A World of Warcraft player logged into his father’s account after 15 years and stumbled upon a quest valued at over 500 euros. It’s like finding cash in last year’s jacket, only inside Azeroth.

In virtual worlds, especially massive ones like World of Warcraft, it’s not unusual to find intersections between real-world economics and in-game economies. This is true for WoW’s game-time currency but also for cosmetic rewards that derive their value from scarcity. Now, a fascinating case has emerged: one user logged into his father’s account after 15 years and uncovered something truly special.

According to Reddit user Entity_Doctor, he found the original collector’s edition exclusive quest still sitting on one of the characters. The quest, called “We welcome you!”, wasn’t remarkable in its design—it simply required meeting and talking to an NPC—but the reward was extraordinary. Magga, an NPC in the Valley of Challenges, let players pick from three pets: a Mini Diablo, a Panda Cub, or a Zergling.

Back then, these were simple vanity pets, but with the introduction of pet battles, they became valuable collectibles. Adding to their rarity is the fact that collector’s edition keys were never reissued, and only a handful remain on the internet today. That’s why these pets are worth more than €500 on key-selling sites or secondary markets. Nowadays, using such a code just gives you the pets directly—no quest—making this rediscovery even more unusual.

One commenter, vomitcoment191, explained: “At first, the quest only let you pick one pet. It was tough to choose, but I went with Mini Diablo. I was thrilled when they changed it so you could eventually get all three. Any account that hasn’t redeemed them yet will still see the quest whenever they log in or create a new character on a realm.”

Another user, King of Azmerloth, reflected on the game’s longevity: “People can make all the memes they want about sunk cost fallacy, but longevity is one of WoW’s strongest arguments. The game has been modernized, but at its core, it’s still the same game we’ve played for 20 years. Even for new players, knowing your progress will still be there in 10 years is a huge argument compared to niche MMOs that could just shut down.”

What started as logging into an old account turned into a digital treasure hunt worth real money.

Source: MeinMMO