Hardcore World of Warcraft deaths will be reversed after massive DDoS attacks 

A massive wave of targeted DDoS attacks saw the destruction of one the biggest Hardcore World of Warcraft Classic guild: OnlyFangs. Alongside other deaths, the DDoS attacks led to massive outroar within the WoW community. 

Led by popular streamer SodaPoppin, the attacks saw more than half of the hardcore guild wiped out as attacks coincided with huge raids. With characters dead forever, the only hope was a rollback by Blizzard, which many deemed extremely unlikely. 

“I don’t feel comfortable dragging people through getting world buffs, flasks, and consumables etc. just to raid with the anxiety and probably the actuality of just being DDOSed again and dying,” guild leader SodaPoppin said. 

Blizzard saves World of Warcraft players  

In a message from World of Warcraft community manager Kaivax, Blizzard confirmed that it will resurrecting characters that died during one of the many DDoS attacks. While not every character may be saved, the studio is hoping to revive everyone who died as a result of the hackers. 

“Recently, we have experienced unprecedented distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that impacted many Blizzard game services,” Kaivax told players. “We’re taking steps to resurrect player-characters that were lost as a result of these attacks. 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.”

The community manager explained that the “broader stance on character restorations or death appeals has not changed”. Characters that have died as a result of lag, bugs or disconnects will not be restored. However, if an event like a mass DDoS attack results in the death of a character, their death may be rolled back. 

“In the future, 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,” they said. 

For more World of Warcraft coverage, read about how Ashbringer is seemingly coming to the game after 20 years. Additionally, check out our interview on the limits of WoW’s game engine.