The halfway point of a semester at Utah State University means that a zombie invasion is imminent.
Presented by the USU Residence Hall Association, Humans vs. Zombies, or HvZ, will be returning to campus the week of March 19. More than 150 players have registered as of Feb. 27.
According to Brice Colby, RHA events coordinator and harbinger of the HvZ Council of War, this semester’s game will feature rule changes in order to improve safety.
“As far as new improvements, we’ve added restrictions to the NERF guns,” Colby said. “What that means is no obscenely large weapons are going to be allowed during the day. They will have to be able to fit into a backpack.”
Colby said the HvZ council will make a list of what NERF blasters are permissible during the day. In addition to blasters, rolled up socks can also be used as weapons. After 4 p.m. players will be allowed to use larger blasters in gladiator matches and night missions.
According to the official USU game rules found on hvzsource.com, all blasters must have bright colors on 50 percent of both sides of the gun as well as an orange-colored tip. Blasters may not be modified to inflict pain but they can be modified to increase range.
“To make sure that people are compliant with the rules, we are going to have moderators and administrators out there during the day administering randomized blaster checks,” Colby said. “We will check to make sure that they are following the rules in terms of paint jobs and modifications.”
HvZ moderators will be strategically placed throughout campus to referee the game.
Council member and moderator Jeremy Baker said that one of the biggest reasons that the blaster restrictions went into effect was because large blasters can be a distraction in classes.
In addition to blaster restrictions Colby said this semester’s game will focus on improving the quality of moderators rather than increasing their numbers.
“Last game we had over 50 moderators helping out, but I couldn’t tell you who was who,” Colby said. “We are focusing more on training our moderators and teaching them how to deal with situations and what to look for.”
The council has instituted a zero-tolerance policy toward violations of the rules.
If a player is found using profanity, getting into physical confrontations or violating other rules, moderators are to mediate the situation. If the violation is serious enough, moderators can confiscate the player’s identification bandana and refer that player to HvZ headquarters in Bullen Hall. There, the game’s administrators will decide whether or not the player will be removed from the game.
“It’s not like they are outright banned from the game,” Baker said. “It’s more of a process where we make sure and talk to the person just to see if they realize that they are doing something against the rules.”
The USU Police will also be monitoring the players during HvZ week.
“They are really hesitant about the whole NERF factor because of the potential for active shooters on campus,” Colby said. “We’ve been working with the police to figure out how we can make the game safer but also maintain the integrity of the game so that we aren’t losing our NERF and having to use only sock balls.”
During last semester’s game a student group was openly carrying firearms on campus as part of a separate school-sanctioned event. The police notified the HvZ council of this and a campus-wide safe zone was established where players had to conceal their blasters.
“We will be targeting that awareness factor with advertising for the game and letting people know what’s going on,” Colby said. “We are really trying to get the word out as much as possible so that people aren’t caught unaware.”
Safety issues aside, Baker thinks the game is beneficial to the university.
“The reason why we have kept it going is because there have been a few people who’ve said that they’ve come to Utah State just for Humans vs. Zombies,” he said. “They’ve talked about other colleges that they’ve wanted to go to but the biggest pro that they saw about Utah State was Humans vs. Zombies. I think that the future of the game here is sound.”
Rebecca Eisenhower, Eric Jungblut, Trevor Anderson, Ryan Neeley, Marisa Nielsen, Trey Williams, Nicole Murray, Bailey Nielsen contributed to this report.
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