Blizzard seeks $8.5 million in lawsuit against Buddy Bots maker

[xanzul]

Oh this is absolutely fucking hilarious. I just got perm banned from their forums for saying their admins are throwing hissy fits and temper tantrums over a judgment they knew from the very start could be a possibility. They even deleted all my posts. As much as Blizzard employees are accused of arrogance and petulance this right here is what true arrogance and petulance is.

- - - Updated - - -

What has this to do with anything I wrote? And what exactly is not true?

This judgment happened in a German court and the ban on Bossland (a German company) selling their bots in Germany also came from German courts. What makes you think these same courts aren't going to allow Blizzard to recover damages from non-U.S. assets most of which again is in Germany?

Also Blizzard is an international company with offices in many parts of Europe (including Germany) so the fact that Blizzard is based in the United States means fuck all in regards to this case.

[Deleted]

So TLDR the botmakers can't go on vacation to the US anymore and thats it?

[xanzul]

So TLDR the botmakers can't go on vacation to the US anymore and thats it?

The news is this is literally going to put Bossland out of business. They just simply don't have the means or capital to pay this.

[Evangeliste]

It's a long time coming really. I think Blizzard were laying in wait and collating evidence to basically throw them out into the street.
Good luck to Blizzard, I have no sympathy for a company like Buddy Bot.

[Maconi]

In the future, bots will be 3d printed robots that play the game for you.

You heard it here first.

In order for a "bot" to function it needs to read game data from memory. Even if you had external hardware (a "3D printed robot") it would still need to read game data to function, and would be detected/banned for doing so.

The only way to avoid detection would be a machine that could interpret game data based solely on audio/visual queues (like a human would). That would take quantum levels of processing though.

Although, if the rumors are true about Blizzard using machine learning techniques for Warden, even that could be detected if its behavior didn't vary enough.

tl;dr
Bots are dead (for Blizzard games).

[Divinexve]

Give them no quarter...press the assault

[Deleted]

Should probably do the same to the classic server operators.

Hahahahah, please retard.

[Deleted]

The news is this is literally going to put Bossland out of business. They just simply don't have the means or capital to pay this.

but nobody can force them to pay unless they go to the US from what i understand.

[xanzul]

In order for a "bot" to function it needs to read game data from memory. Even if you had external hardware (a "3D printed robot") it would still need to read game data to function, and would be detected/banned for doing so.

The only way to avoid detection would be a machine that could interpret game data based solely on audio/visual queues (like a human would). That would take quantum levels of processing though.

Although, if the rumors are true about Blizzard using machine learning techniques for Warden, even that could be detected if its behavior didn't vary enough.

tl;dr
Bots are dead (for Blizzard games).

They are far from dead. Even though most bots are detectable it doesn't take long for botters to make a ton of gold and move it to mule accounts or guild banks before the account is banned. Keep in mind most bots are being run by gold sellers and other people in the RMT industry and they typically run massive bot farms with hundreds of bots at the same time (many of which being run through VPNs) and they have nearly unlimited access to compromised accounts to replace banned accounts. All of this is scripted so if one bot goes down due to a ban and it will load up another compromised account (or accounts bought with stolen credit cards). Even if these bots can only make 1k gold per hour before being banned that is still a massive amount of gold. Blizzard does track where this gold is moved to but more often times than not by the time they find it again it has already been bought by a player and the gold sellers have already made their profit.

[Deleted]

Well, as this is a german case, it is likely not going to happen blizzard gets such a high amount of money. German courts dont give millions.

[Sturmbringe]

Subs must be in decline

My thoughts exactly.

They have been ripping off their own customers for months by changing their pricing scheme and turning all lifetime keys into yearly keys. They have also more or less admitted they have given up trying to keep their bots undetectable. Most of their customers are gone and almost every single one of their community developers have quit both the game and the bot and are no longer supporting their profiles.

Retail WoW drop in subs must have been unprecedented, huge and above and beyond anything we've seen in the past.

[Gorgodeus]

My thoughts exactly.



Retail WoW drop in subs must have been unprecedented, huge and above and beyond anything we've seen in the past.

It was/is a cash grab by the Bossland people before they shut it down. Nothing more.

[kamuimac]

good

next target thieves at Elysium.

[Justpassing]

My thoughts exactly.



Retail WoW drop in subs must have been unprecedented, huge and above and beyond anything we've seen in the past.

Needs more adjectives.

[Thelxi]

I hope Blizzard loses again just like they lost to honorbuddy. The more they lose the more active they become at banning bots.

[Deleted]

People dont realize that you have to sue this stuff in order to protect their IP.
If they let people freely use the code for wow and do nothing about it, they wont be protected because lack of intrest towards their work.

Thats why most fan-made games with names that include "proctected copyrights" get sued or taken down

[Triggered Fridgekin]

In the future, bots will be 3d printed robots that play the game for you.

You heard it here first.

[Shakari]

People dont realize that you have to sue this stuff in order to protect their IP.
If they let people freely use the code for wow and do nothing about it, they wont be protected because lack of intrest towards their work.

Thats why most fan-made games with names that include "proctected copyrights" get sued or taken down

Yup, doubt they will get much or any money from this BUT as you say the whole point is to protect there IP and likley put Bossland out of buisness and it does the job well on both those counts.

[Gorgodeus]

I hope Blizzard loses again just like they lost to honorbuddy. The more they lose the more active they become at banning bots.

You can't lose when your opponent has already conceded the fight. Bossland isn't fighting this latest suit.

[Zoldor]

Blizzard has spent significantly more than that on these various lawsuits that have been going on for years. This isn't about profit but protecting their intellectual property.

Pretty much this, it is required to protect your intellectual property. If you don't protect it you loose protection or claim. People always cry it is about the profits, no it is about keeping your IP in your hands and fully protected.