I think the general principle is that if the player didn’t make any overt mistakes, the HC char shouldn’t be perma-dead. I think your question hints at the idea that playing HC at a time of announced maintenance is a player mistake.
That proposition is debatable.
No amount of documentation will make them care.
They are very clear about hardcore - even if you die and it’s our fault, no refunds.
No. Death is permanent.
Blizzard had a warning on the launcher that day 1/27/25 about server instability and live maintenance possibly resulting in disconnects. YOU chose and opted to log in and play on the HC servers anyways.
YOU made the decision and chose to play on the server despite Blizzard warnings on the launcher and the account log-in screen. You risked it, you died. Death is permanent.
Exactly, yest was warned about live maintenance. I was in SW and all of a sudden I had major lag spike, thankfully I was in SW. Realized its due to maintenance and being lvl 48 I took no chances, headed to the Inn and logged out for a while.
They wont ressurect characters under ANY circumstances. That includes the extraordinary.
Blizzard don’t care how you died at all lol. My account got suspended and disconnected for 2 days while I was in the middle of fighting a mob at level 37 in STV.
Luckily I was in a group with a random player and they saved my character, but yea, a heads up from a game master would’ve been quite nice to let me get to a safe spot lol. The offense wasn’t even that bad, it was a name violation because I had “wtf” in my name… like seriously… But yea, try not to get suspended if you’re playing hardcore cause they will disconnect you at any time without warning.
Online services like World of Warcraft (WoW), operated by Blizzard Entertainment, offer immersive, engaging experiences for millions of players worldwide. However, the fairness and trustworthiness of such services can be called into question when employees or influential streamers abuse their power to disrupt players’ experiences, whether intentionally or due to personal biases. Such actions undermine the core principles of integrity and customer trust that any paid service should uphold.
When players pay for a service, they are entitled to a consistent, fair, and uninterrupted experience. The moment a player’s account is disconnected or suspended due to personal vendettas or arbitrary enforcement of rules, it becomes a breach of trust. The expectation is that a company offering a paid service adheres to transparent, unbiased policies, ensuring that all actions are taken in good faith and in the best interest of the player base.
For players, disconnections—especially in games like WoW’s hardcore mode—can lead to irreparable damage, including:
Allowing employees or streamers to take punitive actions against players—without proper checks—is a dangerous precedent for any service provider. The consequences include:
To prevent such situations, companies like Blizzard must enforce robust policies and transparent procedures:
For a company like Blizzard, known for its vast player base and influence in the gaming industry, ensuring the fairness and integrity of its systems is paramount. Actions that disrupt players’ experiences without valid justification not only harm individual players but also undermine the company’s reputation and profitability. Providing warnings before disconnections, enforcing policies uniformly, and ensuring employees and streamers act ethically are all necessary steps to maintain trust and loyalty within the community.
Gaming companies are responsible for delivering a consistent, fair, and enjoyable experience for their paying customers. Any deviation from this—especially when rooted in personal vendettas—is unacceptable. Blizzard, and any company offering paid online services, must prioritize transparency, fairness, and accountability to ensure their player base remains loyal and confident in the service they provide.
“Disconnection Petrification” should be a buff you get. If lightning strikes your grid and you lose power and disconnect - the fact your character just remains in the game to AFK die is unnecessary “Disconnection Petrification” can buff you instantly upon disconnection, that simply gets lifted if you reconnect and register commands online. People would say: “People would exploit it.” So what? Flask of Petrification exists as it is.
I was farming gold in Burning Steps, breaking no terms of service, I killed a pack of mobs around a node in the middle of the zone, i have a logged service disruption, and numerous reports to blizzard of suspicious activity being targeted on me since the beginning of January, shortly after combat with zero mobs and being freshly killed. I logged back in and right when the loader screen it booted my character selection screen to my character was dead. I logged in and the hard core updater didn’t even read my death and players were confused. It is not a ME issue…
We found the terrible idea daily double!
Let me know how if you can, please.
You already know why.
So was on quite a while yesterday, obviously not the entire day so perhaps something happened while I was off, but nobody else seemed to have any issues, but since you didn’t provide a time and timezone, I didn’t see a single issues with the servers yesterday, so the problem likely was with your computer. Honestly it wouldn’t have mattered even if there was a server outage.
Also all the ideas people give for “disconnections” would be super easy to game, or likely make things worse by adding more lag, there is always a high risk in games like this. Either way, next time read the warning before you create a HC character, it will save a lot of heartache going forward for you.
Enlighten me then. The game can see every key command being pressed, and if Alt is one of them when the disconnection happens, the buff doesn’t have to be granted.
Not sure where you see the problem with this idea in any way.
Rip bozo. Go again
This i the beef. Blizz spoke about some DC protection on or before launch of HC. Yet it never materialized.
Thank you for your input, but I’d like to clarify a few points regarding the circumstances of my character’s death.
At the time of the disconnection, I was not engaged with any mobs or combat. There was no active engagement that would have naturally caused my character’s demise. The disconnection occurred during what should have been a safe moment in the game, and the resulting death was a direct consequence of the server instability—not any in-game decision or combat situation.
I understand the risks of playing on hardcore servers, especially during maintenance or periods of instability, but this situation was exceptional. The warning provided by Blizzard did not cover all players’ specific circumstances or indicate the extent of the issue. Server instability and disconnections should not penalize players in a way that nullifies days invested into effort and progression, particularly in a mode as unforgiving as hardcore.
While I respect the permanence of hardcore mode, I believe it’s reasonable to request that Blizzard investigate the incident thoroughly and consider safeguards for situations where external factors, rather than player actions, are to blame. This is not about avoiding consequences but about ensuring fairness and accountability in extreme cases.
I’m sure anyone reading this would not like there character to be assassinated for a paid service from a stand point of no negligence from the user.
It is like Starcraft DC’s - except there the game freezes time, because imagine if the game continued on while you’re DC’d, and the opponent can continue to make their moves. A bit disadvantageous.
In WOW, you DC… your character waits for you to reconnect in-game. A bit disadvantageous, if you ask me. They can easily recognize unexplained disconnections, and grant a temporary immunity buff to prevent character loss, and it wouldn’t affect the gameplay of others in a negative way at all. Other than Mak’Goras… but that could probably be the one circumstance an instant disconnect from power loss (like flipping a power strip’s switch) doesn’t grant the buff.
Your character stood there… just waiting… hoping for your return… but mobs patrol, they respawn… and you’re just, standing there, disconnected… totally fair to lose dozens of hours on a character for an instant of uncontrolled circumstance. But, would Blizz care either way?
“Welcome to WoW Classic Hardcore Realms. Any character that dies on a Hardcore realm can never resurrect on that realm for ANY reason. Customer Support cannot resurrect a dead Hardcore character. By agreeing to play on these realms, you accept that your character’s death is permanent for whatever the reason. This includes disconnections, lag, server outages, gameplay bugs, or any other reason.”