Blizzard to add-on developers: Your money is no good here (literally)Filed under:
World of Warcraft,
Fantasy,
News items![(!empty($user->lang['IMAGE'])) ? $user->lang['IMAGE'] : ucwords(strtolower(str_replace('_', ' ', 'IMAGE')))](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.massively.com/media/2009/03/no-soup.jpg)
The
luau may be over for LUA add-on developers in
World of Warcraft who make money for their code, as
Blizzard just released a new add-on policy preventing them from doing just that. Under the new policy, add-ons must be free-of-charge and written in clear code. They may not solicit donations or run third-party advertisements.
This is a fairly surprising move by Blizzard since the new policy basically screws over some add-on developers who have helped propel
WoW to the success it is currently experiencing. Not only has the game benefited greatly from
add-ons that addressed deficiencies in the standard UI, but Blizzard themselves have patched in UI updates 'inspired' by successful add-ons,
as Lum points out.
This is a clear message that no-one except Blizzard should profit from WoW. They are basically saying, "We'd love you to improve our game for free, but don't expect anything other than warm fuzzies as compensation." It will be interesting to see reaction to this news from developers of popular donation- and fee-based add-ons. How much of an impact will it have on
WoW if they cease to develop and support these (or new) add-ons?
Blizzard to add-on developers: Your money is no good here (literally) originally appeared on
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CommentsAuthor: Brooke Pilley
Category: addonsblizzardin-game-advertisingpolicyuiworld-of-warcraftwow
Publish Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 12:30:00 EST
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