An unfortunate, but funny glitch in Bioware's new MMO is allowing players to avoid damage by dancing.

Like some sort of bizarre version of Footloose set in outer space, dancing in Star Wars: The Old Republic can now get you in a whole mess o' trouble. Bioware's ire, however, is somewhat more logical than Reverend Shaw Moore's; a player choosing to "get down" during combat currently prevents enemies (and even bosses) from targeting properly.

Knowledge of the exploit has already spread rapidly across the various SW:TOR star systems, leading to massive exploitation that the developer has yet to patch out of the game code. Don't think that gives your Sith Inquisitor a license to boogie though, as multiple accounts are already being walloped by the almighty ban hammer.

For players who can't stop (can't stop!) can't stop the beat, Bioware has started issuing account bans, claiming that the offenders "participated in abusing game mechanics to prevent enemy NPCs from targeting the user," and that "dancing is currently not permitted outside of special Dance Zones." The developer hasn't specified what exactly these "zones" are, but I think it's safe to assume it means "during combat." So, hey, you can dance if you want to, but no grinding while grinding.

I'll bet none of you ever thought you'd be banned from a Star Wars game for dancing in a non-dance zone, but then again, I never thought I'd see Obi-Wan's krayt dragon call get further attention. Go figure.

Update: Bioware has apparently written Joystiq, informing them that the email containing "[player] participated in abusing game mechanics to prevent enemy NPCs from targeting the user," and "dancing is currently not permitted outside of special Dance Zones," was faked by someone unaffiliated with the company.

Source: Joystiq