Blizzard Wins vs. Glider: What it means for the virtual currency market
We posted a blog post on this over at GameRates.com on what this means for some other ToS/EULA violators such as virtual currency sellers.
"What does this mean for the gold industry however?
First off it may embolden Blizzard to actually take on major gold sellers in the courtroom. However, this could be a very dangerous move as if they lost or perhaps a U.S court found that virtual currency has real worth it could awake the sleeping giant of legal problems. For example if Blizzard bans someone accidently, or itâ(TM)s servers crash, or they nerf an item all which destroy virtual goods (with real legal value) in the process one may be able to sue Blizzard for these âoerealâ damages caused. For this and many other reasons we doubt that such a case will arise although the reverse may be true (a gold farmer suing blizzard for preventing them from selling its legally acquired in-game goods for cash outside the game). For those of you that have been around for a while you may remember the BlackSnow Case against Mythic where such a thing happened.
Still the scary thing is the wide ruling that violating a Terms of Service (ToS) or End User License Agreement (EULA) that you haphazardly click every time you play the game can be counted as copyright infringement. An EULA can say virtually anything it wishes. Does violating any part of it really count as copyright infringement? If you choose to farm items by hand using normal game mechanics without interfering with anyone else and then you mail the items you acquire to another person that is fine (it would be considered "twinking" a friend or new character), yet if you do the same action and the person sends you $10 through PayPal for the gift is it then considered a copyright violation because it violates Blizzards ToS?
That's ridiculous and as such we don't see the case ever being applied to the virtual currency market.
In fact we think that if the case is appealed it has a very good chance of being reversed. It's simply too broad in its scope"
And how much did it cost this time? NASA really should be run more like a corporation instead of a Government organization. They spend 300 million on what a company could build with 30 million.
www.gameguidesonline.com
Yes everything is a prediction right now but the best prediction comes from the Detroit Free Press article in which publisher Vivendi Universal Games, said:
"The game will actually launch a week after the company's other hot holiday title, "Half-Life 2," which debuts Nov. 16."
SOE is notorious for launching games with content that is not finished or buggy (SWG Launch, EverQuest Expansion end game content, etc.). Blizzard on the other hand is known for at times delaying a game, and then delaying a game again just to work out all the minor bugs.
The question I would like to ask Slashdot readers is if it worth launching a game early, yet buggy to grab a certain market from competition? I know Themis group thinks a poor launch can cost a company millions of dollars http://www.themis-group.com/uploads/Cost%20of%20La unch.xls, but will the benefit of launching early exceed the costs?
I have about 400 hours (16 some days) in my World of Warcraft character and must say it is the first game I have been excited about since the original EverQuest. I have played just about every MMORPG that has come out in the last few years and really have to say that the lower level (particularly alliance side) portion of the game is brilliant. The higher levels of the game don't have the same polish and "magic" as the lower levels (most likely due to the push for a Christmas release) but WoW is leaps and bounds above any MMORPG on the market. Although I love World of Warcraft the more I played the game the more I noticed that it is nothing really new or revolutionary. World of Warcraft is "evolutionary not revolutionary". It took what worked with MMORPG's and put it together well, but appears a bit rushed (compared to the lower level content) at the higher levels (yet still huge strides over other MMORPGs).
Recently I have not been enjoying WoW as much as I once did possibly due the slightly rushed current higher level content (no raid content in the game yet) and the fact that I am in the process of writing a few player guides for the game (which quickly causes burn out). It could also be the fact that my main character (a mage) went from being overpowered to a bit underpowered. Blizzard tends to nerf and fix things with large sweeping changes until they find a proper medium.
I have yet to really look at EQ2 yet just because I was tired of the EverQuest world and its unfortunate decline over the years.
EverQuest 2's main audience is the 2 million people who have played EverQuest over its lifespan (and quit for numerous reasons). EQ2 and WoW are the most anticipated MMORPG's ever. It will be interesting to see how they play out, but either way new players will want new guides and GameGuidesOnline http://www.gameguidesonline.com/ staff will cover both games.
Slashdot Mirror
Blizzard Wins vs. Glider: What it means for the virtual currency market We posted a blog post on this over at GameRates.com on what this means for some other ToS/EULA violators such as virtual currency sellers. "What does this mean for the gold industry however? First off it may embolden Blizzard to actually take on major gold sellers in the courtroom. However, this could be a very dangerous move as if they lost or perhaps a U.S court found that virtual currency has real worth it could awake the sleeping giant of legal problems. For example if Blizzard bans someone accidently, or itâ(TM)s servers crash, or they nerf an item all which destroy virtual goods (with real legal value) in the process one may be able to sue Blizzard for these âoerealâ damages caused. For this and many other reasons we doubt that such a case will arise although the reverse may be true (a gold farmer suing blizzard for preventing them from selling its legally acquired in-game goods for cash outside the game). For those of you that have been around for a while you may remember the BlackSnow Case against Mythic where such a thing happened. Still the scary thing is the wide ruling that violating a Terms of Service (ToS) or End User License Agreement (EULA) that you haphazardly click every time you play the game can be counted as copyright infringement. An EULA can say virtually anything it wishes. Does violating any part of it really count as copyright infringement? If you choose to farm items by hand using normal game mechanics without interfering with anyone else and then you mail the items you acquire to another person that is fine (it would be considered "twinking" a friend or new character), yet if you do the same action and the person sends you $10 through PayPal for the gift is it then considered a copyright violation because it violates Blizzards ToS? That's ridiculous and as such we don't see the case ever being applied to the virtual currency market. In fact we think that if the case is appealed it has a very good chance of being reversed. It's simply too broad in its scope"
Slate Magazine? http://slate.msn.com/
That's why we have Rhapsody. $10 a month for unlimited music streaming (and they just broke 1 million songs). Its an amazing service.
And how much did it cost this time? NASA really should be run more like a corporation instead of a Government organization. They spend 300 million on what a company could build with 30 million. www.gameguidesonline.com
"The game will actually launch a week after the company's other hot holiday title, "Half-Life 2," which debuts Nov. 16."
SOE is notorious for launching games with content that is not finished or buggy (SWG Launch, EverQuest Expansion end game content, etc.). Blizzard on the other hand is known for at times delaying a game, and then delaying a game again just to work out all the minor bugs.
The question I would like to ask Slashdot readers is if it worth launching a game early, yet buggy to grab a certain market from competition? I know Themis group thinks a poor launch can cost a company millions of dollars http://www.themis-group.com/uploads/Cost%20of%20La unch.xls, but will the benefit of launching early exceed the costs?
Brian Whitener
http://www.gameguidesonline.com/
I have about 400 hours (16 some days) in my World of Warcraft character and must say it is the first game I have been excited about since the original EverQuest. I have played just about every MMORPG that has come out in the last few years and really have to say that the lower level (particularly alliance side) portion of the game is brilliant. The higher levels of the game don't have the same polish and "magic" as the lower levels (most likely due to the push for a Christmas release) but WoW is leaps and bounds above any MMORPG on the market. Although I love World of Warcraft the more I played the game the more I noticed that it is nothing really new or revolutionary. World of Warcraft is "evolutionary not revolutionary". It took what worked with MMORPG's and put it together well, but appears a bit rushed (compared to the lower level content) at the higher levels (yet still huge strides over other MMORPGs). Recently I have not been enjoying WoW as much as I once did possibly due the slightly rushed current higher level content (no raid content in the game yet) and the fact that I am in the process of writing a few player guides for the game (which quickly causes burn out). It could also be the fact that my main character (a mage) went from being overpowered to a bit underpowered. Blizzard tends to nerf and fix things with large sweeping changes until they find a proper medium. I have yet to really look at EQ2 yet just because I was tired of the EverQuest world and its unfortunate decline over the years. EverQuest 2's main audience is the 2 million people who have played EverQuest over its lifespan (and quit for numerous reasons). EQ2 and WoW are the most anticipated MMORPG's ever. It will be interesting to see how they play out, but either way new players will want new guides and GameGuidesOnline http://www.gameguidesonline.com/ staff will cover both games.