A reaction from the developers of World of Warcraft drives fans crazy. It will serve as a prime example of failed communication.
That in an MMORPG like World of Warcraft there are occasionally small bugs and errors is inevitable. In a game of this size, problems are part of everyday life, and sometimes the reasons are even quite amusing. A bug that resulted from one of the recent hotfixes is currently driving many players mad. But the reaction from Blizzard to this is leading to even more confusion.
What is the error? Those who have unlocked the two new mini-areas Val and Naigtal and have completed quests there will eventually gain the ability to move around the mushroom world with a grapple: Lighthook Grapple. This is a special ability that appears as an additional action button on the screen while in Naigtal.
The problem: The button does not disappear when leaving Naigtal. It remains visible throughout the game and can even be seen when Naigtal is not active.
For most, it is clear: This is an obvious bug. There are hundreds of such abilities in the game that should only be active in specific locations and disappear from the interface once you leave the designated area.
This bug has also been discussed in the World of Warcraft forum.
Ability in WoW blocks the screen and other skills
How did Blizzard respond? After many players reported this error and expressed their concerns in the forum that it still existed after days, Blizzard spoke up and explained: “The developers are looking into why the button exists outside of Naigtal.”
So far, so good.
However, nearly 10 days later, another response came, which surprised the community quite a bit:
After a review by our development team, it was confirmed that this apparently functions as technically intended, and we currently have no plans to change it.
And then the community slightly lost its cool.
How the community reacts: The responses from the player base are quite incredulous. For most, it is clear that it must be a bug and that it does not work “as technically intended”.
This is also evident from the fact that the ability blocks other special abilities that should be active in different environments. For instance, those who want to summon the vehicle in Lorenhall cannot do so while Lighthook Grapple is displayed on the screen. The same goes for Pocopoc in Zereth Mortis.
In the forum, Ansui expresses it quite politely:
I have no words to describe my astonishment at this decision.
Is there a workaround? Yes. Those who feel disturbed by the ability can simply drag it somewhere in the action bars until Blizzard fixes the bug. Then the additional button will disappear and make room for other abilities.
Cortyn says: This forum discussion may be one of the most bizarre I have seen in the last 20 years regarding World of Warcraft – perhaps with the exception of the plan to enforce real name policy in the WoW forum. It is painfully obvious to everyone that it is a clear bug in the game, yet a Blizzard employee swears it is “working as intended”.
Even though I absolutely cannot stand accusations of this nature, developers should not be surprised if the community comes to the conclusion that “they do not play their own game” – because there is scarcely any other conclusion to be drawn here.
How strangely connected the game contents in World of Warcraft are was explained just a few days ago by Game Director Ion Hazzikostas. He explained in an interview that they had to completely disable housing – and the blame lay with an elevator in a raid from over 10 years ago.
In the WoW Subreddit, Cheeseburger2137 describes it a bit more drastically:
This looks like the silly strategic incompetence of a developer. Anyone who works in IT knows someone like that.
The requirement said the player should gain access to the ability when they enter [Naigtal].
Nowhere did it say that the ability should also be removed when leaving the area, because whoever wrote that assumed that people would have 3 or more brain cells.
Players report this as a bug.
No, sorry, the original requirements did not mention anything about removal. Works as intended.
The outcry was so great that shortly thereafter, another Blizzard employee (“Felranys”) spoke up and supported his colleague. They explained: The problem will continue to be investigated. Although the statement of the previous Blizzard employee remains correct, they are listening to the feedback and may make changes based on it.
Is there a workaround? Yes. Those who feel disturbed by the ability can simply drag it somewhere in the action bars until Blizzard fixes the bug. Then the additional button will disappear and make room for other abilities.
Cortyn says: This forum discussion may be one of the most bizarre I have seen in the last 20 years regarding World of Warcraft – perhaps with the exception of the plan to enforce real name policy in the WoW forum. It is painfully obvious to everyone that it is a clear bug in the game, yet a Blizzard employee swears it is “working as intended”.
Even though I absolutely cannot stand accusations of this nature, developers should not be surprised if the community comes to the conclusion that “they do not play their own game” – because there is scarcely any other conclusion to be drawn here.
How strangely connected the game contents in World of Warcraft are was explained just a few days ago by Game Director Ion Hazzikostas. He explained in an interview that they had to completely disable housing – and the blame lay with an elevator in a raid from over 10 years ago.
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