Addons free from now on, per Blizzard: KeyClone okay?

[Khatovar]

I was surprised that addons were allowed in World of Warcraft right after release (maybe before release too, but I wasn't around then) because addons were considered EVIL to EverQuest and other MMOs.

Decal + BanditSight, Nerfus Buffus, Castaway, RoboChef, TreeStats, Splitpea...all addons I recall using in Asheron's Call loooong before WoW was even a pipe dream. Even unattended bots for things like buffs, portals and Marketplace {player run vendor mules} were acceptable and commonplace. The only things that were considered evil were UCMs {unattended combat macros} which were bannable. Even then, it was the action that was bannable. not the mod itself, much like many of the programs we use today to multi-box.

[Knytestorme]

I don't actually mind this change.

1. Developers can still get paid for their work as they aren't banned for requesting donations in the docs, on the websites, etc
2. Users can be more assured that there is no nefarious code in the base (yes, it's the same argument I feel is worthless for most OSS but here the code is small and simple enough for nearly anyone to check out)
3. Blizzard are a little more covered in terms of protecting their IP (Under US case law if you don't defend your IP in one situation and it can be proven in a case then your IP defense becomes a lot weaker, or non-existent, in future cases)
4. Blizzard can spend less resources on examining and testing add-ons when people start complaining about getting keyloggers in them.

Yes, it does mean that developers will have to rely on the donation distribution model and I think it's slightly annoying to be told what you can and can't charge for in terms of freedom of choice but there is still the choice there.....develop or don't and I know which way I'm going.

[keyclone]

donations, like shareware, have an extremely low submittance rate ... about 0.1% actually donate
(you don't think Blizzard would shift to a voluntary payment mechanism, do you? ask stray bullet how well that works out)

as for the open software being keylogger free, oh please. i have seen 'open source' software release whose binary didn't match the code. others where the code released couldn't even build. most people just grab the binary and run it. and even if they did download the code, 1 in a thousand may understand what they are looking at, let alone see a potential problem.

[Knytestorme]

donations, like shareware, have an extremely low submittance rate ... about 0.1% actually donate
(you don't think Blizzard would shift to a voluntary payment mechanism, do you? ask stray bullet how well that works out)

as for the open software being keylogger free, oh please. i have seen 'open source' software release whose binary didn't match the code. others where the code released couldn't even build. most people just grab the binary and run it. and even if they did download the code, 1 in a thousand may understand what they are looking at, let alone see a potential problem.

Oh don't worry, I agree with you Rob.....donation method is a very bad model to use for generating income but it's the model most OSS defenders use (and Stallman champions) for developers so if Blizzard are forcing all add-ons to effectively be OSS then we'll see just how many of the proponents eat their own food.

The other comments you make are totally valid as well, and I agree with them 100% BUT I think in this case, if even 1 in 10000 look at and understand the code that is now available word will get out very quickly about any security issues that arise whereas at the moment it's not even that prevalent given most of them come from exe'd add-ons that no-one would even bother de-compiling to check on before there was a question asked about the add-on.

Security through obscurity is never the best way and I think in this case it is one of the reasons Blizzard may be looking at.

Let's take Keyclone as an example, this community is fairly small really and I'm positive that at least a few people de-compiled the first release of it (and maybe quite a few releases after that, possibly some people even still do) so it's fine as a closed solution because there are enough checks and balances on you due to the original consumer base but if you were to have only released it recently as a tool that's more useful to the general public and were up to no good then it would take a lot longer to track down what was happening.

[ragawaga]

Other addons that are charged for are the in game versions of levelling guides such as Brian Kopp's and Zygor's.

I know that they offer the guide as a basic PDF, but you have to pay extra for the in-game version.

[Kel]

I see this as a neutral/positive change, probably because I don't use any addons that require payment and also because I'm only an end user of software development. It could be seen as a move to nip this sort of behaviour in the bud, I don't know how much Carbonite costs, but there is a risk that other addon developers would see payment as a good option. There's not many people who wouldn't like a bit of extra income and for people making good quality addons and keeping them updated regularly for fun it could be very appealing to charge for it too if it seems that the market is out there. If it did become a widespread thing though it creates a divide in game experience between those who are willing/able to pay for addons versus those who are not. There are plenty of addons which aren't really important for game play, but there are many that do provide an edge in various areas (e.g. DBM, omen, healbot).

As a slight aside, in the comments on the WoWInsider article someone was expressing concern that Blizzard could use this to put a stop to addons such as decursive or cooldown timers. As a raider my first reaction was that this would be a terrible thing, on the flip side though many people are complaining about how easy the game is at the moment. This is partly to do with encounter design, but it can't help that for most things it's much easier to get an addon than actually pay attention to what's going on in the game. I'd hate to have to use the default action bars and unit frames, but I can't say I'd be that dissapointed if DBM was removed and you had to pay attention to casting animations on bosses rather than a warning bar on your screen (though I can imagine it would make things a lot harder for guild, like mine, who have a fair few people who can't manage even with addons).

[moog]

I'd hate to have to use the default action bars and unit frames

I'm pretty sure they'd have a lot of cancellations that month... my 5 to start with!

[zanthor]

I was surprised that addons were allowed in World of Warcraft right after release (maybe before release too, but I wasn't around then) because addons were considered EVIL to EverQuest and other MMOs.

Decal + BanditSight, Nerfus Buffus, Castaway, RoboChef, TreeStats, Splitpea...all addons I recall using in Asheron's Call loooong before WoW was even a pipe dream. Even unattended bots for things like buffs, portals and Marketplace {player run vendor mules} were acceptable and commonplace. The only things that were considered evil were UCMs {unattended combat macros} which were bannable. Even then, it was the action that was bannable. not the mod itself, much like many of the programs we use today to multi-box.

EQ supported a customizable UI before the release of WOW. It was XML based and very much a pain in the ass to modify but you could create a totally custom UI if you had the time and skills. I know for a fact it was pre-wow because the day I got into WoW Beta 3 is the day I canceled my EQ accounts as well as my SWG accounts.

[Seraphaw]

I'd hate to have to use the default action bars and unit frames

I'm pretty sure they'd have a lot of cancellations that month... my 5 to start with!

Don't be so melodramatic, it's getting quite old. This is a pretty shitty move by blizzard, but it's not the end of the world... of warcraft.

[Bigfish]

Ah, sweet sweet tight-fisted corporate lawyers. Apparently rule #1 at blizzard is now "Thou shalt not make money if you are not giving Blizzard a cut". Can't wait til they start bugging Keyclone for their share.

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like blizzard is clenching their fist to try and make more money?