Carbonite going free, continuing development
by Mike Schramm 
Mar 30th 2009 at 1:30PM
The guys behind Carbonite have finally responded to Blizzard's new addon policy, and probably not in the way you might have guessed: they're continuing development, and they're making the addon free. Carbonite was rumored to be the addon that started all of this trouble: they had a partial version up for free download, and were charging for the full version of the addon, which apparently Blizzard didn't appreciate. But rather than shutting down the addon completely, they've decided to go free for everyone, and they're continuing development -- version 3.00 is supposed to be out next week.It's worth noting that they still have a number of donate buttons on their download page, which Blizzard is supposedly fine with -- all Blizzard wanted was the donate buttons out of the game itself. And of course, if you find this addon (or any other) helpful, you should definitely support the people who make it.
Reaction on the addon's forums is grateful as expected -- lots of people figured that this addon would be shutting down for good, so many are glad to see it will be continuing development. And one developer does say that Carbonite will be removing any obfuscation from their code, as per the new policy, so it's possible that other addon developers will be able to more easily hook into their code and use their techniques. Of course, whether the addon will still be financially worth it for the devs remains to be seen but for now, they're going along with the new policy and widening their audience at the same time.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Add-Ons, Making money, Hardware
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Hansbo Mar 30th 2009 1:41PM
It's nice to see they werent just in it for the money.
Firestride Mar 30th 2009 1:58PM
Why? Why would capitalist interest make this or any addon worse? It's not a piece of art.
sara Mar 30th 2009 2:52PM
No, you're right that they're not (necessarily) works of art... However, the idea behind addons, which I think is still how Blizz views them, is that they're supposed to be for the love of WOW. You know, enjoying the game, wanting to contribute to it, perhaps even feeling like you're improving the game you enjoy so much.
That being said, I'm sure I'll be clicking the donate button when I go and get the new version of Carbonite. Because I love WOW and I love the contributions people such as the guys behind Carbonite make to the game.
Nick Mar 30th 2009 1:42PM
Good for them!
Glad to see that they aren't being giant babies over this thing like Questhelper.
Right on Carbonite, you just got my download and a donation.
syfie Mar 30th 2009 1:43PM
This ^^
nbcaffeine Mar 30th 2009 2:55PM
I was pissed and removed their addon when they "expired" the free version, which I had begun testing. I liked it, but not enough to be forced upon the pay version. I'll gladly reinstall and donate, just to show support for not being a child like the QH devs.
Jodi Mar 30th 2009 5:11PM
/agreed
bdew Mar 31st 2009 3:36AM
/sign
Also i find it fun how developers that base their stuff on an open comunity and framework get all butthurt and emo when blizz limited their posibilities of getting money for it, while developers of a commercial product take it fine and move to open it up.
AltairAntares Mar 30th 2009 1:43PM
Sorry, I tried carbonite after I had reinstall my addons, and couldn't stand questing with it for more then 5 minutes. The gui was terrible, what ever they did to the minimap was horrific, and there was no possible way to understand how their system was supposed to work because their help system was laughable.
Questhelper maybe (severly) messed up, but at least you can figure out how it's supposed to work...
Trasken Mar 30th 2009 1:51PM
I think it's an acquired taste type of thing. Personally I love it in particular for the minimap thing. It saves me from having to switch to my main map every so often.
Then again my brother, like you, can't stand it. He's a huge QH fan.
Grubba Mar 30th 2009 2:13PM
You're right, it's a pretty complicated system.
*Accept quest
*Look at map, see colored area
*Go to colored area and do the quest
What could they have possibly been thinking, making such a confusing mess of it?
DavidC Mar 30th 2009 3:00PM
@AltairAntares
It took me a while to get used to the mini-map. At first I was taken aback, but after using it for a couple of days, I keep it on all the time for various things. (including the punk tracker, I hate it when not enough carbonite users are on and I can't track the punks and go kill them).
As far as "helper" is concerned, I find Zygor's to be a much much better add-on to use. The tracker / objective window is nicer and it doesn't mess with your maps. If Zygor would just put in a normal quest tracker that has *all* the quests in it, not just the scripted one, I would use that all the time.
AltairAntares Mar 30th 2009 3:15PM
@Grubba. Ah yes, the mini map, it'd such great things, if only I could see what it was trying to say, unfortunately, all it is is some mutated screenshot from a 1980's videogame screen....
akw Mar 30th 2009 3:17PM
That's odd. I found Carbonite to be completely intuitive, and I think their redesign of the map is absolutely outstanding from a usability standpoint.
syberghost Mar 30th 2009 4:06PM
So unclick the little checkbox in the config and make the minimap go back to how it was.
Beelaa Mar 30th 2009 7:17PM
When I first installed Carbonite months ago, I discovered how easy questing could be ... (~~what's that ~ that quest was THAT close all along /facepalm ~ Cool ~~). Every aspect of the minimap is configurable - perhaps the scroll button was necessary to make it more useful for you.
I'm very grateful the Carbonite folks are in this for the love of the game - they have my support.
Togusan Mar 30th 2009 1:46PM
And i testing it, and if its worth i'm donating too.
Hasteur Mar 30th 2009 1:53PM
As a subscriber to the premium version I wonder what benefit those of us who took it like professionals and got the premium version will get out of this move to free
crsh Mar 30th 2009 5:00PM
I was wondering just the same thing.
Necrotica Mar 30th 2009 2:05PM
The benefit of knowing you possibly helped cause the problem to begin with? =)