GM item scandal rocks WoW
by Lesley Smith 
May 3rd 2009 at 8:00PM
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Events, in-game, Exploits, Game mechanics, News items
So it goes like this. One of the guild members of The Marvel Family on US-Vek'nilash, a fellow named Leroyspeltz, discovered a mysterious GM-only item has been sent to one of his alts when Blizzard were restoring items after his account had been hacked. So he gives this unassuming shirt to his Guild Leader, Karatechop, who decided to take it for a spin -- in Ulduar. He didn't file a ticket but rather assumed it was okay for them to have it because it came from Blizzard. They used it fourteen times in various instances as well as Malgyos and 25-man Obsidian Sanctum.
Blizzard, well, they didn't agree and have since temp-banned most of the guild while they investigated. Then they used the perma-ban hammer on Karatechop, they also stomped down on threads on the official forums and, when asked by a player to 'free Karatechop', Zarhym replied simply: 'No'.
However this whole kerfluffle has caused a lot of interest solely because of the differing opinion. Some folks sided with Karatechop, others took the moral high ground and the whole thing has become a part of the on-going lore surrounding the game. After I sat down to chat with Karatechop in an exclusive interview, the court of popular opinion opened session and Karatechop himself eventually issued a rebuttal. As a result of the scandal, he has become an unlikely legend and even been immortalised in comic form. What's next? An in-game character? Me thinks not.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
dantevengence said on 8:30PM 5-03-2009
So... why do people still play that game? Maybe this will make finally move away from that crack-game... The raids in LOTRO are amazing compared to WoW's...
Seems as if blizzard is starting to treat their customers like the darkfail people...
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Halldorr said on 9:20PM 5-03-2009
"The raids in LOTRO are amazing compared to WoW"
Really? Like how so? I genuinely ask as I never got past level 30 in LOTRO and am curious.
John said on 10:09PM 5-03-2009
I stopped playing LOTRO ages ago because I thought the raiding end game was lacking.
Since I'm not playing LOTRO now, I can't speak for other's experiences, but this is what someone on my blog list says, as recent as 1 week ago:
http://www.killtenrats.com/2009/04/27/strategic-class-selection/
Sounds a bit odd when you need to stack 6 hunters in a 12 man raid group... using only 5 out of the total 9 classes available. That speaks to me to be lacking in proper raid design.
Jess said on 10:09PM 5-03-2009
It's a matter of opinion. I also prefer LOTRO's raid content to WoW's but I'm not actually sure if it's "better", aside from the obvious and vast graphical superiority of LOTRO of course.
Holgar said on 10:21PM 5-03-2009
Your trolling makes me laugh and pity you.....greatly.
Skypp said on 10:53PM 5-03-2009
actually they changed that instance design as it wasn't doing what it was supposed to be doing, there were other ways of doing it
I've played both games and prefer LOTRO, but even then I have to admit that if you like raiding, stick with WoW. LOTRO's end game content is either 1 main fight a week(watcher) or an upcoming Rift-like dungeon with multiple mobs(once a week also, 1 to 2 days to finish). So if you're used to logging in WoW every single night and really like raiding every moment, I wouldn't touch LOTRO.
If you like to do other things(like housing, collecting trophies, tradeskilling, etc etc) than raiding, then try LOTRO, its much more diverse in gameplay.
Grok said on 9:11PM 5-03-2009
The defense here seems to rely completely on the "Blizzard gave it to us, so we thought it was okay" argument, which is laughable in my opinion.
What sane person honestly thinks the reward for having your account hacked is a 100 charge I-WIN button?
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crsh said on 9:19PM 5-03-2009
Tho it begs the question: why on Earth did a GM send that item to a player in the first place?
Deadend said on 9:26PM 5-03-2009
The same people that sue coffee shops for millions because their coffee was hot. If they wanted to sue for the banned accounts they would most likely get them back or damages maybe even both depending on the judge.
Utterance said on 11:11PM 5-03-2009
Grok, why do you think the "Blizzard gave it to us, so we thought it was okay" argument is so laughable? Who's to say the item wasn't intentionally given to him? It's not like he stole it...
Even if it wasn't intentionally given to him, it's in no way justified to punish anybody for using it. There was absolutely no foul play involved in this situation on the player's part and the blame should rest squarely on Blizzard.
Anybody who hates on people that catch a lucky break similar to this situation are just flat out jealous it didn't happen to them.
Havok said on 2:56AM 5-04-2009
Hmmm...so he found an insta-win shirt, and didn't report it. Why didn't he report it? Because he knew he'd get it taken away. If he honestly thought that it wouldn't be taken and he was supposed to have it, he would have reported the insta-win shirt, comfortable in the knowledge that he was going to keep it, and comfortable in his attempt to return it. Instead he kept and used it, and the lidless eye found the one shirt, then sent him packing. Way to go, D-Bag.
Some luck, huh?
Utterance said on 8:27AM 5-04-2009
Havok, It wouldn't make any difference but he didn't find it. It was delivered to his inbox by a GM...
Plain and simple.
Whether he felt guilty for having it or not is irrelevant. It's not the player's responsibility to question something a GM does. Maybe he felt comfortable enough that the item was his because I repeat...a GM gave it to him.
Yes, I would consider him lucky for receiving it. What does he have to lose other than a monthly subscription to a video game? He could bend Blizzard over and press charges if he wanted.
tlarkin79 said on 8:55AM 5-04-2009
If someone in real life was handing out $100 bills, would you take it to the cops so they could determine if you really should have that money? Maybe it was a mistake, maybe it wasn't supposed to be given away. Either way, most people would pocket the $100 and spend it as soon as possible. It's just human nature.
MCRaider said on 10:46PM 5-03-2009
This reminds me of a time when a GM put an item that was never suppose to be in a loot table by accident. The player then got an legendary ring and is the only one in the world with it. However blizz did not ban his account and said it was fine for him to keep.
So an item that was mailed can not be used and like any opportunity if I see a wallet I am not going to give it back I will take the money and run. Plus it is a game so no harm done to blizz. Banning on the other hand is a little harsh for a mistake that blizz made.
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max said on 9:24PM 5-03-2009
maybe if they don't want players getting their hands on an item like that they shouldn't create it and put in game in the first place...
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Demosthenes said on 9:33PM 5-03-2009
dantevengence, dude, you sound 100% troll, least make your opinion have some factual opinion in it
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DYMongoose said on 12:33PM 5-04-2009
"dantevengence, dude, you sound 100% troll, least make your opinion have some factual opinion in it"
Factual opinion? What is that?
mettingc said on 2:42PM 5-04-2009
Demosthenes, there is no such thing as a factual opinion. Good job.
Brendan Drain said on 10:01PM 5-03-2009
The GM items are often required for them to easily do their job. GMs in EVE, for example, have a gun that unanchors POS modules and another gun that instantly destroys whatever it hits. They use them for cleaning up broken POS and such if they get bugged but if a player got his hands on them, he'd be able to cause a lot of havoc with them.
I recall reading about a game (I think Everquest) that had solved this problem a long time ago. I don't know if they invented it or if someone did it before them but it worked really well. GM items had a property called Radioactive which made them instantly kill anyone who picked it up. GMs were then made immune to radioactivity.
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John said on 10:43PM 5-03-2009
surely every GM item should be flagged as such, marked with "gm-only" and a player shouldn't be able to use them.