Is that a rare gem in your pocket?

Did you notice that since patch 2.4, a lot of mobs seem to be carrying rare gems in their pockets? Since 2. 4 went live, I’ve received no less than 5 rare gems from picking pockets. Not too shabby. It seems that Blizzard is making an effort to keep pickpocketing relevant, especially after Blinding Powder is no longer required for Vanish. The chance (albeit extremely low) of finding a Spinesever in a junkbox suggests the same.

Time to dust off the old pickpocket macro?

I don’t visit the official WoW forums that often; there’s just too much noise. However, I read this thread from cover to cover. Surma, a rogue on the Maelstrom US realm, has looted an epic thrown weapon that has never been seen before. It’s called Spinesever and its stats bring tears to my eyes.

Now, the item in itself is awesome, no doubt, and it can be yours for 4999g. However, the real kicker is this: Surma claims that he found the item in a junkbox that he pickpocketed from a mob in Shadowmoon Valley. Please, read the last sentence again and let it sink in.

Surma could be making the pickpocketing part up, of course, even though the item itself has been confirmed. So, is this a hoax, a bug or a patch 2.3 buff to pickpocketing? No one outside of Blizzard knows at this point, but the latter would be very interesting indeed. I haven’t bothered with pickpocketing for a very long time, and with Blinding Powder no longer needed, I can’t see why I’d ever do it again. A chance, however small, of epic world drops inside junkboxes could change that very quickly.