GM item scandal rocks WoW
As epic scandals go, WoW has had its fair share and the latest -- centred around a rather boring looking shirt called Martin Fury -- has had everyone talking over at our sister site WoW Insider.
So it goes like this. One of the guild members of The Marvel Family on US-Vek'nilash, a fellow named Leroyspeltz, discovered a mysterious GM-only item has been sent to one of his alts when Blizzard were restoring items after his account had been hacked. So he gives this unassuming shirt to his Guild Leader, Karatechop, who decided to take it for a spin -- in Ulduar. He didn't file a ticket but rather assumed it was okay for them to have it because it came from Blizzard. They used it fourteen times in various instances as well as Malgyos and 25-man Obsidian Sanctum.
Blizzard, well, they didn't agree and have since temp-banned most of the guild while they investigated. Then they used the perma-ban hammer on Karatechop, they also stomped down on threads on the official forums and, when asked by a player to 'free Karatechop', Zarhym replied simply: 'No'.
However this whole kerfluffle has caused a lot of interest solely because of the differing opinion. Some folks sided with Karatechop, others took the moral high ground and the whole thing has become a part of the on-going lore surrounding the game. After I sat down to chat with Karatechop in an exclusive interview, the court of popular opinion opened session and Karatechop himself eventually issued a rebuttal. As a result of the scandal, he has become an unlikely legend and even been immortalised in comic form. What's next? An in-game character? Me thinks not.
