Blizzard sets May 19 deadline for add-on policy compliance
by Eliah Hecht 
Apr 13th 2009 at 11:00AM
Last month, Blizzard released a new add-on development policy. There were several contentious points in it; notably, authors can no longer charge money for add-ons, nor can they solicit donations in-game (asking for donations on web sites is still OK). In-game advertising is also not allowed.
In the wake of the announcement, the authors of several popular mods announced that they would no longer be developing and/or distributing their addons, while other addons (Carbonite being a notable example) are switching to an entirely free model.
The news today is that Blizzard is giving a 60-day grace period for developers to comply with the new model. That's 60 days from the release of the new add-on policy, which was March 20. So everyone has until May 19 to get their ducks in a row and stop charging for addons, showing ads, or asking for donations in-game. People found violating the policy after May 19 will be "contacted directly" by Blizzard and, I assume, asked politely to stop.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mechageo Apr 13th 2009 11:11AM
I wish Outfitter was still being supported. It's too bad they pulled the built-in outfit manager but it did have problems switching between two handed weapons and one handed/shields.
Clbull Apr 13th 2009 11:54AM
Aren't there also other addons that do the same thing as Outfitter does? I mean it is a shame that its being discontinued, and that the ingame equipment manager is being delayed past 3.1
Thebum Apr 13th 2009 12:40PM
There are addons like outfitter, but none of them looks or feels the same and I just can't get used to any of them. I loved the minimap feature with the different icons that was with outfitter, and the tooltip notifications of what set and item was a part of. I don't think any of the alternatives does those things.
Ole Apr 13th 2009 12:48PM
We will probably see another one take up Outfitter, so nothing lost :)
Chukie Apr 13th 2009 11:11AM
In this situation I think "Ask politely" will actually be "Cut the shit or we sue."
Speedmonkay Apr 13th 2009 12:21PM
I dont think they will sue because I am not sure exactly what they will sue for.
Blizz would most likely just enact one of the other rights they reserve on the addon policy - just disabling any addons that dont follow the policy.
Keith Apr 13th 2009 1:29PM
Sue for what? There doesn't appear to be a dubious copyright claim as there was for Glider. The add-on writers have no contractual relationship with Blizzard, so breach of contract is out.
As far as I can see, Blizzard's legal relationship here is with its users. If they want to start suing their customers for using add-ons that break their EULA, they could try, I guess, but suing people who are happily paying you money every month rarely turns out for the best. I don't see how Blizzard have a leg to stand on in enforcing this.
Khow Apr 13th 2009 9:49PM
They have two (at least) legs to stand on. (I'll simplify it a bit, lawyers will pick the bits I'm skipping.) Also, I doubt Blizzard would do this, but this is what is technically possible...
Your licence to use WOW depends on your complying with all the terms and conditions and policies, including the addon policy. If you don't comply, you don't have a right to have WOW even installed on your computer, at which point you are in breach of the copyright laws. That's the main part - breach the T&C and don't delete WOW from your computer and you can be sued for breach of copyright.
So if you are an addon author, and don't comply with their addon policy, your WOW licence is revoked and they can sue you for copyright infringement.
The worse one, and this is what got Glider, if just running an "illegal" addon that someone else wrote that breaches the T&C, then just running it means your licence to play WOW is revoked. There is a legal action called "Tortious interference with contract". If person C causes person B to breach their contract with person A, A can sue C for the lost money. Blizzard sued Glider for the lost subscriptions of everyone they banned for running Glider.
I can't imagine they'd ever go so far, but if they did actually ban someone for running a "commercial" addon, they could sue the author of the commercial addon for the money they lost.
TL;DR: Debate the policy and its enforcement on its merits, but never doubt that Blizzard can legally control how you play the game.
klink-o Apr 13th 2009 11:50PM
While I understand that they're not entirely just blowing a lot of smoke, I still think that realistically enforcing this 100% is gonna be damn near impossible.
artifex Apr 14th 2009 12:42PM
I think that since they can monitor the game on your computer and see what addons you have and use (never mind that they can see what other programs are running, etc., according to the user agreement) they can easily find a way to disable certain addons.
Lyraat Apr 13th 2009 11:27AM
Jeff Kaplan's new role: hitman who targets out-of-compliance addon developers.
Kaplan: No more in-game requests for money!
Addon dev: B-b-but we need money, too!
Kaplan: You want money? How bout some free gold?
Addon dev: Sure!
Kaplan: Here ya go, some free gold-plated bullets! *POW! POW!*
Bloodletter Apr 13th 2009 11:27AM
There is a screenshot GM post dated 13th April 2009 on MMO-Champion in a thread in the forums statung that season 5 ends today at midnight.
it is real.
If the addon compliance deadline is 19th April, then I guess it is pretty safe to assume that patch day is
21st April 2009
Oh well, next week then.
smiley Apr 13th 2009 11:45AM
There are alot of good addons out there, some peopel are making huge issues out of this.
fact is that most the good addons are not calling it quits, and people will still donate to keep them going. Its like waiting for peopel to write the drivers to make the new wow patches work on linux, I find them, dl them, and throw em a few bucks for thier trouble. (now if only blizz woudl support linux I'd be so much happier nd life would be so much better)
likewise with addons, i don't use many, but hey each new big patch that requires a major rewrite to the adons i use i'll throw a buck or two for their time and effort. people who don't do this really should. its their time, you may not see it as valuble but if you use thier product support em or don't bitch when they stop keepign thier code workign with the game
Aedilhild Apr 13th 2009 11:57AM
If add-on development is a hobby, developers need to come to terms with free time that isn't reimbursed. "For the fun of it" drives many of us to spend hours working to gain rewards beyond money.
If add-on development is a source of income, developers should either seek representation or — as is more likely the case — play by the established rules of business.
Sumitra Apr 13th 2009 11:59AM
Blizzard appears to be deleting any threads which even comment on their new statement / threat.
Blizz: "Just shut up and keep providing the UI we can't be bothered to create!"
smiley Apr 13th 2009 1:15PM
see there's a problem with bliz and thier UI in that you can't make everybody happy. I presoanally like a nice clean screen, a small chatbox, ability icons are mostly maccrod together so i only really need 2 bars stacked neatly in the middle, and of coarse bags on the bottomr right in a singlebag look IE open and its all automatically organised and in one spot not 5 dif bags.
if bliz made this default I'd be happy... but what abotu everybody else. I am sure some peopel would look at my screen and say "but i can't click all my abilites" (to which i'd laugh... silly clickers) but the point is you can't please everybody. even if you made it all completely customisable how much mroe strain do you think that'd put on people's computers, people with framerate issues and whose computers barely run wow as it is would never stop complaining.
Faar Apr 13th 2009 5:55PM
I wish ingrates like you would just crawl back in under the rock you came out from, Blizzard is providing their interface API, macroing and LUA languages as a COURTESY to players, and to let them improve their playing experience and enjoyment of the game.
It's not meant to be a source of income for UI programmers or a replacement for a regular job. Blizzard is the ones making the game, they are the ones who should make money from it.
Name ONE other MMO (or any title of any genre) which offers similar easy customization options that WoW does.
Appreciate what you've got for a change, stop biting the hand that feeds you. And last of all, if you don't like it, CANCEL YOUR ACC, because nobody else in the industry's giving you more than Blizzard does anyway.
Sumitra Apr 13th 2009 6:26PM
@Faar
You are a tool. Of the worst kind. Someone who is uninformed but thinks they know what they are talking about.
"Blizzard is the ones making the game, they are the ones who should make money from it."
You realize you are posting this on a site *that makes money off of Blizzard's game, right*?!
This is an ecosystem. Blizzard creates game, Blizzard benefits from sites / fanbois / addon developers who enhance the community and the game experience.
Blizzard benefited from the work of others for four years. No policy restriction in spite of the fact that some developers have been charging for addons for years. Then, Blizzard changes the rules suddenly.
Yes, years. Blizzard has known all along. Remember RDX?
I hope you get exactly what you want. Let players scratch their own itch and create their own macros. Remove any incentive for big projects.
P.S. Warhammer offers customization.
P.P.S. Lua is not a Blizzard creation.
P.P.P.S. Please post your own addons / UI so that we know that you are not just another leech on the work of others.
Cailleach Apr 13th 2009 12:07PM
I've been using Item Rack instead of Outfitter since vanilla WoW, and it works just fine.
G Apr 13th 2009 12:31PM
ItemRack's author disappeared for many months, which led me to switch to Outfitter, ClosetGnome, then back to Outfitter as it looks like ClosetGnome is Ace-bandoned(TM) now. But Gello is back, so returning to ItemRack is no big woop.
There is a model here which these addon devs could be using: Go for name recognition. Build your reputation with the free stuff. Then go get the job you've always wanted with that on your resume. I've seen it happen numerous times in the audio plug-in realm, and these people end up being very successful.