This just in from the train wreck dept: one hacker can bring a game to its knees for a long time. In this case, it's the European servers of Dark Age of Camelot. The referenced article indicates that the hack manifested itself when a few god-level commands showed up at a couple of places a couple of times. In other words, evidence appeared that the server was not secure. So what do you do? Close the server. In fact, close all servers. Shut down the entire world until you can find the hole and patch it. Even if it takes days or weeks.
The problem is, you're shutting off a service to thousands of people, and, in some cases, you're turning out the lights on some people's entire social system. The article catalogs the general dissatisfaction that arose.
Perhaps the incidence of a hack is just as high as with any system. The difference is that you have absolutely zero wiggle room and a very steep loss function. One little hack, and the entire world dies for a week, two weeks, three... nasty stuff.
Systems do have to be "secure", don't they? Does this mean that you'll never have virtual democracy without hacking? I didn't particularly like the Matrix Reloaded (uncomfortably close to a parody of the original), but among the philosophibabble was this, which, taken out of context, seems kind of evocative:
The Architect - ... Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the Matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race.
Neo - You won't let it happen, you can't. You need human beings to survive.
The Architect - There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept. However, the relevant issue is whether or not you are ready to accept the responsibility for the death of every human being in this world.
Posted by: Greg Lastowka | Sep 28, 2003 at 21:05
Hey, just re-read that title. Ted just called DAOC "social software." MTM: w00+!
http://www.corante.com/many/
Posted by: Greg Lastowka | Sep 28, 2003 at 21:11
MMOG's represent a special form of social software. Most "Social Software" is clearly separated from the focus of the community, which lies somewhere else (an exception would be Friendster, LiveJournal, and other "pure" social systems). And where most social software is shaped by the community rather than shaping it, games have clearly traceable effects on the communities within them (few online communities parallel the Guild, for example).
Most social software represents tools in search of an application. MMOG's create their own application.
Posted by: Dave Rickey | Sep 28, 2003 at 22:40