Bug

A bug is an erroneous behavior by a software program that was not intended by the program designer. In the case of World of Warcraft, this usually means things like a crash, lag, bad graphics, or an ability or spell that behaves unexpectedly or has a strange effect.

In 2009, Blizzard has traced a total of nearly 180 000 bugs.

Some bugs have a temporary workaround, but will generally be fixed in upcoming patches.

Example:

• Around mid-February 2005, Blizzard announced that they had patched the server to prevent a bug in the paladin's Holy Light (Classic) blessing that allowed it to be cast with a too low mana cost.

• The Corrupted Blood (debuff) incident

A workaround is a method, process, or set of steps to either avoid the occurrence of a bug, lessen its effects, or remove its effects.

Example case of a bug and workaround:

• Bug: There is a loot lag bug that happens sometimes when harvesting herbs or mining some mineral veins such that your character will appear to freeze in the pickup position and you can't loot or gather anything from then on until you log out and back in.
• Workaround: Find the same type of resource node (an herb or mineral vein) in another location and try to harvest it. Often times, this next attempt will succeed and the loot lag bug will go away.