Free The Proteus Paradox by Nick Yee

construct meticulously built from rational, precise program code, the irony is that superstitions persist and flourish. 7
The Supernatural in Online Games
    The likelihood is high that most of these habits are just superstitions. On the other hand, although it is easy and standard for game developers to use random number generators throughout a game, it takes only two lines of program code to make a four-leaf clover bring you good luck on Tuesdays. And although we are unlikely to settle any debates about the existence of God in the physical world, there actually is an omnipotent, omniscient god in online games known asthe game developer, who can and does change the rules and bend the laws of nature. Causal relations in online games can be magical, defying physical laws. There is no logical or scientific reason why a four-leaf clover would bring you good luck in the physical world, but there is a rational and scientifically sound reason for why this might happen in an online game.
    In fact, the reason why players in
Final Fantasy XI
believe that cardinal directions and moon phases have an impact on crafting is because moon phases actually do have an impact on certain well-documented aspects of the game. For example, some magical equipment is enhanced when the moon is in its crescent phase (both waxing and waning). 8
    Final Fantasy XI
’s crafting system was particularly ripe for superstitions, because the parts of the system that were verified were wacky enough that anything might have been true. [
Final Fantasy XI,
female, 23]
    Hidden rules not only perplex gamers, they also perplex game developers. The interwoven complexities of program code make it difficult even for game developers to identify non-obvious bugs. This was the case in
Asheron’s Call.
When a few players began to complain that their characters were perpetually unlucky and unfairly targeted by monsters, it was easy for the game developer, Turbine, to brush them off and claim that it could find no such bug. On the face of it, the notion of monster-haunted characters did seem like digital hypochondria. In the game community, this rumor was referred to as the Wi Flag, named after a character named Wi who widely discussed his torment. And everyone had a good laugh out of it for a few months, until it was revealed by Turbine that there was indeed a bug.
    Our developers at Turbine initially answered these complaints by saying that they could find no such bug. . . . Easy culprits, such as a malfunctioning random-number generator, were eventually dismissed. But our search went on. . . . And then one day, long after most people had learned to either forget or ignore the Wi Flag, the answer was found. . . . We hope it is of some interest to those of you who have long been afflicted with this terrible burden. 9
    In
Asheron’s Call,
monsters choose whom to attack at any given moment based on metrics such as who attacked it last or who is doing the most damage, but these metrics do not apply when a group of players first appears within a monster’s attack radius. Turbine’s code for the game had an error in this part of the decision-making algorithm. Monsters were more likely to attack players at the beginning of the group list. A character’s identification number, permanent and assigned during character creation, determined the sorting order in the group list by mistake and, thus, the likelihood of attack. In other words, some players in
Asheron’s Call
were indeed perpetually unlucky and haunted by monsters.
    Whether directly implemented by game developers or inadvertently introduced into the game via bugs, magical causality is not only plausible in online games, but we can actually point to specific instances of it. Moon phases can affect your performance. People can be born unlucky. And even though magical causality in online games is uncommon, believing in the supernatural in online games is not entirely irrational. Thus, online games not