Retribution bug hotfixed, Vengeance temporarily returns to PvP
by Matthew Rossi 
Feb 2nd 2012 at 3:45PM
Zarhym - Update on Retribution Paladin Bug
The bug where paladin Seals could sometimes cause excessive damage has been fixed. This bug came as a result of a hotfix we put in to fix an issue where some attacks, such as Scatter Shot, were still causing Vengeance in PvP situations. While these things may seem totally unrelated, it has to do with our proc system, which is an extremely complicated mechanic under the hood. We reverted that hotfix, meaning you may sometimes see Vengeance in PvP. But we don't think that will present a major balance concern at this time.
To be clear, we have no current plans to take action against players who experienced this bug last night unless we come across any extreme cases. The error was ours and we haven't seen any evidence -- so far -- of players excessively exploiting the bug. We reserve the right to take action if we do find evidence of players crossing the line to repeatedly exploit this bug for major in-game advantages.
To be clear, we have no current plans to take action against players who experienced this bug last night unless we come across any extreme cases. The error was ours and we haven't seen any evidence -- so far -- of players excessively exploiting the bug. We reserve the right to take action if we do find evidence of players crossing the line to repeatedly exploit this bug for major in-game advantages.
I won't lie, I find this fascinating. The idea that the issue lies in a system that on the surface would seem totally unrelated gives me the shivers just imagining what it must be like to maintain and advance the design for code that's been around for years and years. I have to agree that letting Vengeance sometimes pop up in PvP is probably the better option. It's only going to happen in an extremely limited set of circumstances, anyway.
I'm also glad only extreme edge cases will be seeing bans, as I had no idea the bug even existed while leveling my ret paladin last night and only figured it out afterwards.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Filed under: Paladin, Analysis / Opinion, Bugs, Blizzard, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Skarn Feb 2nd 2012 3:59PM
I only took a couple low level coding classes and that was crazy enough. One of my programs was perfect except it was missing a single semi-colon, so the whole thing crashed. It took me a long time to figure out what was wrong and as soon as I added that one little symbol, it worked great. I'm sure Blizzard has tools to pick up basic errors like that (it was a really basic error), but still...I'd be terrified to look at, much less touch, their mountain of code.
Pyromelter Feb 2nd 2012 4:08PM
As a computer lover, and very computer literate person, I thought programming might be a career for me.
One class of "lib.h" and object oriented programming flying over my head like a squadron of F-16s and I was like... yeah, I'm gonna stick to biology and health sciences :P.
And just so I don't have to put a separate post up, kudos to blizz for a reasonable policy, no bans/suspensions unless people were really egregious. I can't imagine PvP rankings would be out of whack that much, especially when people realized what was going on, I'd have to imagine most people who weren't paladins probably stopped queueing for ranked matches last night.
Arturis Feb 2nd 2012 6:05PM
I've been a ColdFusion Web Developer for almost 14 years, but I don't consider myself a programmer. Using scripting languages like CF and Javascript are a cakewalk compared to all the memory management required to write full on optimized C-based applications.
Chance Feb 2nd 2012 7:27PM
There was someone who put a decimal point in the wrong spot in a line of code on a game I worked for once and it caused the entire system to crash. Took us about 12 hours just to get access to the files in the ftp server so we could remove anything added within the last week and sift through it all to figure out where the problem was.
Eyhk Feb 2nd 2012 4:11PM
That doesn't make sense though, cause Vengeance shouldn't have anything to do with Seal of Truth proccing like crazy (and by crazy, I mean several hundred procs per second). That was the main source of the crazy dps. I can understand if some ret paladins using Devo aura suddenly stacking Vengeance for damage taken due to a bug and ALL their abilities doing more damage due to the AP buff, but this is different. Unless getting Vengeance somehow procced SoT each time the Vengeance stack changed (which in itself is ridiculous), I don't see how they intertwine.
Michele Feb 2nd 2012 4:17PM
Didn't they put a new bench in Stormwind once and it ended up bugging the Illidan fight in Outland? (This may be an urban legend, but I always thought it was kind of funny.)
Flap your wings, little butterfly . . . . .
kingoomieiii Feb 2nd 2012 4:17PM
What it looks like in the combat logs is that the damage caused by Seals of Command, which is procced by Seal of Truth, was then instantly proccing Seal of Truth again, over and over and over. Their vengeance fix accidentally changed how Command damage was treated by the proc system.
Frank Feb 2nd 2012 4:31PM
They didn't say vengance did it. They said the coding was part of a the fix to vengance. As far as I know ret Pally don't get vengance only Tanks do. The coding was for the Pally in general and somehow it affected the Seal of Truth Proc that all Pallys get.
I just wish i had switch to ret spec for a bit last night. I almost always play solely as prot.
Leslie Feb 2nd 2012 4:37PM
Recursion error maybe ?
Revynn Feb 2nd 2012 5:00PM
A guy I knew once updated his sound card drivers and lost his Internet connection.
Sometimes wires just get crossed in odd ways.
Aurilia Feb 2nd 2012 5:12PM
I don't believe its that farfetched of a connection. The code for figuring out when to trigger the extra damage from Seals of Command and when to apply Vengeance to tanks is likely similar in implementation, as they both trigger ("Proc") off certain events. That certain events can still trigger Vengeance even if an exception for player-generated trigger events is in place indicates that the code behind such must be very clunky indeed.
Better their developers have to look through that mess of code then me.
Elenac Feb 2nd 2012 7:18PM
"Better their developers have to look through that mess of code then me."
Amen to that!
I don't know how many times I have thought "Oh, that bug has absolutely nothing to do with my small fix to the code as it is totally unrelated." only to be proved totally wrong after a lengthy session of debugging. One small fix here affects a part there, which turns a flag up at some other part, which in turn... and finally it causes the bug in some _totally_ unrelated place.
eel5pe Feb 2nd 2012 4:13PM
It's no secret that WoW's code is horribly complex and as a result random crap keeps breaking in patches. Remember when they covered Shattrath City in a millimeter-thick layer of water? Or accidentally downsized Orc shoulders? Or for a contemporary example, how in 4.3 when jumping out of water would temporarily make you move at your normal on-ground move speed? Yeah.
kingoomieiii Feb 2nd 2012 4:18PM
"Would"? Did they fix it? Damn.
khimarhi_84 Feb 2nd 2012 4:40PM
I noticed they fixed the mount speed out of water thing. I was very sad
rodmin Feb 2nd 2012 6:54PM
At least it was fun while farming the fishing pools at Darkmoon Faire Island.
Task Feb 2nd 2012 4:29PM
"The people who did things like stack four rets for a ten man should be perma banned."
While I agree that should be some sort of punishment, I disagree with the fact that perma-banning a 10 man FL/DS raid with 4 ret pallies because,
A: it was a completely unexpected by everyone (Both Blizz and the player community) and
B. the bug itself lasted what, 12-14 hours after the server restart?
No, Blizz did the right thing by saying that "we'll only do such actions if its warranted" (summarized translation).
Skeinchug Feb 2nd 2012 4:38PM
Thus ends the "one evening of fun".
PodPeople Feb 2nd 2012 4:44PM
That's the life of ret pallies, every so often after a patch they get 1 day of fun, then it's back "to the ground".
Wonk Feb 2nd 2012 5:47PM
Glad I was honest, so I could see that all who were not got a pass... and what does it tell those who cheated about next time?
Did any of those cheats that went in to AV and killed Van instantly (3 ret pallys leading the charge) resulting in half the raid receiving the achiev via a cheat feel punished now?
These are the kind of things that honest players get ticked at... we do all we can to be honest, not rip off others, yet now an example has been set... a game breaking bug that allowed others to steal wins, points and achievs, yet those who took advantage are given a pass.
Nice. Let's see how honest they are next time.