There’s been a great amount of buzz for the player base of World of Warcraft: Classic recently, especially focused around the upcoming release of the Gates of Ahn’Qiraj patch. This patch brings the Ahn’Qiraj and Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj raids, adding a new tier of endgame.
In making sure that the servers are up to the task of handling the Gates of Ahn’Qiraj event, Blizzard has been performing some rigorous stress testing. Set to tackle a variety of issues, the stress tests were a resounding success that brought a new bit of polish and optimization.
The return of these raids is one of the most important milestones in World of Warcraft: Classic, as they bring the return of an extremely notable bit of content that players have been looking forward to.
With all the new challenges the raid brings, one challenge stands above others: the race to become the Scarab Lord. Serving as one of the most difficult and illustrious titles to earn, players are ready to do what they have to do to bang the Scarab Gong.
To become the Scarab Lord, players need to complete the extremely difficult quest Scepter of the Shifting Sands. With the Scepter in hand, the first player to use it on the Scarab Gong then opened the gates, earning the Scarab Lord title and earning the Black Qiraji Resonating Crystal mount.
Earning these rewards is something that can only be done during this specific event, meaning that it only exists in Classic at this point. Newer realms in the Retail servers were brought online with the gates of Ahn’Qiraj already opened, making the rewards unobtainable.
Today, Blizzard announced that these rewards would remain possibly unobtainable for players that had recently used a character transfer service in Classic. Specifically, recently-transferred characters are prevented from opening the gates and obtaining the Scarab Lord mount and title for ninety days.
“If you transfer to another realm, you will still be able to complete the quest within 90 days of the transfer, however, you will not receive the rewards associated with being the first to turn it in,” Blizzard announced. “We want to allow players to transfer, but that should be so they can play with their friends, not disrupt another realm’s Scepter race.”
Many players have pointed to this as a problematic decision due to the high number of players that have been transferring to avoid the high population issues that so many Classic realms are suffering under.
It’s also unsaid when this ninety-day period begins. Presumably, it begins when one completes their transfer, which makes the period an unusually long amount of time for a griefer to plan ahead, which is what Blizzard seems to be trying to deal with.
