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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsNew add-on policy makes selling add-ons against the rules
by Adam Holisky 
Mar 20th 2009 at 6:00PM
According to the policy, add-ons must be free of charge, may not solicit donations, and their code must be completely visible.
This means some leveling mods that charge for their use are now against the rules. Essentially if you develop a mod it has to be released and distributed for free – no charge is acceptable. And for those thinking "well, the developer could just charge for the download service then." Not true.
The complete statement after the break.
"All add-ons must be distributed free of charge. Developers may not create "premium" versions of add-ons with additional for-pay features, charge money to download an add-on, charge for services related to the add-on, or otherwise require some form of monetary compensation to download or access an add-on."
That is pretty specific to not allowing add-on developers to gain any money from the actual add-on. While this does not include revenue from ads on the developer's site, the policy does go on to say that add-on may not include advertisements or solicit donations in-game. They've pretty much covered up every avenue available to make money off the actual code.
The final point on the add-on policy says that Blizzard has the right to disable add-ons as they see fit. I read this in two ways: they reserve the right to disable all add-ons, and they reserve the right to disable certain add-ons. Of course this should be understood given that WoW is their game and they can do pretty much whatever they want with it, but seeing it spelled out is a tad... unnerving.
You can read their full add-on policy below, or head over to their site.
World of Warcraft User Interface Add-On Development Policy
With the continuing popularity of World of Warcraft user interface add-ons (referred to hereafter as "add-ons") created by the community of players, Blizzard Entertainment has formalized design and distribution guidelines for add-ons. These guidelines have been put in place to ensure the integrity of World of Warcraft and to help promote an enjoyable gaming environment for all of our players - failure to abide by them may result in measures up to and including taking formal legal action.
1) Add-ons must be free of charge.
All add-ons must be distributed free of charge. Developers may not create "premium" versions of add-ons with additional for-pay features, charge money to download an add-on, charge for services related to the add-on, or otherwise require some form of monetary compensation to download or access an add-on.
2) Add-on code must be completely visible.
The programming code of an add-on must in no way be hidden or obfuscated, and must be freely accessible to and viewable by the general public.
3) Add-ons must not negatively impact World of Warcraft realms or other players.
Add-ons will perform no function which, in Blizzard Entertainment's sole discretion, negatively impacts the performance of the World of Warcraft realms or otherwise negatively affects the game for other players. For example, this includes but is not limited to excessive use of the chat system, unnecessary loading from the hard disk, and slow frame rates.
4) Add-ons may not include advertisements.
Add-ons may not be used to advertise any goods or services.
5) Add-ons may not solicit donations.
Add-ons may not include requests for donations. We recognize the immense amount of effort and resources that go into developing an add-on; however, such requests should be limited to the add-on website or distribution site and should not appear in the game.
6) Add-ons must not contain offensive or objectionable material.
World of Warcraft has been given a "T" by the ESRB, and similar ratings from other ratings boards around the world. Blizzard Entertainment requires that add-ons not include any material that would not be allowed under these ratings.
7) Add-ons must abide by World of Warcraft ToU and EULA.
All add-ons must follow the World of Warcraft Terms of Use and the World of Warcraft End User License Agreement.
8) Blizzard Entertainment has the right to disable add-on functionality as it sees fit.
To maintain the integrity World of Warcraft and ensure the best possible gaming experience for our players, Blizzard Entertainment reserves the right to disable any add-on functionality within World of Warcraft at its sole discretion.
Edited to clarify a few things.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Economy, Add-Ons
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 10)
Spark Mar 20th 2009 7:54PM
---
Says Thomas Prescott:
That said, there's no way Blizzard could enforce this regardless of what they say. They could figure out some way of disabling the code used to obscure the source of Carbonite, but I think it would be in vain. People would still figure out ways around stuff, and ultimately if people see something worth its price they'll buy it, simple as that.
---
Certainly. Blizzard was unable to scuttle addons like AutoTravel and Decursive. Furthermore, they were completely helpless when faced with Glider. These things are thriving today despite Blizzard's ire. Blizzard is completely helpless in these matters.
In reality, Blizzard has full control over what aspects of LUA they implement in WoW. That alone gives them a lot of control over what can or can not be done in the realms of addons. And they've exercised that control to both remove and add functionality. Beyond that, they have Warden.
Thomas Prescott Mar 20th 2009 8:04PM
There isn't a technical way to prevent someone from charging for an addon. This would have to be done via the courtroom at Blizz's expense. Unlike crap like glider, Carbonite doesn't diminish your game experience. For Blizzard to legally pursuit these companies would be foolhardy from a financial standpoint.
Chris Anthony Mar 21st 2009 12:10AM
It's true, Thomas, Blizzard can't block people from charging for their addons. However, they *can* block whatever addon they choose, which is functionally the same thing: who's going to pay for an addon they can't use?
DCoW Mar 21st 2009 6:59AM
Silly Silly.
If Bliz wanted to, they could simply change the code so that zero addons would be able to work. ever.
Be happy that you have your free addons
Paul Mar 20th 2009 6:39PM
Went on Zygor's site, They are claining that thier add on is free....its the guide that they are charging for.....interesting...will stay tuned
Erogroth Mar 20th 2009 6:53PM
I posted this further up but since its on topic here as well this is a quote form Zygor himself:
"Those policy guidelines are nothing new, they've always been there. Besides, we do not charge for our addons. When you purchase our products, you are purchasing the information and our time to provide the information. The addons we've built are simply our method of providing that information to you, they are free with our service.
At any rate, whatever must be done will be done and we, Zygor Guides, will continue to work hard to provide you with the best guides possible."
PeeWee Mar 20th 2009 7:09PM
I hope they have good lawyers.
Captain Charisma Mar 20th 2009 6:44PM
Actually Thomas Blizzard DOES INDEED own the code in question. These Add-on makers are taking the CODE that is already written in-game and modifying it to do what they want it to do. Blizzard has the right to say NO to everything and anything that goes on in their game that they do not find to their likeing.
Dave Mar 20th 2009 7:08PM
You couldn't be more incorrect.
Blizzard doesn't own 3rd party code, even if that code references and uses pre-existing functions. Blizzard doesn't supply libraries or pre-compiled code, just a list of functions.
The analogy here would be something akin to AT&T owning every single code written in C, because they wrote the interpreter. Code doesn't work like that, and it's been proven in courts.
Blizzard is technically walking a slippery but well funded slope. They don't REALLY have the right to tell people they can't charge for their code, but they'll win in any court case. Addon developers absolutely %100 have the right to accept money for their code because the work is done independent from the Blizzard codebase and Blizzard doesn't have any rights to it. That's the fundamental greed point though, which is where people are getting confused.
Most people are saying "fine, screw the greedy addon developers". Blizzard is saying "we want all the money and we're mad someone else is making money off our game and we want it back". Blizzard is being greedy, and it's kinda shameful honestly.
Carbonite in particular is one I think is mostly justified in charging a very small amount for use. It's not like it's a ton of cash, it's a dollar a month. If that means the guys behind Carbonite can pay for their subs for free and host the code (which isn't free, but most people don't care and would rather people use shit 3rd party sites instead) then I'm all for it. If they can buy a new xbox 360 at the end of the month, whatever. They're doing work, they should get some sort of compensation for it and if they CAN ask for compensation and people WILL PAY it, then they clearly deserve it because the market has declared it to be.
If they're going to start this "no money" policy, they need to extend it to 3rd party sites (ie: wowinterface, curse, etc) and force them to shut down (which is what is going to happen rather than developers just laugh it off and give it away probably).
But at the same time, Blizzard needs to step up and HOST a decent addon development and support site if they're going to start making sweeping statements.
PeeWee Mar 20th 2009 7:12PM
"Blizzard needs to step up and HOST a decent addon development and support site if they're going to start making sweeping statements."
There is nothing saying that they aren't, is there?
Deadly. Off. Topic. Mar 25th 2009 2:43PM
I agree that they need to host the add ons themselves... at least this way they can pick the best of the best and also protect people from downloading any "questionable" addons that take advantage of security risks on the player's computer.
Ryan Mar 20th 2009 6:44PM
I imagine it is just a security to keep Blizzard from being liable in the case that a user gets screwed by some third party addon. I would be surprised if they are going to bother even trying to monitor and enforce the policy without being provoked by legal action against Blizzard by some dope who got scammed by purchasing an addon or something.
James Mar 20th 2009 6:50PM
I think this could be a move to protect Blizzard from potential lawsuits. Imagine that ScrollingCombatText was an addon sold by a third party, a la Carbonite or Zulgor. That company would have decent grounds for filing a legal complaint after it became embedded into the default UI.
With this change in terms, it clears the way for Blizz to legally pirate all the addon source code and intellectual property it wants to.
Ryan Mar 20th 2009 6:57PM
Although, there is nothing in the documents that you don't holedrights to your code.
Malkeior Mar 20th 2009 7:03PM
There's nothing that says you do either, Blizzard wrote the documents and can probably hire a better lawyer.
godai Mar 20th 2009 8:41PM
Well guess its back to decoding carbonite.
I'm currently paying for it and i almost made it to the point that carbonite's source is readable.
It's an odd experiment in bitshifting and XOR.
Reinard Mar 20th 2009 7:16PM
Aaaaand now QuestHelper's developer is emo-ing all over Curse and WoWI and appears to be officially dropping the addon.
/rolleyes
Joseph Mar 20th 2009 7:26PM
Yep, his official note in the new change log is:
"
== Version 0.95 3/20/2009 ==
* Disable donation request.
Bad news, everyone. Questhelper's dead.
"
So hopefully it won't break when 3.1 hits.
SaintStryfe Mar 20th 2009 7:35PM
well, I think it's clear how much he REALLY liked his product then.
Nonny Mar 20th 2009 7:49PM
*sighs and rolls eyes*
I could understand Carbonite more than QH, because theirs is a must-pay model to get the premium features. QH has an in-game donation nag.
... um, yeah, like most people ever get anything but *annoyed* by nags in the first place.