Instance Bug?

[Mirajj]

Trispal and I were attempting a run through the Stormwind Stockades instance the other night. We headed in, and got into a fight with a couple of Defias. Of course, the Defias run when the chips are down.

But these ran where we couldn't go. They ran right out of the instance. Mirage (my pet) followed them and killed them, outside the instance. Tris and I wondered if I'd be able to actually get out there and loot the corpses. No dice. I tried, but when I left the instance I was back in the city proper, with no bodies around.

So I was wondering if this is a bug. I doubt that it's often that someone other than a PC who's in an instance actually runs out of it, and especially dies out there. But...it makes for an amusing screenshot.

[Kevin]

I've had tha that happen in the Stockades as well. They died with a DoT on them while running outside the instance wall. One of the corpses was close enough to get the loot cursor on and could still be looted.

[Concillian]

So I was wondering if this is a bug. I doubt that it's often that someone other than a PC who's in an instance actually runs out of it, and especially dies out there. But...it makes for an amusing screenshot.
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I have not had this happen in the stockades, but I have had a mob run THROUGH a wall in Pyrewood Village (in Silverpine Forest). He was the last mob in a house, and I figured I could safely use fear (as a Warlock). He ran straight through the corner of the building and came back (through the door) with a buddy.

I'm guessing this is a bug with level design in that the walls are not 100% joined. Mobs are always capable of going places PCs are not, so that allows them though the crevice, but keeps PCs out. I know as a Tauren I have problems making it though some doorways even (Like building with the Blacksmith supplies vendor in Orgrimmar), so PCs are pretty limited in the tight spots they can fit through.

[Xanthix]

I have seen this happen in other instances as well. Here is how (I assume) it works.

The way the levels are designed is that when you go thru an instance portal, it actually teleports you to a new map. But to create the illusion of continuity, both levels include the area around the portal. For example, for the stockades, the Stormwind map includes a few rooms at the base of the stairs beyond the instance portal, and the stockades map includes some of the hallway and the stairs up. This is why you can see scenery thru an instance portal but not players.

Now, when a player walks through the portal, the server knows to teleport them to the other map. But evidently this rule does not apply to mobs and pets. So they walk right through it and into the empty space beyond. There is no way for a player to get there, except perhaps by a bug like a mage being able to blink beyond the portal without going through it.

Perhaps this could be fixed by making an invisible wall right behind the portal so that mobs and pets wouldn't wander there. But I doubt it's high on Blizzard's priority list, so this will likely remain a curiousity for some time.

[Ruvanal]

I have seen this happen in other instances as well. Here is how (I assume) it works.

The way the levels are designed is that when you go thru an instance portal, it actually teleports you to a new map. But to create the illusion of continuity, both levels include the area around the portal. For example, for the stockades, the Stormwind map includes a few rooms at the base of the stairs beyond the instance portal, and the stockades map includes some of the hallway and the stairs up. This is why you can see scenery thru an instance portal but not players.

Now, when a player walks through the portal, the server knows to teleport them to the other map. But evidently this rule does not apply to mobs and pets. So they walk right through it and into the empty space beyond. There is no way for a player to get there, except perhaps by a bug like a mage being able to blink beyond the portal without going through it.

Perhaps this could be fixed by making an invisible wall right behind the portal so that mobs and pets wouldn't wander there. But I doubt it's high on Blizzard's priority list, so this will likely remain a curiousity for some time.
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This is quite correct. In the early beta the transport to the instance was not always working as it should and the first couple of times I had a character walk through the Stockades instance portal, I did not get transported. I did end up in that small amount of area there for the looks. If I tried to walk into some of the side rooms, they only had a small landing and beyond that was fall off to the underside of the world (no "ground").

[Bolty]

In the early beta the transport to the instance was not always working as it should and the first couple of times I had a character walk through the Stockades instance portal, I did not get transported.[right][snapback]71369[/snapback][/right]

Haha, good times. :) The instance portals were very buggy at first, and I too fell underneath Stormwind my first time going there.

My second time was a "hey, what's this in the middle of Stormwind" adventure, when I went down in, took a few steps forward, and watched as two mobs unstealthed and destroyed me. Yep, in Phase 1 beta they were stealthed down there, or at least the entranceway mobs were. Mean.

If you're lagged enough, you can also go up from the Stockade to the top of the stairs and look out into nothingness, but that's pretty rare. So the mobs can cheat and go up there, seen it happen a few times.

-Bolty

[Darian]

Trispal and I were attempting a run through the Stormwind Stockades instance the other night. We headed in, and got into a fight with a couple of Defias. Of course, the Defias run when the chips are down.

But these ran where we couldn't go. They ran right out of the instance. Mirage (my pet) followed them and killed them, outside the instance. Tris and I wondered if I'd be able to actually get out there and loot the corpses. No dice. I tried, but when I left the instance I was back in the city proper, with no bodies around.

So I was wondering if this is a bug. I doubt that it's often that someone other than a PC who's in an instance actually runs out of it, and especially dies out there. But...it makes for an amusing screenshot.

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Ugh... you want annoying? In the "kill this guy in the stockades" quest group, one of them is (sometimes) in the first group of rooms there. Our first run into the Stockades, we pulled him out of the room to engage, and then someone feared him while he was DoTted. Out the portal he went, and died.

There was much cursing.

I think they need to redesign that instance and give more space between the portal and the initial encounters. Every other instance (well, dunno about Ragefire) has plenty of room between entrance and first contact.

(quick edit to strip the image out of the quote since I forgot to the first time around...)

[Treesh]

Every other instance (well, dunno about Ragefire) has plenty of room between entrance and first contact.
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The snakes and elementals in Ragefire are just as close to the entrance as the people in the Stockades. The reason you don't hear the same complaints about Ragefire is that the snakes and elementals don't ever run, unless for some reason someone scares them into running. If someone feels the need to scare anything in that first small area, that's a good sign you're partied with a twit. I've never had multiple snakes or a combo of snakes and elementals attack in that first area. There's no reason to fear them at all.