You aren't aware of how many lines of code are in this game, are you? It takes time to find the cause of a bug and if it's something that occurs over a large portion of code and what not, it will take time. This is hardly game breaking so just chill.

In fact often bugs are found and fixed quickly. But any changes to a code base, such as WoWs, require all kinds of testing and vetting before the changes can be released. It is not as simple as a coder finding a bad line, fixing it and flipping the switch to make it live.

I agree with the OP--this is embarrassing. Doesn't Blizz test anything? Is the PTR just for sneak previews these days?

I'm sorry, but Blizz should have their own private TR where they can fast-forward the game to make sure it doesn't go kafluey whenever the game-state changes.

I think it should be understandable for the Dalaran one to be a bit bugged considering it was only started last year. It's not like they should anticipate there to be a problem considering both the Shattrath and Vanilla orphan ones work fine. Holiday bugs happen the following year (i.e. Elders and Fires not resetting) but they always fix it. The Dalaran orphan chain is no exception so there's no reason to get so upset about it.

If this had happened with the Shattrath or Vanilla orphan, it would be a bit more understandable to rage about.

Because there was a ptr for the holiday event....
amiright?

Blizz should be testing EVERY change to the game, but obviously they're not. They just drop in a change, cross their fingers, and hope everything turns out okay.

And "Holiday bugs happen the following year but they always fix it" is an excuse? It makes the problem even WORSE, because they should obviously be anticipating these problems instead of waiting until after they go bad before they apply a fix. It's like saying "I always throw up after I eat worms, so the next time I eat worms I'll have a bucket ready."

Why would they assume something is broken? Again, like I've stated, both the Vanilla and Shattrath orphan quest chain has been working for couple of years now, why would they assume that this one would be broken?

Your example of eating worms is different from what I'm even trying to say. Your example is the equivalent of if the Vanilla orphan quest chain is continuously broken every year, then yeah it would be worse, and their own fault. If they just said "Oh, well we know it's broken every year, let's just push it out and fix it later," then yeah you'd be right. However, the Dalaran orphan quest is new from last year. There's no way of them to know it would be broken until they established it this year. That's the equivalent of eating centipedes and then thinking, "Oh crap, these make me vomit too, now I know."

Al said...
You aren't aware of how many lines of code are in this game, are you?

Oh boy, that one is getting old... I think it's a safe assumption that data about which quests you have completed already is stored in a database. Therefore it doesn't matter how many lines of code there are. All they have to do is properly reset the quest, eithet manually or by letting the 'completed' flag expire automatically.
And it just amazes me that this particular bug keeps popping up, as much as it amazes me that they apparently haven't taken a more proactive approach since the previous times.

But Thatacus, they're the same. Every annual holiday questline has to be reset, but apparently this isn't being done automatically all the time. Yet when it is done automatically, like when partially-achieved achievements are wiped clean, you end up with bugs like the one I have: though there's a Hallowed Helm in my bank, it isn't checked off on the "Sinister Calling" achievement because I still haven't won a Sinister Squashling. Do I have to contact a GM to get this piece of idiocy fixed?

Don't know why Darkrose got voted down. He's right. Obviously the readers of wow.com are so in love with the game that Blizzard can do no wrong.

It has nothing to do with the number of lines of code. Some basic testing of each event prior to it happening would have uncovered these types of issues.

Is it really too much to ask Blizzard to have a few testers simulate characters of different ages and play through the game like a real person would? Considering the millions Blizzard reap from this game its a surprise that these problems occur again and again.