MMO trickster loses hardcore character to WoW Classic mechanic that was patched out of the original game 16 years ago

WoW Classic recently got a new permadeath hardcore mode, and one unfortunate MMO player has found out just how 'hardcore' that really is.

In World of Warcraft, 'Feign Death' is a relatively early-game Hunter spell that allows players to pretend to die for six minutes, tricking enemies into ignoring you. In the minds of the community, that's thought to mean a lot of holding your breath, because as one player discovered, playing dead for the full channel will actually kill you - and end your Hardcore run in the process.

As spotted by Icy Veins, WoW Classic player walldewd took to Reddit to outline their fate. Apparently, having lain down for a deathly power-nap in front of the Auction House in Stormwind, they went to make themselves a reviving cup of tea. Unfortunately, upon their return, they came back to find that their level 31 Hardcore character had actually died, wiping all of their progress.

Apparently if you feign death the full 6 minutes it actually kills you. I just died at 31 in the stupidest way possible. In disbelief from r/classicwow

There's been a mixed reaction in the community, with several people suggesting that the six minutes of breath-holding that WoW players like to imagine are required to accurately feign your death would probably kill most people. Others have been sympathetic, but others still have pointed out that this was actually a mechanic that featured in the original versions of World of Warcraft, but was patched out ahead of the release of 2007's The Burning Crusade expansion.

That makes for a slightly wonky timeline, as WoW Classic is currently working its way through 2008's Wrath of the Lich King, which arrived in the game last year. Assuming we were matching the same patching schedule, then, Feign Death's actual death shouldn't be present in the game, but it appears it's remained in Classic for some reason.

This MMO streamer is letting their chat play World of Warcraft for them, and they've hit level 60 in just over a week.