Valuable research tool or excuse to play World of Warcraft on the government dime? "World of Warcraft Shines Light on Terror Tactics" (chad)

My bet is on an excuse to play World of Warcraft but Wired Magazine seems to think there is some value here.

Virtual terrorists blowing themselves up and spreading disease inside World of Warcraft could provide counterterrorists with a window into real-world plots.

Such activities in the massively multiplayer online game bear an eerie resemblance to actual terrorism, and analyzing terror tactics in Warcraft could prove more enlightening than current computer simulations used by counterterrorists.

...

Scientists have already noted World of Warcraft's usefulness in studying how diseases spread. The game's network of 10 million players -- each capable of making decisions, either logical or illogical, rational or irrational -- gives scientists a ready-made virtual world to scrutinize that's not based on computer models or artificial intelligence. The game could be an invaluable tool not only for counterterrorists and epidemiologists but also sociologists and economists.

I actually proposed using World of Warcraft to test Ron Paul's gold standard theories last year, and was soundly criticized by everyone who has ever seen the word economy much less taken an economics class, but hey I read this blog so by definition I am a moron, so maybe these guys know something I don't.

posted by xgenghisx at 05:05 PM

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