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As the world ends, will you lock arms and sing "Kumbayah" or embark on a path of law-breaking, anti-social behavior?
A new study, based upon the virtual actions of more than 80,000 players of the role-playing video game ArcheAge, suggests you'll be singing.
The study, conducted by a University at Buffalo-led team of computer scientists, will be presented next month at the International World Wide Web Conference in Australia. It found that despite some violent acts, most players tended toward behavior that was helpful to others as their virtual world came to an end.
Researchers acknowledge that the results have limitations -- namely that they are based upon a video game, not real life. Nevertheless, researchers argue that the study offers a realistic view into the behavior of people in an end-times scenario that is useful to both the game industry and other research communities.
"We realize that, because this is a video game, the true consequences of the world ending are purely virtual. That being said, our dataset represents about as close as we can get to an actual end-of-the-world scenario," says Ahreum Kang, postdoctoral researcher at UB's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the study's lead author.
What would happen if the world was ending? As with most questions in life, Nicolas Cage has already supplied us with the answer.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday March 22 2017, @08:44PM (10 children)
If the world is truly ending, then all sexual behavior is without any consequences for anybody, so I'd probably do my best to go out with a bang.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @08:59PM (1 child)
First thing I'm doing is crushing your junk.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @09:14PM
I'm shiny and I know it,
Don't know why you wanna blow it,
Need a man who likes it rough, likes it rough, likes it rough.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday March 22 2017, @10:01PM (5 children)
If the world is truly ending, I would be in the group singing and praying.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Thursday March 23 2017, @12:27AM (4 children)
If you are praying to a deity, presumably you are asking said deity for mercy or forgiveness in whatever form. What always confuses me is what makes you think that the omnipotent being who decided to end your pathetic existence is going to suddenly change his mind?
"Prayer is violence against a god" -- Frank Herbert. Think about this for a moment.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Thursday March 23 2017, @03:10AM
He burned a bush (and killed two in his hand) to rid you of sin!
Or was it that he made two tablets and told you to take them with water?
I keep getting it all mixed up.
Jesus Christ!!, remove your sandals before you walk on the bloody water. You want to get it dirty or something?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday March 23 2017, @08:00AM (1 child)
If the end is inevitable ( such as good sized space rock headed straight for Earth, its trajectory and place and time of impact a done deal )...
- I have absolutely no intention of settling scores, civil disobedience, lawlessness, or anything down those lines. Its all a moot point now.
- I'd rather be amongst friends, family, loved ones. Drink, eat, and be merry kind of thing. Give thanks for the time I have lived.
If the end is predicted by a bunch of people with no demonstrable evidence ...
- It's nothing more than yet another wolf call. The makers of wolf calls have been especially noisy these years. Lots of calls. No wolf.
Thanks to the internet, I have faced more "End of the World" dire predictions in the latest ten years of my life a than all the other years combined...and the only one that had any merit in my estimation was the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union when I was much younger. I have heard so many wolf calls that by now I no longer take the reports very seriously, and I want to be shown a real live wolf first. The latest was all these dire warnings about "Nebiru".
I call "clickbait".
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23 2017, @10:38AM
Well, I'm sure that the world will end … eventually. I don't expect it to be in my lifetime, though.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday March 23 2017, @02:48PM
Praying for forgiveness. Already done. Repeated frequently.
Why would I expect to change God's mind? Why should I think I know better. And if the time to end my pathetic existence has truly come, why oh why would I want to delay that? (Not that I'm trying to hasten it either.)
I don't pray in order to change God. I pray in order to change Me.
Other people may pray for different reasons, or not at all.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @10:51PM (1 child)
Seeking a friend for the end of the world
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 22 2017, @11:24PM
Make the world a better place. Kill your friends. They deserve death.