Players quickly found a way to farm a large number of badges by repeatedly running Timewalking dungeons on their alternate characters (alts) and collecting quest items that rewarded 500 badges per run.
Noticing this method, Blizzard acted swiftly, posting a blue update announcing the nerf to these long-standing Timewalking rewards.
The blue post outlined two key changes:
Repeated completion of the Wrath of the Lich King Timewalking quest "Disturbance Detected: Ulduar" will now reward 300 badges instead of 500. However, the first time this quest is completed on an account, it will still grant the original 500 badges.
Repeated completion of the Wrath of the Lich King Timewalking quest "Unstable Prism" will now reward 200 badges, down from 500. As with the first quest, the first completion on the account will still reward 500 badges.
Blizzard’s reasoning behind this change is that since Timewarped Badges are now account-bound, it's too easy for players to amass large quantities of badges by transferring them across alts. The first quest completion still offers 500 badges, but subsequent completions on alts will now reward 300 or 200 badges respectively.
While this adjustment currently applies to the upcoming WotLK Timewalking event, it will eventually be extended to all future Timewalking events.
60-Level PvP Reputation Rewards Removed
Another notable change in the 20th Anniversary event is the removal of the ability to purchase classic vanilla PvP reputation badges using Timewarped Badges. In the most recent patch on the 11.0.5 PTR, Blizzard removed all classic PvP faction reputation badges from the Timewalking vendors. These include:
Silverwing Sentinels/Warsong Outriders (Warsong Gulch)
Arathor League/The Defilers (Arathi Basin)
Stormpike Guard/Frostwolf Clan (Alterac Valley)
This means that players can no longer use Timewarped Badges to grind PvP reputations for these classic factions.
Player Backlash: "Blizzard Nerfs Anything That Brings Joy"
Following the blue post, players expressed widespread frustration. Many are baffled by Blizzard's decisions. First, players argued that farming Timewarped Badges using alts still requires time and effort, not something that can be easily exploited. Second, removing PvP reputation rewards for classic factions from over 20 years ago seems unnecessary. Offering these as fun rewards for players shouldn’t harm the game—especially since they still cost Timewarped Badges, which aren't free.
With the massive amount of new content introduced for the 20th anniversary celebration, the overall number of badges required for full redemption is huge. This nerf essentially doubles the time players will need to collect those badges.
In short, if you don’t already have enough Timewarped Badges on your account and were relying on alts to grind them, you’ll now have to spend twice as much time completing the quests.
