08-28-2018, 09:34 PM
How World of Warcraft helped Epidemiologists create better disease models
<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="http://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/how-world-of-warcraft-helped-epidemiologists-create-better-disease-models.jpg" width="200" height="200" title="" alt="" /></div><div><p>In this GDC 2011 talk, Rutgers University’s Nina H. Fefferman explains how an unexpected outbreak of Hakkar’s Corrupted Blood Plague in the early days of <em>World of Warcraft </em>helped Epidemiologists better understand the flow of diseases in society.</p>
<p>Fefferman discusses how the corrupted blood incident began as a coding error, turning into a plague after the virtual disease spread to different parts of <em>World of Warcraft</em>, causing a pandemic to spread throughout the land. </p>
<p>She also talks about how the accidental plague was studied by epidemiologists years after the event, leading to papers being published about how the virtual world could help study and predict human behavior.</p>
<p>It was an informative talk that’s definitely worth watching, so developers shouldn’t miss the opportunity to do so now that it’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj-mz5piYYY">freely available on the official GDC YouTube channel!</a></p>
<p>In addition to this presentation, the <a href="http://www.gdcvault.com/">GDC Vault</a> and its accompanying <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0JB7TSe49lg56u6qH8y_MQ/feed">YouTube channel</a> offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent <a href="http://www.gdconf.com/">Game Developers Conference events</a>, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.</p>
<p>Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via <a href="http://www.gdcvault.com/inquiry/">a GDC Vault subscription page</a>. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the <a href="http://www.gdcvault.com/demo/">GDC Vault group subscription page</a>. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can <a href="http://www.gdcvault.com/contact_us.php">contact GDC Vault technical support</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas.</strong></p>
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<div style="margin: 5px 5% 10px 5%;"><img src="http://www.sickgaming.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/how-world-of-warcraft-helped-epidemiologists-create-better-disease-models.jpg" width="200" height="200" title="" alt="" /></div><div><p>In this GDC 2011 talk, Rutgers University’s Nina H. Fefferman explains how an unexpected outbreak of Hakkar’s Corrupted Blood Plague in the early days of <em>World of Warcraft </em>helped Epidemiologists better understand the flow of diseases in society.</p>
<p>Fefferman discusses how the corrupted blood incident began as a coding error, turning into a plague after the virtual disease spread to different parts of <em>World of Warcraft</em>, causing a pandemic to spread throughout the land. </p>
<p>She also talks about how the accidental plague was studied by epidemiologists years after the event, leading to papers being published about how the virtual world could help study and predict human behavior.</p>
<p>It was an informative talk that’s definitely worth watching, so developers shouldn’t miss the opportunity to do so now that it’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj-mz5piYYY">freely available on the official GDC YouTube channel!</a></p>
<p>In addition to this presentation, the <a href="http://www.gdcvault.com/">GDC Vault</a> and its accompanying <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0JB7TSe49lg56u6qH8y_MQ/feed">YouTube channel</a> offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent <a href="http://www.gdconf.com/">Game Developers Conference events</a>, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.</p>
<p>Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via <a href="http://www.gdcvault.com/inquiry/">a GDC Vault subscription page</a>. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the <a href="http://www.gdcvault.com/demo/">GDC Vault group subscription page</a>. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can <a href="http://www.gdcvault.com/contact_us.php">contact GDC Vault technical support</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas.</strong></p>
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