Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 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 3 of 27)
Hoggersbud Apr 14th 2009 1:07PM
Bzzt! Wrong! They aren't screwing somebody else. Curse is trying to stop somebody else from screwing them, which means WOWMatrix is the one forcing Curse to spend resources without benefit, whether it's to block WOWMatrix or just to accept their actions of downloading addons from CURSE.
msingletary Apr 14th 2009 9:37AM
Wow, that's really disappointing to read. I rely on this to update my addons on my Mac purely because Curse's offering is a piece of trash.
Maybe instead of blocking competition, they could make their own offerings actually usable or work with the WoWMatrix developers to make their software more friendly. I definitely understand how they'd kind of hate WoWMatrix for the way it works, but they were simply filling a void for a good, reliable, usable, etc... addon manage for Mac users.
romiress Apr 14th 2009 9:41AM
This sounds too much like logic to me! Can't have that!
As a mac user, WoWMatrix made thing so much easier. :x
machoflaco Apr 14th 2009 9:55AM
Ya, totally agree. I have a Mac and WowMatrix was perfect for it. If Curse made a halfway decent program for Mac, I would use it, but they don't.
Alan Apr 14th 2009 4:30PM
Well, the neat thing about business finance, is that once you're done throwing money out the window by supporting a leech, you can redirect those funds towards product development. By supporting WoWMatrix, you were forcing Curse to spend less time and money on making the Curse Updater worthwhile.
msingletary Apr 14th 2009 5:06PM
I was supporting the superior option. If Curse had not made a piece of trash for a client and WoW Interface actually had a Mac client, I would not have been forced to use something else.
The Curse client doesn't have ads in it, so using a third party client (regardless of who makes it) that uses Curse's service is going to deny them page impressions and ad displays either way. If they had ads in the client then I could totally see how WoWMatrix was detrimental to their service, but if I can just download addons remotely through Curse anyway, what's the difference?
Grubba Apr 14th 2009 5:10PM
Curse's client was terrible long before WoWmatrix existed, and if WoWmatrix goes away, Curse's client will still continue to be terrible. There's no reason that Curse couldn't have done a better job from the start.
DaveyMcDave Apr 15th 2009 9:27PM
I'm sorry, no.
Curse have got content which is being unfairly used. Their business model mainly focuses on hosting and supplying addons. Regardless of how clunky the curse client is, wowmatrix are basically stealing their product and profiting off it.
Let's take the analogy of a shop. The range of stock is fine enough, but the staff at the checkout are obtrusive and not particularly friendly. Another company decides to come in and set up different checkouts INSIDE THEIR STORE with friendlier staff, without paying to stock the shelves. They are selling the products inside the store and profiting from them without supporting them.
Even though from a consumer perspective it is a a pleasant experience to take the content from the first store and go to the different checkout, I don't think IN ANY SITUATION you can claim it is moral, right, or even a desirable outcome. Without support, Curse will go offline and nobody will have any addons.
Cheese Rations Apr 15th 2009 9:57PM
@DaveyMcDave: No, I'm sorry. Your analogy would make sense if Curse had to pay for the addons. They don't. The same would also be true if Curse were charging for the addons or displaying ads in their Mac client. They don't.
Johay Apr 14th 2009 9:39AM
Great timing, patchday :\
racecar Apr 14th 2009 9:46AM
For them, it *is* perfect timing. Imagine how much bandwidth sucking WowMatrix would do on content patch days. They're probably sighing from relief.
I, on the other hand, am sighing from depression. I'll add my voice to all of the other Mac users out there as to how much this sucks.
Makoto99 Apr 14th 2009 10:33AM
I agree it's perfect timing, but for more cynical reasons...
With it being patch day and everyone needing to update probably 99% of their addons, users will be MUCH more inclined to see wowMatrix fail, say "!@$#(!@(!!!!!!!! WTF!!!", then download CrappyCurseClientProgram to get the majority updated easily and hassle-free.
If they did this on any normal day, most people would just be like "screw that, I'll update my 2 outdated addons by hand".
Flamespawn Apr 14th 2009 9:40AM
But the curse client is ridiculously rubbish. And thats me being polite.
CURSE YOU CURSE.COM!
elstor Apr 14th 2009 9:38AM
Boycott Curse and WoWInterface. Do it.
Clbull Apr 14th 2009 10:26AM
Personally, I don't use any clients to download/update addons (I do it all manually) but I'd say that Curse and WoW Interface had good reasons to do this.
WoW Matrix may have been a very effective program but they were leeching data from Curse and WoWInterface without permission, and bypassing their ads. If you're bypassing the ads on the main addon websites, then where is the revenue to keep the sites going coming from?
Users of WoW Matrix may not have realised this before, and maybe it was a pain for said users that they had to do it on Patch Day, but the program could have led to both addon sites shutting down in the long run.
Anthology Apr 14th 2009 10:44AM
No.
Curse and WoWInterface have a perfectly reasonable situation.
WoWMatrix is profiting from what is essentially theft from both services. Until WoWMatrix is doing something to reimburse either of them; Boycott WoWMatrix.
msingletary Apr 14th 2009 5:15PM
Actually, by using Curse's own addon client you're bypassing their ads. There's no ads in that client, so what's wrong with using a different client with no ads? I can browse and install addons directly through Curse's downloadable client, without ads.
Good try.
Andy Apr 14th 2009 9:39AM
Curse's Updater would be more popular if they took some pages from WoWMatrix's book BEFORE crying about it. I guess blocking it is a step in the right direction, but still, they don't have an updater nearly as easy to use.
Brainded Apr 14th 2009 10:00AM
Neither as easy to use nor as stable. The beauty of WoWMatrix is that it doesn't contain junk. It doesn't even *install* itself, it just runs. And "other people's ads" are nothing more than a couple of links at the top of the window.
I, for one, plan to NOT visit Curse and WI until they get their act together. When my addons break, I will stop using them. I don't use that many, and they are more for convenience than out of necessity.
snowleopard233 Apr 14th 2009 9:40AM
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Damn I really enjoyed that program. That’s America for you. Squelch the innovation that made us the country we are today.