New UI Add-On Development Policy

[Boubouille]

New UI Add-On Development Policy
Blizzard just posted a new UI Add-On development policy, this probably means the end of paid versions of popular addons such as Carbonite.
[blizzquote="Blizzard;http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/policy/ui.html][size=3][b]World of Warcraft User Interface Add-On Development Policy[/b][/size"]
With the continuing popularity of World of Warcraft user interface add-ons (referred to hereafter as "add-ons") created by the community of players, Blizzard Entertainment has formalized design and distribution guidelines for add-ons. These guidelines have been put in place to ensure the integrity of World of Warcraft and to help promote an enjoyable gaming environment for all of our players - failure to abide by them may result in measures up to and including taking formal legal action.

1) Add-ons must be free of charge.
All add-ons must be distributed free of charge. Developers may not create "premium" versions of add-ons with additional for-pay features, charge money to download an add-on, charge for services related to the add-on, or otherwise require some form of monetary compensation to download or access an add-on.

2) Add-on code must be completely visible.
The programming code of an add-on must in no way be hidden or obfuscated, and must be freely accessible to and viewable by the general public.

3) Add-ons must not negatively impact World of Warcraft realms or other players.
Add-ons will perform no function which, in Blizzard Entertainment's sole discretion, negatively impacts the performance of the World of Warcraft realms or otherwise negatively affects the game for other players. For example, this includes but is not limited to excessive use of the chat system, unnecessary loading from the hard disk, and slow frame rates.

4) Add-ons may not include advertisements.
Add-ons may not be used to advertise any goods or services.

5) Add-ons may not solicit donations.
Add-ons may not include requests for donations. We recognize the immense amount of effort and resources that go into developing an add-on; however, such requests should be limited to the add-on website or distribution site and should not appear in the game.

6) Add-ons must not contain offensive or objectionable material.
World of Warcraft has been given a "T" by the ESRB, and similar ratings from other ratings boards around the world. Blizzard Entertainment requires that add-ons not include any material that would not be allowed under these ratings.

7) Add-ons must abide by World of Warcraft ToU and EULA.
All add-ons must follow the World of Warcraft Terms of Use and the World of Warcraft End User License Agreement.

8 ) Blizzard Entertainment has the right to disable add-on functionality as it sees fit.
To maintain the integrity World of Warcraft and ensure the best possible gaming experience for our players, Blizzard Entertainment reserves the right to disable any add-on functionality within World of Warcraft at its sole discretion. For more information...

If you are an add-on developer and have any questions about and this User Interface Add-On Development Policy and how it pertains to the add-on that you've developed, please don't hesitate to email us at

[email="WoWUI@blizzard.com"]<font color="orange">WoWUI@blizzard.com</font>[/email]

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[Fuzzzie]

Hmm.. Guess #1 has to do with the Pay version of carbonite. Don't know why you would pay though..

[Mewtwo]

Yay!

[Girlyman]

So, no more nudity add-ons? :-(

[Seink]

11,000,000 players

50% uses your addon 5,500,000

50% chooses to use your exclusive addon with $1 activation fee 2,250,000.

There, you just made 2.25million as a com sci undergrad.

[SimTex]

Why would blizzard care, if people want to pay for an addon or donate because they think the author is doing a great job let them. And if blizzard dont like a certain addon, im sure they can find ways to prevent them from working, instead of legal actions. This kind of behavior sickens me. A LOT of free hours have been put into making many of the addons and once they are popular blizzard copy them, and what does the authors get, this bullshit. Do blizzard pay the huge bandwidth bills sites like wowace or curse have when a new patch is release, i think not, so ofc they should be able to make money with the different tools for keeping peoples addon up to date, or via advertisements.

[Mewtwo]

I am sure a lot of it had to do with Carbonite's BS 'Ad' version or whatever they called it.

[overneathe]

SimTex, I don't think it had anything to do with donations. They are not required for you to download and install the mod. Just the mods that require payment are banned.

[Toiran]

Too many people complained about Carbonite, as far as my knowledge goes its the only paid add on apart from in game guides which imo aint exactly an add on, i wonder what his opinion is, i would be pretty pissed off if i was the author but blizzard has the right, its there game they didnt ask for the add on to be created off.

Its like selling pictures of a painting and the artist getting no money for an easy example.

[Muadibz]

5) Add-ons may not solicit donations.
Add-ons may not include requests for donations. We recognize the immense amount of effort and resources that go into developing an add-on; however, such requests should be limited to the add-on website or distribution site and should not appear in the game.

This doesn't mean the end of paid for versions of addons, they seem to just be saying that the solicitation of money cannot appear within the game itself. They specifically say that "such requests should be limited to the add-on website".

[Lorgran]

5) Add-ons may not solicit donations.
Add-ons may not include requests for donations. We recognize the immense amount of effort and resources that go into developing an add-on; however, such requests should be limited to the add-on website or distribution site and should not appear in the game.

This doesn't mean the end of paid for versions of addons, they seem to just be saying that the solicitation of money cannot appear within the game itself. They specifically say that "such requests should be limited to the add-on website".

QuestHelper keep spamming me with donation requests in chat, but that's the only addon I've noticed this in..

[alt]

Why would blizzard care, if people want to pay for an addon or donate because they think the author is doing a great job let them. And if blizzard dont like a certain addon, im sure they can find ways to prevent them from working, instead of legal actions. This kind of behavior sickens me. A LOT of free hours have been put into making many of the addons and once they are popular blizzard copy them, and what does the authors get, this bullshit. Do blizzard pay the huge bandwidth bills sites like wowace or curse have when a new patch is release, i think not, so ofc they should be able to make money with the different tools for keeping peoples addon up to date, or via advertisements.

You obviously have no idea of the concept of intellectual property. Simply put, companies take a dim view of other people making money off their intellectual property. It can and will erode their copyright protections and brand image. Addons are not different from books, cards, movies, etc. in this regard.

[Gore123]

Goodbye paid version of carbonite. /wave

[RestoRiven]

The guys behind QH might be hard-up for cash atm though, so we may lose support there if they find a better job than donation income currently provides.

Blizz has always been behind the curve as far as interface goes. IMO if I were the creators of dressing room or any other gear interface addon I would sue blizz for stealing their idea.

[Karadros]

Now, if I'm reading this correctly, people are now moaning about Blizzard trying to stifle Add-ons bothering users for money.

What's wrong with these people?!

[drache]

5) Add-ons may not solicit donations.
Add-ons may not include requests for donations. We recognize the immense amount of effort and resources that go into developing an add-on; however, such requests should be limited to the add-on website or distribution site and should not appear in the game.

This doesn't mean the end of paid for versions of addons, they seem to just be saying that the solicitation of money cannot appear within the game itself. They specifically say that "such requests should be limited to the add-on website".

yeah, that point doesn't mean the end of paid versions. It's point number one that ends paid versions.

It seems they dont mind them accepting donations. The problem that point 5 seems to address is that add-ons cant give you any messages that they would like donations.

[nazrakin]

You obviously have no idea of the concept of intellectual property. Simply put, companies take a dim view of other people making money off their intellectual property. It can and will erode their copyright protections and brand image. Addons are not different from books, cards, movies, etc. in this regard.

Exactly. From Blizzard's point of view its really no different than what gold sellers are doing.

[Aetheron]

Actually, I'm concerned that this might be the end of Auctioneer. Specifically because of this line:

3) Add-ons must not negatively impact World of Warcraft realms or other players.
Add-ons will perform no function which, in Blizzard Entertainment's sole discretion, negatively impacts the performance of the World of Warcraft realms or otherwise negatively affects the game for other players. For example, this includes but is not limited to excessive use of the chat system, unnecessary loading from the hard disk, and slow frame rates.

That is extremely vague wording, but (without knowing exactly how the scanning process works for Auctioneer) I can imagine if you have 300 people "scanning" the AH at the same time it could affect performance. Not to mention the auto-list and search features provided could be seen, at "Blizzard's Discretion", as basically a cheat to the economy.

As for Carbonite... I had wondered how long it would be until Blizzard stepped up and banned it. don't get me wrong, great set of addons - but I can get the same thing through free ones, of equal or better (imo) quality.

As the person above me pointed out, if you are an addon creator at www.myaddonforwow.com, you can have something that says "Please help support me by donating money! This will in no way affect your copy of my addon or give you special features" on your website. But you can't put it into the loading messages of the game. Paid version of carbonite simply can't happen, per bullet point 1 - You are not allowed to charge for any portion of the addon. ie - if you have to pay to download or unlock a "full" addon, it's now against the EULA/TOS/whatever they have for addons.

[Keoni]

Actually, I'm concerned that this might be the end of Auctioneer.

I really don't think Blizzard is trying to stamp out Auctioneer, I think they're going after the nude mods and the hax add-ons.

[Pennie]

I know I use nUI and questhelper, both of them ask for donations in-game. nUI has a regular version and a premium verson that you have to pay to get. I will probably be looking for a new ui now, no biggie I can just go back to the ones I using before. I like the new rules, because I don't like seeing the spam when I log on. I don't mind donating a bit to help out, cause I know some of these addons can be a lot of work, but I can see Blizzard's view pt too.