What virtual zombies can teach us about the bad economy.

In one of my all-time favorite crossovers of a virtual world and real life, blogger Christopher S. Penn has drafted a list called "6 tips for surviving a recession, taught by World of Warcraft zombies.”

To promote its new “Wrath of the Lich King” expansion (which, by the way, has a truly incredible trailer), the makers of World of Warcraft decided to have a zombie plague strike the massively multiplayer game.

The zombie outbreak made the game pretty tough for a few days, but the challenge went far beyond protecting your brains from the ravenous undead.

Christopher explains:

"The zombie invasion also destroyed players’ access to the in-game Auction House, which is more or less the hub of the Warcraft economy and the central free marketplace. However, instead of banks not lending, the zombie invasion simply killed off all the auctioneers and auction managers. The net effect, however, was the same as in the real world economy - players, teams, and guilds were effectively denied access to the marketplace, credit, and trade."

So players had to change how they approached money, possessions and basic survival.

Looking at those who thrived (or at least survived), Christopher noticed some trends that are eerily applicable to our own economic crunch:

1. Hoard cash
2. Stay away from danger.
3. Make powerful friends.
4. Go back to basics.
5. Cash is king.
6. There is an end.

It’s a great read, even for those of us who don’t dabble in the stock market or in online role-playing games. Oh, and speaking of zombies and World of Warcraft, here’s a video throwback that’s still as funny as it was a few years back. Happy Halloween!