The allure of World of Warcraft‘s hardcore mode is the fact that it’s, well, hardcore. A single misstep off of a cliff, a mistimed dodge, or a slightly slow reaction leads to your eternal demise: all of that gear, gone, that time arguably wasted. But, in the wake of the OnlyFangs drama and consistent server instability, Blizzard has been resurrecting Hardcore characters at its “sole discretion,” noting previously that, given the malicious nature of DDoSes, it seems unfair to almost punish players for something outside of their control. As yet another round of attacks scramble the game’s servers, Blizzard has confirmed that even more hardcore characters will be returning to the fray.
To give you a bit of wider context, Blizzard’s stance on Hardcore characters remained solid for years: if your character dies on one of the MMO‘s toughest servers, they die. However, following consistent DDoS attacks against Thomas Chance ‘Sodapoppin’ Morris and Tyler ‘Tyler1′ Steinkamp’s World of Warcraft Classic streaming guild, OnlyFangs, Blizzard confirmed that it would walk back Hardcore deaths if they were the result of a DDoS.
Back in March, community manager Randy ‘Kaivax’ Jordan stated that “Unlike the many other ways characters can die in Hardcore, DDoS attacks are an intentionally malicious effort made by third-party bad actors, and we believe the severity and results of DDoS attacks specifically warrant a different response.” As a result, “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.”
Blizzard’s resolve has been put to the test yet again, as on Thursday April 24 and Saturday May 3, both Doomhowl and Defias Pillager were hit with severe DDoS attacks. This followed a series of disruptions to the former on April 3, 4, and 7, too, where characters were also revived.
“We have identified and resurrected characters who died due to circumstances caused by distributed denial-of-service attacks on the Doomhowl realm on April 24, and on the Doomhowl and Defias Pillager realms on May 3,” writes WoW community manager Bethany ‘Liinxy’ Hudson. “We are done with these restorations, and affected players should be able to select the ghost character on the Doomhowl and Defias Pillager realms and log into it to complete the process.”
The responses, however, tell a different story. Myriad players claim that their characters have not been resurrected, with only two posts confirming otherwise. “Please get this right, Blizzard,” one player writes, with another commenting “I really hope that ‘we are done with these restorations’ is a typo.”
Of course, resurrection is at Blizzard’s discretion, meaning that your character may just stay dead. It’s a double-edged sword: dying is part of the fun of Hardcore, but feeling like you’ve missed out when others’ hard work is returned at the click of a button doesn’t feel great.
If you’re intrigued about the future of WoW following Blizzard’s PAX East broadcast and the Legion Remix reveal, check out our list of the best WoW addons. Alternatively, if you’re looking for something new but equally as huge, here’s our rundown of the best free MMORPGs.
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