Classic World of Warcraft Discussion [Megathread]

[Ielenia]

And the company they used? That isn't. Are you all okay with using a company and the moment things go bad throwing them to the wolves?

They're criminals. They don't care. All they care for is their own self-indulgence.

[Azgraal]

was it the right move by blizzard?
I'd lean toward no as my opinion.
This server provided a niche product blizzard themselves aren't willing to provide and it did not hurt any of the currently paying costumers.

If someone has a country house they haven't used in quite a while as they live in the city, would you be entitled to break in and live there?

People! It is Blizzard's property, even if old property, their copyright hasn't expired, so there's no way to deny it being theft.

[Tackhisis]

How fucked up of a person do you have to be to feel happiness over such a thing?

The player community was literally glowing because those who never wanted to play on PvE server had to lose their entire progress. Now it is they who gonna lose it, yet they cry? It's very funny.

[rda]

@ Nostalrius players & WoW Vanilla enthusiasts:

Members of the Nostalrius community will re-host Nostalrius in Finland as a non-profit organization under Finnish Law.

Hosting a private server is absolutely 100% legal in Finland. Doing so is is NOT CRIMINAL and it is explicitly sanctioned in the Finnish copyright act, Sections 25j and 25k.

Furthermore, according to the Finnish law, membership in an organization is considered personal information and thus the new non-profit organization may not provide your membership information or confirm or deny the fact that you are a member to any 3rd party, such as Blizzard.

Look for more information at the Nostalrius forums.

In the unlikely event that Nostalrius will ever face any issue while being hosted in Finland in the future, the volunteers will just move the server to the Russian Federation, where it will be outside the reach of the USA or the EU, exactly like the Russian Private Vanilla Wow Server "Valkyrie".

Live and learn.

How does this work for Finland?

I know how this works for Russia, they just don't cooperate on things this small / they don't have their own interest in, it's silly to even ask. But Finland...

[Raiju]

were blizzard within their legal rights to demand the group close down the server?
absolutely.

was it the right move by blizzard?
I'd lean toward no as my opinion.
This server provided a niche product blizzard themselves aren't willing to provide and it did not hurt any of the currently paying costumers.

A necessitates B, unfortunately. The longer it's up & bigger it gets the less allowance they have for having not taken legal action if they still want the ability to protect their IP.

Hosting in finland provided it's managed correctly sounds like a good alternative. The issue is the nost members / OVH who are under legal fire.

[Deleted]

TBH it doesn't even matter how many server they close, people will just move to another, since is still way more fun that WoD

[Deleted]

Bahahahaha, yes, I'm going to just blatantly accept the number put out by the group itself. Surely nobody should be skeptical of a claim made in the face of a server shutdown.

Ok, then I'm just gonna assume that Blizzard doesn't have 5.5 million subscribers. They probably have way less than Nostalrius. Because reasons.

[mvaliz]

Prove it.

I'll wait.

As I said, it was said earlier in this thread. scroll back and look.

[RippedLife]

15k daily is prolly more than a lot of live servers

[Azgraal]

And what if i never accepted it, modified the game so that screen doesn't pop up and logged into my own server? What then huh?
I sure as hell didn't sign any contracts when i bought the game at the store.

One could argue that lack of knowledge isn't an excuse for breaking the law...

[arcaneshot]

Well judging from a Finnish Website

"In Finland, copyright is governed by national legislation, EU directives and international conventions. The Copyright Act protects works of Finnish origin, whereas works of foreign origin are protected under international treaties.
The Finnish Copyright Act came into force in 1961 and has been updated several times since then. In 2005 Finnish copyright legislation was amended to meet the demands of the digital environment and the internet. " - http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Tekijaenoikeus?lang=en

So WoW would be classed as Foreign so it will be treated under international copyright law. , Not sure if thats the one you went to

It's similar, but it just says the same thing anyway. Beside which I don't have the inclination to study Finnish law to pursue this, but I'm just pointing out that it's not a slam-dunk 'scot-free' thing that some people think it is.

[Deleted]

Which is rendered completely moot when you log into the game for the first time and sign the contract which explicitly states: " The Game is available for use only by authorized end users in accordance with the terms of the Blizzard Agreements. Any use, reproduction, modification or distribution of the Game not expressly authorized by the terms of the Blizzard Agreements is expressly prohibited." and also: "You agree that you will not, under any circumstances: -- F. facilitate, create or maintain any unauthorized connection to the Game or the Service, including without limitation (a) any connection to any unauthorized server that emulates, or attempts to emulate, the Service;"

It's not hard to comprehend. All you have to do is read the ToS and EULA. People don't, then come whining when they get punished for breaking those contracts.

Look at this guy quoting the EULA like it carries any legal weight whatsoever. The EULA is limited to Blizzard's domain; they cannot arrest or sue people; they can ban accounts, but not much else.

Read up on fair use law and civil ownership if you'd humor us all for a brief moment.

[Aeula]

A cursory glance from Google searches suggest that Finland is compliant with European Union copyright laws, so I wouldn't assume that just yet.

I would suggest finding someone more familiar with Finnish law rather than people who think Finland is a magical land of ponies and rainbows.

It worked for another private server, they had the same host as Nost and got the letter a few months back. But they changed hosts to one in a country without silly copyright laws and nothing has happened since.

[Tackhisis]

I sure as hell didn't sign any contracts when i bought the game at the store.

When you bought the game, you saw that you need to accept EULA in order to use it.

When you run the installer, you had to read and accept the EULA to proceed with install.

[Vorkreist]

I hope it crashes and burns because it's quite fun to laugh at the vanilla boys, but whatever, I probably wouldn't play if their direction for the game was go back to vanilla. Moving to finland to dodge laws just proves you're doing something wrong, though.

The same way I laugh at fanboys when retail drops to 1-2 mil active players?

[Azgraal]

15k daily is prolly more than a lot of live servers

The thing is that on live servers people can choose which one to play at. So they're scattered amongst all.

[glowpipe]

I wonder how many would play if those servers would cost 10$ each month...

about 1 out of 50. They play cause its free. Pirate scumbags.

[Rehok]

And what if i never accepted it, modified the game so that screen doesn't pop up and logged into my own server? What then huh?
I sure as hell didn't sign any contracts when i bought the game at the store.

When you signed up for Battle.net -

Unauthorized Connections: Facilitate, create or maintain any unauthorized connection to the Service or the Game(s) including without limitation (i) any connection to any unauthorized server that emulates, or attempts to emulate, the Service; and (ii) any connection using third-party programs or tools not expressly authorized by Blizzard; - Section 1-C-Viii - http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/legal/eula.html

[Deleted]

Thanks for the laugh one server and f2p at that.

Yeah not at all because that number isn't a whole lot less impressive but great argument coming from the clown who didn't even know what peak was referring to a post ago. Frankly it's surprising you didn't drown in your tears yet.

I know what peak means. Why would you assume I don't?

You apparently don't understand that peak =/= number of active players

- - - Updated - - -

Wow. Reading comprehension is sorely lacking, here. Blizzard can't do anything because the country openly ignores international copyright laws. Not because Blizzard prefers to go after, as you put it, the 'little people.'

And? Where did I deny that?

[Deleted]

It's not emulating the current service though, right? It's emulating the service that existed 10 years ago.

Not saying you're wrong but I just wonder if that's a relevant distinction.