Hey everyone, I’m someone who develops visual mods for other online games and I’m here to ask why is the ToS so strict with visual/cosmetic mods? I’ve read that some people developed mods that changed the game files to give tactical advantages to the users, and I agree with the ToS there, they should be banned. But we’re talking about texture changes, model edits and what not, basically something extra to expand our experience with the game.
Maybe changing the ToS “no mod” policy to “no mod **that gives a tactical advantage to the user **” would be a great way to motivate the creators in your community to start working on this game that they love so much.
Thank you for reading my wall of text!
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Because they are the same function. So allowing one allows the other.
same function?
sorry, could you elaborate?
for example, I’d like to upscale a few old textures, and maybe change a few colors here and there
As far as the system and detection is concerned it’s the same action.
Modifying files ain’t allowed, Warden would detect it and will suspend your account.
hmm, so it’s a anti-cheat detection issue, I see
thank you
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So exactly the things that people would use to cheat? Make players a Bright Pink Texture so they can’t hide. Turn their models into massive blobs that can be see from across half the map… Nope sorry, no changing game files in an MMO.
I’m aware, I read the ToS
this is a post suggesting to allow specific kinds of mods that don’t give any tactical advantage to the players
All Warden does is check if a file is different to what’s official… it can’t differentiate between a legitimate modded file and a cheat.
Games like Counter-Strike were notorious for having modded models to have gun barrels a lot longer to poke through doors and walls.
That’s extremely valid, I always forget that people will skew anything they’re given to get one-up over other people if given the chance
well, it’s a shame, I had a few ideas in mind that I would love to try and share with the community but if allowing cosmetic mods gives such an edge to the players who seek it than there’s nothing I or Blizz can do
It’s simply too hard and costly to make sure those rules are followed. So they just don’t allow any of it.
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The reason it’s a global ban is because there is no way to detect whether your modifications give you an unfair advantage or become a security risk.
So to play it safe, it’s outright banned.
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yeah no thx .have you seen what kind of things ffxiv illegal mod creators have been making ? i am happy that wow doesnot allow any such thing and they enforce it .
Well, it’s optional, and you never get to see what other people are using, so I believe it doesn’t affect you in any way
That’s a shame there’s no way for Warden to differentiate.
After flying through loads of old zones for the 20th anniversary quests, you realise just how dated some legacy textures are. I’d love to revisit areas like Zul’Gurub but have nicer upscaled trees for example.
As far as tmog goes as well, the majority of pre WOD armours are also looking very dated, and are hard to pair with modern items. I would also enjoy a mod that modernise the look of old armours. The T2 remakes really, really make want to have an upscaled version of the Sanctified Scourglord Plate, and I bet you that guys like you would make these kind of mods.
Alas seems like we can’t have any nice things because people will likely abuse it.
Someone using a mod to make all models 2x their size in their client, or to replace the rogue’s stealth with a sparkle effect doesn’t affect you?
please understand the context of my answer
what you’re quoting was my answer to Naturegirl’s reply, they weren’t talking about visual advantages but their taste when it comes to original x visual mods, not “tactical advantage” mods
I didn’t expect the forum community to be this aggressive lol
To be fair, discord and reddit are worse. Welcome to WOW. ^^
On your question, I think what people answered already give a decent tl:dr on the why. Even if you intend small things or just some tunning / mods to look cooler, that will open a window for cheating and abuse, and the resources needed for that to be looked at if ever was made live, was gonna be a massive cost to the company - at least - to be safe ingame.
WOW already suffers with some cheating, hacks and bots, opening more windows or possibilities is something people will get very passionate about and therefore just entirely shut it down asap. Don’t take it too hard on yourself, it’s the fact that people care so much and they think this is more likely a terrible idea than a good idea, even if you have the best intentions.
Thank you for taking the time to suggest it tho ^^. Hope this helps ya understand it better.
yeah, unfortunately we can’t have nice things, and in this case it’s not Blizz’s fault
well, at least I tried
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