===[ Игры ]===

#post-id: 7283-23-53
#original-date: 4.07.2020 Sat
#original-time: 11:53 PM
#original-day:  7283
#original-host: WinXP Home SP3 (Build 2600)

> In the fall of 2005, things got a little out of hand in the 
> virtual world of the wildly popular massively multiplayer online 
> role-playing game World of Warcraft. Specifically, a new dungeon, 
> Zul’Gurub, was introduced that included an end boss who, when 
> attacked, cast a spell on the characters called “Corrupted Blood”.
> 
> The spell was intended to only last a few seconds and to function 
> only within the area where the characters were fighting the 
> dungeon boss. Unfortunately, an accidental oversight in the game 
> allowed pets and minions (NPCs) to carry the affliction out of its 
> intended confines in the dungeon, making it transmissible, like 
> a virus, to any characters they came into contact with.
> 
> The infection spread rapidly as players accidentally (and, in some 
> cases, maliciously) spread the virus. Players had their characters 
> flee highly populated areas, form refuge groupings of non-infected 
> characters, and otherwise altered their virtual behavior to avoid 
> infection. Some characters with healing abilities became virtual 
> medics helping the infected, others directed characters (players) 
> to safe havens, and some were unable to resist purposely spreading 
> the disease.
> 
> The entire range of behaviors and the transmission models so 
> closely mirrored the real world that epidemiologists quickly 
> descended on the virtual world to study the behaviors of the 
> players and the spread of the infection. By studying the incident, 
> the epidemiologists were able to monitor all sorts of real-world 
> behaviors like altruism in the face of outbreaks, the effects 
> of bystander-curiosity on infections (many players were unable to 
> resist checking out the hot-zones in the game and their characters 
> became infected as a result), and other elements of outbreak 
> movement and psychology.
> 
> Many researchers have stated how valuable the entire incident was 
> in terms of research progress because the logistics of building 
> a research model driven by millions of actual human inputs would 
> be prohibitive in every way and conducting such research in the 
> real world with a planned outbreak would be unethical and immoral.
> 
> Eventually, after instituting hard resets of the servers and 
> applying quick fixes, the Corrupted Blood virus was brought under 
> control.

https://www.mindbounce.com/trivia/an-outbreak-in-which-multiplayer-video-game-attracted-the-attention-of-epidemiologists/