World of Warcraft is a social phenomenon that is completely
unique in the entire span of the human experience. Millions of people inhabit a
virtual universe that exists outside the constraints of the physical world. Many
people become so preoccupied with the game that they lose jobs, friends, and
spouses. Sociologists have suggested that video games like World of Warcraft
might help fulfill some primal desire to hunt that is hard wired into our
brain.
This weekend, a hacker exploited a weakness in the game and
eviscerated hundreds of users and entire cities within the game. It immediately
reminded me of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from the Christian bible where
God sends an angel to destroy two cities which are so morally corrupted that they
must be completely purged. It begs the question: did the hacker feel the same
way about World of Warcraft? Are the users so rotten that they too are beyond saving?
Blizzard was able to
repair the damage to the game within about 4 hours. In an official statement,
they acknowledged that they had not contacted the police about the incident.
They did ask users for information that might identify the hacker. I don’t
believe this particular hacker actually meant to destroy the game. Killing a
character is only a minor nuisance because you can just re-spawn with hardly any
consequence. The more obvious ways to do any meaningful damage would have been
to attack the monetary system within the game or to completely reset characters
on the server. Resetting a character would negate hundreds of hours of work. If
this had been the case, many users might have left WOW and cancelled their subscriptions,
never to return. I’m sure Blizzard has safeguards in place to keep this from
happening.
Eventually, a new and better game will be released and users
will migrate away from World of Warcraft. Video games will continue to enthrall
and ensnare us. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry that shows no signs of
slowing down anytime soon. What we’re
left with is a whole generation of socially inept hermits with skills that don’t
translate to the real world. If they
ever catch the hacker, chances are he’ll pay a hefty fine. He might even serve
some jail time. History might see him in a different light. Maybe he was only trying
to set us free.
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