A change in regulation for the Humans vs. Zombies game on the UNC-Greensboro campus eased community concerns, but at the cost of some student participation.
Eliminating the use of Nerf blasters was the main rule change to the game this semester, said UNC-G Campus Chief of Police Jamie Herring.
The game now uses socks and marshmallows instead, said Sebastian Fernandez, the moderator for Humans vs. Zombies and a UNC-G student.
The change was made after more than a dozen complaints were reported during last spring’s version of the game, he said.
One complaint concerned a student who dressed in camouflage and climbed on top of the school’s financial-aid building with a Nerf blaster, he said.
But Fernandez said eliminating the Nerf blasters defeats the purpose of the game.
“Our first thoughts about the rule change were that this would kill the game,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez said participation dropped to 160 people compared to 410 people in the spring.
Grace Peeler, Humans vs. Zombies mission designer at UNC-CH, said they had wanted to use the example of UNC-G to get permission to use Nerf blasters during the game. But the revisions mean UNC-G can no longer be used as an example.
