MMORPG: How a Computer Game Becomes Deadly Serious (47 page)

World of Warcraft and Blizzard Entertainment® are registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. World of Warcraft, the world of Azeroth, all its permanent inhabitants and the lore on which the game is based are the sole property of Blizzard Entertainment®.

In no way did the author of MMORPG expand on any property of Blizzard Entertainment®. This story is not about World of Warcraft, but about how terrorists could potentially make use of an online platform like the one created by Blizzard Entertainment®.

All information in this book pertaining to World of Warcraft or other MMORPGs is also available in the public domain through open sources like Internet, YouTube, or other media like newspapers and magazines. This includes the occasional mention of locations, NPC’s, mobs and game mechanics. The author adhered to the “fair use policy”. The interaction of this book’s main characters with the game in the broadest sense are based on the author’s interpretation or simply sprang from the author’s fantasy. Any opinions or observations by the author are his alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Any mistakes or inaccuracies are the author’s and must be subscribed to the fact that the author used only his own fantasy in creating this book.

By the time you finished this book, much of the world of Azeroth as I described it has changed beyond recognition. Such is the fate of digital worlds. What is perceived as cutting edge, thrilling and fantastic today, will be obsolete in only a few years. Players need ever more taxing challenges and long for new horizons to explore. In that respect players and developers are the same. Technological developments will continue to present new possibilities to create ever more realistic environments and experiences.

World of Warcraft is the mother of all MMORPGs. It may not have been the first, but it certainly became the biggest thing out there. Don’t forget that many other games present fantastic game play as well, though often with a different emphasis. People who play games like Everquest, Final Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Age of Conan or any other MMORPG will recognized many aspects from their own virtual worlds in this book.

I started playing World of Warcraft early in 2007 and got hooked immediately. I struggled in what many people today call “Vanilla WoW” in a time when level 60 was the maximum and a hundred gold was still a fortune. I remember spending two weeks in the Barrens before my Undead mage was ready to move on.

Many of today’s players don’t realize that leveling has become a lot easier since those days. With the introduction of the Burning Crusade the amount of experience points required to progress to a higher level was decreased for the first time, while at the same time the experience rewards were increased. There certainly were no heirloom items granting experience bonus for killing monsters and completing quests.

I share many melancholy thoughts with countless other people when I reminiscence about the old days. The joy of spending hours and hours on getting that ultimate level 29 hunter twink just right! The burst of pride when I acquired my first mount at level 40. Today one can’t imagine that many, if not most, players couldn’t even afford the epic riding skill at level 60!

Is today better? Probably. I understand most decisions by the manufacturer. Even if I don’t like them all, I accept the reality they are dealing with. The people at Blizzard Entertainment® achieved a major accomplishment by creating this world. They deserve even more respect for the way in which they manage to keep the game attractive and challenging after all those years.

How I made the virtual world suit my story

Hopefully, those of you who play WoW will agree that most of what I wrote is accurate. Or was accurate at some point. I wrote MMORPG between 2008 and 2010 and it often happened that the latest patch overtook me. At some point, I simply stopped bothering. I had a story to tell, I wasn’t updating the Wowwiki!

Many observations and descriptions are based on interviews with other players. Everything I wrote about Cataclysm for instance, is based on what was shared with me by players who had access to the Beta of Cataclysm.

Gunslinger started on the Hellscream (EU) server but along the way I decided the story needed to be situated on a PvP server. So I created a new character for myself on Sylvanas. I thoroughly enjoyed this new dimension, especially since I decided to play on the other side of the fence this time. My Gnome mage started without a copper but served the Alliance well. I learned what I knew all along: those Allies aren’t so bad. In fact, they resemble Horde players rather closely. For those of you who are interested, the mage I created specifically for the writing of this book is called Gkky. He lives on the Sylvanas (EU) server.

Of course, I took some shortcuts and simplified many things. I wrote this book with non-players in mind as well. All those people who never played a computer game in their lives should be able to comprehend and enjoy the story too. I tried to let the learning curve of Robert coincide with the introduction of non-gaming readers to the online world.

Keen readers (and players) will have found errors. I apologize for any errors and inaccuracies that were unintentional. Sometimes however, I deliberately made mistakes. Some people pointed out to me for example, that the warrior who rushes Killermage on the little beach at River’s Heart should have used Shattering Throw to destroy her Iceblock. That’s correct, but wouldn’t that have ended the fight then and there? I hope you’ll forgive me for ignoring that ability in favor of a nice fight, a desperate pursuit through Sholazar Basin and a heroic last stand in a deserted pass in the mountains.

How I made the real world suit my story

The house Robert and Khalid live in doesn’t exist. It could have existed though, because there certainly are student houses that resemble it. I took great liberties with other locations as well. The Amsterdam ArenA for instance, is definitely not like I described it. I molded it to resemble the ruins of Auchindoun and to accommodate the climax I had in mind. The only reason I chose this stadium is because of its name and, of course, because it’s situated conveniently in Amsterdam, close to Schiphol Airport.

I must stress that the Amsterdam ArenA is one of the safest stadiums in the world, complying with all safety regulations of the KNVB, UEFA and FIFA. AFC Ajax did compete in the UEFA Champions League in the season 2010-2011, they just didn’t play against Hapoel Tel Aviv. So I made that up as well.

About account theft and gold sellers

Everything I wrote about gold sellers is true, from their modus operandi to the scope of these operations. The University of Manchester published a thorough research report in 2008, which is a must-read for anyone interested in this topic. According to this report, the gold farming industry employed 400,000 people in Asia in 2007, with an estimated turnover of 1.6 billion USD. I shudder to think of the magnitude this industry must have reached today. Of course, this industry serves a multitude of different online games, not only World of Warcraft.

Blizzard Entertainment® is doing everything in its power to put a stop to these practices. But just like in the real world, the police is always one step behind the criminals. It must be said however, that Blizzard tightened the procedures to gain access to an account considerably. The way in which Robert, Rebecca and Andy hacked Khalid’s account wouldn’t work quite as easily today. This is one of the subjects in which I took some liberties with the current situation. It should be mentioned here that Blizzard Entertainment® offers a very affordable authenticator to their players which makes account theft virtually impossible. I was the victim of account theft myself once, and I encourage every player to take any precaution possible.

MMORPG and terrorism

The CIA report quoted in this book is real, as is the lecture by Professor Dwight Toavs. Some time before I finished writing this book Blizzard made an addition to its user agreement. Nowadays, all users have to check a box and give permission to Blizzard Entertainment to monitor their in-game conversation. We all know where this is coming from, don’t we?

Still, I am convinced that criminals are using computer games for the purposes I described in this book. Why? Because if I were a criminal, that’s what I would do. The facilities are just too perfect and convenient for someone seeking secrecy and anonymity. What is the use of monitoring in-game conversations for suspicious phrases and words when the very game itself is about killing and violence? To quote Krick: “
Enough moving around! Hold still while I blow them all up!
”

About counter-terrorism

I interviewed some people with ties to the Dutch counter-terrorism community. They all told me that what I described in my book wouldn’t work in quite that way in reality. I don’t doubt they’re right.

Truth be told, I don’t know much about counter-terrorism beyond what I managed to learn through reading and research. If I misrepresented regular procedures of the AIVD or any other agency, I apologize. What I tried to convey in my book is how the intelligence community is struggling with emerging social media, of which online computer games are probably the most challenging.

About me

If you want to know more about me, visit my website at
www.emilevanveen.com
. On my website you can share your feedback, contact me, or participate in the forum about MMORPG. I look forward to meeting you there!

If all else fails, just /poke Gkky when you bump into him!

And then there is…

My name is printed on the cover of this book, identifying me as the author. In truth, MMORPG is as much a creation of Adrienne, my beloved wife.

Adrienne worked with me every step of the way. It was truly a joint effort. Especially in the final process, wrestling with the comments of Michael Garrett the editor (not the bat handler), she made the difference. At some point I couldn’t even distinguish the passages that were written by her from my own text anymore. Her patience and perseverance made the difference in the end. I am eternally grateful to her for her support and for being the best mother imaginable to Nikki and Annaïs.

Other people deserve recognition as well. First of all, Paul and “Riet”, the parents of Adrienne. If not for them, MMORPG would never have been completed, not to mention a lot of other things. They’re our fiercest supporters and set the standard for the kind of parent I aspire to be to my own kids one day. Maarten van Luyn, not only for introducing me to online gaming in the first place; Maarten and Rachelle came to our aid when we really needed it, and proved by doing so how rare true friendship is. Also Robert-Jan van Aken and Janice Lachman for enduring our late night sessions about MMORPG. Katja Meertens warned us of the final pitfalls and forced us to go over the manuscript one more time. The book is better because of her insightful comments.