In celebration of the 20th anniversary of World of Warcraft, fans of the MMORPG were able to indulge in the 78 Euro expensive, gold-adorned Trader Brutosaur for a limited time. Now, players have discovered that Blizzard has reused some designs from other mounts for the exclusive mount.
What have players found out? Have you ever sent away the two NPCs of your gold-adorned Trader Brutosaur and executed the special mount movement via the chat command /Mountspecial?
Player BrylicET noticed something during this. On Reddit, he reports that during the special animation of the exclusive anniversary mount, the seat from the Great Expedition Yak from Mists of Pandaria is visible.
But that’s not all! Under the post, PSBJ adds on Reddit that he was able to recreate this observation with the original Brutosaur mount from WoW, which was introduced in Battle for Azeroth.
The player speculates that this could be a bug that originated seven or eight years ago during the design of the first Brutosaur mount, which has now made its way into the code of the exclusive mount thanks to “copying and pasting”.
In other words: The gold-adorned Trader Brutosaur is, in several ways, a reskin of existing mount models, with its base seemingly coming from a Yak.
20 years of WoW – this was not only a reason to celebrate but also for retrospectives:
How does the community react to the discovery? It reacts with almost 2,000 upvotes and 370 comments. Various comments, however, also revolve around the fact that Battle for Azeroth is almost seven years old and that one would now feel old. Many also discuss copying in game development.
- edrifighting doesn’t care (via Reddit): “My 90-dollar mount could be made of two piles of crap attached to a solid, white 2D square, and I wouldn’t care as long as its functionality works.”
- GeneralBulko draws a parallel to the real world (via Reddit): “It’s just like most of us. Outwardly: fancy, shiny dinosaur with tons of gold. Inside: tired, hairy Yak that just wants to stay in the stable.”
- demonya99 is pleased (via Reddit): “My 80-Euro mount is a portable auction house and mailbox. The fact that the mount inspires people to posts like this is the icing on the cake.”
- Roosebuddy finds on Reddit: “Somehow, ‘Yak in a Dinosaur Costume’ sounds much louder.”
The latter comment led to follow-up comments such as “I would definitely buy mount costumes.”
What do I need to know about the mount? When the 20th anniversary of World of Warcraft started in October 2024, the developers gave themselves a gift: an almost 80 Euro expensive mount, which is only supposed to be sold for a certain period of time. On the launch day, it was already clear: The luxury mount is a massive success for Blizzard.
The gold-adorned Trader Brutosaur features two NPCs that offer unique services. While one provides you mobile access to the auction house, the second helper functions as a useful mailman – and all of this wherever you are allowed to call mounts. For comparable alternatives, some WoW players have dug very deep into their gold pockets.
