The XP potion drama is a byproduct of Blizzard's inability to communicate properly

[Azerate]

Video games should never ban for anything short of actual hacking. Intercepting data with third party software, botting, man in the middle attacks, etc, etc. If they don't like what you said on trade chat, then they should have provided tools for those who don't want to hear it to avoid it (blocking, language filters, etc). If you're griefing then the system should have been designed to avoid that (allow multiple tags, etc). If there's an exploit, then they should fix the problem. The fact that they decided to go radio silent as people ask "Hey is this allowed?" is abhorrent and I cannot understand how anyone justifies it.

Why? So that the poor people who are making others miserable can still enjoy themselves? If someone is being an ass that griefs and insults everyone around, they should be removed for the health of the game and the atmosphere in it. "Providing tools to deal with the situation yourself" is just pushing the effort on the victim.

Edit: The common sense argument really doesn't make much sense when you consider that power leveling through those world side quests and going through 5 levels in draenor in under 20 minutes wasn't an bannable exploit. "You had to do a workaround so it's clear it's not intended" except, I also need a workaround to get voice chat to work. Why would someone have any reason to think this is different?

There are no bugs in WoD leveling. Treasures and objectives give decent exp by design, and with a flying mount you can just level off of them. No glitch there, obviously.

Voice chat is outside of the game, so it's irrelevant.

The xp glitch was obviously a glitch, and arguing otherwise is just a brain exercise to defend cheaters. Don't do that, you may think it's noble but it's not. It's like arguing someone was allowed to destroy public property because no one told them it's illegal.

[Very Tired]

I find it hilarious that there are this many people in this thread excusing Blizzards lack of communication on pretty much anything these days. Something as simple as "If it looks and acts like an exploit don't use it because you might be banned." But, no, Papa Blizzard's honor is being impugned upon and we can't have that. No siree.

And I find it hilarious so many people are sticking to the same talking point just because they are desperate to convince themselves that Blizzard is always in the wrong. But hey, feel free to continue pretending we're entitled to hand holding by Blizzard who need to tell us an obvious exploit is actually an exploit.

[MrLachyG]

Sorry, but I can't find common ground here. You're insinuating that people actually thought they could stack potions and get absurd bonus to XP, getting levels in mere minutes, and that this was normal and okay?

On that same note, I have a island to sell you in the pacific.

Seriously, no one thought it was right. Everyone was aware it was a bug, and would get fixed. THEREFORE, how about you just don't do it? Problem solved.

I think that everyone who got bans absolutely deserved them but I do agree that applying an immediate hotfix or at least acknowledging that it’s a bug is something that Blizzard should have done. People were making them aware of it, yet they did fuck all. Seems to be a recurring theme this expansion; bugs that were present in beta made it to live, despite multiple bug reports on the forums and in-game. It’s like they either don’t have the capable staff to deal with them (someone authorised to tweet on their behalf) or they are just flat out ignoring everything and then banning people. Maybe banning people was easier than sending a quick tweet saying “yeah it’s bugged, going to be fixed. Don’t do it” and then actually fixing it

[niztheundead87]

It is really disturbing and sad that people dont take responsibility on their own mistakes and want to deflect the blame

[rrayy]

I think that everyone who got bans absolutely deserved them but I do agree that applying an immediate hotfix or at least acknowledging that it’s a bug is something that Blizzard should have done. People were making them aware of it, yet they did fuck all. Seems to be a recurring theme this expansion; bugs that were present in beta made it to live, despite multiple bug reports on the forums and in-game. It’s like they either don’t have the capable staff to deal with them (someone authorised to tweet on their behalf) or they are just flat out ignoring everything and then banning people. Maybe banning people was easier than sending a quick tweet saying “yeah it’s bugged, going to be fixed. Don’t do it” and then actually fixing it

It wouldn't have mattered. Everyone who used it knew it was an exploit and knew they could get banned for it and did it anyway. It is not Blizzard's responsbility to hold your hand. When you know it is an exploit, don't do it. You don't need Blizzard to tell you that.

[Sandraudiga]

Or you know, you can just not use an obvious 100% exploit at all, and not get banned then.

Who are you even defending? Do you think 400%+ exp bonus is a 'may or may not be intended' even when the method with which you apply it clearly reeks of exploit? Don't be upset cuz you blindly followed some stupid ass streamers like Preach, who also just tries to shift the blame, and learn to not exploit the game.

Coming to this a bit late, so forgive me if this has been said.

First things first, I agree with you 100%. It was obviously a bug and not intended and people should be banned for it, though I do understand the points of this not really hurting anyone. This exact same bug occurred when the new Darkmoon Firewater was introduced, splitting stacks gave you a stacking size increase and you could throw on a tauren illusion and have a mammoth nearly the size of stormwind, or mount on some drakes and have a wing span larger than stormwind. Anyone feel free to check youtube, there are some really funny videos of it.

That being said, as a complete aside of player culpability, Preach does have a point in that Blizz does have a responsibility to not only communicate with people but also to enforce their rules in as unbiased manner as possible. I can't comment on Preach's statements that a guildy of his abused it more than him and did not receive a ban, but I can confirm this example of weird and unfair application of bans. Of the people I know who abused the bug one friend had every race at 110, minus Zandalari, Kul Tiran and Highmountain Tauren. He levelled every other race to 120 using the potions and multi-clienting his other accounts through island expeditions and some dungeons with pugs. He was not banned, however everyone else who levelled 2-5 characters from 110 to 120 were banned from 3 days to 15 days. None of them streamed so this couldn't affect their ban time.

In banning people Blizz should ban everyone who abused the bug fairly but the bans themselves and the ban lengths are haphazard and seemingly random. As if it was done by an algorithm written by an intern with a hangover or something.

The other part is that Blizz took days to fix it and never answered any of the hundreds of people asking about it on twitter and various forums. Given this was happening at literal prime time for Blizz they could have had a warning posted in minutes warning people off and the problem would never have occurred. As it was people were sharing how the bug was done on forums, in game chat, and in party chat when a pug ran into someone dinging so fast. It caused a massive snowball effect needlessly. The same bug only with size was fixed in hours, and nowhere near the amount of people

BFA has had not only more bugs, but far more impactful bugs than any expansion by a large margin. 8.1.5 destroyed entire server economies with the tools of the trade bugs, tens of thousands of potions, flasks and mats flooding servers. People who have enough consumables for the entire expansion and then some sitting in the bank, and yet people who abused these weren't banned even though they had a far larger impact on the community as a whole.

Blizzards actions aren't great with this, probably the worst I've ever seen. Hard not to be jaded and see the profit benefits of large resubbs, though I think it's backfired somewhat given so many people who've posted they are moving to other games over this. Some of those people are full of shit of course, but I do know several people who've unsubbed and moved on over this.

Really not a good day/week/month/expansion for wow and blizz in many ways, its a bit sad.

[Multitorix Davlen]

What I'd like is if Blizzard would say something, anything at all. Just a tweet saying "don't stack potions at all". Then maybe they let people off who just overlapped a bit. There's still been no comment about the whole thing. Just the bans.

except you deliberately did something that is obviously not intended by the game to get an advantage over other players. It doesnt matter how 'little' you did in comparison to other people. 2 potion stack or 40 potion stack you violated the ToS and should be punished for it. THey dont HAVE to fucking tell you not to do a thing, this is on you to think with your brain "oh this doesn't seem like an intended thing, BETTER NOT DO IT."

[FelPlague]

And they have ignored the flask exploit which is a much bigger deal and has wrecked server economies.

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Because it was harmless unlike the cauldron exploit that they did nothing about.

Except it is not harmless

getting free max level chartecters effects a few things

the Boe market for leveling
the enchanting market for leveling
the leveling experiance for others, as remember with this many stacked potions people were able to 1 shot most mobs in dungeons
crafted legion legendary sales, as many people do buy the crafted ones liek the leather boots, as they make 100-116 SUPER fast

[Sansnom]

If you're griefing then the system should have been designed to avoid that (allow multiple tags, etc). If there's an exploit, then they should fix the problem. The fact that they decided to go radio silent as people ask "Hey is this allowed?" is abhorrent and I cannot understand how anyone justifies it.

Given the complexity, it is impossible for a company to patch every single possible exploit and bugs. It would be ideal but not practical. So complaining to Blizzard about why was it allowed is that this one exploit slipped through the net. It happens.

I do not know how long they took to respond but again, a company like Blizzard has to be careful when issue statements because it needs to correct. It is also something they cannot easily retract.

It seems the biggest noise on this subject is on Blizzard for first not responding quickly and secondly for applying a banned or suspension to those accounts.

The people who noticed this should have at least suspect this was an exploit and that using could incur some retroactive punishment. What happened to common sense? My guess is that they were betting on a light punishment and a simple rollback of any level gained.

"You had to do a workaround so it's clear it's not intended" except, I also need a workaround to get voice chat to work. Why would someone have any reason to think this is different?

Not quite the same thing. Your workaround was to address something that was not working. That is a repair. No different to a patchwork to fix a car via alternate means.

If you use an example, I can also use an example, you can either go round the field or you can trespass and risk being caught.

Whether the punishment fits the crimes is a another question. However, it is Blizzard property. They makes the rules and can enforce it or ignore it.

[Yunaqt]

FeelsBad for them I guess.

If they still get to keep the max level toons was likely worth it, should roll them back as well.
Was the main problem with the honor exploit, yeah small ban but honor level 500, so the consequence was far less impactful than the actual gain.

[Bibliomaniac]

There was a day in age when Blizzard just dealt with the bug, fixed it, and went on their way. Their philosophy was "If the bug is there it's our fault, not the players."

[Yunaqt]

I anticipate they'll do a statement post about it tomorrow when people are back at work.

[Boricha]

It was an obvious exploit and the bans were deserved, but I don't think Blizz gets away completely free with this. They had tons of reports from the moment it was discovered and let it go for days without a word. I don't believe the "average" player knows what they can or can't get away with, so I'm sure lots of people in dungeons saw other people doing this and thought they should join in. From what I was reading on reddit, there also seemed to be no logic to the duration of the bans. Some leveled 2-3 characters and got a month, some leveled every class and got 2 days. One leveled 7 characters and wasn't banned. This is also a very minor exploit, whereas the recent cauldron bug that ruined server economies ended with no bans or rollbacks.

[Flutterguy]

There was a day in age when Blizzard just dealt with the bug, fixed it, and went on their way. Their philosophy was "If the bug is there it's our fault, not the players."

No. Blizzard still believes bugs are their fault. They've ALWAYS told players that if there is a bug, it's up to the player not the exploit it. You see the same arguments from the old days of wall jumpers and going out of bounds and shit. They get banned then cry about how it's Blizzard's fault for them being able to do it in the first place. Where do you think "Clever solution to game mechanics" meme came from?

[Nite92]

" if you didnt want me to steal your stuff you shoulda put more than one lock on the door"

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you know having a toxic relationship because you make the concious choice to play a game you dont enjoy has literally nothing to do with that game, or blizzard entertainment right?

as i keep saying "make sure to play with your friends outside of azeroth too!" "take everything in moderation" the devs dont want you playing their game if you arent having fun.

if you've continued to play after you stopped having fun, its your fault.

grow up!

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so you took something, didnt get in trouble so decided that it was ok.

and you blame blizzard for it?

No, I am saying that blizz is inconsistent and couldve prevented many bans by a Tweet.

[Clozer]

It is really disturbing and sad that people dont take responsibility on their own mistakes and want to deflect the blame

ye blizzard should stand for their fails and not randomly trying to blame the players for it. tz

[niztheundead87]

ye blizzard should stand for their fails and not randomly trying to blame the players for it. tz

or not trying to get away with cheating

[Eleccybubb]

ye blizzard should stand for their fails and not randomly trying to blame the players for it. tz

Agreed. Pretty pathetic they can't at least admit the bug was their fault. Like most other devs.

[Sansnom]

ye blizzard should stand for their fails and not randomly trying to blame the players for it. tz

How is Blizzard blaming players for their fails?

[Clozer]

How is Blizzard blaming players for their fails?

We are so stupid that we can't make a non stacking potion but people stacked the potion so in the end it's the peoples fault.