Blizzard legal targets private servers

Privately run WoW servers have been dropping like flies in the last day or so after receiving letters from Blizzard's lawyers under the DMCA.

[elorm9]

I don't get it... Private servers are fun but sometimes they've got their problems as well (e.g. quests not being marked as completed)

But dang it... I miss playing on Toxic WoW :(

[Tony P]

Money.

Blizzard will probably add some other reason in there too to make it seem more palatable, but it seems obvious they simply don't want us to play their game for free in any capacity. And they have that right. I don't personally agree, but hey, is what it is.

[wwedx]

i played on Toxic WoW 24/7 it was the best private server i only used it beacuse i cant afford to pay retail and im only a student and dont have time to play alot and ill miss the high XP relm on toxic WoW

[xsteinbachx]

Get a job and stop being cheap.

[Marona]

xsteinbachx, sorry to inform you but not everyone in life even gets the chance to have a Job until after college.

[Synex]

McDonalds requires a bachelors degree now?

[JsonHenry]

If you are in school to become and anesthesiologist you are NOT allowed to work while attending.

[darkjanus]

ok for those of you who dont think being a student is tough im shelling out $12k a year to pay my schooling and accomodation bills. I have a part time job and work full time during my breaks, so believe me it aint cheap.

And i sure as hell arent going to be working at macdonalds when ive finished my degree seeing as unlike some students im not taking 'media studies' im doing a real degree

Blizzard is pretty sneaky in the licence to use the game as it doesnt inform you of all the conditions until you instal it, i.e after youve bought it. One of the conditions for licence admitadly is that you HAVE to play the game via their server, which is fair enough.

however, these private servers are free, they arent making any money from this and when you consider blizzard isnt exactly lossing many members to this, it just seems a bit of a maoney grabbing move.

Never thought id say this about Blizzard but they are reminding me of MS. Trying to sue and scare any competition with lawyers. When you consider the client itself is free, its the use of their server which is what the monthly fee is for. Seeing as the private servers are free they are techically in breach of the licence but i think blizz needs tolet them go. They'll only go underground and still exist so you havent really achieved anything

[Akiira]

if you cant afford it then to bad, thats the way this works. private servers are technicaly no different then stealing so i guese if your ok with stealing then go ahead and play private servers just dont complain when they get closed down.

[yamamoto114]

We all know that piracy is killing the PC gaming industry. With the extinction of private servers, WoW is an unpirateable game.

I'm not sure if anyone realizes this, but people can play on private servers WITHOUT PURCHASING THE GAME AT ALL.

This is just an anti-piracy measure. Warcraft takes an absolutely gargantuan amount of money to maintain. I'm sure even Blizzard is being hit by the recession.

[darkjanus]

@akiira

how is using a private server stealing. The client used to play the game is free. When paying the subscription fee you are paying to be allowed acess to blizzards server. Censidering the fact that the client is free and im not using the blizzard server how exactly is it stealing?

Its only not allowed by a clause in the license saying you MUST play via blizzards server. While technically illegal is it really a big deal.

Say work gives me a company car, i have to pay all the fuel and running costs and part of the deal is i can only drive it between work and home. However i decide to use it to go to the shops etc. By the terms of the agreement its illegal buts is it really a big deal

Its not like i hacked into blizzards server, then i would be stealing. But the fact is its a free piece of softwareand im simply bypassing blizzard so i dont have to pay. No-one is making any money so what exactly am i stealing?

ahah i see it now by playing on a private server ive stolen WoW itself :)

[Akiira]

your stealing in several ways. first off blizzard employees worked hard to make wow itself and im not talking mainting the server im talking about the actual game so when you play the game on private servers and dont pay the initial cost of the game you are stealing. 2nd unless the private is the orignal game with no updates or exspansion (wich i highly doubt) you are definately stealing all the hard work blizzard put into fixing glitches and adding content. 3rd even if you bought the cds from the store you dont actually own the game you are only buying access to blizzard servers nothing else so once again you are braking moral codes.

as for your terrible car analogy blizzard did not give you the game (car), you arent paying upkeep in any way (fuel and running cost), and you dont have permission to play the game at all ("drive it between work and home") much less play on a private server ("decide to use it to go to the shops etc.")

so unless you can somehow refute all this dont bother replying unless its to admit defeat.