2.4 Notes update, character copy, gold sellers

[Boubouille]

2.4 pre-patch notes updates
Now that the community managers stopped their posting frenzy it seems that I forgot a few things in the 2.4 info list, nothing really important but it's always nice to know a bit more about the upcoming patch.

World

• Summoning restrictions in Netherstorm have been lifted. (Source - Elitistjerks)
  

Interface

• GM messages now appear with a Blizzard icon near their name. (Source)
• The profession UI search field has been improved and now allows for searching of more types of things. For instance you can search for items by socket color, by effect ("Critical Strike" for instance) or search gems by their effect ("Strength" for instance). In addition, the searching of items by level has been made more intuitive. You can now search for items by level with "15-20" to search for items that you can make that have a minimum level required of 15 to 20. (Source)

These updates have been added to the original post as well, and since a lot of non-regular users have been coming to the sites for the 2.4 notes it might be a good idea to relink the Sunwell Loots leak, as usual nothing is confirmed by Blizzard and you should trust me at your own risks, for detailed explanations about this check the original post

PTR Down ... Character copy up ?
I don't know if they decided to make the character copy available early for the 2.4 patch or if it's just an old version of the character copy page brought back online, but you are now free to copy your characters on test servers. Keep in mind that it could be a test or something like that, we can't be sure that your character will be available on 2.4 test realms if you copy them now.

• European character copy
• US character copy
  

Blizzard wins against Peons4hire in Court
Blizzard’s lawsuit against virtual item and power-leveling company In Game Dollar (doing business as Peons4Hire) has settled, resulting in a permanent injunction (.pdf) that essentially shuts down In Game Dollar’s entire World of Warcraft operation. Though no monetary damages are specified, the injunction represents a complete victory for Blizzard. The news is likely to be well received by the World of Warcraft player community, which voiced widespread support for Blizzard’s move when the lawsuit was filed.

The Complaint (.pdf) alleged that In Game Dollar violated World of Warcraft’s Terms of Use and End User License Agreement by spamming chat in World of Warcraft with advertising. Peons4Hire was not the largest virtual property dealer in World of Warcraft, but it was well known for aggressive in-game marketing via chat spam. The lawsuit could be seen as a shot across the bow of larger sellers.

The key provision of the injunction specifically prohibits In Game Dollar from “engaging in the sale of World of Warcraft® virtual assets or power leveling services.” In Game Dollar is also permanently enjoined from:

"Making any use of the World of Warcraft® in-game communication or chat system to advertise any website, business, or commercial endeavor, including any business associated with In Game Dollar, LLC or [nobbc]www.peons4hire.com[/nobbc].

Sending messages to the World of Warcraft® servers, the World of Warcraft® in-game communication or chat system or any other computer used by Blizzard in connection with the World of Warcraft® game, if such messages mention or advertise the website [nobbc]www.peons4hire.com[/nobbc], In Game Dollar LLC or any other commercial endeavor.

Making any unauthorized use, or obtaining any unauthorized access to Blizzard’s computer systems or network."

The injunction also prohibits In Game Dollar from investing in a new operation doing any of the enjoined acts, and authorizes the court to award damages in the event that the company violates any of the terms. Essentially, the injunction puts In game Dollar out of the World of Warcraft virtual item and power-leveling business. The Peons4Hire website is down.

However, this doesn't mean the end of chat spamming because as mentionned in the virtuallyblind.com article "The injunction is part of a settlement, so it does not carry the precedential weight that a decision on the merits would carry."

• Full article on virtuallyblind.com
• The injunction .pdf on virtuallyblind.com
• The complaint .pdf on virtuallyblind.com
  

[kaib]

I am fairly sure it's old PTR char copy. It was also up the last couple of weeks since the PTR was down. I did one copy about 2 weeks ago and when logging on now it tells me 3 of 4 copies left. I really doubt that this is for 2.4.

[FISKER_Q]

They also reinstated all the old characters on the 2.3.3 PTR's, and it looks like that's still the case cause i can't copy any characters (already got 10 on both realms)

[Ursula]

mmo-champion was great a few month ago, now only makes stupid and hype news, stop this Boubouille we have enough with Blizzard.

[pain]

Making assumptions = throwing around hype?

No dice man.

[Bluerose]

Old character copy, personally moved two characters to it in the past two weeks and still showing 2 copies left.

[Windywoo]

Apart from the spamming I do believe that gold sellers and powerlevellers provide a legitimate service. If selling arena teams or boosting ratings for gold are not considered illegal activities in wow, I don't see how someone spending some RL money on wow gold is a big deal.

[Eetabeetay]

Apart from the spamming I do believe that gold sellers and powerlevellers provide a legitimate service. If selling arena teams or boosting ratings for gold are not considered illegal activities in wow, I don't see how someone spending some RL money on wow gold is a big deal.

if you buy gold thats extremely sad. that means that either one: you suck at playing WoW, or two: you are too lazy to farm your own gold which is extremely easy. Either way its unfair to those of us who make our gold the legit way. And IMO those who buy arena teams/rating are scrubs too, and this practice on wow should be illegal.

[Maldivia]

Apart from the spamming I do believe that gold sellers and powerlevellers provide a legitimate service. If selling arena teams or boosting ratings for gold are not considered illegal activities in wow, I don't see how someone spending some RL money on wow gold is a big deal.

Let's see, from a quick glance at the Terms of Use ( http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html )
Spamming/Advertising: violates §5.B.3
Powerleveling: violates §3
Gold selling: violates §8

So what ever you believe doesn't really matter, as the Terms of Use dictates the law in these concerns.

[Izichial]

As for 'hyping', by which I assume means the part about Blizzard vs Peons4Hire, that is the article from virtuallyblind.com quoted, and not something Boubouille is writing because he's been hired by Blizzard to brainwash the masses. And it's pretty enlightening if you are interested in the juridical / economical details of the lawsuit, so it's perfectly reasonable to include it.

Besides, one could argue that everything posted here is hyping the game in it's own way.

[Wildhorn]

How can it be hype, when this is a forum read by addicts?

hype is the new way to say awesome

[Azain]

Let's see, from a quick glance at the Terms of Use ( http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html )
Spamming/Advertising: violates §5.B.3
Powerleveling: violates §3
Gold selling: violates §8

So what ever you believe doesn't really matter, as the Terms of Use dictates the law in these concerns.

good post on that, and just to outline a few differences: boosting consists solely for the exchange of 'blizzard virtual assets'. trading gold for an in-game service is completely legitimate, its no different from buying a bear mount of t6 gear or paying someone to cut a gem or craft an item. some services are more loosely defined than others, however that doesn't make them illegal.

spamming/advertising is obvious, no one wants that, people are bothered enough by trade chat in tbc lol.
power leveling requires a person other than the one listed as owner of your account to have your information, this is obviously a clear violation. however, paying someone gold for example to run you through an instance or help you with some group quests is legit, again back to virtual assets.
gold selling, obvious violation as again you get into real money and not the exchange of virtual assets.

that's not to say i don't agree that boosting is a borderline concept even tho perfectly legal according to terms of use. blizzard could easily fix this by limiting the number of teams you can join per week to say 1 or 2 for each bracket. then at best you get 2 boosts in 2v2, 2 in 3v3 and 1 in 5v5 while saving your real 5s for teams, or even 1 /quit <team> per week, and then it locks you out (meaning at best 2 boosts in different brackets and the final bracket for points). however given they can't even properly display their teams and leaving what you think is 2v2 means you actually quit 5v5 i imagine they would have some things to iron out before implementing such logic, and i doubt that if that idea even exists to them its even a remotely high priority.

[Azain]

So in theroy, you can get fined / jailed if you're buying/selling gold in the US of the A.

well that would rarely if ever happen, short of something truly criminal happening as a result

CEOs and accountants overstating billions and billions of dollars that ruin peoples lives and hurt the economy spend at most 6 months in jail, although in some situations penalties are more severe. selling gold in a video game would never result in the same action. in theory yes, but in practice no.