Bug rewards free and discounted PvP gear [UPDATED]
The mail debacle isn't the only strange thing coming out of today's maintenance. PvP armor, both honor gear and arena gear, have had their prices all screwed up.- Select Season 4 weapons have had their rating requirements removed.
- Select Season 2 weapons have found themselves bearing rating requirements they didn't previously have.
- Warlocks and Priests can purchase full sets of Season 2 gear at absolutely no cost whatsoever.
- Select Season 4 accessories can be acquired at no cost.
- The Brutal Gladiator's Hatchet is completely free as well.
Those are only the things we know of right now, the problem may even go farther than that. I've checked the Tiers 4, 5 and 6 vendors with a few friends of various classes and haven't run into any oddities there yet. It seems exclusive to PvP gear.
Before you get excited and run off to buy some gear, please keep in mind that while this is a bug, that could be considered an exploit. A bug isn't your fault but when you knowingly abuse it, it quickly becomes your problem. That being said, I don't think Blizzard will be banning any accounts over this, either. I would just recommend being careful and not abusing this.
I fully expect server restarts by morning to correct this issue, because it's kind of a big deal. Then again, we're going to be in Northrend tomorrow evening and this gear will quickly be replaced. Maybe they won't bother, but I sort of have my doubts. If you see something about a server shutdown or restart in the next few hours, this would be why.
2:20 am: Blizzard has added a message to the login screen mentioning that they are aware of the issue, and asking us to avoid purchasing these items.
Filed under: Priest, Warlock, Analysis / Opinion, Bugs, PvP






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 12)
SixTwoSixFour Nov 12th 2008 12:19PM
CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL. Had to be said. Moving on... no, we're not theives.There are plenty of people who discovered it by accident, and then there were the armies of us who knew well what we were doing. And I really mean that to the fullest- we knew it was a bug, we knew everyone else was doing it, and we knew that all Blizz was gonna do was roll back all PvP exchanges from yesterday, so it didn't much matter how many people did it after a certain point. We knew we would lose all our equip- well, those of us who were fools who tried to socket and enchant them.
So why did we do it? That's pretty simple, isn't it? That gear looks cool. I've been a level 70 for a month now, and my gear looks pretty dull. No one wants to run any instances, so it's impossible to upgrade, though Wrath will fix that. So I just wanted to be able to grab a few screenshots of myself wearing some stylish new duds. In a way, in makes it worth it- I wasn't convinced that PvP gear was worth bothering with, but that stuff looked awesome, so I'm probably gonna PvP more.
We're not thieves, we don't deserve the banhammer. A man once said, if there was a lever that said "Pull this lever to end the world," we wouldn't last five minutes. People are curious. They want to check out these things firsthand. Human nature.
Dularne Nov 12th 2008 1:04AM
The champion's hall is getting reamed on Silver Hand right now.
It's HILARIOUS
Busilak Nov 12th 2008 1:37AM
Screen shot of Drenden Server Champions Hall..
http://i33.tinypic.com/206oi0x.jpg
Craazy!
Cyanea Nov 12th 2008 4:23AM
I wonder if this isn't some seeekrit plan by Blizzard to ensure a smooth Wrath launch. "Hay! Let's let slip a bug that gives everyone free PVP gear, and when a third of our subscribers exploit it, we ban 'em for a couple of days. Genius!"
:P
Matchu Nov 12th 2008 1:03AM
And the European realms are all down =(
Killah Nov 12th 2008 1:04AM
I logged in as soon as I saw the article screenshot, only to find out the exact same thing... bollocks!
Ondoe Nov 12th 2008 1:53AM
The CH in SW on hellscream is completely packed with people its so bad that it kicked me and everytime i try to get back on my main it boots me to the log in screen and when i can log in im at 1 fps and it d/cs me two seconds later its fucking retarded not to mention all the assholes that stand on the venders making it impossible for people to click on them why are people such assholes?
kala Nov 12th 2008 5:24AM
Looks like EU servers are ok, on first glance atleast.
All mail is there and i did not saw any rewardepix without prices.
slunk Nov 12th 2008 1:04AM
Some Shaman Helm is free atm.
Kakistocracy Nov 12th 2008 2:21AM
Sure it looks free, but think about the hidden costs.
Change has come to WoW.
We truly have "Welfare" epics, but these hand-outs come straight out of the pockets of the hard working upper class.
This redistribution of welth is socialism and I will not stand for it until it is offered in a form that benefits me.
Nathanyel Nov 12th 2008 5:45AM
@Kakistocracy:
Alkaios Nov 12th 2008 1:20PM
"Change has come to WoW"
Methinks this "bug" was the work of Obama =)
Gimia Nov 12th 2008 5:24PM
While on the beta I checked the PvP vendors in SW about a month ago and it was exactly like this before, don't know how Blizz didn't pick that up and figured out what caused it.
skajake Nov 12th 2008 1:05AM
Blizzard needs a consultant to develop a more sound change management procedure. Part of this process should include peer code reviews, sql reviews, comprehensive test plans (including regression testing), and test result approval...
you know... like any other company that follows a software development life cycle would do.
Naix Nov 12th 2008 1:15AM
OMG! I bet they never ever ever thought of that! Let's call them up and let them know they are doing it wrong.
talkingmike Nov 12th 2008 1:22AM
Because with utmost certainty they have nothing like this already. I mean seriously, it's really only Morhaime and Kaplan doing this in their spare time in their mom's attic. Imagine what they could do with some venture capital!
Max Nov 12th 2008 1:23AM
naix you made me lol :P
Spelunker Nov 12th 2008 1:24AM
Seriously. WoW's code base has to be absolutely enormous; bugs are going to pop up especially since Blizzard is under so much pressure to get stuff in production asap so that the realms won't be down too long.
Stuff like this is going to happen.
Aevious Nov 12th 2008 1:51AM
LOL. Yes I'm sure that blizzard, one of the worlds leading software companies, just gold masters code willy nilly....
Shit happens man. The best QA practices in the world aren't gonna keep things 100% all the time in such a dynamic environment. They do pretty well considering.
Lawgiver Nov 12th 2008 5:58AM
BUG TETSING
YER DOIN IT RONG