WoW a breeding ground for bio-terrorists?
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Exploits, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Academic
Evidently, there is more to learn from World of Warcraft's infamous "Corrupted Blood" epidemic of 2005 then many had originally surmised. While it was originally thought to merely have limited epidemiological relevance, some are now considering looking at what it might may say about terrorist behavior and the use of biological agents. According to Charles Blair, deputy director for the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies, the deliberate spread of the disease by some players offers a unique perspective that can't really be simulated by computer models, due to the decision-making input of hundreds of independent, free-thinking individuals.For our part, this all seems like a bit of a stretch on the part of the article's author. While in-game terrorist tactics with biological weapons do reflect their real life counter-parts in many ways (e.g. hitting big population centers, focusing on travel hubs to maximize spread, etc.) , we're not sure what sort of insights this sort of comparison could glean for people who are already experts on the topic. Moreover, when the most prominent group of pan-MMO cyber-terrorists are motivated by "lulz," it becomes evident that there's a profound disconnect with reality that has to be accounted for.






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-24-2008 @ 8:53AM
Thrush said...
This whole idea seems silly to me. I'm sure plenty of people were intentionally spreading Corrupted Blood because ITS A GAME and spreading the disease to hundreds or thousands of level 1's is a goof. I doubt the same percentage of people would intentionally spread a disease in real life.
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