Blizzard has confirmed that it will revive some World of Warcraft Classic Hardcore characters that were killed off during a DDoS attack that affected the stability of raids over the last few days.
Those of you who enjoy WoW Classic have been having a rough time recently as a DDoS attack (distributed denial-of-service) has been causing plenty of you to disconnect mid-match. In a standard game, this would be annoying, but not much else. However, in a hardcore server, when you die, your character becomes a ghost and cannot be resurrected, effectively ending your run.
One of the game's most famous guilds, OnlyFangs, said, "If this is just how it is, then yeah, that's the end," deciding to stop raiding after some of their members lost characters due to being disconnected by the DDoS attack.
But now, in an update shared to the Blizzard forums, associate production director Clay Stone writes: "In the future, Blizzard may elect – at our sole discretion – to revive Hardcore characters that perish in a mass event which we deem inconsistent with the integrity of the game, such as a DDoS attack."
That's welcome news for Hardcore fans who previously had to take it on the chin, even if their character died unfairly or unintentionally through something like a DDoS. Don't go intentionally disconnecting if you think you're about to die, though, as Stone adds: "Our broader stance on character restorations or death appeals has not changed. To be clear, we do not intend to revive characters which have died due to server disconnects, lag spikes, gameplay bugs, or any other reasons. Blizzard Customer Support cannot assist with issues related to characters who have died on Hardcore realms."
So, while some of your characters may well be revived if they die during this DDoS attack, don't expect any leniency if they die in any other way. This is WoW Hardcore; it's not for the faint of heart.
People on Twitter seem to be mostly in favor of this rule change. "I'm 100% ok with Blizzard reviving affected players of DDoS attacks," tweets one player. "Extremely rare Blizzard W," writes another.
However, some people think this has only been done because a high-profile guild like OnlyFangs was going to quit. "Nepotism is alive and well at Blizzard," tweets one person. "Thousands of paying customers that lost their characters with hundreds of hours due to griefers, DCs, and server instability told to suck it up. But when a bunch of their favorite streamers/friends are affected, they suddenly bend the knee."
One player even thinks this will actually lead to more DDoS attacks, stating: "Horrible call, just encourages more of these to happen so they can get their moments of fame. OnlyFangs from the get go was a bad idea, too many big wigs for trolls to go for."
What do you think?
If you want to give WoW a break until the DDoS attack is over, check out the best online games you can play with your friends instead.
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