

Blizzard to get $6 million from maker of WoW bot - andreyf
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7645059.stm

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nihilocrat
Here's a link to a better version of the story:
[http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081001-blizzard-
award...](http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081001-blizzard-
awarded-6-million-in-damages-from-wow-bot-maker.html)

Most important part, in my opinion: "This is troubling and creates a chilling
precedent. It basically says that the copy of the software created in your
system's RAM is okay under the license, and when you break the EULA by using
software like MMOGlider the license is revoked, and you are suddenly left
playing an unlicensed copy of the game."

------
bigthboy
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
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
The alternative isn't physical force. It's to just let people use your product
as they please after they've bought it.

~~~
zain
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
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
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.

~~~
bigthboy
I've played the game for 2.5 years and then some on and off, and I just
recently stopped playing regularly as I started getting more involved with
both school and my venture. Like I said, I won't disagree with you that gold
farmers are ruining the game (though you used the term harassment and I've
never been harassed on anything besides buying gold), but that's besides the
point.

They're still suing a company for doing something they didn't do. They're
going off on them on the DMCA which they didn't go against and the EULA (which
they also didn't go against). That really would be the gold farmers and
besides the gold farmers I'm sure nobody would complain about doing something
about them specifically. Rather than taking care of the problem with farmers
and direct cheaters, they're going after a mere background entity. Taking out
WoWGlider, especially in the way they are, isn't going to stop the farmers in
any way shape or form and it isn't going to stop people from cheating... all
they're doing is ruining people's lives for creating something that is
completely legal in its isolated form.

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motoko
The math of this story doesn't make sense to me:

* World of Warcraft creator Blizzard looks set to get $6m (£3.36m) from the makers of a software 'bot'

* sold more than 100,000 copies of the $25 (£14) program.

So, estimated gross revenue is L1.4MM for the lifetime of the bot company, but
Blizzard was awarded L3.33MM ---almost three times sales? I don't understand.
Is this expected to ever be paid, or simply expected to crush the bot company?

~~~
streety
I was thinking the same thing. The article does say at the end that there will
be another court hearing in 2009 to decide whether he is personally
responsible. I assume that is to cover the excess.

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henning
Bots are used for two main purposes in WoW: farming and faster leveling.

Farming is much more harmful to the game than auto-leveling. Too much farming
would ruin the in-game economy and cripple an essential part of the game.
Farmers also often use the sale of gold and items as a pretense to phish
passwords, which they then use for in-game spamming.

Blizzard should focus on fighting goldfarming and leave people who want to
have a high-level character without spending weeks of their time on the game
alone IMO.

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ROFISH
If people are willing to pay real money for virtual gold due to time issues,
and the game isn't fun until you put 1000 hours into it, then it's a design
flaw. People want instant gratification, not spending their time leveling up.

~~~
nihilocrat
working for an MMO company, I've come to the conclusion that there are a
significant number of people who enjoy the current MMO model. I compare it
somewhat to crack cocaine (yeah, real creative, right?); you can complain all
you want about how addictive it is and how it ruins peoples' lives, but while
they're smoking it, they sure do feel good. Some people do it for the high,
while some people do it to numb the pain and hardship of their real life.

There are a large number of people who agree with you, including me, but the
bottom line is that the MMO grinding model works for the objective of keeping
subscribers. Some people get frustrated, some people just hate the mechanics,
but you can manage to keep the several hundred thousand subscribers you need
to be profitable. You can't please everyone, so why not just please a
particular niche market? The only downside is that MMO gamers are very, very,
very, very, very whiny and hard to please, you could blame this on the fact
that most MMOs are cookie-cutter clones of each other and thus gamers can
easily get in a fit when their class is nerfed and join your competitor's
game, without having to worry about actually playing a different game.

Some people just really /do/ want a 'second job' doing raids three or more
times a week and dumping hundreds of hours of their life into a game.

~~~
greyman
Ok, thanks for explanation. Can I have one more question - why exactly do you
disallow or don't like bots?

~~~
nihilocrat
It actually depends on which game you are talking about, but it's true that
the majority of MMO makers are very anti-bot. Undoubtedly, Blizzard is not
having an issue with botting itself, they are having an issue with a tool
which can be used for gold farming (see: Bittorrent). The various forms of
fraud that gold farming shops use to get accounts (such as credit card fraud)
result in non-trivial amounts of chargebacks; I can't name figures, but MMO
companies lose enough money from fraudulent players, namely farmers, that
combating them justifies the hiring of full-time fraud specialists.

Players, and probably moreso, game designers are also interested in combating
farmers in order to maintain the 'purity' of their in-game economy. I guess
what I'm basically saying is that gold farming is the real enemy in this
battle. Players and designers could also be bothered that bots allow players
to make progress in the game without actually having to put in the time to
play, but this plays second fiddle to gold farming.

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maxniederhofer
This isn't someone being sued for copyright infringement. It's someone being
sued for participating in an limited open system in such a way that harms most
others' participation in the system. The point is that the rules are what
makes the game fun. This guy was ruining it for everybody and making money in
the process.

Happy to see his ass banned. MMOs aren't for everyone. Plenty games are
designed for casual play. qq more - you have a real job and a real social
life, unlike most MMO players.

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tbeseda
While I hate the farmers and other low-lifes using the app, I can't agree with
the decision.

~~~
ashleyw
Dont call me a low life, I got from 66-70 with this very bot. =P

Why'd I do it? Got bored watching friends raiding most nights when I could
only play a few hours a week, I was estimating a few months for the last few
levels — but using the bot, got to 70 within a week, and I now raid a few
times a week, and having fun. I'm happy, didn't hurt the game as gold farmers
do, and I already knew how to play my class before hand (so I'm not a noob).
Win! :)

I can say I'm glad the bot is history, but there are a lot of people in my
situation, and with an extra 10 levels being added soon (WotLK), its going to
be even harder for people to catch up with their friends!

But without this one bot which Blizzard could track, gold farmers are going to
develop their own bots. Gold farming could get worse! (though Blizz have tried
to stop this by giving users gold easily via daily quests — but its still
easier to buy! ;)

~~~
maxniederhofer
just buy a char on ebay

