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Coming from the background I have, I've seen the hammer of Blizzard before. Working on some of the projects I've had I've came to have a deep running disrespec

Coming from the background I have, I've seen the hammer of Blizzard before. Working on some of the projects I've had I've came to have a deep running disrespect and disgust of Blizzard and its owner Vivendi. Blizzard has used its hammer numerous times on many people. Some small, some big... specifically calling to mind Blizzard vs. BNETD. What's unfortunate is that Blizzard is actually winning these arguments and its leaving us with precedence that EULA > The US Constitutions.... If anyone would take the time to read the EULA for World of Warcraft you'll find that some of the claims in it are completely outragous. More or less, if you do something that Blizzard doesn't like, you're liable to have to pay Blizzard for it. I'm the kind of person who likes to have fun and use my imagination when I play games. I'll agree that I think it can ruin the game experience when players exploit to benefit themselves, but suing them for it just isn't right. It is the fact that not only did I risk getting my account banned but doing things like WoWGlider and writing programs that gave you advantage could also risk major lawsuits that I left WoW in the first place with the ambition of designing my own game where I could have fun with the game world and not have to worry about getting sued. I'm proud to say I made it decently far (though never got close to completion). Personally, I view Blizzard as more ambitious than the RIAA at pursuing copyright infringements, and most of the infrignements Blizzard pursues aren't infringements at all. A lot of what Blizzard goes after are competitors who make money off Blizzard's product while not reproducing or redistributing their product. I just can't coprehend how Blizzard ever has justification to claim copyrights when a person or team, using their own knowledge and skills, writes their own programs from the ground up to alter the game's performance while not directly modifying any part of the game. In the terms of cheating, its justifiable to ban users breaking the policy, in terms of "3rd party servers" its justification to fix your own holes and make it harder to do. At this rate, Blizzard's next EULA will say you can't install or play any other video game on the machine that WoW is installed or you'll have to pay three months subscription on the spot.

motoko 18y ago
Blizzard is trying to preserve the experience of their product, not exploit people. It's not wrong to defend yourself, and the modern way to do that is by maintaining an active battalion of lawyers. The alternative is by physical force. I prefer the former.
- xiaoma 18y ago
  The alternative isn't physical force. It's to just let people use your product as they please after they've bought it.
  - zain 18y ago
    Allowing you to use the product as you please has the ability to hinder me from using the product how I please. Cheaters ruin the game for everyone, so it isn't as clear of a distinction as, for example, running whatever software you want on the iPhone.
    - bigthboy 18y ago
      I'm not going to argue that in many senses cheats ruin the game for the greater good... I'm saying there's a better way to handle it than suing your customers. Simple bans would work. My post also is looking at a correlating problem in terms of "non-official" servers if you will. WoWGlider while in itself ruined the game experience when you were a player vs a player who used it. However, its ultimately ridiculous that someone who through their own might and knowledge can write a program that doesn't directly modify the actual content of the game, rather just controls outside variables to get it to behave differently than expected at a user's consent, and Blizzard can claim copyright and sue for millions. The correct way to handle it would be removing players who are found to be using the product from the game and/or finding a way to make your program resistant to such outside influences. Theoretically, the company shouldn't even be liable for "damages" since they didn't trick players into doing it, they didn't force them to do so, players went on their own and did it, knowing the consequences. The program itself had no direct effect on the protected files themselves, only indirect.
      - zain 18y ago
        I agree with you in concept on everything except for one thing: "Simple bans would work." They don't. Not by a longshot. If you've ever played the game, you get harassed by gold farmers all the time. It has been a constant arms race between WOWGlider and Blizzard, and in the times that WOWGlider is ahead, gold farmers are a significant annoyance in the game. And therein lies the problem: this isn't a conceptual exercise, it is a problem in practice. Blizzard will never be able to ban 100% of WOWGlider users, and they will never be able to make their software 100% secure to this stuff. So, they have to attack it from all sides: they ban cheaters (I personally know someone banned after running the WOWGlider trial just once), they secure their software (I'm sure you've heard of the Blizzard Warden), and they go after the people who make this software. Like I said, I agree with everything you said in concept. But in the real world, it isn't so easy to generalize everything into black and white. PS: They aren't suing their customers, they are suing a company that ruins the experience of their customers.

motoko 18y ago

Blizzard is trying to preserve the experience of their product, not exploit people. It's not wrong to defend yourself, and the modern way to do that is by maintaining an active battalion of lawyers. The alternative is by physical force. I prefer the former.

xiaoma 18y ago
The alternative isn't physical force. It's to just let people use your product as they please after they've bought it.
- zain 18y ago
  Allowing you to use the product as you please has the ability to hinder me from using the product how I please. Cheaters ruin the game for everyone, so it isn't as clear of a distinction as, for example, running whatever software you want on the iPhone.
  - bigthboy 18y ago
    I'm not going to argue that in many senses cheats ruin the game for the greater good... I'm saying there's a better way to handle it than suing your customers. Simple bans would work. My post also is looking at a correlating problem in terms of "non-official" servers if you will. WoWGlider while in itself ruined the game experience when you were a player vs a player who used it. However, its ultimately ridiculous that someone who through their own might and knowledge can write a program that doesn't directly modify the actual content of the game, rather just controls outside variables to get it to behave differently than expected at a user's consent, and Blizzard can claim copyright and sue for millions. The correct way to handle it would be removing players who are found to be using the product from the game and/or finding a way to make your program resistant to such outside influences. Theoretically, the company shouldn't even be liable for "damages" since they didn't trick players into doing it, they didn't force them to do so, players went on their own and did it, knowing the consequences. The program itself had no direct effect on the protected files themselves, only indirect.
    - zain 18y ago
      I agree with you in concept on everything except for one thing: "Simple bans would work." They don't. Not by a longshot. If you've ever played the game, you get harassed by gold farmers all the time. It has been a constant arms race between WOWGlider and Blizzard, and in the times that WOWGlider is ahead, gold farmers are a significant annoyance in the game. And therein lies the problem: this isn't a conceptual exercise, it is a problem in practice. Blizzard will never be able to ban 100% of WOWGlider users, and they will never be able to make their software 100% secure to this stuff. So, they have to attack it from all sides: they ban cheaters (I personally know someone banned after running the WOWGlider trial just once), they secure their software (I'm sure you've heard of the Blizzard Warden), and they go after the people who make this software. Like I said, I agree with everything you said in concept. But in the real world, it isn't so easy to generalize everything into black and white. PS: They aren't suing their customers, they are suing a company that ruins the experience of their customers.