Virtual Virus Spreads in Online Multiplayer Game
Perhaps this isn’t quite a gizmo-related news item, but it is fascinating. Recently, a *virtual* virus hit the fantasy gamespace of the World of Warcraft. A spell attack that some of the advanced players found in one part of the world lowered their points, but then when they left that area and encountered other players, they passed on the virus to those players as well! Those players in turn suffered the same amount of damage, as well as passing it on to other players. The game admins had to figure out a new spell to counteract this one. Amazing really. Within the structure of the game, there was the possibility for a virus to be born and spread, and it did. Blizzard, the makers of the game, did not have any comments on the subject.
