Blizzard Clobbers Glider Bot Maker In Court

World of Warcraft developer Blizzard has won $6 million in damages in a lawsuit against the makers of the Glider bot.

Blizzard filed suit against MDY Industries in early 2007, alleging the Glider software violates its copyright as well as the World of Warcraft EULA. The bot automates many of the game's processes, according to the Glider website, which says, "It grinds, it loots, it skins, it heals, it even farms soul shards... without you." A report by the BBC says the program proved popular with players, and has sold over 100,000 copies at $25 each.

Nonetheless, it looks like the free ride is over: US District Court Judge David Campbell ruled in favor of Blizzard in July, saying the Glider software violated the game's license, although MDY was apparently able to convince the judge to mitigate the damage award, which could have been considerably higher. Things aren't entirely settled yet, however; the two parties will back to court in January 2009 to contest issues including whether MDY broke the DMCA with the Glider bot, and whether the Michael Donnelly, the owner of MDY and the original Glider creator, will have to pay the damages personally.

I have to admit, I'm baffled by this. Not by the case itself, but by the idea that people would pay 15 bucks a month so their computer can play a videogame. I like my computer a lot, but not so much that I'm willing to shell out a monthly fee just to keep it entertained. There are plenty of other ways to do that: Install something like Seti@home, for instance, or give it a really fancy screen saver to play with. Personally, I've started leaving a low-bandwidth Shoutcast station playing all night so my computer will think there are people in the room and won't get lonely. It's simple, it doesn't cost me a dime and my computer is healthy and happy.

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I'm stumped why Blizzard should demand $6 million.

Let's face it, the program basically breaks copyright. That's it.

And that's after it's been lowered...Seriously, like Blizzard need the money???

And given Battlenet/Guardian does similar to your PC, how the hell do they not get struck down by lightning.

We all knew blizzard would win in the end. They could have said in the user agreement that by accepting, you are giving blizzard full rights to your soul, and they would have have possession of 7 million souls. Nobody reads that stuff anyway. + its not like they r lacking on the money to sue this guy to hell.

Personally though, i never understood why people would want their computer to play it for them. I mean, part of the game is to learn ur character, and if ur comp is doing all the work, whats the point?

why would 100,000 people buy it in the first place?

This is quite a jab at botting in MMOs. I sure hope that it will have a cascade effect on people who try to set up stuff like this in the future.

they want the money so that the company that made the software gets hurt badly enough that they might go bankrupt and to make an example out of them

Malygris:

I have to admit, I'm baffled by this. Not by the case itself, but by the idea that people would pay 15 bucks a month so their computer can play a videogame. I like my computer a lot, but not so much that I'm willing to shell out a monthly fee just to keep it entertained. There are plenty of other ways to do that: Install something like Seti@home, for instance, or give it a really fancy screen saver to play with. Personally, I've started leaving a low-bandwidth Shoutcast station playing all night so my computer will think there are people in the room and won't get lonely. It's simple, it doesn't cost me a dime and my computer is healthy and happy.

This.

The_root_of_all_evil:

And that's after it's been lowered...Seriously, like Blizzard need the money???

They don't need the money, it's to make sure that they make an example out of the creators, and now that they have a precedent any similar cases would most likely end in a very similar way, and not many people are willing to risk $6 million to make a bot program for MMO's.

Most of the time in these lawsuits, no money is needed. Its to set a precedent basically, that tampering with games will get you fined, as the line on what the company can do action-wise against these people has always been just a little too fuzzy. This establishes a new power for that, in that tampering with game mechanics, such as botting programs, will get you in court now. Its a lot less attractive to work with from here on out.

That's a little harsh : ( Now this guys life is ruined. It was bloody stupid to do what he did but come on, there are people behind the examples you set : P

Skrapt:

The_root_of_all_evil:

And that's after it's been lowered...Seriously, like Blizzard need the money???

They don't need the money, it's to make sure that they make an example out of the creators, and now that they have a precedent any similar cases would most likely end in a very similar way, and not many people are willing to risk $6 million to make a bot program for MMO's.

They'll just use Korean Gold Farmers instead. I'd have a lot more support for Blizzard if they gave that money to Childs Play.

I can see two sides to the botting thing:

On the one hand it allows casual gamers to have character competitive enough to enjoy when they do have the time to play. People with active lives have a hard time being able to participate in various aspects of the game particularly PvP because they don't have the time resource to grind the rep/gold/rare items etc.

On the otherhand it enables a whole culture of cheating. Not only does botting itself give people an unfair advantage, but bots are used by professional gold farmers and power levelers, thus enabling a whole other arena of cheating.

black_reaver:
I can see two sides to the botting thing:

On the one hand it allows casual gamers to have character competitive enough to enjoy when they do have the time to play. People with active lives have a hard time being able to participate in various aspects of the game particularly PvP because they don't have the time resource to grind the rep/gold/rare items etc.

On the otherhand it enables a whole culture of cheating. Not only does botting itself give people an unfair advantage, but bots are used by professional gold farmers and power levelers, thus enabling a whole other arena of cheating.

If they were casual gamers they wouldnt care about having a high level charatcer surely?

I have no sympathy for the guy. he knew damn well this might happen, he rolled his dice and made his choice now he has to suck it up and deal with the consequences

I think many of you seem to miss the point on why a bot would be a good thing for you, Not that I condone botting as it is basically cheating.

What it does do for the botter though is allow the game to do the mundane MMO things that most people don't enjoy. I'm talking mostly from WOW experiance here but if you raid and wipe alot that costs alot of money. Alot of people get there money from a couple hours worth of farming mobs to pay for that nights raid. If the bot does that for you all you need to do is log on later and do the raid.

MMO's seem to have parts people enjoy and then parts people seem to put up with so they can play the parts of the game they enjoy. This is probably more the fault of bad game design then anything but it gives you an idea of why people would bot.

Like I said though I don't condone botting I can just see it from the other point of view.

Kukul:

Khell_Sennet:
Hold on a sec... I've never heard of this Glider Bot thing, but from what that article says it plays WoW for you?

So first we have a game which charges a monthly fee to play AND still makes you buy your copy of said game. Then you can go and pay even more money to NOT play the game?

People, are you fucking retarded? If you truly don't want your money, just give it to me. I would put it to much better use than making a computer masturbate itself while draining your bank account.

is it really that hard to understand WoW is a game that rewards you for playing it? the more gold/honor you farm the more fun you have but doing it can be really boring sometimes. thats why people choose to watch a movie or go out somewhere and let the bot do the job instead of dull and repetitve grinding. its not like you play the game 24h a day, and bot can do it

You are being sarcastic I hope? I hope I never meet anyone in WoW that actually thinks like that. Or another gamer for that matter.

Ralackk:
I think many of you seem to miss the point on why a bot would be a good thing for you, Not that I condone botting as it is basically cheating.

What it does do for the botter though is allow the game to do the mundane MMO things that most people don't enjoy. I'm talking mostly from WOW experiance here but if you raid and wipe alot that costs alot of money. Alot of people get there money from a couple hours worth of farming mobs to pay for that nights raid. If the bot does that for you all you need to do is log on later and do the raid.

This may be so, however, isn't the bigger point that when you click 'I agree' on that big ole' wall o' text that no-one seems to read, aren't you as one of the terms specified, agreeing -not- to do things like botting? I mean, I don't really particularly care about how it affects the game, I've had minimal experience, the goldsellers and powerleveling advertisements are mere annoyance. Ignorable. But, I do get a little ticked to see people complaining about how they got banned, or how stupid Blizzard is for not allowing botting etc. They seem to forget that it's still Blizzard's property, yes, even 'your' characters, and thus their's to do with as they see fit. Think of it as like a swimming pool, for a fee they'll let you swim, they do their best to keep it clean, and maintain it, just don't piss in it.

GG blizz GG

Dectilon:
That's a little harsh : ( Now this guys life is ruined. It was bloody stupid to do what he did but come on, there are people behind the examples you set : P

That's his own fault, plain and simple.

I'm a very forgiving person, but it appears to me that the creator was shamefully aware of the fact that he was doing something wrong.
Now, having the courage to actually make money from wrongdoing is just asking for trouble. I understand some criminals are more or less forced into crime, but I hardly think that's the case with this guy.

Making money of someone else's product, especially in a cold, repetitious, and calculative kind of way that Glider bot does, is just very wrong and mean. In the end, it's all about exploiting other people for one's own good. It's despicable, yuck.

Blizzard generally bans people who bot. Did they do that to people who bought gliders? I personally hope so. The economy is completely twisted because of bots and farming. I'm glad I quit when I did.

I've always found it interesting that Blizzard hasn't put out some kind of WoW upgrade where you pay more per month to have some of the mundane shit eliminated from the game.

I personally know people who would pay 30$ a month if they leveled up 4x as fast or something. Kind of sad commentary, but true.

Unholykrumpet:

I personally know people who would pay 30$ a month if they leveled up 4x as fast or something. Kind of sad commentary, but true.

Sort of like what Glider did?

You have to wonder if this is a buy out or a takeover.

I hate WoW. All it does is make people boring, while simultaneously making them crazy. What good is being crazy if it's not even entertaining? The fact that people paid money for a program that allowed them to sleep without going crazy over "wasted" time that could be spent grinding seems like a charity service to me.

On the other hand, this guy charged for his charity service and broke the law. He deserves a harsh reprimand and 6 million dollars is as good as any. No matter how much I think WoW should be toppled, and all "persistent" games should be burned to an addictive crisp, I make a point of siding with the law.

Unholykrumpet:

I personally know people who would pay 30$ a month if they leveled up 4x as fast or something. Kind of sad commentary, but true.

Sort of like what Glider did?

You have to wonder if this is a buy out or a takeover.

Unholykrumpet:

I personally know people who would pay 30$ a month if they leveled up 4x as fast or something. Kind of sad commentary, but true.

Sort of like what Glider did?

You have to wonder if this is a buy out or a takeover.

The_root_of_all_evil:

Unholykrumpet:

I personally know people who would pay 30$ a month if they leveled up 4x as fast or something. Kind of sad commentary, but true.

Sort of like what Glider did?

You have to wonder if this is a buy out or a takeover.

I think Root's broken.

Unholykrumpet:
Blizzard generally bans people who bot. Did they do that to people who bought gliders? I personally hope so. The economy is completely twisted because of bots and farming. I'm glad I quit when I did.

I've always found it interesting that Blizzard hasn't put out some kind of WoW upgrade where you pay more per month to have some of the mundane shit eliminated from the game.

I personally know people who would pay 30$ a month if they leveled up 4x as fast or something. Kind of sad commentary, but true.

Don't they do that already? Well...it's not supremely fast or anything, but they have eased off somewhat on how long it takes in the upcoming months to Wrath, faster leveling, buddy schemes etc. And, when you think that what with the Death Knight class, where your DK is mostly pre-leveled already. Blizzard could very well offer a feature in the future that will allow players to make their chars at a preset level. And I doubt it will cost any extra.

I'm glad they don't have paid-for content, the monthly play fee and that's it. It'd really suck if they ever changed that.

really the only good way to describe wow is to compare it to a treadmill. A treadmill that never stops and no one ever stays ahead forever. Unfortunately the people at the front of the treadmill are the only ones who get to explore and make the rule that the rest always seem to never question.....

The ease of which bots are made in wow just prove how fascil the game really is and how mmorps are going in the wrong direction.

I miss the days where bots were used with a dial up quake match and nothing else.

Haha, serves them right, they won't try that again.

I think it's funny how they aren't suing the subscribers as well. It would seem logical to go after the people who are intentionally breaking the EULA as well. Whatever, I guess Blizzard just wants to keep its subscribers.