#0 - March 23, 2009, 8:53 p.m.
http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/03/23/devs-respond-to-addon-changes/
Thread itself:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=15864447468&sid=1
Note how the thread was locked and without any reply from Blizzard. A key feature in this whole onslaught of problems is a new revision to the EULA:
Q u o t e:
A. All intellectual property rights in and to the Game, including without limitation the Locked Software, and all copies thereof (including, but not limited to, any user accounts, titles, computer code, themes, objects, characters, character names, stories, dialog, catch phrases, locations, concepts, artwork, character inventories, structural or landscape designs, animations, sounds, musical compositions, audio-visual effects, storylines, character likenesses, methods of operation, moral rights, any related documentation, and "applets" incorporated into the Game) are owned or expressly licensed by Blizzard Entertainment. The Game is protected by the copyright laws of the United States, international copyright treaties and conventions, and other laws. All rights are reserved. The Game may contain certain licensed materials, and licensors of those materials may enforce their rights in the event of any violation of this License Agreement.
Source: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/legal/eula.html
Paragraph/Section in question: 4A
This section basically states that if you make an add-on, it isn't yours anymore. It's Blizzard's. This can be seen in their implementation of a Calendar system, a Gear changing system, and a no-risk talent point selection system (the latter two being implemented in 3.1, with changes to the first being implemented as well (which are heavily based off of existing calendar add-ons)).
Writers can also no longer ask for donations via their add-on in-game.
So with no incentive to write add-ons, and no compensation for it (who really looks at the home pages?), and with Blizzard basically stealing your code, who is going to write our UIs for healing? Certainly not Blizz, as has been seen for 4 years. Four years and how is the base Blizzard UI any decent for healing? It's especially not for resto druids (but I can't say it's any better for healers).
I know healers that do but isn't it more of a headache?
So here's my statement to it all: Allow add-ons and don't steal them or don't allow any add-ons at all and clean up YOUR mess. Stop trying to make money from add-on developers. They aren't your puppets; they are people and players too.
What are your thoughts on it all? I'd love to know.
