WoW “Survival Skills”

So back in November, 12-year-old Hans Jørgen Olsen saved his sister and himself from a charging, Leeroy Jenkins of a moose by “feigning death,” a skill he picked up playing as a hunter in the knowledge-spurting MMORPG, World of Warcraft. The story then made it around the gaming blogs in December, and everyone enjoyed a relieved giggle and shared a lovely moment of “Video games can help people after all,” continuing through March.

I’m glad WoW taught someone what every creature alive already knows.

I’m all for seeking out the positive effects of video games. And children not being mauled by beasts. But does WoW really deserve credit here? I was under the impression that “playing possum” and the probably more cross-cultural “play dead” are unbelievably common figures of speech. Maybe that’s my Midwest heritage speaking, growing up in fear of field rats and rabid deer. But I feel like if you said “What have you always heard to do in case of an animal attack?” the response would have been “Play dead,” and not because I’m a level 70 hunter. If you’ve ever taken Biology, or any general science class at all, you’re probably familiar with the advice.
It’s not some scientific gag, either. An amazing number of species exhibit their own, inborn “feign death” skill. When threatened, hognose snakes flip belly-up, drop their mouth open, and secrete a few drops of blood for a more convincing performance. Rabbits and chickens will go limp when turned just right onto their backs. Even insects and sharks will theatrically freeze up when in a compromising position.
If you’re too busy campaigning in WoW to learn these sorts of facts from an outside source, (like science), then I suppose it’s better to learn them some way, as Hans did. But why spend months attaining level 70 and gaining a skill you may need tomorrow, while hiking through Angry Moose Canyon? I’ll save you just this once, in as little as three minutes: take advice from the myotonic goats. They go down before actually being attacked. One step ahead of you, hunters.