World of Warcraft Classic players are mistaking features for bugs

World of Warcraft Classic recently launched a “small-scale” closed beta for a limited number of players ahead of it’s live release worldwide on August 27. Since the beta started, Blizzard has apparently been receiving reports from players who are mistaking features of the classic version of the MMO for bugs. As a result, the studio recently released a “not-a-bug” list to clear up any misconceptions. 

The legacy server reverts WoW back to the 1.12 version that originally launched in 2004. To be true to how it was back then, the studio has reproduced everything the older version had to offer, including inconsistencies - which has evidently lead some players to believe it's buggy. 

In the blog post, Blizzard’s community manager addressed that the nature of WoW Classic will invoke different memories for different players, which can easily lead to misunderstandings: “As we’ve discussed before, the nature of WoW Classic sometimes invokes different memories for different players, and this leads to certain misconceptions for some about what is or isn’t working as intended.” As a result, the studio has outlined a list of “commonly-reported gameplay in WoW Classic that is actually not a bug." 

You can see the full list of features mistaken for bugs below: 

  • Tauren's hitboxes and their melee reach is slightly larger than other races.
  • Being critically struck while using/sit to sit does not cause abilities like Enrage, Blood Craze, and Reckoning to activate. 
  • Using the "Automatic Quest Tracking" option does not auto-track newly accepted quests. (It instead will start to track an existing quest once progress towards an objective is started.) 
  • Warrior health regeneration is working at the expected rate.
  • Quest objectives and points of interest are not tracked on the map or minimap.
  • Completed quests are marked on the minimap with a dot. (and not a "?")
  • Feared players and NPCs run fast. 
  • Standing on top of other players while facing away allows spells and attacks to be used.
  • Creature respawn rates are much slower than in Battle for Azeroth.
  • NPCs which offer multiple quests may inconsistently display them as a dot or a "!" on the available quests list. They were inconsistent in 1.12, and we've reproduced the exact inconsistency they had back then.
  • Quests that are too low level do not show up as a "!" in the game world. 
  • Available quests do not display a "!" on the minimap. 
  • On level up, the message "Your skill in Protection increased to 15" was added in 1.12.1, and we're intending to keep that.

Want to know more about WoW Classic? Here’s our roundup of all the details you need to know about World of Warcraft Classic beta, stress test, and launch date

Heather Wald
Senior staff writer

I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I'm not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.