professors say that the zombie plague worked a little closer to real life than Hakkar's corrupted blood did (no coincidence, I'm sure, that the zombie plague was designed to be spread, while the Corrupted Blood was basically a bug). While the plague never did really infect everyone in the world, it did spread pretty quickly -- apparently there's a number you can use to track how quickly a disease spreads, and the zombie plague landed in the arena of a normal outbreak of smallpox (given, of course, that we don't know exactly how fast or how widely it spread).
Very interesting. There is still more to say about this plague, I think (and though things have slowed down on the realms, hopefully the event itself isn't completely over). But it is fascinating how Blizzard turned emergent gameplay into an official event, and how they mimicked the real-life qualities of a spreading disease (the more of it around, the more likely you were to pick it up) while still leaving the idea firmly grounded in the in-game lore. Very cool indeed.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Events, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Blizzard, NPCs, Buffs
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Darthregis Oct 29th 2008 3:08PM
My favourite part of the remnants of the event are the fact that some of the Necrotic Shards are completely deserted, leaving room for lots of rep gains, huge rune colletions (so you can buy ALL the neato goodies, ifyou so desire), and you can do several Shadow of Doom runs.
(Which is extra awesome as we have some recently levelled 70 chars in our guild.)
Dinnerbone Oct 29th 2008 3:10PM
"Times Online examines WoW's zombies and the connection to real life"
There's a pun in there somewhere...
Fauche Oct 29th 2008 6:25PM
I see what you did there.
Shane Oct 29th 2008 3:12PM
I saw alot of emergent behaviors that easily paralleled almost all Zombie movies I've seen.
One example was it became common to hear of people talk of safe areas.
Early on it was, "Goto Darnasus, no one is ever there". Other people got that idea too and it began to suck there too. Later people began to argue and extol the virtues of various remote spot that were "safe".
Basically avoid the major urban areas and find secure place to shack up and wait it out.
vanguze Oct 29th 2008 3:17PM
I find it funny that news articles are so quick to say "this man played doom so it must be the reason he committed these murders" but then when comparing things like this they say "well people don't act in games like they would in real life".
Doffencrag Oct 29th 2008 3:26PM
I'm still half-convinced the scientist dudes who wanted to study the effects of a virtual plague (reported last year, here among others: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293920,00.html) had something to do with this.
Somehow I can imagine them scribbling furiously in their little notebooks as this zombie plague was unfolding.
D.O.T. Oct 29th 2008 4:26PM
It does sound like something they’d pay Blizzard to do so that they could have another study at virtual plagues.
Terawatt311 Oct 29th 2008 3:26PM
@4
That's a fantastic point.
dotorion Oct 29th 2008 3:34PM
Well, it's not like people that went along with the plague would go run into a mall or another crowded area and go rub themselves against as many people as they can to spread whatever infection they have.
"Dude .. wanna go spread smallpox at the mall ?"
"Yeah, cool, let's go .."
Runstadrey Oct 29th 2008 3:41PM
Actually, when it was finally determined what caused AIDS, there were people who intentionally exposed others - not many but still some.
Frank Oct 29th 2008 3:47PM
i kind of wish that the consequences of becoming infected WOULD have been more serious/dire. maybe it would turn you into a zombie for quite awhile (hours? days?) -- which would be a pretty decent deterrent, since you couldn't do anything else during that time -- but maybe it would also do something truly horrific like permanently debuff a certain (random) number of items you are wearing and carrying (damaged epics, gasp!). that would be incentive for people to join together to FIGHT them, rather than joining the zombies on a lark and griefing. sure, a workaround would be to put your best stuff in the bank and not wear or carry it during the plague, but then you'd be weaker during the fight. what to do??
prudychick Oct 29th 2008 3:57PM
On one hand I agree with the article. But on the other hand...I did my best to avoid contamination. Because the zombies were usually centered in the hearts of towns I tried to avoid these areas.
Keep thinking about this quiz I took a while back, "What are Your Chances of Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse": http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/zombie
Apparently I don't stand a chance.
Lab Monkey Oct 29th 2008 4:03PM
Pfft! This was nothing like a real-life zombie outbreak.
Taytayflan Oct 29th 2008 4:47PM
Oh come one, it's not that far off. Stun zombies so they don't fight, or just aim for the head.
Lemons Oct 29th 2008 5:11PM
I think he means that in a real zombie apocalypse people wouldn't be in the streets screaming "infect me too!"
Antistes Oct 29th 2008 4:20PM
"But there are parallels to be drawn, and professors say that the zombie plague worked a little closer to real life than Hakkar's corrupted blood did"
Professors?
Try "Professor Neil Ferguson" or "Mark Henderson, Science Editor". Alternatively, link the article at the word "professors".
Just because Times Online doesn't have any sources does not mean taht you should follow their example WoWI.
Andostre Oct 29th 2008 4:40PM
"Risk is what defines real outbreaks, and since there was really no risk in whether you became a zombie or not, players didn't necessarily act as they would in the real world."
Now I want to see an MMO where everyone spends a week or two building up characters as normal, everyday people, and then at the end of that time period, the game introduces a zombie virus in some small, unknown way, and then the game keeps playing until either the player base all turn into zombies, or the survivors destroy everyone else who has turned into a zombie, thus destroying the zombie threat. And then the game would start over!
You could spend the period prior to the outbreak building up resources (shotguns, machetes, etc.) and forming alliances, and then an infected rat or "conspicuous crate" is introduced to the game in some random area. Characters could then be provided with some incentives (bonuses to their next character, maybe) to kill or counter zombies in some way, and then once they're a zombie, the bonuses could be earned by eating brains!
Skoteinos Oct 29th 2008 4:50PM
"Some players even willingly submitted to infection, which of course presumably wouldn't happen with a real widespread fatal disease."
This actually -did- happen during the plague outbreaks of the Black Death. People intentionally infected others be it by exposing them to themselves or throwing dead bodies through their windows. If a plague happened today, you can bet people would intentionally spread it. Just look at how many people do the same thing with the spread of HIV. I'd go into more detail but I don't have the time, but it's something to think about and something for someone else to perhaps add to.
~Skoteinos
Terd Fergeson Oct 29th 2008 6:13PM
I was going to mention this, but decided to read the comments first. I googled it, but apparantly (and THANKFULLY) the website was taken down, and it is now a crime to do such a thing.
I'm hardened significantly by what I've seen and done on the internet, but that was the one thing to make me sick. If you google for it, there's plenty of info.
Hulkimania Oct 29th 2008 4:55PM
Of course the event isn't over.. have you not seen all the shades following folks around everywhere? This was just the beginning... we'll probably find out that the shades were somehow generated by the zombie fest... Then we'll have to deal with them instead.