Virtual Disasters

We aren't subject to the destruction caused by earthquakes, tornados, or wildfires in virtual worlds, but rather to other types of natural calamities. Of course occassional offline situations occur based on real world lack of power or connectivity resulting from storm winds or volcanic activity. During those times we can't access the worlds at all but generally see no ill results when able to return. I should note here that most people do seem to return after such events so hosting companies don't see user reductions as they might after true virtual disasters.

True virtual disasters strip us of virtual assets, or limit feature availibility, for extended periods of time. Software patches meet this definition as they invariably contain bugs that, at best, cause escessive lag for the duration of the day, at worst, cause database-related problems that result in losses of user assets, sometimes even the loss of an entire account. I remember when Asheron's Call would be rolled back and repatched. Players would not only loose the day's loot, but also the application of rental payments, randomly successful item enhancements and travel time due to these "cronal disasters" as Jarod called them.

Second Life users have randomly suffered as much as half of their inventories missing for the past two years. The causes have been so obscure that the company has rarely been able to recover. The items are simply gone forever. Inworld business owners are currently scrambling for customers as the classified and parcel listing search features are disabled post latest patch. The scenario equates to a real world flood making locations virtually inaccessible to potential customers. Actually it's more like an antiflood as many people are reporting that their clients can't "see" water textures.

In a world where objects can be scripted, it's fairly easy to activate self replicating physical items that spread through the world like wildfire consuming resources to the point of crashing the servers and sometimes the clients.

I wonder if there are any companies that insure virtual property? Surely there will eventually be. Just as we have flood and fire insurance in the real world, we'll have property and possibly even access insurance in the virtual worlds. How will those policies deal with losses due to the banned access to an account for such offenses as breaking terms of service, or losses due to deaths caused by lagging connections? Will we pay for those policies with real money, game currency, or in kind by providing virtual services to the sales people?

It'll all have to be handled somehow because virtual catatrophes are just as pervasive, nonprejudiced and unpredictable as natural disasters are in the real world. Recovery is mandantory. The losses are just as real and just as expensive.