Blizzard is actively reviewing and removing illegitimate World of Warcraft Mythic Plus dungeon rankings that were achieved through paid carries, according to game director Ion Hazzikostas. This action follows the end of the Midnight expansion's first season on August 11, which introduced the first-ever top-1% player rewards for the timed dungeon mode. Unlike fixed score requirements in other competitive modes, the Mythic Plus rewards were based on a flat percentage of top players, making the system susceptible to abuse.
The controversial practice saw players paying for boosts to achieve the coveted glowy red-and-black bird mount and title. Each successful carry not only bypassed legitimate effort but also displaced players who had earned their rank through genuine play. Hazzikostas stated that the team is conducting a thorough review of Season 1 rankings and will provide further details on their findings and the final results.
Players have expressed frustration with the system, noting that the 1% cutoff frequently shifted and that many groups in the dungeon finder advertised "note" keys, implying a fee for entry. The introduction of "resilient" keys, which do not decrease in level after successful completion, has reportedly made it easier to achieve higher rankings and, consequently, to sell these boosts.
Blizzard has previously taken action against players who purchased rewards, most notably removing Mythic raiding mounts from accounts found to have been acquired through real-money transactions, which violate the game's terms of service. While carries paid for with in-game gold to specific guilds or individuals were generally considered legitimate, some players have reported having mounts removed even when paying in gold, suggesting a broader scope to Blizzard's enforcement.
The design choice to use a percentage-based cutoff, intended to keep players engaged throughout the season, has faced scrutiny. Associate game director Paul Kubit explained that this approach encourages players to maintain high performance even as their scores increase. However, data from Raider.io indicates that player engagement at the end of Midnight Season 1 was actually lower than in the preceding War Within expansion, with a steeper drop-off in active players during the season's final weeks. This suggests that the percentage system may have introduced undue stress rather than sustained engagement for some.
Player feedback on the percentage cutoff has been mixed. While some understand its intent to correlate with season difficulty, others describe it as creating a more stressful rather than exciting endgame. The homogenization of group compositions for high-level Mythic Plus runs has also been a point of discussion. The top seven "meta" specializations dominate groups attempting keys above level 20, leading to concerns about class diversity for those aspiring to high rankings.
Blizzard is exploring potential future changes, including the possibility of specialization-specific rankings. Hazzikostas indicated that while the team is excited about this prospect, significant logistical considerations must be addressed to ensure fairness before such a system could be implemented. These changes, if they occur, will not be present in the current Season 2, but the developer is paying close attention to community discussions on the matter.