MMO-Glider
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Breakfast Topic: No ifs or bots.
It's not even a question, really. Botting is against the game's TOS. If you're caught doing it, you're going to get banned. In case you hadn't already heard, Blizzard recently dealt the botting program Glider a killing blow in the courts, which should lead to the demise of the program. Whatever your views on it, Blizzard frowns on botting and even here at WoW Insider, most if not all of us are strongly against it.That said, yesterday's 15 Minutes of Fame was an eye-opener for me. I guess because I'd never viewed botters with much regard I often dismissed them. I've even reported one or two over the past years. But Daedren's interview was actually something to mull over.If you did bot, what would you bot? All of us have experienced horrible, senseless grinds in the game. Whether it's farming for mats, grinding Honor, completing long quest chains... at some point in playing the World of Warcraft, we've all felt the tedium that can sometimes lead to unsavory (and TOS-breaking) thoughts of hassle-free automation. I'd never do it, but if I did, I'd probably have used it to level from 1-80 -- something I don't particularly enjoy. How about you? Hypothetically, what would you have botted? Or does the thought of bots make you feel all dirty inside?
WoW Insider Show Episode 59: Rogues gallery
We've got a lot of WoW Insider Show to cover -- last week, we were so embroiled in the BlizzCon run-up that I didn't have a chance to post about episode 58, and episode 59 was actually taped right in the front entrance of the Anaheim Convention Center on Friday evening. Episode 58 featured our newest columnist, Chase Christian, and we talked about Rogues (obviously -- that's what he writes about), Blizzard's big win against MMO Glider, and the reasons why you still have your honor points and tokens. And in episode 59, we talked BlizzCon, because we were right there -- Gnomewise and Duncor joined me inside the convention center, and we had short cameos from both WoW Radio folks (Maxspeed was around to talk to us), Starman from World of Warcast, and we were able to talk to some fans, too. It was really fun, too -- we should do that more often.So you've got two shows to listen to if you haven't been keeping up -- episode 58 and episode 59 are both over on WoW Radio right now for your listening pleasure. That's a lot of WoW Insider Show, but hey, you can listen in while you're running around doing all of these new achievements in the game. And don't forget, if you want to nab the show even without seeing it posted here, you can always subscribe in iTunes, and you'll automatically downlload it as soon as it's out.And don't forget -- we do this live every Saturday at 3:30pm Eastern -- this week, we'll be back in the virtual studio, Turpster should be back on with us (although lots of people asked me at BlizzCon, no, unfortunately, he didn't find a ship captain willing to give him a ride to BlizzCon), and it should be a lot of fun as always.Listen to Episode 58 here on the page:
Blizzard wins $6 million in court case with MMO Glider
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Blizzard_wins_6_million_in_court_case_with_MMO_Glider'; Another chapter of the Blizzard versus Glider story has come to a close. Blizzard and MDY Industries have been going at it over Glider since 2006, in a battle that's been rather important. Not only has it been about Glider doing something wrong, it's been about how well an EULA will hold up in court. That's something the entire gaming industry, especially MMOs, have their eyes on. If Blizzard had lost, it would have had a negative impact across the entire industry.Blizzard is most certainly not losing. According to BBC News (among other sources), they just won $6 million from MDY Industries, which is less than what was expected of them. This isn't their first victory in the war, but it's the first involving money. Blizzard could still appeal the ruling, so it may not necessarily be over, though I personally think the point has been made as far as damages. There are still further chapters in the story that await, because they'll be in court again in January of 2009 to resolve further issues.
Blizzard against open-sourcing Glider code
It ain't over yet. Blizzard Entertainment, who won a lawsuit against MDY, the makers of the infamous Glider bot program, has asked the ruling court for a permanent injunction that would functionally eliminate the program from WoW. Blizzard has also issued an unconventional request preventing the open-sourcing of the MMO Glider (formerly known as WoW Glider) code and prohibiting MDY from helping other people develop World of Warcraft automation software.Blizzard's case against MDY has already sparked some debate, and this latest request may catch the attention of open source and digital rights advocates. Blizzard has always taken a hardline stance against users of the program, even banning countless users back in May. Automation is clearly against the EULA, so players who flirt with bot programs such as MMO Glider should proceed at their own risk. A complete coverage of the case between Blizzard and MDY can be found over at Virtually Blind.
