You still seem to missunderstand the core issue as to why people where initially banned. It wasn’t because they changed textures, it was because the software was used to by pass the security of the game.
The security got updated to recognize this injector as malicious sofware which it can be, in the wrong hands. People who didn’t use it maliciously got their bans changed to a warning and has been asked to not do so in the future.
So basically, what you’re debating here is:
That one could(in EU) sue blizzard on the basis that, when they(blizzard) shuts down their servers, or parts of it, they’ve by definition sold a fraud product(unsure if you’d have to have bought a physical copy).
-So they’d either be forced to keep up the servers “forever”, or they’d have to release all the serversided information, or pass it on to a new host, to be somewhat easily compiled and revived by others, for customers being able to continuely use the product they paid for?
Ok, I better understand but my point stays the same, Blizzard were in the right for lifting the bans. They broke the TOS, yes but some broke it for trival, non malicious reasons. That’s a different level of offence to using it cover malicious activity.
Each warrant a separate and different level of punishment.
Yes, they’re both fully within their right to both ban lift the ban.
Personally I whould not care if someone was running around with every single player model looking like a pig(to themselves). But players who choose to use, distribute or program injectors that by pass the security protocols of a game have to be dealt with. Because even if a players intent are not malicious in nature, the software itself can be used for such purposes.
That’s also why blizzard always initially bans everyone using these programs, what if someone injects files which cause the client to send multiple simple pings and create a DDoS attack on a server or even worse it tries to make the servers want to download viruses from the clientside client, by using similar or perhaps even the same protocols.
I’m all for individual punishments, but how whould these be performed when the security protocols have been breached?
I don’t disagree, my disagreement was always with people who are upset that blizzard for once took a nuanced route and let off the minor offenders with a lesser punishment.
I’m just wondering here, but if did in fact ban you. Are they then actually legally bound to still provide you a way to be able to use your product regardless, since you own it and decide what you do with it?
-Or do they have legal grounds to keep you blocked from the game?
Well I still disagree that any offence in this could be considered minor. Distributing, sharing and using protocols which breach the security protocols within a games client will always be considered a major offense, probably by most if not all game developers and hopefully most of the playerbase.
However I do agree that intent also have to be taken into consideration, which blizzard have done. But I also feel that blizzard whould had all rights to just keep the bans in place, since I acctually do consider breaches in security protocols as major offenses.
That’s up to local law and weather a video game is a product or service, personally I think there products but I’m not a lawmaker so…
With WoW its sort of both imho you buy a product to access a hosted service.
Owh, that is rather interesting.
That makes sense, that it’s based on local laws. Another nail in the coffin to make it banned in EU.
And thats why i blasted you in the first place. This thread, the entire drama, the reversal of decisions was SPECIFICALLY about texture modders and here you go try to move the goal post and strawman this to oblivion by claiming otherwise.
No. Adjusting blizzard’s sotware without premission is the only way to install a texture pack, but as you instantly admit yourself: Texture packs are not damaging or exploiting the game in anyway
Thats a /thread right there m8.
If there was a support for texture packs just like UI, we would not have this discussion in the first place.
Do you even understand the difference between all these concepts? Bots dont change anything about the game either.
You dismiss agency right off the bat. Failed argument.
Refer to all that has been posted previously. This is and was about texture packs. It is trolls like you who moved the goal post to the means of installing texture mods which cannot be done otherwise than by client modding.
Why do you move the goal post? Because you yourself admit that texture modding is not damaging in any shape or form.
If you had half a brain, you would have simply said that this needs to have support so ppl can install packs without having to climb into the client, but no. Its more important to play smartass like half the trolls in here.
Also, they’d have to refund what you’ve bought from the in-game store once/if the servers shut down, like mounts, cosmetics, pets etc. if they do not provided way to use it in some way after the game ends?
When I said ‘Minor’ I meant it in the context of the offenses perpetrated. People bypassing security to make cosmetic changes is serious problem, but in the bigger picture if there are people exploiting that same program to cheat and do other malicious things is vastly worse.
It’s the “bypassing” and the “editing” that’s the problem in itself, not what they actually did. You can argue that all they want.
Now now… are insults neccessary? I dont think I insulted anyone yet.
Anyway. I never said i thought texture packs were “not damaging in any shape or form.” . DOnt put words into my mouth. That " " in the first quoted sentence was to pick the same words as the poster i was answering to was using, if that is what you mean. Its irrelevant anyway. Security systems were broken.
And then you say that I should support all this and if I dont do it i’m brainless idiot? Ok. I’m sure you live in happy world with such thoughts.
Lets all alter textures. I wouldnt have to use transmogging or anything. I can just alter all my characters look like I want them to. Just to make an example.
If you want to argue about something, dont start with insults. You didnt get anywhere with it. You didnt even say why its failed argument that people should not be allowed to break trough systems in games that expose security problems.
Ect.
Make an argument. I think my point should have been brought out pretty clearly. People broke rules. Rules that are there to make botting, hacks, ect. harder. Even if they did use them for other things, they did still bypass security. Why is that ok to you?
I’m not against modding, but addons give some amount of modding. Ect.
Id argue that whist the bypassing is a problem what problem does editing the games textures pose? In theory if you could do it without the bypassing its only local cosmetic change, functionally its no different to a UI editing addon. Also from the point of a Game dev, ask yourself this “Would I rather people exploit 3rd party programs that compromise security to change textures or cheat?”
The point is there reasoning for doing it was a lot different and in my opinion should be taken into account. The was no Malicious intent behind texture modding. Was it a stupid and dangerous thing to do? definitely but its a whole different ball game to doing it to cheat.
-The issue with injecting software aside, since that can not be discussed. That is hacking you gain acces to some files/systems you are not authorized to. Like mentioned on wowhead getting access to areas you’re otherwise not allowed.
-The problem with editing is, that it’s cheating. Meaning giving you an advantage by luck or skill(in this case skill, by knowing how the files work OUTSIDE the game). it’s only limited to your imagination. Yes you can edit innocent things like your chars bossom; or you can make walls “see-through”, giving you a heavy visual edge over others players in e.g. pvp situations.
-Both can be abused for better or worse.
Not quite, but that’s an aspect of it.
What I’m saying is that Blizzard cannot make your product stop working because they arbitrarily decide to no longer provide their service, since you have reasonable cause to think that it’s a perpetual license to the game, even if it says it isn’t in a very vague way, because you can’t understand the language in which those terms are written, whether that’s referring to it just being another language in general, or if it’s referring to what is known as “legalese”, i.e. language only a lawyer can actually read and therefore consent to. The reasoning may also be that you can’t read it because the text is too small, etc. The way the vanilla WoW box is printed, you can almost feel the panic from Blizzard’s lawyers as they’re printing it. It’s palpable.
World of Warcraft is not on the wrong side of the law in the US, and maybe not even Australia, but probably not even in the majority of the EU, but it is in Denmark.
But again, I really don’t want Blizzard to get ruined over this. I just wanted to give some legal context.
And even if the legality is established, it’s still questionable ethically. Consider how WoW Classic has come about: Because Blizzard decided that World of Warcraft was not worth preserving. They gave us no way to play it, and they actively threatened and sued people who tried to cross them and make it run anyway. It even got to Blizzard, who said they actually played on Nostalrius and loved it, but they had to take it down because there was a legal gray area, and I believe them!
I’ll go back to the Diablo 2 example again. I like Diablo 2 a lot, especially with LoD, but I don’t like what Blizzard did to it with… what was it patch 1.9 or something? Anyway they introduced a ton of new monsters and completely changed the loot system, and then they made mana potions buyable from vendors which basically broke the Energy stat and a bunch of other silly decisions obviously inspired by the D3 design team.
I didn’t like those changes, but Blizzard gave me a choice: I could accept the terms of their service and update the game, or I could play the game as-is without modification, and that’s what I chose to do. I still play Lord of Destruction 1.07. I can even play it as multiplayer, since I can use the LAN feature combined with VPN’s. Me not playing on BattleNet has taken NOTHING away from me other than the service of BattleNet itself.
It’s just straight up beyond me how people can be upset about being banned for violating the terms of use.