The Lawbringer: Paying for addons and APIs
by Mathew McCurley 
Jun 24th 2011 at 5:00PM
Not unlike most topics featured here on The Lawbringer, this one started with a blog post and a subsequent link to said blog post. CCP, the creators of MMO darling EVE Online, recently announced that players and customers could charge for third-party applications, utilities, and websites as long as the creator purchased a license. This is a fairly unprecedented move. CCP is probably the only company who could get away with this right now, but more on that later.
This story got my mind spinning about what this means for data feeds all over the MMO world, how Blizzard's free APIs coming out soon will change the way people make apps and utilities for WoW, and some thoughts on for-pay addons.
MMOs have spawned an impressive gray market of features, apps, utilities, and services that exist only because players are willing to partake in them. From Eve Online ship "fitting" apps to gold selling, the gray market lives alongside virtual worlds, and it is fascinating to think that these industries only exist because of the success of the genre. Recently, Blizzard previewed its own APIs that it would be releasing for web developers and app creators, providing easy-to-parse information to these development communities. This stuff isn't free, of course, which is interesting amidst the news that CCP would be charging a license fee for for-pay versions of utilities that make use of its APIs.
What is an API?
In the absolutely very basic sense, and the commenters will correct me, an API, or application programming interface, is a set of data or rules that programs can use to "talk" with the information provided. If I ask the API for a set of information using a specific set of characters or conventions, it will spit back that information to me so long as it is formatted correctly. It's not really how things work, but conceptually, a program is asking something for information in a specific way, and is getting the information it needs to display. (Don't yell at me too much, programmers.)
EVE Online, along with many other MMOs, makes its information available to people who want to use it. Since the beginning of the game, EVE has forbidden players in the terms of service from charging for applications or utilities, keeping the use of the company's APIs and information streams available for free-to-use functions only.
World of Warcraft has similar language in the addon policy, only allowing players to create free addons and additions to the game. Blizzard has been a thorn in many addons' sides over the for-pay issue, mostly coming down to advertising for donations within the addon itself, creating premium features that put addon function behind a pay wall as with Carbonite, or for charging for beta access to addons, like the most recent problems for TukUI. Blizzard wants zero addon functionality behind a pay wall, and does not want players to be bombarded with ads for for-pay donations or services within the game itself. (Coincidentally, with the new community site, I've been having trouble finding the addon policy page, so if you guys could help out, that would be totally swell.)
CCP is in a unique position
Many people believe that CCP's EVE Online is the only MMO on the market right now who could get away with charging a yearly $99 license fee to create for-pay applications. Why, you may ask? Why is CCP the only one in the MMO game right now who could do such a thing?
It happens to hinge on the EVE Online player base and the type of player that the game attracts. EVE's economy is unlike any other MMO you probably play. In-game currency, called ISK, can be used to purchase game time from players who have paid for that game time with real money, essentially exchanging real money for ISK. If I have money and want ISK, I purchase game time and sell it to a player for ISK. If I have ISK and want game time, I trade for it with my in-game currency.
The universe of EVE Online is no stranger to financial transactions, and the players are no strangers to understanding that things cost money. The game world is set up so that corporations spend huge amounts of time, resources, and currency to build up their massive empires and hold onto their resources. The audience app developers cater to for EVE applications are ready to pay for an app, and the best apps will make back that $99 license fee easily. Depending on the information and APIs released, you could see some very successful applications.
In the past days since starting this article, CCP has taken in community complaints as to the high price of the license and is revisiting the whole pricing structure. Maybe the playerbase isn't as accepting to the high charge as I thought. With a lowered "token" based price, we may see a completely different environment for player-developers utilizing these features. Coincidentally, next week's Lawbringer is all about Aurum and EVE Online, so you'll have to tune in for that awesome show.
... which brings me to WoW
The World of Warcraft player base has a different understanding and relationship with the economy of the game and the economy revolving around the game. WoW players do not have the ability to trade money for gold in a legitimate way -- it all exists in the seedy gray underbelly of the game world. There is no "purchase game time for someone else" aspect that EVE prides itself on.
Addons in WoW have always been and will always be free. You could point to specific examples of leveling guides and other flukes, but there is just as good a free option over the pay option. In fact, with the changes to the way the game questing model works, I am absolutely unsure of why anyone would need a for-pay leveling guide at all. That seems like the biggest waste of money to me, especially for how much they cost. Nothing in this game needs to be paid for to be played efficiently.
Blizzard has taken a different approach to the way players interact with the economy of WoW and real cash -- the pet store. Out-of-game transactions impact only your WoW license and add on features like pets and mounts. They do not give you liquid assets in the game world itself. We, as players, have a monetary relationship with real money that exists completely out of the game.
Blizzard's history of fighting against for-pay addons
The last thing Blizzard wants is for a player to feel like they have to spend more money outside the game to be competitive inside the game. Over the course of WoW's life, only a few addons have ever really been banned or explicitly targeted, and even fewer of those were over for-pay issues. Carbonite was targeted for offering premium services and advertising for an upgrade within the addon itself at the height of its popularity. "Nothing behind a pay wall," said Blizzard. More recently, popular UI compilation Tukui was targeted because of beta editions for the PTR of the compilation were only available to donators and premium subscribers to the community.
As for the for-pay leveling guides, I don't really know why Blizzard hasn't gone after them. They have an in-game component that you cannot download from the company for free to put together yourself and use proprietary information when telling you where to quest. Something has to feed that information. Since no third-party programs are allowed either, maybe I'm just ignorant of the issue. Also, don't email me about it, for-pay guide creators -- we already had that fight, remember? Suffice to say, there is a lot of money in for-pay guides, and players should never feel like they need one to succeed. It's a shame.
Blizzard would never charge for their APIs or their usage because they never want a for-pay option to be the ideal or the norm. Armory apps, character sheet apps, item databases, etc., will all remain free. Blizzard can take the hit on administering those information feeds because it can. And, hopefully, new apps will populate the proverbial countryside just like what happened with EVE once these APIs are introduced en masse. We are living in good times for potential WoW apps coming down the pike.
Will we ever see a system like EVE's in WoW, where players can purchase one very specific item with real cash that can be traded for gold in-game? Probably not. Again, it's all based on market conditions and the ability for people to manipulate numbers, and the last thing Blizzard wants is for people to have to get their day-trading license to make the most gold off of a month of game time. I mean, look at the price of a monocle these days ...
This column is for entertainment only; if you need legal advice, contact a lawyer. For comments or general questions about law or for The Lawbringer, contact Mat at mat@wowinsider.com.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Lawbringer
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
frozndevl Jun 24th 2011 5:14PM
I just want to make a correction, there was no charging for beta access to Tukui. That was a misunderstanding on the nature of his website and specifically, what premium means to that community.
http://www.tukui.org/blog/33
rhorle Jun 24th 2011 6:13PM
Before the issue was resolved he specifically stated one of the benefits of premium membership was access to beta and ptr versions of his UI. You can spin it all you want but that was against the rules. That issue was changed and everything was fine after that.
frozndevl Jun 24th 2011 6:55PM
Ahh, didn't see the continuation on the bottom of his next post. There was no spin, and shame on you for assuming I was spinning.
http://www.tukui.org/blog/34
Looks like it was a misunderstanding on both parts as to what constituted the addon, did test versions count? Showing code changes is okay, but not the changes implemented int to the source? Sounds like there was a bit of a mea culpa that Blizz was unclear in their policy and Tukz also compromised by changing things around. Doesn't sound like he was wrong, nor was Blizzard right, both were just confused.
Oakraven Jun 24th 2011 5:22PM
Hey your link has managed to overload CCPs forums! Congrats!
Btw I also ahve a EVE online account. I personaly feel the whole priceing is idiotic and is literaly a money grab on CCP part.
PJ Jun 24th 2011 5:43PM
You article is confusing, first its "Blizzard's free APIs coming out soon" then its "This stuff isn't free, of course"
So what is it?
Tristan Phillips Jun 24th 2011 6:16PM
Using the API is at no cost to anyone. In other words if anyone wants to use the API they do not have to send money to Blizzard to use it.
At the same time Blizzard's developers don't work for free. Blizzard had to use its money and resources to create (And not maintain) those APIs to make them usable.
So the APIs are free and they're not. It just depends on which side you wish to look at it.
Amanda A. Jun 24th 2011 6:17PM
I think he meant that it's not free for the company to make APIs-- they need to pay devs to develop them.
raposo02790 Jun 24th 2011 5:49PM
How about software like "level 86" I met someone who paid 30 $ for this Program that alters your keybindings is this thing allowed in blizzards policies
Kirby Jun 24th 2011 6:00PM
If it's behind a pay wall* (meaning that the only way to get the software is with money) then software like "level 86" is against Blizzards policies.
*("Nothing behind a pay wall," - Blizzard)
rhorle Jun 24th 2011 6:27PM
The pay wall refers to addon's. Level 86 isn't an addon. Its a program that modifies the macro and key bind files stored in your wow directory. There isn't any wow policy released that covers it. They could however face trouble from blizzard for using their artwork to advertise no matter how many disclaimers they put at the bottom about not being affiliated with blizzard.
Methuus Jun 24th 2011 5:58PM
I wonder if the rise of the iPhone app will change the way future MMOs view paid addons.
First, iPhone apps have gotten people used to paying a buck or two for small programs. And second, a "free-to-play" MMO could run their own app store for their game and, like Apple, take a percentage of the money that the paid addons bring in.
Sally Bowls Jun 24th 2011 6:47PM
1) I am not at all convinced that, in a world where mobile banking, chat, recruit off realm et al cost $3 extra that it is given the Blizzard APIs are absolutely guaranteed to be "free" for ever. If you want to do the AH, then being able to trade, especially at the neutral AH, without competitors being able to see you log in, is a real, in-game advantage, both in time and gold made, purchased for $3 per month. Similarly, RAF provides real in-game benefits. Saying Blizzard only sells two things that provide in-game benefits seems quite different to me than saying they don't offer any. I expect more will be coming, especially with Cataclysm perhaps not being a huge financial success. APIs and web seem like simple ways to get incremental revenue that will not upset people as much as things more closely tied to their purple epeen.
2) I thought there was a iPhone armory ap a year or two ago and Blizzard shut it down and came out with their own ap. Again, I am quite skeptical that the Blizzard API access will be as unencumbered. I hope I am wrong ofc.
3) An unusual issue for WoW discussions is the EULA. *IANAL* I.e., if I am not a customer of Blizzard, then there is no EULA, TOS or contract between Blizzard and me. A Blizzard customer may not be allowed to use a for-pay addon - they have a probably enforceable click-through EULA - but can Grinder and DMCA be pushed to cover a developer with no contract with Blizzard from using public, documented APIs? If my application is accessing via the net, DMCA seems even more problematic. So we are left with just copyright I suppose. E.g., if a non-customer buys the WoW programming book from Amazon and reads information from the wowinterface forum, then what legal basis prevents them from writing a $1 addon?
4) Besides, I have always thought the quid pro quo was hard to enforce and Blizzard did not even try. Can you say that only people who have paid to be part of the Something Awesome forums can be a member of this guild? What if that membership included access to a members only addon? Or Auction House statistics & History? ( And quite frankly, what if every $20 member of your forum received 25,000 gold? ) What if curse started charging $5 a month to download addons?
5) Personally, i think if they required every addon to be published under an approved Open Source license, things would be a lot clearer than the current mess.
Dumbguy Jun 24th 2011 7:45PM
I don't see how anyone can complain about eve's licensing fee. If you don't want to spend a hundred bucks on a license, just release your addon for free you numbnutz.
Seriously, what the heck.
Sally Bowls Jun 24th 2011 8:13PM
^
In particular, since I believe the contract that enables you to provide a free addon is free. The $99 per annum is for application with advertisements or sales price.
Lorini Jun 24th 2011 8:08PM
Disappointed that this wasn't a discussion of derivative works and whether or not Blizzard's policies are actually enforceable under current copyright law. But as usual, Lawbringer is nothing but a mouthpiece for Blizzard's policy lawyers.
Socialcockroach Jun 25th 2011 1:33AM
Firstly, the author didn't really seem to be praising Blizzard's policies, nor did he seem against them. He merely stated them for what they are and made some educated guesses about Blizzard's future stance on the mater.
Second, WoW is Blizzard's intellectual property, meaning that they can set what ever rules and restrictions they want for access to their service. By checking the "I agree" button come patch times and first installation, you are essentially signing a legal document stating that you will comply with their wishes. You can choose to to check "I disagree," but in so doing, you forfeit your right to use their product. And this includes use of the API that third party add-on makers need. Whine all you want, but the law is on Blizzard's side.
Koleckai Jun 24th 2011 9:29PM
They will probably apply something similar to their Addon Developer's Policy into the license agreement to use the APIs.
See here: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1021053914
Koleckai Jun 24th 2011 9:30PM
As it is, Addons are developed through an API of their own. Functions and data made available by Blizzard through the LUA sandbox.
Ira.domine Jun 25th 2011 2:53AM
An answer to the question about how leveling guides (Zygor's/Dugi's/etc.) get around the ToS:
They don't charge for their addon, which is just an in game document viewer that interprets specially formatted guide documents to show you text, waypoint arrows, etc. as well as various features like checking your quest progress to put you at the right spot in the guide. That, you can get, and update for free. What they are charging for is the guide itself; the specially formatted text document that gets read by the addon. Loopholes ftw.
Lorini Jun 25th 2011 2:04AM
Since you don't need to accept the TOS/Software License to make an add on, then there is no contract between you and Blizzard when you make the addon. You don't have to click "I agree" to anything to make the add on. All you need is access to the lua software, which is not under Blizzard's control.
The question is if the add on is a derivative work or an original work. The law is very different depending on the answer. I don't know if there is precedent for this type of work to be considered derivative and therefore under Blizzard's purview. That is what I would have been very interested to read about.