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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsCurse, WoW Interface band together to block WoWMatrix
by Eliah Hecht 
Apr 14th 2009 at 9:30AM
WoWMatrix is a program of dubious morality. It sucks down bandwidth from sites like Curse and WoWInterface like crazy, and displays its own ads while doing so. It does, however, work like a charm. So it is with mixed feelings that I report that Curse and WoW Interface have gotten their heads together and figured out a way to keep WoWMatrix from accessing their files, which means WoWMatrix is of little use going forward.
The idea is that we will now use the official tools provided by those sites: Curse Client from Curse, and an updater that is still in the works for WoW Interface. Unfortunately, the Curse Client for Mac is a work of pure evil uses a lot of obtrusive and non-standard interface elements, as well as being pretty unstable, so I'm not a huge fan of it; I'm not sure how the Windows version stacks up. It also didn't find about half of my addons, including some that I know are on the Curse site, like ClearFont2.
Furthermore, the WoW Interface updater, the only other game in town as far as I can see, appears to have been in limbo for quite some time. So although I recognize that WoWMatrix was putting a drain on the sites, I'm sad that there is no longer a pleasant way for me to update all of my addons, and at best (when the WI updater is released) I'll need to run two separate programs to do the work that WoWMatrix used to do on its own. But if that's what had to happen for Curse and WI to keep their doors open, that's what had to happen.
Filed under: News items, Add-Ons
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 27)
Boydboyd Apr 14th 2009 9:36AM
Sounds good to me!
I do not personally use automatic updaters simply because you never know what some evil kid or adult might do if they can hack into a website. And as well know, if U.S. government agencies can have their sites hacked into, Curse and WoW Interface aren't impenetrable.
I always update manually, however I may consider going auto if these two collaborate and have a good product.
Boydboyd Apr 14th 2009 9:37AM
*and as WE ALL know
Stupid typos. . .
Dale Apr 14th 2009 10:10AM
/facepalm
Dogmeat Apr 14th 2009 10:29AM
And how, exactly, does updating your add-ons manually protect you from Curse or Wowinterface being hacked? Are you analyzing their contents before you install them to make sure they're not malicious? Or is it just that by doing it manually gives you a false sense of control?
Boydboyd Apr 14th 2009 10:31AM
Apparently I haven't thought my methods through very well.
Thanks for your responses.
raingod Apr 14th 2009 12:30PM
If they can't come up with products on an individual basis that work, they won't be able to come up with one that works together. wowmatrix was the best way to get your addons updated. I have no doubt wowmatrix will do something to work around that.
Escrima Apr 14th 2009 9:36AM
Pretty sure Wow UI updater still works.
jerryseinfeld Apr 14th 2009 9:37AM
LAME
Joshua Meadows Apr 14th 2009 9:36AM
Silly DRM.
The people who do WoWMatrix will find a way around it by the weekend, max.
Not that I support bandwidth theft but they really should be trying to talk to the people who own the infringing site and ask them to stop. Getting into a cat-and-mouse will just escalate it with Curse/WowInterface losing out. As long as it's possible for users to grab the information themselves, automated methods to do the same thing are improbably difficult to block.
syberghost Apr 14th 2009 10:15AM
"Ask them to stop" works with reasonable people. WowMatrix has done so many evil things, it's clear they're more the "ignore and report" type of folks.
Joshua Meadows Apr 14th 2009 10:18AM
I have to admit I'm completely unfamiliar with the site, but at first glance siphoning off another site's resources and adding advertising on top of it strikes me as really lame.
I wonder if the DMCA would apply in this case, depending on what level they're stealing and reproducing the other sites' content.
It might be a possibility for them to look into, that way if WoWMatrix refuses to comply they can send a takedown notice to their host instead.
Avan Apr 14th 2009 10:41AM
I don't think it will matter if WoWMatrix can find a way around it by the weekend. All the lazy W-M users need to use it today, and they can't. It's a brilliant move by Curse/WoWI, as their ad revenue is going to go up by a lot today as a result of this.
PopeJamal Apr 14th 2009 10:42AM
"but at first glance siphoning off another site's resources and adding advertising on top of it strikes me as really lame."
So, I guess it would be safe to say that you feel the same way about Google. Correct?
Joshua Ochs Apr 14th 2009 10:46AM
That post by Curse was a HUGE piece of FUD - Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. Nothing in the post was *currently* true except the first one - they "redistribute" addons without permission. Well isn't that the point of an addon manager? Otherwise they point to sins long past and corrected, and then bring out the "they're wasting our resources" boogeyman. BS. WowMatrix actually uses far LESS bandwidth to do its job than either the Curse Client or direct surfing of the site.
Meanwhile, the "Curse Client" is:
- slow
- crashy
- ugly and non-standard
- bandwidth intensive
- processor intensive
- designed to lock you into Curse, regardless of the bastards they are
Meanwhile, if I need an addon added to WowMatrix, I can send them an e-mail and it's usually in there within 12 hours! One click, all updated, and I get on with my playing.
I'm making a donation to WowMatrix today. And in the meantime, uninstalling all but my most essential addons and leaving Curse altogether. And if this isn't rectified soon, I'll likely just quit WoW. It's been on my mind lately, and it maintaining a game becomes a chore like this, I'd rather save the money and get back to my many other ignored games than raise my blood pressure.
Joshua Meadows Apr 14th 2009 10:47AM
Google is a silly comparison. When Google reproduces the entirety of its search index wrapped in its own ads, while still leaving the resources hosted on the original site, then that might be valid, but I don't think an excerpt for the purposes of searching is a very fair analogy.
As I understand it all WoWMatrix does is point to the other sites to pull the downloads from, but from a central spot within their own ad supported platform?
If they were downloading the files from Curse and re-hosting them on their own site, that's one thing. Otherwise it's just bandwidth theft. And for good reason, bandwidth is one of the highest costs of hosting a popular website.
Blake Apr 14th 2009 10:54AM
"It's a brilliant move by Curse/WoWI, as their ad revenue is going to go up by a lot today as a result of this."
Yeah, because no one knows about AdBlockerPlus. And I even doubt their sites will be up most of the day (or coming week) with the new patch and addons out.
Maybe if they put out a decent product in the first place, there wouldn't be a need for WowMatrix.
Avan Apr 14th 2009 11:29AM
@Joshua Ochs
Allow me to point hundreds of thousands of people towards files on your computer so they may download them. At the same time, I will have ads on my software that will earn me money for doing this. The result is that YOU will be paying for that bandwidth.
Let's assume that you've got a page that would allow those people to download the files from your computer. On your page you have ads that allow you to pay for the bandwidth. When the page loads, you get money from the ads. But if the page isn't being loaded, you don't get money. As a result, you will end up having to start paying for the bandwidth out of your own pocket.
Regardless of how much of your bandwidth my software uses, it will still cost you more than if my users visited your website and loaded the ads instead. Meanwhile, I am making money off of your assets.
In this scenario, what would YOU do?
maeby Apr 14th 2009 9:37AM
curse's app sucks
Branwyn Apr 14th 2009 9:47AM
"curse's app sucks"
This.
krisby Apr 14th 2009 10:09AM
Agree. Curse's app is the worst. IF they wanna spend all this time screwing someone else instead of fixing their terrible client. Then there priorities are not in order.