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Can a World of Warcraft Pandemic Save Us From COVID-19?

Wild Wild Tech

English - August 05, 2020 07:00 - 34 minutes
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In September 2005, World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG, was struck with a virus called "Corrupted Blood." It spread uncontrollably, killing hundreds of thousands of players. And now, epidemiologists are studying players' reactions to this virtual pandemic, trying to predict human reactions to real contagions. Jordan Erica Webber and Joshua Rivera speak to a player from the Corrupted Blood Incident who became a super spreader, and Eric Lofgren, an epidemiologist who studied the World of Warcraft epidemic, weighs in on how eerily similar it was to today.

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In September 2005, World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG, was struck with a virus called "Corrupted Blood." It spread uncontrollably, killing hundreds of thousands of players. And now, epidemiologists are studying players' reactions to this virtual pandemic, trying to predict human reactions to real contagions. Jordan Erica Webber and Joshua Rivera speak to a player from the Corrupted Blood Incident who became a super spreader, and Eric Lofgren, an epidemiologist who studied the World of Warcraft epidemic, weighs in on how eerily similar it was to today.


Follow Wild Wild Tech

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildwildtechpod/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wildwildtechpod/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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