For the uninitiated/lazy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrupted_Blood_incident
this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2025
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After several failed hotfixes, Blizzard ended the pandemic by performing a hard reset, and a later patch prevented companions from contracting Corrupted Blood entirely.
Note to the future: next pandemic, try a hard reset.
Seriously though, it's wild they couldn't hotfix it.
It's wild that they couldn't change the spread property of the debuff to be deactivated if you weren't in the boss chamber. That should not be a hard fix...
That's how the spells work in wow. The BUFF would get removed if you left the room, but the issue was that pets would get it in the room and resummoned in cities, and since the buff removal thing happened while the pet was desummoned the removal didn't apply.
Doing a check each time the buff spreads is inefficient use of server.
Also, changing anything about the spell requires servers to be shut down, and they didn't want that for each fix attempt until they saw no other way and had roll back the servers.
you didn't understand. I know how the bug worked and was spread, using unsummoned pets and all. What I said is that it's wild to me that they didn't change the debuff to be unable to be spread at all for like a day. Like, change how the debuff spread works to temporarily disable it.
Doing a check each time the buff spreads is inefficient use of server.
WOW is server authoritative, meaning that who gets the debuff is decide by the server each time, doing a location check shouldn't be that inneficient, the character object should have a cheap way to get the location it is in, including the name of the area, cheaply. IDK how the game is coded obviously, but that check should NOT be something expensive.
changing anything about the spell requires servers to be shut down
Are you sure they had no way to do hotfixes without server shutdowns? That's been a thing for a while now.
They could have changed the effect of the spell from being spread to just being blank, but during that time people would kill the now super nerfed boss easily, basically exploiting the fact that it is disabled.
They probably thought that "this will pass, no need to risk players exploiting just because some low levels die a few times", and therefore didn't do that.
There is no easy way to add that location check on to the spell itself, so it would have to be a custom c++ code written for it, which requires way more publishing approval than changing the spell (sql). This would also require downtime for each server to apply the core code changes, and maintenence etc, which they used to have one day a week, and for planned things.
Once they had that code in place though they made pets immune, but too many players had lost a lot of gold in repairs etc, and the rest of the game lacked players due to fear, that rolling back was the easiest way to earn back approval of players.
Spell fixes required a server reset, yes. That was still a thing until Legion or something. Definitely a thing in wotlk client.
Huh, TIL. Neat.
Who else remembers learning this from Cracked articles (which they read at work)?
Man i really miss Cracked. It used to be so good.
I still credit my sense of humor to Cracked.
Good fucking riddance! They made me believe if I don't poop standing up, I will get hemorroids...for years.
And who else didn't need an article because they were there when it happened?
everyone always overexaggerates how useful the incident was to epidemiologists. It was certainly an interesting novelty, and some cool studies were produced, but the issue was that there weren't actually consequences for bad actors. It's a lot harder for assholes to willingly catch a disease with the goal of spreading it when that disease can actually kill them.
I'm more miffed that they never figured out a way to rerun the event for WoW Classic, if even for only 24 hours.
honestly if anything, covid showed us how bad actor assholes can easily be substituted with stupid people & negligence/spite
"covid? it doesnt exist! lets have a party with 200 people!! :D"
There's at least one video I saw of a maskless person claiming they didn't need the mask to protect themselves because they already have covid.
Reminder, masks were not suppose to protect YOU. They were to stop you from coughing/spitting on other people. You needed eyewear/face shield to properly protect yourself.
That general approach was so common. It really is sad.
One of the really bad effects of modern society (american especially) has been conditioning us to think of ourselves as these independent entities separate from nature and from our actual physical communities & people. We just interact with those things when we require their resources, etc. Transactional relationships happen.
One effect of this is, of course, not being considerate to those around you. But as your example shows, some people are so bad about it that it's not even a question of deciding whether to choose their own convenience over the safety of others. Considering the risk to others never enters the picture in the first place. When asked about it they would answer something like "my health is my concern, their health is their concern, and it's also none of my business." Said politely and without malice. It's just ingrained that deep.
A well fitted N95 mask protects both you and others
One vector for infection is the eyes. Even people wearing eye glasses had a measurably lower infection rates then people who didn't.
Is my salty tears not enough?
The bad actors were the people telling people lies about COVID, how to avoid it, how to treat it. Most of the party goers were deluded, some were just foolish
So like Covid
Yea, if anything it underestimated how many people would be willing dedicate themselves to becoming full time plague spreaders.
No, not at all like COVID. Don't confuse ignorance for malice. The issue with COVID was skeptics who only consumed right-wing propoganda downplaying the severity of the virus. There were no skeptics in the Corrupted Blood incident, people were maliciously trying to spread the virus knowing that it would kill other people.
So like covid
haha that's so clever and funny
The vast majority of COVID skeptics wernt really skeptical, they were scared and thought they could change reality by denying it.
I was beyond disappointed when they messed it up, then issued an apology with no intention whatsoever to actually try to get it right.
t..... TWENTIETH??? 😨
Ohhh nooo. I was having an okay day, and now the inexorable passage of time is fucking it up again!
Last night I realized we're closer to 2030 than 2020 now
cough cough to the auction house and then to the flight path!
Did someone say Corrupted Blood?
Did someone say [Thunderfury Blessed Blade of the Windseeker]?
Anal [Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker]
Barrens chat was really something.
The perfect weapon for shamans
Hunter weapon
Loved that event. Was a lot of fun.
Too bad we can't have that sort of fun in WoW anymore...
Dammitalltohellinahandbasket.
I feel old now. (I was there, Gandalf. I was there.)
that shit came in handy during the covid pandemic /s
Let's all laugh at an industry that never learns anything teeheehee
How about Plague inc. ?
Plague Inc. doesn't include real human behaviour