In 2005, a bug in World of Warcraft turned Azeroth into a virtual pandemic, and gave scientists a rare glimpse into human behavior during an outbreak.
So recently I started a page in a notebook where I jotted down article ideas. Older games with interesting stories to them. Just as a part of a series of retrospectives I’ve been writing. So far I have done:
- Seaman
- GoldenEye 007
- Star Fox 2
- EarthBound
- Dune II
- Uniracers
…and now, obviously, World of Warcraft. This one is a bit more brief than the others, but the story is fascinating to me. An unexpected bug caused so much drama, and it ended up being studied. It came back to focus when Covid hit, it was covered by regular ‘big’ news services, the whole thing is such an odd story to me.
Anyway, I had a great time writing this up, maybe you were ther when it happened? I’d love to hear a comment if so!
I dont know how well that mirrors. I knew when I died there I’d come back. So I just stood in org and shit helplessly healing panicked noobs before I died myself. I didnt do that in the real pandemic, I just wore a mask and had a tool for touching public surfaces like door handles.
There were other “healers” during the pandemic, like those who would 3d print face shields and such for emergency workers. I also remember seeing shitheads do things like spitting on and licking items in stores for the social media shock.
I remember seeing videos of people licking ice cream and putting the lid back on. I’m so glad I never ran into one of them in real life.