Disconnecting during a difficult World of Warcraft dungeon is more than an inconvenience. A player can suddenly stop dealing damage, die during a boss encounter and leave their group short-handed. In a Mythic key, the interruption can also cost valuable time on the timer.
Several players now believe a recent patch may have introduced an unusual safety net: characters whose players disconnect may continue moving, attacking and casting without direct input.
Players report characters fighting after a DC
The reports appeared during the week following Tuesday’s major Curse of Ula’tek 12.1 update. In one account, an Evoker disconnected roughly 39 seconds into a boss fight. The accompanying video appears to show the character continuing to cast spells and fight after the player says they have lost connection.
The original poster said the same behaviour occurred twice in two different dungeons. Other players then described similar incidents involving friends or their own characters.
Friends character keeps playing after DC’ing in M0 dungeons, shared on Reddit, is one of the examples being discussed. The post was attributed to u/Stuperstrong in the wow community.
A warrior reportedly kept attacking
One reply described a warrior whose game client crashed during a dungeon. While the player was explaining that they were attempting to log back in, the warrior reportedly remained active through almost the entire boss encounter. After about 30 seconds, the character charged the boss and began attacking.
The player said their game had frozen completely, forcing them to close it with Alt+F4 before relaunching. The commenter summed up the incident as “Suuuper weird.”
What could be causing it?
Players have suggested several explanations. One possibility is botting or an elaborate hoax, although commenters considered that an unusual explanation for an incident with little obvious reason to fake.
Another theory involves the relatively new one-button rotation feature. It is possible, some players suggested, that the system could be completing actions already queued before the disconnect. That idea does not fully explain the reported movement, however, particularly in the Evoker footage, where the character appears to keep moving after the connection is lost.
A more helpful possibility is that disconnected players are temporarily being treated like “followers”. This NPC system normally allows players to complete easier dungeons alongside computer-controlled companions. If follower AI were taking over briefly, it could perform a broadly suitable rotation and attempt to avoid mechanics while the player reconnects.
Such a system would provide a short buffer after an accidental disconnection. It could reduce the chance of a character taking avoidable damage, failing mechanics, dying or creating additional problems for the rest of the group.
Bug or unannounced feature?
Automation of this kind would also create obvious opportunities for exploitation. If the behaviour is intentional, it is surprising that such a substantial feature would appear without an announcement. That makes a temporary bug seem more likely, and the behaviour could be removed in a future patch.
For more gaming and industry updates, browse RETROCADE’s arcade news and gaming blog, or explore the site’s arcade videos for more unusual gameplay stories. Players interested in the hardware side of interactive entertainment can also compare arcade machines and cabinets.
Blizzard has been contacted for clarification about whether the behaviour is real, what causes it and whether it is intended.
Leave a Reply