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World of Warcraft: Blizzard Sues Bot Creator
Szark
News ManagerMember Posts: 4,420
BBC News is reporting that Blizzard is suing the creator of MMO Glider, a bot program which automates a number of actions in World of Warcraft.
The makers of World of Warcraft are locked in a legal battle with a firm that has produced a tool to automate many actions in the virtual world.
Blizzard is suing Michael Donnelly, the creator of the MMO Glider program, which performs key tasks in the game automatically, such as fighting.
Both sides have submitted legal summaries to a court in Arizona.
Blizzard says Glide is a software bot which infringes the company's copyright and potentially damages the game.
In its legal submission to the court last week, the firm 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 player would and consume resources the entire time."
Read more here.
Comments
Go Go Blizzard, you guys really care about the quality of the game world unlike SOE.
Many thanks Blizzard!
Blizzard FTW.
Maybe the economy can get closer to how it should be if there weren't these bots and farmers around screwing everything up for everybody else.
Good stuff.
First, lemme say GO GO BLIZZ for stepping up and spending some of those billions on ensuring the game is clean. Bots have never really been prevalent in that game, and its because of things like this. I do not hope that they actually get money from this guy...but I do hope they shut him down. For many reasons, actually...one of which is that the many people who were so bored with the game that they botted can quit and Blizzard can actually focus on making FUN stuff again...rather than all these grinds.
That said...
Dude, if you honestly think that taking all the botters and farmer out will "fix" the economy of the game then you have no clue what an economy even is or how it works. Nothing can save your game economy because there never WAS one. Its a self defeating system, and has been proven to be full of bad math since the system was invented.
To put it simply, anytime there is no control over the INFLOW of currency....the economy implodes. For most MMO's...this is the case. Currency appears from thin air, and from repeatable sources. To make an example.....
Imagine the US economy if it was legal to print your own money anytime you wanted. How much do you think the dollar would be worth in a single year once everyone started making money all the time? Not much, if anything. In fact, it would render the dollar worthless almost immediately. This is exactly what is happening in your stupid MMO economy. Every time someone kills a mob that drops money, he just "printed" his own dollar and injected it into the economy. Every time someone does a daily quest...he just "printed" another one. There is no decisive control over either the INFLOW of money or the OUTFLOW of it to compensate.
Summary: You are boned bub. Your game never HAD an economy. Your game had a pre-school bartering system...in which you had a loosely defined "worth" assigned to items which is based on what people are willing to pay. What they are willing to pay is based on what they are capable of paying...and that is an ever increasing number. Deal with it.
why don't they make it so the game can't be automated then? unless this is a hack of course.
Bots and farmers deflate the market. If this goes through and the majority of botters are stopped, then supply will go down and the prices will inflate. In the end you need to look at it this way: The game mechanics are broken if people would rather have a bot play the game rather than play it themselves. Games are supposed to be fun, not a chore.
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I'm guessing the more technical aspects of this whole thing are kinda foreign to ya. Don't take that too hard, its not something I'm even the most educated in. You aren't alone. I'll help explain it to you as best I can.
Anything that uses input controls can be automated. They don't actually hack the game. They have a program in the back which simulates input controls from the keyboard and mouse in a predetermined way. The bot program literally pushes the buttons for you...in a technical sense. It simulates the controls your keyboard uses (which also operates in the background, and is then tied into the game). Basically, they open the bot program, set up their path and keystrokes, and the bot repeats that set up indefinitely. Glider actually even notes when other players are near and changes up its pattern or even sits down and logs out to avoid being caught. It also runs the path you set it in reverse sometimes...or just alters the route a little so as not to be noticed.
Its REALLY detailed for a bot. Matter of fact, its the bot all bots wanna be. It has contingencies for lots of problems that MIGHT come up (not just those that DO come up).
You may ask "Why not just have WoW stop working if any other program is running in the background?"
Because everything that makes your computer work is a program that runs in the background. Shutting down everything that isn't WoW running shuts down the PC. Never you mind that doing such a thing ALSO kills Vent, Teamspeak, ect...ect...
"Why not set up a scan for THIS program?"
They have, several times. All the bot guys have to do is change a few strings of code and the program appears as something else instead. Hell, they can program the bot to do that FOR them every couple hours if they wanted to. With as much money as they've made off the bot...its certainly possible to have enough programmers on hand to do this kind of work all the time anyway. It only takes one, after all. An automated bot patcher would apply the changes to everyone who had the bot.
They can't do much about preventing the program from being used on a technical level. They can slow it, and even provide plenty of STRONG reasons not to use it. Right now, they are doing the best thing they CAN do. Shut the bot down at its source. Nail the guy at the head.
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I'm guessing the more technical aspects of this whole thing are kinda foreign to ya. Don't take that too hard, its not something I'm even the most educated in. You aren't alone. I'll help explain it to you as best I can.
Anything that uses input controls can be automated. They don't actually hack the game. They have a program in the back which simulates input controls from the keyboard and mouse in a predetermined way. The bot program literally pushes the buttons for you...in a technical sense. It simulates the controls your keyboard uses (which also operates in the background, and is then tied into the game). Basically, they open the bot program, set up their path and keystrokes, and the bot repeats that set up indefinitely. Glider actually even notes when other players are near and changes up its pattern or even sits down and logs out to avoid being caught. It also runs the path you set it in reverse sometimes...or just alters the route a little so as not to be noticed.
Its REALLY detailed for a bot. Matter of fact, its the bot all bots wanna be. It has contingencies for lots of problems that MIGHT come up (not just those that DO come up).
You may ask "Why not just have WoW stop working if any other program is running in the background?"
Because everything that makes your computer work is a program that runs in the background. Shutting down everything that isn't WoW running shuts down the PC. Never you mind that doing such a thing ALSO kills Vent, Teamspeak, ect...ect...
"Why not set up a scan for THIS program?"
They have, several times. All the bot guys have to do is change a few strings of code and the program appears as something else instead. Hell, they can program the bot to do that FOR them every couple hours if they wanted to. With as much money as they've made off the bot...its certainly possible to have enough programmers on hand to do this kind of work all the time anyway. It only takes one, after all. An automated bot patcher would apply the changes to everyone who had the bot.
They can't do much about preventing the program from being used on a technical level. They can slow it, and even provide plenty of STRONG reasons not to use it. Right now, they are doing the best thing they CAN do. Shut the bot down at its source. Nail the guy at the head.
Not everyone plays WoW buddy.
I'm uncertain how this bot program infringes copyright...but then again, I'm not a lawyer nor do I play one on the intertubes.
I can see how it might be construed to be an interference in commerce, or an interference in contractual relations between Blizz and its customers.
Perhaps someone more knowledgable about this can explain how Blizzard's legal theory of copyright infringement is sustained in this particular case.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
I think the guy created an incredible program if what you are saying is true. Yeah, I hate when people use bots in mmorpgs, but bots have real use in many applications outside of games and if this one has been programed with user set commands / actions and a decent AI, then it is pretty amazing. I've used bots before to automate some work functions, but having a semi-intelligent bot would have been awesome. Anyhow, more power to Bliz for trying, sadly I don't think they will be able to hold him up on the EULA.
Edit: After reading the website, it doesn't sound all that different than previous bots, just a little "better." Oh well.
I'm no lawyer but from the story it appears the bot itself copies the game to avoid detection, this they feel is the infringment, he's effectivly using their code to make his work.
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The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.
Tho it's great for a mmo company to go to such lenghts to remove cheating,blizzard is probably the only company with the posibility to do it on such a large scale.
And to people saying the economy will be better if botters and farmers are gone ,well sorry to say but WoW didnt have a good economy from the get go,but botters improved the economy in a way,if all botters would suddenly be banned from WoW,what little economy WoW had would collapse,you would see 1 copper bar going for 10g for exemple.
Gishgeron,
An items worth equals the amount of time a gamer spends ATK to get the gold needed to buy the item. If players can buy the gold with no time spent then the items cost will increase to match it. If players can use a bot to collect the gold while they themselves are at work or asleep the items cost will increase to match it.
So yes taking botters and gold sellers out will help.
WoW does infact have an economy - it is a kind of planned economy and not the open market economy you are thinking of. I agree it is not a great economy that the real world should adopt, but for the purposes of a MMORPG which is supposed to be played for fun it does ok.
"The liberties and resulting economic prosperity that YOU take for granted were granted by those "dead guys"
Glider is a very special BOT... its not a "dumb BOT".. what glider does is read the computer memory.. by doing this glider always knows, just for example, what mobs are around a player (even those not on the screen), what level they are, wether they are moving, how far way they are, how much Health they have etc.
How and on what grounds blizzard plans to sue the guy is beyond me.. as i said glider just reads what wow does it does not inject code or change the code in anyway.
Not that I support Botting... just dont see on what grounds blizzard plans to sue.
ta for the explanation. Still sounds pretty much like a hack though.
If I made a covering for my car that rendered it so that you couldn't catch me on speed meters for the purpose of running red lights and speeding, made a website promoting it for running red lights and speeding, and encouraged others to buy it from me to do the same, how long do you think it would take before I got shut down? And hiding behind the "well, you all knew it was bad and you didn't have to do it unless you wanted to" defense isn't going to help me any I would bet. You make something for the express purpose of bypassing rules, and advertise that it is for bypassing rules but it may get you in trouble, you're still to blame for it being there.
If I made a covering for my car that rendered it so that you couldn't catch me on speed meters for the purpose of running red lights and speeding, made a website promoting it for running red lights and speeding, and encouraged others to buy it from me to do the same, how long do you think it would take before I got shut down? And hiding behind the "well, you all knew it was bad and you didn't have to do it unless you wanted to" defense isn't going to help me any I would bet. You make something for the express purpose of bypassing rules, and advertise that it is for bypassing rules but it may get you in trouble, you're still to blame for it being there.
ToS violation != illegal. Blizz can ban accounts based on that but not sue. If they can't get him from a technical standpoint like IP violation, they'd have to figure out a convincing damages argument.
BlizardLawyer casts Wrath of the High Dollar Legal Team on himself!
BlizzardLawyer crits BotMaker for 235000 damage!
Botmaker is dead!
Botmaker's group attempts to flee in fear!
BlizzardLawyer yells, "You shall not evade me!"
BlizzardLawyer casts Big Money Greed on Botmaker's group!
BotMaker's group begins to bleed money profusely!
Botmaker's group has fallen down and can't get up.
Botmaker's group has bled five gazzilion dollars!
Botmaker's group is no more!
If anyone wants to read about the summary judgment motion..
http://virtuallyblind.com/2008/03/23/mdy-blizzard-motions/
His own website specifies that he knows his program is illegal if you go there and chck the FAQ. He states that if you use this and get caught you will be banned because it automates the system, which is a violation of Blizzard's TOS. All Blizz has to do is show up in court with a copy of the guy's FAQ page and show this. He makes a program expressly designed to hide itself from their anti-cheat program (also in his FAQ) and automates the input in direct violation of the TOS, and he makes it only for this game, and he wonders why Blizzard is upset and wants to shut him down? This is someone who should not be allowed to reproduce, lest he contaminate the gene pool.If I made a covering for my car that rendered it so that you couldn't catch me on speed meters for the purpose of running red lights and speeding, made a website promoting it for running red lights and speeding, and encouraged others to buy it from me to do the same, how long do you think it would take before I got shut down? And hiding behind the "well, you all knew it was bad and you didn't have to do it unless you wanted to" defense isn't going to help me any I would bet. You make something for the express purpose of bypassing rules, and advertise that it is for bypassing rules but it may get you in trouble, you're still to blame for it being there.
Your example of a covering for your car is kinda weak, but I understand what you are saying. All you have to do is search for radar detectors and license plate hiders (see if this site FAQ reminds you of anything).
And per the Glider FAQ:
The court case looks like it will challenge the statement that I highlighted. If this stands up in court, it could become a precedent for future cases against bot programs. However, I suspect that this will be settled out of court, or possibly, at most some sort of court order to stop further sale and development of the program.
Why subcontracting a playful activity ?
That is a good read if you want to get the whole deal.
I think you guys are missing the real point here. Blizzard has tried to sue mmoglider.com before and failed. This is going to be another time. How they can say that mmoglider.com infringes on Blizzard's copyright is nonsense. With a program that just pushes buttons for you, this violates no infringement. The 'Botter' is a paid account with full rights based on their agreement. To the ordinary user/casual eye, these bots are doing nothing more than doing what you would be doing, just longer.
This bot just allows you certain freedoms, like going outside and getting/keeping a girlfriend not to mention hold a job, because we know how addicting WoW is.
Honestly though, when Age of Conan comes out, Blizzard is going to have to hold on tight to their subscriber base and suing people over something like running a bot is going to be a waste of time and resources. Personally, I don't care if a person is running a bot or not. It's not ruining my economy or my enjoyment of the game and the people of you that do feel a botter ruins the game for you are pansies.
I have used Glider on my private server for WoW, and While I gotta say, Glider is amazing. I don't play WoW anymore and nor will I resume my subscription. I'm done with it. After my account got shut down the first time for "third party" applications, I wasn't using them at the time, but, now if I play WoW, I will use them. If I get caught, what have I lost and what has Blizzard lost. Glider is an Awesome program and i'm pretty proud of Mercury. He has a great product that's making lots of money and Blizzard just sees this as cutting into their profits. What would make botting pointless? Blizzard needs to integrate into the current system on creating a character off the block being level 70. 90% of all the people that bot are just trying to level faster without losing their daily schedule. Honestly, on the mmoglider forums, the members only care about how fast they get to lvl 70.
Glider is solely intended for use in WoW, and is marketed and SOLD to WoW users. Therefore it is profiting from Blizzards' intellectual property.
Take a look at skins for the GUI and other third party programs ( such as Auctioneer ) which Blizzard allows. If the makers of those skins/GUIs/programs were to SELL the skins/GUIs/programs, they would be finding themselves with the same lawsuits.
"The liberties and resulting economic prosperity that YOU take for granted were granted by those "dead guys"