Blizzard Sues World of Warcraft Bot Maker

Blizzard has launched a lawsuit against the maker of a bot that automates many common tasks in World of Warcraft, claiming it infringes upon the game's End User License Agreement.

Unlike most bots that are single-task only, Michael Donnelly's Glider software is capable of handling the majority of the game's tasks on its own. According to the Glider website, "It grinds, it loots, it skins, it heals, it even farms soul shards... without you." But according to a BBC report, Blizzard is claiming the bot infringes upon the game's copyright, and also potentially damages it. In its submission to an Arizona court last week, the developer said, "Blizzard's designs expectations are frustrated, and resources are allocated unevenly, when bots are introduced into the WoW universe, because bots spend far more time in-game than an ordinary players would and consume resources the entire time."

Donnelly, however, claims the software does not infringe Blizzard's copyright because no copy of the World of Warcraft client is ever made. He also claimed that he was completely unaware of any looming legal action until the appearance at his home of a lawyer from World of Warcraft publisher Vivendi Games, who told him a complaint would be filed the next day unless he agreed to immediately stop selling Glider and return any profits he made from the software.

Donnelly said more than 100,000 copies of the program have already been sold at a cost of $25 each. Both sides have submitted legal summaries to the court, and are now awaiting a summary judgment in the case.

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I'm siding with Blizzard on this one.

Agreed, that kind of crap wrecks the game for everyone.

Except the chinese economy.

Mr.Dillinger:
Pft, its a known fact (And any WoW player would tell you the same thing) that WoW really begins when you hit level 60.

Actually, in retrospective, I enjoyed more of the crawl up to 60 than actually being 60. Then again, I did play on a very welcoming RP-PVP server but when I hit the maximum level, the world turned from a fun-filled place of adventures and hacking the Horde to pieces with 70 other people; to a desperate, lowly place where all I was condemned to do was sit there and spam taunt at bosses in poorly-scripted sequences. I think because of these bots people miss out on the real gaming experience a lot.

Oh, and on even more of a side note: No Australian servers for WoW? Please; you guys have an estimated 20 million population. That's not even a half of the United Kingdom's. Yet we still have to share our servers with the Dutch, Polish, Russians (but not for much longer!), Austrians and Turkish. Suck in your gut and be thankful you only have to be on servers with people who have just slightly different accents to you - not an entire language barrier or four.

Botting makes no sense to me. You download a bot so you can do something to amuse yourself while it plays the game which is "something meant to amuse". (Thank you, Yahtzee) I enjoyed my time in WoW and I don't regret it. It didn't feel like a chore to me at first. Everything was new. I had never played MMOs before. But when my guild expected me to grind instances for stuff just so I could be present for raid bosses, I realized that it was now becoming a chore. That was when I left. If it feels like a chore, DON'T PLAY IT!

I just don't understand the mindset behind the use of something like this. You pay a monthly fee for a game and then you set your computer up to play it unattended? What exactly is the point?

Malygris:
I just don't understand the mindset behind the use of something like this. You pay a monthly fee for a game and then you set your computer up to play it unattended? What exactly is the point?

I think there's a point at which the player becomes bored with the game, but hasn't really reached an end-game within their minds. The game becomes more habit than true enjoyment (also sunk-cost fallacy?) and the thought of grinding makes them want to puke... but the desire to remain competitive still lingers. Thus, the bot program does have legitimate appeal. It might not be just for crazy people who don't know how to "play WoW."

Then again, I've never played WoW... so maybe it's not a unique and riveting experience that soon grows old before you expect it to causing you to wonder why you're wasting your life on something so mindlessly repetitive, yet beautifully crafted.

Mr.Dillinger:
Pft, its a known fact (And any WoW player would tell you the same thing) that WoW really begins when you hit level 60.

[...]

That's allot of fucken money for turning people into digital zombies. A yes, Blizzard may say, we made WoW so you could play it in moderation, but any WoW player knows you can't just play WoW in moderation. It's something you have to dedicate yourself to.

First; I never reached level 60, and I play for a year now. I like it. People who say that the game doesn't 'start' until level 60 seem to be a bunch of powergamers to me.

Second: Yes you can play it in moderation. How else do I play for a year and still not reach level 60 with a character? Doing a simple quest takes an hour, maybe two. That including the walking, flying and getting back. That seems moderate and casual enough. But people just don't know when to stop.

Now as for the 'ebul money grabbing' thing...It's just illegal to make money with their product. It's that simple. You aren't allowed to sell ingame gold for real money, it's illegal to sell your characters for real money, and logically, it also isn't allowed to sell programs created for that game for real money.

Besides, programs like this ruin the game for other people. It's a cheat, a hack. It creates unfair advantage to other people that play the game normally and try to enjoy it instead of choring it out. It ruins in-game economy. So way to go Blizzard, you do the right thing by suing that program maker.

Legal solution to a social/technical problem? GG Blizzard, you fail.

Solution to this problem, since it's both a social and technical problem, is a technical solution. They've already got their spyware on peoples computers, why not just ban accounts that have glider.exe running when worldofwarcraft.exe is running?

girlysprite:
Now as for the 'ebul money grabbing' thing...It's just illegal to make money with their product. It's that simple. You aren't allowed to sell ingame gold for real money, it's illegal to sell your characters for real money, and logically, it also isn't allowed to sell programs created for that game for real money.

There's nothing illegal about making money with WoW, Blizzard just doesn't like it.

i completaly side with blizzard here. they made it and so they should decide what people can and cannot use ingame program wise. especially if it is ToS thing, and if your making money on a bannable ingame offense your a tard.

Anniko:
Legal solution to a social/technical problem? GG Blizzard, you fail.

Solution to this problem, since it's both a social and technical problem, is a technical solution. They've already got their spyware on peoples computers, why not just ban accounts that have glider.exe running when worldofwarcraft.exe is running?

girlysprite:
Now as for the 'ebul money grabbing' thing...It's just illegal to make money with their product. It's that simple. You aren't allowed to sell ingame gold for real money, it's illegal to sell your characters for real money, and logically, it also isn't allowed to sell programs created for that game for real money.

There's nothing illegal about making money with WoW, Blizzard just doesn't like it.

Actualy, i think it falls under breech of contract.

LOL @ botnoobs.

Seriously, what's the point of being "level 60" if you don't know the game well enough at that point to use all the flashy powers/abilities? Maybe Blizzard hasn't implemented it best, but the point of the lower levels is to teach players how to play the game gradually. I don't play WoW but it's water-cooler talk here in the office... and it's painfully obvious to those players who has earned their levels by playing and who's bought/botted their way up. (Ahem. "How I mine for fish?")

Just play the game, dammit, and stop fixating on that one number as some sort of "proof of prowess". (Hmm... h3rb@l l3v3litra, anyone?)

-- Steve

Or, on the other hand, why waste hours of your life doing mundane and most meaningless acts in WoW?
Let the bot do that shit, and once you've lvl 60, then you can have fun.
You have no experience? Oh, buggers, you'll train, but now at level 60, and you won't have to literally die in front of your screen doing shit for the sole purpose of upping statistics in a MMO.

Go Bot!

Wherein I shamelessly self promote:

A interview with the only guy that was talking about this a while back.

People like Michael Donnelly are the reason I hate MMORPGs. Bots defeat the purpose of playing in the first place, both for the bot user and legitimate players (ever try to get anything done in an area being farmed by a bot user? Go on; I dare you).

Arbre:
Or, on the other hand, why waste hours of your life doing mundane and most meaningless acts in WoW?

Or, on the gripping hand, why waste hours of your life, money, and electricity to have a bot play a game for you that you don't enjoy? (A point I didn't cover because Malygris got there first.) Would it not be better to go find another game that isn't so grind-tastic if you don't like grinding?

I'll stand by my position that botters are sad pandas paying a premium to appear better at a game that they truly don't seem to enjoy playing too much... and incidentally make the game experience worse for those who do enjoy playing it.

-- Steve

Joe:
Wherein I shamelessly self promote:

A interview with the only guy that was talking about this a while back.

Ironically, that subject is now actually very useful considering the current situation. Is Marcus thinks Donnelly has enough funds to fight, then will we be seeing a 'Blizzard vs. Donnelly' case very soon? It could be one of the biggest in videogame history if both sides pour in all their resources.

Anton P. Nym:

Arbre:
Or, on the other hand, why waste hours of your life doing mundane and most meaningless acts in WoW?

Or, on the gripping hand, why waste hours of your life, money, and electricity to have a bot play a game for you that you don't enjoy? (A point I didn't cover because Malygris got there first.) Would it not be better to go find another game that isn't so grind-tastic if you don't like grinding?

And what if all your friends are on WoW and you want to play at level 60?
It's that or paying for a lvl60 character.

I'll stand by my position that botters are sad pandas paying a premium to appear better at a game that they truly don't seem to enjoy playing too much... and incidentally make the game experience worse for those who do enjoy playing it.

Like with any software, you're not forced to use all options either. It's just that you can use a very complete bot. One day, you don't feel like doing task X, another day, you don't want to hear about task Y.

Besides, just how far does that one's bot spoil your experience exactly?

Grind is a core-game mechanic in every single MMO made so far.Using a Grindbot in an MMO is pretty much an equivalent of using an aimbot in a FPS game.

If all your arguments come down to "Not everybody has time to grind","Some people have a life" and "The game starts after 60", then you could say exactly same thing about Gold Farmers,Power Levelers and and Character Sellers.

JakubK666:

If all your arguments come down to "Not everybody has time to grind","Some people have a life" and "The game starts after 60", then you could say exactly same thing about Gold Farmers,Power Levelers and and Character Sellers.

I have and will continue to do so. The fact is, if people are willing to pay cash money to avoid a large chunk of your game in order to get to the part they find fun, you've got a seriously flawed game mechanic. Punishing the market is just mopping up the floor when the faucet's still running.

Joe:
The fact is, if people are willing to pay cash money to avoid a large chunk of your game in order to get to the part they find fun, you've got a seriously flawed game mechanic.

I think the "serious flaw" IS the game, Joe. ;-)

Joe:
I have and will continue to do so. The fact is, if people are willing to pay cash money to avoid a large chunk of your game in order to get to the part they find fun, you've got a seriously flawed game mechanic. Punishing the market is just mopping up the floor when the faucet's still running.

People are willing to pay valuable cash monies for aimbots and weaponhacks for FPSes to avoid a large chunk of those games to get to the part they find fun. Is that a flaw in the games, or in the "players"?

-- Steve

Anton P. Nym:

Joe:
I have and will continue to do so. The fact is, if people are willing to pay cash money to avoid a large chunk of your game in order to get to the part they find fun, you've got a seriously flawed game mechanic. Punishing the market is just mopping up the floor when the faucet's still running.

People are willing to pay valuable cash monies for aimbots and weaponhacks for FPSes to avoid a large chunk of those games to get to the part they find fun. Is that a flaw in the games, or in the "players"?

-- Steve

Blizzard has said from the beginning that it will not tolerate bots and gold purchasing. It's been stated in their EULA and they've reiterated it numerous times. They want to make an example of this guy to scare away bot writers and to show their customers that their "no tolerance" policy has teeth.

If you need to have a game played for you to get to the fun stuff, then you need to find a different game. Blizzard owns the game and says you have to grind to get to the good stuff. If you disagree with this, you have a right to take your money elsewhere. You do not have a right to cheat because you think a rule is stupid. It's really that simple.

See, now I'm in the middle here.
WoW sucks. You have to spend years, if not sleepless weeks simply to get to level 60, when apparently "The real game begins". And on top of that you're paying for it. So, If someone wants to run a program that cheapens the game, give them their own server than. Sue anyone making money off of it, and call it a successful day.

Or better yet, make the game more story oriented so that people who hate the grind have a reason to play. They just need to go the way of Guild Wars and make an arena where you start out level 40 or so and just fight it out. If you want to go on raids and shit, play the damn game. You don't get ultimate weapons in Final Fantasy simply by holding X, you have to press it nine million times. Blizzard creates these problems, they're just unwilling to fix them themselves.

Anton P. Nym:

Joe:
I have and will continue to do so. The fact is, if people are willing to pay cash money to avoid a large chunk of your game in order to get to the part they find fun, you've got a seriously flawed game mechanic. Punishing the market is just mopping up the floor when the faucet's still running.

People are willing to pay valuable cash monies for aimbots and weaponhacks for FPSes to avoid a large chunk of those games to get to the part they find fun. Is that a flaw in the games, or in the "players"?

-- Steve

I'm not convinced by the analogy you present.

Grinding is not the unique core aspect you get from a MMO. In fact, it's the poorest element of a game, and it's admirable than in the age of casual praying, some would find it outrageous that some players couldn't give a damn about grinding and prefer bots, in order to enjoy other parts of the game.

Now, aiming in a FPS is the most important, and possibly unique element of any FPS. It's in the core of the genre's definition. You shoot, that's the sole point. To shoot, you aim.

I am taking Blizzard's side here. Bots in MMOs are teh evil.

Arbre:

Anton P. Nym:

Joe:
I have and will continue to do so. The fact is, if people are willing to pay cash money to avoid a large chunk of your game in order to get to the part they find fun, you've got a seriously flawed game mechanic. Punishing the market is just mopping up the floor when the faucet's still running.

People are willing to pay valuable cash monies for aimbots and weaponhacks for FPSes to avoid a large chunk of those games to get to the part they find fun. Is that a flaw in the games, or in the "players"?

-- Steve

I actualy think that grinding is the core element in MMOs. It is kinda stupid, but working hard to get an extra level or getting a new cool item as actualy fun.

I'm not convinced by the analogy you present.

Grinding is not the unique core aspect you get from a MMO. In fact, it's the poorest element of a game, and it's admirable than in the age of casual praying, some would find it outrageous that some players couldn't give a damn about grinding and prefer bots, in order to enjoy other parts of the game.

Now, aiming in a FPS is the most important, and possibly unique element of any FPS. It's in the core of the genre's definition. You shoot, that's the sole point. To shoot, you aim.

Anton P. Nym:

Joe:
I have and will continue to do so. The fact is, if people are willing to pay cash money to avoid a large chunk of your game in order to get to the part they find fun, you've got a seriously flawed game mechanic. Punishing the market is just mopping up the floor when the faucet's still running.

People are willing to pay valuable cash monies for aimbots and weaponhacks for FPSes to avoid a large chunk of those games to get to the part they find fun. Is that a flaw in the games, or in the "players"?

-- Steve

Ignoring that the analogy is flawed (see other posts for details), I will say that it is the game mechanic that is at fault primarily, and the players secondarily.

The game should not cause people to go "I wish there was a better way to do this", and it certainly shouldn't make people go "I would pay serious money for a better way to do this". In the instance of MMOs, if the game mechanic is not flawed, then the 'grind' is actually no longer a grind, and the enjoyable part of the game.

As for the players, I feel it's bad practice to pay to play for poor quality in most areas, and MMOs are no exception. Not everyone is like me in that regard, so they will pay to do things they don't find fun (the grind, paying for a bot) to eventually get to having fun. I'm relatively against the practice myself, but I can at least understand where they're coming from via personal experience. And as with everything the line is drawn in a different spot for different people.

What you may find as a huge time waste for so little return, they find as a small sacrifice for a greater fun, or visa versa.

The bare bones of it is this. if you make something, either for, or as a copy of a copyrighted material, and make money with it without permission of the copyright holder, it is illegal. So, if he is making money off of it, Blizzard is well within their rights to sue, and the gentleman should go to hell.

Well I do agree with that, because regardless of if they made crap, it's still theirs. Blizzard's in the right to sue and defend their product.

that makes no sense its like saying that the money that capcom made with their games in the ps2 belongs to sony... i dont know if you get my point... blizzard could instead of makind a law suit... offer this guy a job because, i dont know how to do a bot... can you...? maybe you can but if all what blizzard want is money and to not look as a cheap ass greed corporation could easyli just buy the software... because that was the work of that guy... its like in any other game that uses bots like tibia bla bla bla... if blizzard wins this... i would feel... bad and little bit sad