Although players in action RPGs sometimes like to exploit bugs to their advantage, a new glitch in Diablo 4 has alarmed fans directly. What has happened to a couple here by chance was intentionally done 20 years ago, resulting in the destruction of the entire economy.
What is this glitch?
- “Duping” refers to the duplication of items. An item is thus copied exactly as it currently is.
- Such a glitch usually occurs by exploiting a bug and faulty game mechanics. The Diablo competitor Last Epoch recently had to deal with duping.
- What initially sounds like a cool thing for anyone wanting the best items can quickly turn into a massive problem.
This is what duping caused back then: Essentially, duping destroys the entire economy of a game. You don’t just want to quickly get some new materials, the goal is usually to get the best items possible.
In Diablo 4, there is currently some really strong loot, which players regularly boast about. If such loot were duplicated, equipment would eventually lose its value, and the game would no longer provide a challenge.
One of the most well-known and worst cases of duping occurred in Diablo 2. There, the famous ring Stone of Jordan (engl. “Stone of Jordan”, or short: “SoJ”) eventually became a commodity because gold was no longer valuable.
Due to a glitch, the item could be multiplied. When this exploit became known, there were ultimately so many “SoJs” that the entire economy collapsed. Honest players could no longer afford anything in trades, while exploiters were surrounded by completely overpowered gear.
Blizzard eventually introduced “Uber Diablo” as a boss that could only be summoned when enough Stones of Jordan were sold. However, that couldn’t save the trade back then.
A duping glitch would be fatal, even if players are already swimming in strong loot thanks to Season 4:
“This needs more visibility”
On Reddit, a couple has accidentally duplicated several items. Without really knowing how it happened, they raised the alarm and warned about the glitch.
Even though some users cynically comment that “real money traders love this trick” or that it can’t be replicated without a wife, others warn: This post needs many more upvotes to become visible. The bug must be reported to Blizzard immediately and fixed.
The number of veterans from earlier times who still remember the SoJ fiasco is apparently considerable, as users perceive the same danger in the current case. While the economy of Diablo 4 may not be great, it is first-class compared to that of Diablo 2 back then. In the past, glitches, hacks, and exploits were so widespread that there was hardly a multiplayer round without them.
There hasn’t been an official response from Blizzard yet, so it’s hard to gauge how big the problem will really be.
Elsewhere, Diablo players seem to have already forgotten which issues nearly led to the ruin of previous games. Despite some warnings, calls for a “dangerous” feature have resurfaced: A feature nearly destroyed Diablo 3 – now players are demanding it back in Diablo 4
