Acti-Blizz isn't losing money. They're not generating the revenue they once did. There is valid speculation that it would increase their revenue. There is valid speculation that it would damage the IP further in the long run. I think the latter is happening at DBG now.
That is all irrelevant to the central argument or attempts at justifying third party private servers. The IP belongs to Acti-Blizz. They have every right to do what they want with it. The only thing they are beholden to are their shareholders. If the shareholder believe that a better long term strategy for the game deployment would garner higher revenue then they could be taken to task over that. However, that hasn't been the case. It's very likely the board of directors has explained the long term strategy and associated risks and they are choosing this path for a reason. Disagreeing with that or wanting a different arrangment doesn't entitle people to steal, profit, and use the IP to their benefit.
Troval,
You think they are not loosen money I hate to tell you this but today if Blizzard announced that a there is going to be a Vanilla WOW server I have at least 2 dozen friends that will come back. The people on these private servers would likely come back too especially if you force them to shut down.
The problem is everyone is acting as a few servers for Blizzard would be a massive undertaking. Yet there is very good emulator software for spinning up classic servers. Now will they be as tuned as old servers? Likely not BUT lets say Blizzard gets 250K subs for just a single classic server, you will make enough money to manage a few classic servers and do all the work needed to be done to keep them running. When you see 15K players online at one time on a vanilla WOW Server you know that there is a market out there.
I agree stealing the IP is wrong but in the end these people dont make any money off of these private servers. They are doing it for the love of the game.
Now lets flip this around Stockholders own stock in blizzard to make money this is why all gaming has gone down hill in the last 10 years. Because everyone is trying to make big bucks off of what is not a big dollar market for speculation. You can make good money in the gaming industry BUT you cannot throw money at a game and expect it to make money history has proven this. But you can make a game that the gamers want to play and make Billions of dollars a year off the game. AKA WOW.
when you say they are "losing money" that in business terms means they are not making a profit and I think that is what people keep seeing when you type that.
Let me rephrase it. They are not capitalizing on the market, and they are loosen subs to currently boring game play and mechanics whereas 10 years ago (call it nostalgia all you want) when things were more tougher people were not as bored.
Yes some things back then will not work today, example 40 man raids. But if you said ok we will make a Classic WOW Server but we are going to make things flexible from 10 to 40 people you would have some successful classic servers.
Well Everquest servers that used their vanilla version were packed initially and then they dwindle over time. If this type of servers were able to make a lot of money for Blizzard they would do it. They are in a better position from their own studies of the market and yet they do not offer it. Perhaps they do have an insight on how these populations do not last after the first few months.
I think companies are better suited to know their market than players who only see things from their perspective.
I would bet if you wanted a Vanilla server they would want more commitment from people than a monthly sub for its development and upkeep. What if they wanted a year sub that is $180?
This is IP theft but there is a good amount of players that want to play in the Vanilla WOW TBC WOW time period. If Blizzard did offer these servers to me I would come back even if the Subscription was $20 to $30 a month. Even if it is 1% to 10% of their population that end up coming back I bet you that Blizzard will make a good money stream off these classic servers.
The problem is Blizzard is loosen so much money because no one except a group of people who do not like MMOS want to play WOW right now. I want an MMO that pushes me to group and makes Dungeons an affair where I need to schedule it with friends OR socially interact with people. Cross Realm Automated group files killed social interaction and allowed a lot of garbage into MMOs. The GO GO GO GO ME ME ME bunch love it while hurting large amounts of players. Just look at how many players quit WOW.
Problem is Blizzard is just stupid because they are run by people who think more accessibility equals more subscribers which equals more money. Yet they have that now and are loosen money.
how exactly are they losing money?
If at one time you had 11.5 Million Subs and today you have only 5.4 Million Subs you make a lot less money than you did when you had 11.5 Million Subs. So that is how they are loosen money. By people not subscribing.
People are not unsubscribing and / or leaving because of Nostalrius.
WoW has lost all these subs because Blizzard did a piss poor job with WoD. Furthermore, the game is without any new content since June 2015 when 6.2 came, which was nothing more than a grind fest.
Now, considering Legion will land around late August or early September this means that WoW will reach 15 months without content. 15 months!
I would bet if you wanted a Vanilla server they would want more commitment from people than a monthly sub for its development and upkeep. What if they wanted a year sub that is $180?
Again I am willing to pay $20 to $30 a month for a Vanilla\TBC Sub As long as I could do both times Vanilla and TBC servers and no cash shop. The only other catch is making sure they do fix bugs and keep it up dated. I am fine with paying a sub. Right now I am paying one for myself in FFXIV and my wife is paying for her FFXIV sub. Now if they put a cash shop in I would had a problem with a more expensive sub, well outside of the Charity Mounts deal, if they want to add in the $20 mount where $19 go to cancer research or something I am cool with that.
I am also willing to pay but you Dan and I and people like us who will pay are a minority. That is the reason they will not offer it. if we represented a lucrative market they would do it in a heartbeat. It's pipe dreams to think we represent a significant portion of the market.
I would bet if you wanted a Vanilla server they would want more commitment from people than a monthly sub for its development and upkeep. What if they wanted a year sub that is $180?
Again I am willing to pay $20 to $30 a month for a Vanilla\TBC Sub As long as I could do both times Vanilla and TBC servers and no cash shop. The only other catch is making sure they do fix bugs and keep it up dated. I am fine with paying a sub. Right now I am paying one for myself in FFXIV and my wife is paying for her FFXIV sub. Now if they put a cash shop in I would had a problem with a more expensive sub, well outside of the Charity Mounts deal, if they want to add in the $20 mount where $19 go to cancer research or something I am cool with that.
your 40 or 60 for 2 months of nostalgia does not a server deserve.
copyright does have to be reapplied for. About the only thing I could see is adding in a clause where the item has to be shown to still be actively used or no copyright. Not sure if something like that exists already.
This is about more than copyright infringement though. It is about trademark as well, which doesn't expire. They are misusing the WoW trademarks along with copyright infringement. Even if someone could make an argument for the copyright, I don't think they could for the trademarks.
as applies to WoW the private servers are wrong all around.
I'm not a lawyer so maybe trademark infringement doesn't apply here, but if you are maybe you can explain why it doesn't. It definitely seems like they are appropriating the trademarks owned by Acti-Blizz and it would be easy to confuse what is official and what is Blizz when someone is in game.
they are using Blizzards code and Blizzards name to promote their server.
You cannot pick and chose the laws you wish to abide by. It's black and white and it is wrong and it should be shut down. Once you create something and have it stolen you will understand it.
Well Everquest servers that used their vanilla version were packed initially and then they dwindle over time. If this type of servers were able to make a lot of money for Blizzard they would do it. They are in a better position from their own studies of the market and yet they do not offer it. Perhaps they do have an insight on how these populations do not last after the first few months.
I think companies are better suited to know their market then players who only see things from their perspective.
Wrong Again. Vanilla WOW and TBC I had a sub for all about 3 months in 4 years. The Core reason I didnt have a sub for those 3 months was lack of time because what was my game time I was helping a friend with his mother who had cancer. I didnt have time for TBC WOW during that 3 months. As for many of my friends who played during that time frame. All had very short spans that they didnt sub because of real life, lets be honest real life is more important that WOW.
Now since the WOTLK I have only subbed for a total of around 36 months out of 6 years. This is because they changed from a engaging game which takes me time to get what I want in the game vs a fast food like game I dont stick around. The same is said for many of the people I played with and many people said on this website. Its because they changed from something that is a Hobby to something more in line with a single player game like Neverwinter nights 2, buy the game play X amount stop playing. That model has proven to not work for MMOs. Why are there no longer anymore AAA MMOs being made? F2P, B2P, Fast Food content DO NOT WORK.
This is IP theft but there is a good amount of players that want to play in the Vanilla WOW TBC WOW time period. If Blizzard did offer these servers to me I would come back even if the Subscription was $20 to $30 a month. Even if it is 1% to 10% of their population that end up coming back I bet you that Blizzard will make a good money stream off these classic servers.
The problem is Blizzard is loosen so much money because no one except a group of people who do not like MMOS want to play WOW right now. I want an MMO that pushes me to group and makes Dungeons an affair where I need to schedule it with friends OR socially interact with people. Cross Realm Automated group files killed social interaction and allowed a lot of garbage into MMOs. The GO GO GO GO ME ME ME bunch love it while hurting large amounts of players. Just look at how many players quit WOW.
Problem is Blizzard is just stupid because they are run by people who think more accessibility equals more subscribers which equals more money. Yet they have that now and are loosen money.
how exactly are they losing money?
If at one time you had 11.5 Million Subs and today you have only 5.4 Million Subs you make a lot less money than you did when you had 11.5 Million Subs. So that is how they are loosen money. By people not subscribing.
People are not unsubscribing and / or leaving because of Nostalrius.
WoW has lost all these subs because Blizzard did a piss poor job with WoD. Furthermore, the game is without any new content since June 2015 when 6.2 came, which was nothing more than a grind fest.
Now, considering Legion will land around late August or early September this means that WoW will reach 15 months without content. 15 months!
Yeah, blame it on Nostalrius.
No its not the problem with Nortalrius. I am not saying that. I am saying its because there is a huge differences in game play today vs 10 years ago. Take BWL for example, it was added in July 2005 and most people have not been there yet OR still working on it that wanted to when TBC Released in January 2007.
The problem is today's content last all of about 2 months just so we can have tools that facilitate convenience. Vanilla and TBC had none of this and it is why people stuck with these versions and want these versions.
I would bet if you wanted a Vanilla server they would want more commitment from people than a monthly sub for its development and upkeep. What if they wanted a year sub that is $180?
Again I am willing to pay $20 to $30 a month for a Vanilla\TBC Sub As long as I could do both times Vanilla and TBC servers and no cash shop. The only other catch is making sure they do fix bugs and keep it up dated. I am fine with paying a sub. Right now I am paying one for myself in FFXIV and my wife is paying for her FFXIV sub. Now if they put a cash shop in I would had a problem with a more expensive sub, well outside of the Charity Mounts deal, if they want to add in the $20 mount where $19 go to cancer research or something I am cool with that.
your 40 or 60 for 2 months of nostalgia does not a server deserve.
Sorry but I would likely be playing for a few years. I been playing FFXIV again Since Dec 2014 because its a hell of a lot better game than WOW is today. Wrong again. You are just throwing darts at a dart board because you THINK you know something, I am telling you I know because I truly do. I been playing MMOs for a long time, I made many friends over the years, still talk to many a few times a year, I understand why they liked Vanilla TBC WOW so much even if somethings would need to change today. I spent so many hours on forums and talking to people there, I talk to people who dont talk on the forums. You are listening to a business who puts stockholders before the customer. That's bad business and which is what is wrong with our economy.
I would bet if you wanted a Vanilla server they would want more commitment from people than a monthly sub for its development and upkeep. What if they wanted a year sub that is $180?
Again I am willing to pay $20 to $30 a month for a Vanilla\TBC Sub As long as I could do both times Vanilla and TBC servers and no cash shop. The only other catch is making sure they do fix bugs and keep it up dated. I am fine with paying a sub. Right now I am paying one for myself in FFXIV and my wife is paying for her FFXIV sub. Now if they put a cash shop in I would had a problem with a more expensive sub, well outside of the Charity Mounts deal, if they want to add in the $20 mount where $19 go to cancer research or something I am cool with that.
your 40 or 60 for 2 months of nostalgia does not a server deserve.
Sorry but I would likely be playing for a few years. I been playing FFXIV again Since Dec 2014 because its a hell of a lot better game than WOW is today. Wrong again. You are just throwing darts at a dart board because you THINK you know something, I am telling you I know because I truly do. I been playing MMOs for a long time, I made many friends over the years, still talk to many a few times a year, I understand why they liked Vanilla TBC WOW so much even if somethings would need to change today. I spent so many hours on forums and talking to people there, I talk to people who dont talk on the forums. You are listening to a business who puts stockholders before the customer. That's bad business and which is what is wrong with our economy.
then fork over the years sub to show loyalty to the product....
What is wrong with our economy is that people want everything for free not understanding the cost that goes into making, sustaining, or employing people.
Well Everquest servers that used their vanilla version were packed initially and then they dwindle over time. If this type of servers were able to make a lot of money for Blizzard they would do it. They are in a better position from their own studies of the market and yet they do not offer it. Perhaps they do have an insight on how these populations do not last after the first few months.
I think companies are better suited to know their market then players who only see things from their perspective.
I do think they have some very smart market analysts going over the various benefits, issues, and risks. It's possible they could make more money by opening a vanilla server. It's also possible that there is a great risk it could cost more long term, in many ways, than it would benefit them so they choose not to take that risk.
I also agree with your idea that a lot of players would not pay to play vanilla. They play on these servers because it's free. They may not even prefer vanilla, but they play there because they can get a decent enough experience without having to fork over cash.
The lack of overwhelming success for the EQ TLP and EQ2 TLE servers should be noted. There wasn't a mass conversion from p99 over to EQ TLP. A lot of TLP and TLE players were already All Access members with characters on Live. So all that accomplished was fracturing the community and increasing resource load.
then why not play on the private servers that emulate the more recent content if all they want is to play for free? or why not play other free to play games? i dont know why it's so hard to understand that people dont always like the same content.
I am also willing to pay but you Dan and I and people like us who will pay are a minority. That is the reason they will not offer it. if we represented a lucrative market they would do it in a heartbeat. It's pipe dreams to think we represent a significant portion of the market.
I dont think we are in the minority, but we are not the majority either. We are a sector of the market is what I am saying. Is it lucrative and going to bring their stock up $10 per, Hell no. Is there at least a handful of servers plus maintenance worth of income for them. Yes.
The PROBLEM again is they are putting Stockholders first Customers last. If Blizzard was a privately held company today they would go after this sector because they will not be looking to make 30%+ margin on this market. They might make between 10% to 20%. Hell I bet they could make more by asking community members to become part time Blizzard employees. For example I am an IT guy, yes I am a windows guy and they likely build WOW On UNIX. But if WOW was on windows and they needed me to come in for 10 hours a year and gave me 2 months free access I would do it. I wouldnt doubt there are some Developers out there that might do the same.
I am also willing to pay but you Dan and I and people like us who will pay are a minority. That is the reason they will not offer it. if we represented a lucrative market they would do it in a heartbeat. It's pipe dreams to think we represent a significant portion of the market.
I dont think we are in the minority, but we are not the majority either. We are a sector of the market is what I am saying. Is it lucrative and going to bring their stock up $10 per, Hell no. Is there at least a handful of servers plus maintenance worth of income for them. Yes.
The PROBLEM again is they are putting Stockholders first Customers last. If Blizzard was a privately held company today they would go after this sector because they will not be looking to make 30%+ margin on this market. They might make between 10% to 20%. Hell I bet they could make more by asking community members to become part time Blizzard employees. For example I am an IT guy, yes I am a windows guy and they likely build WOW On UNIX. But if WOW was on windows and they needed me to come in for 10 hours a year and gave me 2 months free access I would do it. I wouldnt doubt there are some Developers out there that might do the same.
I think you over estimate the people that would pay to make this server worth it over the long run...over estimate by a lot.
I would bet if you wanted a Vanilla server they would want more commitment from people than a monthly sub for its development and upkeep. What if they wanted a year sub that is $180?
Again I am willing to pay $20 to $30 a month for a Vanilla\TBC Sub As long as I could do both times Vanilla and TBC servers and no cash shop. The only other catch is making sure they do fix bugs and keep it up dated. I am fine with paying a sub. Right now I am paying one for myself in FFXIV and my wife is paying for her FFXIV sub. Now if they put a cash shop in I would had a problem with a more expensive sub, well outside of the Charity Mounts deal, if they want to add in the $20 mount where $19 go to cancer research or something I am cool with that.
your 40 or 60 for 2 months of nostalgia does not a server deserve.
Sorry but I would likely be playing for a few years. I been playing FFXIV again Since Dec 2014 because its a hell of a lot better game than WOW is today. Wrong again. You are just throwing darts at a dart board because you THINK you know something, I am telling you I know because I truly do. I been playing MMOs for a long time, I made many friends over the years, still talk to many a few times a year, I understand why they liked Vanilla TBC WOW so much even if somethings would need to change today. I spent so many hours on forums and talking to people there, I talk to people who dont talk on the forums. You are listening to a business who puts stockholders before the customer. That's bad business and which is what is wrong with our economy.
then fork over the years sub to show loyalty to the product....
What is wrong with our economy is that people want everything for free not understanding the cost that goes into making, sustaining, or employing people.
Yep I totally agree people want things for free. I completely agree there and hate F2P.
Now loyalty to the product. Again I paid for all but 4 years from Vanilla to TBC, Only 3 months off to help my friend and his mother who was battling cancer. Since WOTLK I have hated the product and refuse to pay for the current crap. IF Legion removes LFD and LFR and brings back TBC and Vanilla type instances which require CC I will come back. Otherwise I will keep paying and playing FFXIV like I have for 2+ years now.
So you are not talking to a F2P fanboy by any means I more or less hate F2P outside of Demos 2 week F2P demo I am good with that.
I am also willing to pay but you Dan and I and people like us who will pay are a minority. That is the reason they will not offer it. if we represented a lucrative market they would do it in a heartbeat. It's pipe dreams to think we represent a significant portion of the market.
I dont think we are in the minority, but we are not the majority either. We are a sector of the market is what I am saying. Is it lucrative and going to bring their stock up $10 per, Hell no. Is there at least a handful of servers plus maintenance worth of income for them. Yes.
The PROBLEM again is they are putting Stockholders first Customers last. If Blizzard was a privately held company today they would go after this sector because they will not be looking to make 30%+ margin on this market. They might make between 10% to 20%. Hell I bet they could make more by asking community members to become part time Blizzard employees. For example I am an IT guy, yes I am a windows guy and they likely build WOW On UNIX. But if WOW was on windows and they needed me to come in for 10 hours a year and gave me 2 months free access I would do it. I wouldnt doubt there are some Developers out there that might do the same.
I think you over estimate the people that would pay to make this server worth it over the long run...over estimate by a lot.
Nope I dont. I understand marketing type of people. I have 2 friends that work in the Medical field in Marketing. If you think they have good marketing information you will be surprised how many times they are off by large percentages. An example of this in the MMO world is look at SWTOR. Marketing managers were like we need to take KOTRO and just make it WOW. EA\Bioware Spent over $250 Million because market managers were like so many people will pay for STAR WARS WOW, how far was that away from the truth? Was there a market for SWTOR? YEP. Was the market over estimated because of market analytic? YEP, because we looked at what marketing managers collected in data.
Will people in 2 to 4 years get tired of Vanilla WOW TBC WOW. Sure will. Is there money to be made there in the mean time? YEP. Where is the bigger bang for their buck? Well the current path is not going to keep making them money because subs will continue to drop.
The Current State of WOW is the CORE problem and if you listen to what are the core things Vanilla WOW and TBC WOW players want. You might have yourself a better new MMO if you listen to that group vs the F2P, LFD/LFR, Ultra Casual player.
I am also willing to pay but you Dan and I and people like us who will pay are a minority. That is the reason they will not offer it. if we represented a lucrative market they would do it in a heartbeat. It's pipe dreams to think we represent a significant portion of the market.
I dont think we are in the minority, but we are not the majority either. We are a sector of the market is what I am saying. Is it lucrative and going to bring their stock up $10 per, Hell no. Is there at least a handful of servers plus maintenance worth of income for them. Yes.
The PROBLEM again is they are putting Stockholders first Customers last. If Blizzard was a privately held company today they would go after this sector because they will not be looking to make 30%+ margin on this market. They might make between 10% to 20%. Hell I bet they could make more by asking community members to become part time Blizzard employees. For example I am an IT guy, yes I am a windows guy and they likely build WOW On UNIX. But if WOW was on windows and they needed me to come in for 10 hours a year and gave me 2 months free access I would do it. I wouldnt doubt there are some Developers out there that might do the same.
I think you over estimate the people that would pay to make this server worth it over the long run...over estimate by a lot.
Nope I dont. I understand marketing type of people. I have 2 friends that work in the Medical field in Marketing. If you think they have good marketing information you will be surprised how many times they are off by large percentages. An example of this in the MMO world is look at SWTOR. Marketing managers were like we need to take KOTRO and just make it WOW. EA\Bioware Spent over $250 Million because market managers were like so many people will pay for STAR WARS WOW, how far was that away from the truth? Was there a market for SWTOR? YEP. Was the market over estimated because of market analytic? YEP, because we looked at what marketing managers collected in data.
Will people in 2 to 4 years get tired of Vanilla WOW TBC WOW. Sure will. Is there money to be made there in the mean time? YEP. Where is the bigger bang for their buck? Well the current path is not going to keep making them money because subs will continue to drop.
The Current State of WOW is the CORE problem and if you listen to what are the core things Vanilla WOW and TBC WOW players want. You might have yourself a better new MMO if you listen to that group vs the F2P, LFD/LFR, Ultra Casual player.
your example is only correct if SWTOR is a failure....and it has made its money back. So once again I say you over estimate your subjective data in my opinion.
This changes nothing. I'll continue rolling on pirated Vanilla servers until Blizzard offers me an official one. I've already started following another Vanilla project, and they plan to host in a country that Blizz can't touch.
Vanilla WoW is my favorite MMO. Some laws are bad, this is one of them. Go ahead and hide behind the law, Blizzard, you're still wrong.
This changes nothing. I'll continue rolling on pirated Vanilla servers until Blizzard offers me an official one. I've already started following another Vanilla project, and they plan to host in a country that Blizz can't touch.
Vanilla WoW is my favorite MMO. Some laws are bad, this is one of them. Go ahead and hide behind the law, Blizzard, you're still wrong.
I am also willing to pay but you Dan and I and people like us who will pay are a minority. That is the reason they will not offer it. if we represented a lucrative market they would do it in a heartbeat. It's pipe dreams to think we represent a significant portion of the market.
I dont think we are in the minority, but we are not the majority either. We are a sector of the market is what I am saying. Is it lucrative and going to bring their stock up $10 per, Hell no. Is there at least a handful of servers plus maintenance worth of income for them. Yes.
The PROBLEM again is they are putting Stockholders first Customers last. If Blizzard was a privately held company today they would go after this sector because they will not be looking to make 30%+ margin on this market. They might make between 10% to 20%. Hell I bet they could make more by asking community members to become part time Blizzard employees. For example I am an IT guy, yes I am a windows guy and they likely build WOW On UNIX. But if WOW was on windows and they needed me to come in for 10 hours a year and gave me 2 months free access I would do it. I wouldnt doubt there are some Developers out there that might do the same.
I think you over estimate the people that would pay to make this server worth it over the long run...over estimate by a lot.
Nope I dont. I understand marketing type of people. I have 2 friends that work in the Medical field in Marketing. If you think they have good marketing information you will be surprised how many times they are off by large percentages. An example of this in the MMO world is look at SWTOR. Marketing managers were like we need to take KOTRO and just make it WOW. EA\Bioware Spent over $250 Million because market managers were like so many people will pay for STAR WARS WOW, how far was that away from the truth? Was there a market for SWTOR? YEP. Was the market over estimated because of market analytic? YEP, because we looked at what marketing managers collected in data.
Will people in 2 to 4 years get tired of Vanilla WOW TBC WOW. Sure will. Is there money to be made there in the mean time? YEP. Where is the bigger bang for their buck? Well the current path is not going to keep making them money because subs will continue to drop.
The Current State of WOW is the CORE problem and if you listen to what are the core things Vanilla WOW and TBC WOW players want. You might have yourself a better new MMO if you listen to that group vs the F2P, LFD/LFR, Ultra Casual player.
your example is only correct if SWTOR is a failure....and it has made its money back. So once again I say you over estimate your subjective data in my opinion.
SWTOR didnt make their money back while being a P2P game which was the original design of SWTOR. They had to make the game F2P to make any money off the game. So while you're partly correct you are also wrong.
Yes what you are saying I over estimate is your opinion, the truth is this 11.5 Million players played during the toughest period of WOW. WOW Watered down their game to the point people refuse to play it in the current condition and continue to leave the game. There is a far more loyal group that loves the Vanilla TBC Time period because the game was not watered down compared to the current state. The current state of WOW is not acceptable but to a market that while larger tends to not be the money making market at least in MMORPGS. Now that market works well for MOBAs because its cheap easy fast content. That does not work for MMORPGs we seen that for 10 years now. Thats the truth.
So what are people like me really asking for? A better version of MMOs that more resembles WOW. Wildstar was not it, for example I would never play action combat, I had 2 friends out of 2 dozen that would play vanilla WOW again that played Wildstar because of the Action Combat style. Like I will not play ESO because I dont play PVP and ESO is PVP focused.
Really what needs to be done is ask that loyal player base. What do you like about Vanilla TBC WOW and if things were to change what would they be. That would make a great structure to a new MMO for Blizzard.
copyright does have to be reapplied for. About the only thing I could see is adding in a clause where the item has to be shown to still be actively used or no copyright. Not sure if something like that exists already.
This is about more than copyright infringement though. It is about trademark as well, which doesn't expire. They are misusing the WoW trademarks along with copyright infringement. Even if someone could make an argument for the copyright, I don't think they could for the trademarks.
as applies to WoW the private servers are wrong all around.
I'm not a lawyer so maybe trademark infringement doesn't apply here, but if you are maybe you can explain why it doesn't. It definitely seems like they are appropriating the trademarks owned by Acti-Blizz and it would be easy to confuse what is official and what is Blizz when someone is in game.
they are using Blizzards code and Blizzards name to promote their server.
This is not to justify or judge anything with Blizzard or Nostalrius
But if I promote and sell A WoW Class guide, am i not also infringing on the same assets?
a guide based off your experiences is fine. Making a Server for people to practice with you using WoW's code is not. If you said "Endorsed by Blizzard" and it is not is infringing on Blizzard's name.
This changes nothing. I'll continue rolling on pirated Vanilla servers until Blizzard offers me an official one. I've already started following another Vanilla project, and they plan to host in a country that Blizz can't touch.
Vanilla WoW is my favorite MMO. Some laws are bad, this is one of them. Go ahead and hide behind the law, Blizzard, you're still wrong.
Have fun...hope your id gets stolen....
It's not nice to say things like that and you don't add any meaningful discussion to thread. Like what do you get out of saying something like that? If you really believe that he can get his ID stolen, actually you should be concerned and you could explain how it would be possible and maybe even convince them to reconsider. If you don't want to do that and basically just insult them instead, then maybe you shouldn't respond. You have some issues.
Comments
Yes some things back then will not work today, example 40 man raids. But if you said ok we will make a Classic WOW Server but we are going to make things flexible from 10 to 40 people you would have some successful classic servers.
I think companies are better suited to know their market than players who only see things from their perspective.
WoW has lost all these subs because Blizzard did a piss poor job with WoD. Furthermore, the game is without any new content since June 2015 when 6.2 came, which was nothing more than a grind fest.
Now, considering Legion will land around late August or early September this means that WoW will reach 15 months without content. 15 months!
Yeah, blame it on Nostalrius.
your 40 or 60 for 2 months of nostalgia does not a server deserve.
they are using Blizzards code and Blizzards name to promote their server.
Wrong Again. Vanilla WOW and TBC I had a sub for all about 3 months in 4 years. The Core reason I didnt have a sub for those 3 months was lack of time because what was my game time I was helping a friend with his mother who had cancer. I didnt have time for TBC WOW during that 3 months. As for many of my friends who played during that time frame. All had very short spans that they didnt sub because of real life, lets be honest real life is more important that WOW.
Now since the WOTLK I have only subbed for a total of around 36 months out of 6 years. This is because they changed from a engaging game which takes me time to get what I want in the game vs a fast food like game I dont stick around. The same is said for many of the people I played with and many people said on this website. Its because they changed from something that is a Hobby to something more in line with a single player game like Neverwinter nights 2, buy the game play X amount stop playing. That model has proven to not work for MMOs. Why are there no longer anymore AAA MMOs being made? F2P, B2P, Fast Food content DO NOT WORK.
The problem is today's content last all of about 2 months just so we can have tools that facilitate convenience. Vanilla and TBC had none of this and it is why people stuck with these versions and want these versions.
Sorry but I would likely be playing for a few years. I been playing FFXIV again Since Dec 2014 because its a hell of a lot better game than WOW is today. Wrong again. You are just throwing darts at a dart board because you THINK you know something, I am telling you I know because I truly do. I been playing MMOs for a long time, I made many friends over the years, still talk to many a few times a year, I understand why they liked Vanilla TBC WOW so much even if somethings would need to change today. I spent so many hours on forums and talking to people there, I talk to people who dont talk on the forums. You are listening to a business who puts stockholders before the customer. That's bad business and which is what is wrong with our economy.
then fork over the years sub to show loyalty to the product....
What is wrong with our economy is that people want everything for free not understanding the cost that goes into making, sustaining, or employing people.
I had fun once, it was terrible.
The PROBLEM again is they are putting Stockholders first Customers last. If Blizzard was a privately held company today they would go after this sector because they will not be looking to make 30%+ margin on this market. They might make between 10% to 20%. Hell I bet they could make more by asking community members to become part time Blizzard employees. For example I am an IT guy, yes I am a windows guy and they likely build WOW On UNIX. But if WOW was on windows and they needed me to come in for 10 hours a year and gave me 2 months free access I would do it. I wouldnt doubt there are some Developers out there that might do the same.
Now loyalty to the product. Again I paid for all but 4 years from Vanilla to TBC, Only 3 months off to help my friend and his mother who was battling cancer. Since WOTLK I have hated the product and refuse to pay for the current crap. IF Legion removes LFD and LFR and brings back TBC and Vanilla type instances which require CC I will come back. Otherwise I will keep paying and playing FFXIV like I have for 2+ years now.
So you are not talking to a F2P fanboy by any means I more or less hate F2P outside of Demos 2 week F2P demo I am good with that.
Will people in 2 to 4 years get tired of Vanilla WOW TBC WOW. Sure will. Is there money to be made there in the mean time? YEP. Where is the bigger bang for their buck? Well the current path is not going to keep making them money because subs will continue to drop.
The Current State of WOW is the CORE problem and if you listen to what are the core things Vanilla WOW and TBC WOW players want. You might have yourself a better new MMO if you listen to that group vs the F2P, LFD/LFR, Ultra Casual player.
your example is only correct if SWTOR is a failure....and it has made its money back. So once again I say you over estimate your subjective data in my opinion.
Vanilla WoW is my favorite MMO. Some laws are bad, this is one of them. Go ahead and hide behind the law, Blizzard, you're still wrong.
Yes what you are saying I over estimate is your opinion, the truth is this 11.5 Million players played during the toughest period of WOW. WOW Watered down their game to the point people refuse to play it in the current condition and continue to leave the game. There is a far more loyal group that loves the Vanilla TBC Time period because the game was not watered down compared to the current state. The current state of WOW is not acceptable but to a market that while larger tends to not be the money making market at least in MMORPGS. Now that market works well for MOBAs because its cheap easy fast content. That does not work for MMORPGs we seen that for 10 years now. Thats the truth.
So what are people like me really asking for? A better version of MMOs that more resembles WOW. Wildstar was not it, for example I would never play action combat, I had 2 friends out of 2 dozen that would play vanilla WOW again that played Wildstar because of the Action Combat style. Like I will not play ESO because I dont play PVP and ESO is PVP focused.
Really what needs to be done is ask that loyal player base. What do you like about Vanilla TBC WOW and if things were to change what would they be. That would make a great structure to a new MMO for Blizzard.
But if I promote and sell A WoW Class guide, am i not also infringing on the same assets?
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee