For a brief and beautiful moment, some World of Warcraft players appeared to have found a way to begin Season 2 with extra Bonus Rolls already sitting in their bags.
Blizzard has now arrived with a broom.
A Patch 12.1 hotfix has stopped
Void-Twisted Sporbits from granting Nebulous Voidcores, closing an unintended route that allowed players to obtain Season 2 Bonus Roll currency after Season 1 had already ended.
More importantly, Blizzard did not simply prevent anyone else from doing it.
The extra Voidcores already obtained this way have also been
removed for Season 2.
So if you thought you had quietly entered the new season with a small pile of contraband purple currency, check again.
Customs has been through your bags.
Void-Twisted Sporbits Were Supposed to Be Season 1 Rewards
Void-Twisted Sporbits originated as an additional source of Nebulous Voidcores during Midnight Season 1.
They were tied to Sporefall content and could be converted into a Nebulous Voidcore, giving players another Bonus Roll to use through the Voidforge system.
The problem appeared during the transition into Patch 12.1.
Season 1 had ended, but players could still turn these Sporbits into Nebulous Voidcores.
That matters because Voidcores remain one of the more valuable currencies heading into Season 2.
Blizzard's solution is now explicit: Sporbits no longer grant them, and any Voidcores created from Sporbits after Season 1 ended have been removed from the Season 2 economy.
Blizzard Actually Took the Currency Back
That second part is what makes this hotfix interesting.
Blizzard frequently closes unintended farming methods once players discover them.
It is slightly more notable when the rewards themselves are also clawed back.
There is no ambiguous wording in the hotfix notes here.
Nebulous Voidcores obtained through Void-Twisted Sporbits after the end of Season 1 have been removed for Season 2.
In practical terms, Blizzard is trying to ensure that the intended Season 2 Voidcore economy starts from the same baseline rather than allowing a subset of players to arrive with extra Bonus Rolls because they happened to have old Season 1 rewards available.
Fair enough.
Still hurts when Blizzard notices what is in your wallet.
Voidcores Are More Valuable in Season 2
The timing makes the removal especially relevant because Blizzard has made Nebulous Voidcores considerably more attractive this season.
As we covered earlier, Season 2 cuts the cost of raid Bonus Rolls from two Voidcores to one. That means each currency unit effectively represents a full additional attempt at targeted raid loot rather than half of one.
That alone makes starting with additional Voidcores much more meaningful than it might initially sound.
Two unintended Voidcores are not merely two decorative purple objects.
They can become two extra raid loot rolls.
Season 2 also expands the importance of the currency through the Great Vault, where Voidcores become an alternative to simply selecting another equipment reward once the system becomes available.
The Great Vault Makes Them Even More Interesting
We have already looked at the strange incentives created by the Season 2 Great Vault.
For some players, taking a Nebulous Voidcore may eventually be more valuable than taking the actual gear offered by the Vault, because the currency can be saved and spent on a targeted Bonus Roll later.
That makes Blizzard's decision to wipe unintended pre-season Voidcores easier to understand.
If these were a minor cosmetic currency, nobody would care.
They are not.
They represent targeted access to some of Season 2's most desirable loot.
Allowing some players to begin with extra rolls would create exactly the sort of small early advantage that rapidly turns into a spreadsheet, a gearing guide and eventually someone explaining why you have ruined your character by not farming something three days ago.
This Is the Second Pre-Season Advantage Blizzard Has Closed
There is also a pattern emerging.
Players recently discovered that some characters could obtain a third Spark of Tides through an old World Tour quest.
Blizzard responded by raising the Spark cap to four for everyone, effectively eliminating the advantage rather than removing the extra Spark.
The Voidcore situation has received the opposite solution.
No catch-up.
No raised cap.
The unintended rewards are simply gone.
The difference probably comes down to how each system is intended to enter Season 2.
With Sparks, Blizzard could safely accelerate everybody.
With Voidcores, it apparently wants the currency economy to begin cleanly.
Old Season 1 Rewards Are Not a Season 2 Investment Strategy
The message is becoming fairly obvious.
If you find an old Midnight Season 1 item that suddenly appears to generate valuable Season 2 currency, do not immediately redesign your entire gearing plan around it.
There is a reasonable chance Blizzard is already watching.
Void-Twisted Sporbits no longer produce Nebulous Voidcores.
The extra Voidcores already created after Season 1 ended have been removed.
And Season 2 will proceed without anyone beginning with an unintended pocketful of Bonus Rolls.
For once, the smartest economic strategy in World of Warcraft was apparently:
Spend it before the accountant arrives.
Unfortunately, the accountant had logs.
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