Should You Use CurseForge? CEO Explains WoW App’s Privacy, Feature, Ad Changes

[Gaidax]

I would not make the claim that Facebook has more accountability than anybody if I'm honest

There is something to that too, but at least for Facebook stakes are much higher for all parties involved, which is something. Compared to Overwolf who are small enough for anybody to give enough damn.

[Baneto]

Your data has already been taken. The only way to protect yourself from that completely is not being on the internet at all.

Yeah I wont argue against that.

[Gaidax]

I'm not defending Overworlf at all if that's the misconception. I know they are shady as hell, I was just poking fun at all the people talking and worried about ''their dataz'' as if any of that shit is protected anymore in this day and age

It's just funny.

On that front I certainly agree, I bet Google and MS can know what color of my underpants I'm wearing now or at least get that capability in couple of years. A slight exaggeration, of course, but the idea is that I'm tossing my data at things anyway.

Still, it's nice to at least have some degree of decency (lulz ok got me there) or actual accountability (as in potential painful fines) at least with that for those parties that might make them think twice who they share that data with.

[RoKPaNda]

The multiple responses of "YOU DON'T JUST DO MANUAL DOWNLOADS?!" makes me think they run the bare minimum addons anyway and don't have to deal with updating several at once. Or at the very least, they don't have raider.io.

Regardless, it's extremely inconvenient to have work and other obligations, just to come home and update addons one by one. Imagine having a raid waiting on you because you'd rather manually download several addons.

I have something like 50 addons, but you're right I don't use anything that requires updating every single day like Raider.io. Even if I did though it's just a matter of downloading it and extracting it. If they ever break the API because people aren't using Overwolf I'll go back to manually updating the important addons, even if that means updating some of them every day before I login. Much better that than install some shady shit like Overwolf.

[Grakao]

I've decided to try WowUp and it's pretty good so far.

Quite simple, lightweight (just an .exe file) and does the same job as the twitch app without the hassle.

[rowaasr13]

No you shouldnt use it if you value your privacy and want to spare your computer of malware & spyware.
There are way better lightweight alternatives to use:

And that is a fucking FUD. Their Curseforge app is LITERALLY code from Twitch's tab app - I've checked. If you want to put blame on something, bring some facts.

BTW, none of alternatives will help you with CF-exclusive addons, because they aren't suspending downloads, they're suspending uploads of new versions. Which is indeed dumb move on launch week unless they plan to finish their "transition" ASAP - in 2-3 days.

As far as I remember, somebody on WoWI once checked and about 70% of addons on CF didn't had alternative download source. I'm not sure how things changed since then.

[Baneto]

And that is a fucking FUD. Their Curseforge app is LITERALLY code from Twitch's tab app - I've checked. If you want to put blame on something, bring some facts.

BTW, none of alternatives will help you with CF-exclusive addons, because they aren't suspending downloads, they're suspending uploads of new versions. Which is indeed dumb move on launch week unless they plan to finish their "transition" ASAP - in 2-3 days.

As far as I remember, somebody on WoWI once checked and about 70% of addons on CF didn't had alternative download source. I'm not sure how things changed since then.

Not sure what you're trying to say here, I have no issue at all downloading updates to my addons via WowUp.

Bring along these "facts" of yours and enlighten us please.

[rowaasr13]

Yeah, they get moneys. That's the whole point.

No, that's not the whole point. If you want the whole point go to actual addon author's forums and ask there. CF also provides three different repository hosting systems, issue tracker, markdown and wiki-like docs. It also provides actual storage and bandwidth to serve releases and media like pics in those docs. It also provides a packaging system to make those releases appear automatically as soon as you make new commit. Many of this stuff can be covered by Github nowadays if you was developing under git or willing to move to it, but you still have to bother spending time setting up all that and CF was providing all this way before Github was a thing.

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Bring along these "facts" of yours and enlighten us please.

WTF are you even talking about? You threw accusations - you bring facts. I didn't go around screaming "muh privacy is invaded by evul CF app because voices in my head said so!"

[bloodykiller86]

Do not believe this has been posted yet and considering the twitch client says support will stop at December the second.

Link to Forbes article

Overwolf does not have the greatest reputation so the change from curseforge twitch into curseforge overwolf without doubt raised some concern as most of us use addons and would like to have something to use that we deem trustworthy. So it is an interesting read to see what their plans are, yes there's some corporate speak in there since it is an interview with the CEO, so plenty of how this is to empower and enable developers because that is where they came from and want to see them get more money, etc.

Not a fan of overwolf myself, but this is what we have to work with so might as well try to get an objective look at them.

Some highlights.

• It appears Curseforge was going to leave twitch or was looking for a new place that was more sustainable long term.
• Transparency going forward on how Curseforge will be developed is important to them.
• Things will remain as is for now and new things will be rolled out over time.
• A dedicated team for Curseforge, new features will be global search and smart sync.
• Subscription model will return to generate more revenue, which of 70% will go to addon developers.
• All users will keep having access to Update All,” auto-install, Sync and multi-select features.
• New privacy policy to address concerns, no more selling of data to companies including research they don't feel "internally comfortable with"
• They further elaborated how they handle data and how transparency is important to them make of that what you will.
• Adds will return in the form of in-app banners and muted video ads, in a non-intrusive manner.
• Developer response they claim has been positive so far.
• Elvui and Weakauras 2 is missing on their client still but they are looking to work with them and add them to their client.

Looks positive as you can expect from such a piece, guess time will tell. Their transparency is a good move but while they changed their policies things can be changed again.
Not having weakauras 2 is a bit of disappointment to me personally elvui also but that wasn't on twitch anyway.

So will you be using this or have you already transitioned to another Mod application if so which?




Edit:

In the light of "Sharing is Caring", three alternatives;

WoWup has been promoted as an alternative, it can be found here https://wowup.io/

I am currently in the process of transitioning and considering paying ( 3 a month) for it as i used to pay for CurseForge before their move to Twitch.

Something you may want to know using WoWup;

The Good,
All addons are supported, it gets their data from GitHub, CurseForge, WowInterface, TukUI. So even Elvui gets updated through it what isn't the case with Twitch and now Overwolf.

The (maybe) Bad,
Most addons are on CurseForge, popular ones can be found elsewhere however.
Overwolf is planning to cut access of to CF API for WoWup at one point, the developer is however looking for alternatives to this.

To read the story between Overwolf and WoWup you can read it here;


Minion - wowinterface addon manager https://www.minion.gg/

The Good,
It's free, has all the basic features (update all..) and it comes from a site with their own database, so even if Overwolf limits access to Curseforge you'll still get updates.

The (maybe) Bad,
If your addon is not on WoWinterface it won't be available through the app, however most if not all popular addons are on there.


Ajour, another addon manager similar to wowup - https://www.getajour.com/

The good,
Access to all addon databases, Tukui, wowinterface, Curseforge.
Open source, free to build your own addon from this.

The bad,
Same as with WoWup access to Curseforge and other API's might be restricted in the future, dependent on other databases for addons.

paying for wowup is insanely stupid. all you're doing is taking away money from the actual addons devs. thats the only reason ill support curseforge over all others. curseforge ill actually give something back to the addon devs like i do when i watch youtube instead of paying another dev that is essentially stealing from them.

[rowaasr13]

Not sure what you're trying to say here, I have no issue at all downloading updates to my addons via WowUp.

You will have no new versions to download for any addon that is CF-exclusive with ANY client. Because there won't be new versions in the first place as long as uploads are suspended.

[rhorle]

BTW, none of alternatives will help you with CF-exclusive addons, because they aren't suspending downloads, they're suspending uploads of new versions. Which is indeed dumb move on launch week unless they plan to finish their "transition" ASAP - in 2-3 days.

The announcement said the site was going read only on the 30th. Which is pretty much outside of launch week. There are very few curse forge exclusive addons that are also 100% necessary. Is it a big deal for the timing? Sure. Is manual moderation required for all uploads? It doesn't sound like it from the wording as that is what is suspended on the 24th during launch week.

[Baneto]

No, that's not the whole point. If you want the whole point go to actual addon author's forums and ask there. CF also provides three different repository hosting systems, issue tracker, markdown and wiki-like docs. It also provides actual storage and bandwidth to serve releases and media like pics in those docs. It also provides a packaging system to make those releases appear automatically as soon as you make new commit. Many of this stuff can be covered by Github nowadays if you was developing under git or willing to move to it, but you still have to bother spending time setting up all that and CF was providing all this way before Github was a thing.

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WTF are you even talking about? You threw accusations - you bring facts. I didn't go around screaming "muh privacy is invaded by evul CF app because voices in my head said so!"

Comrade we have people reporting their own experiences of this earlier in the thread, no need to get angry.

You will have no new versions to download for any addon that is CF-exclusive with ANY client. Because there won't be new versions in the first place as long as uploads are suspended.

Can you give me a source on that information? I'll cross that bridge when I get there, still not getting Overwolf.

[rowaasr13]

The announcement said the site was going read only on the 30th. Which is pretty much outside of launch week. There are very few curse forge exclusive addons that are also 100% necessary. Is it a big deal for the timing? Sure. Is manual moderation required for all uploads? It doesn't sound like it from the wording as that is what is suspended on the 24th during launch week.

Not every addon author was in beta or even in game or plan to jump in right on launch. I, for example, returned to fix GMM only week or two ago and I have other people testing it for me - I'm not playing to spend money playing until at least NY. Many other authors are too like that.

They really should have planned it better - they've had half-year to prepare. Zero downtime is not that hard to manage anyway. I did it in fintech and RTB - both are pretty highload with minimal team.

As for manual moderation, AFAIR it's relatively new thing on CF itself. I think it only appeared in last two years. I'm not sure why they added it... some addon got compromised with bad upload or something?

[rhorle]

Not every addon author was in beta or even in game or plan to jump in right on launch. I, for example, returned to fix GMM only week or two ago and I have other people testing it for me - I'm not playing to spend money playing until at least NY. Many other authors are too like that.

If your addon is launch critical then you would be in beta to get it up and running. You can't use the excuse that not everyone plans to jump in right on launch while also complaining about a website not having downloads right on launch. You are basically just complaining because you can. That is silly. They couldn't have planned around a delay or Twitch. If the expansion launched on time the migration would be happening about a month after launch. A time that isn't as critical for addons.

Could they have made a contract with Amazon (Twitch) with delays and stuff included? Sure. Could they have done it sooner? Maybe. Even Blizzard still has downtime so it is a bit silly to use that as a detractor. How easy you think it is, or you've encountered in your career, doesn't mean it is always like that. In a perfect world? Sure.

By the way you may want to update your signature links. Curse is part of Fandom. Curseforge is part of Overwolf and where addons are stored. Your links currently go to fandom's main page.

[rowaasr13]

Can you give me a source on that information? I'll cross that bridge when I get there, still not getting Overwolf.

Right on front page and I believe it was in this thread few pages earlier too. https://www.mmo-champion.com/content...ad-Only-Update

On 11/24, manual project moderation will be paused. All content requiring manual moderation submitted on or after this date will be queued to be reviewed once manual moderation is reinstated.
On 11/30, Curseforge will enter read-only mode at 6AM PST. Curseforge is expected to stay in read-only mode throughout the week, and full functionality is expected to return by early December.

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Comrade we have people reporting their own experiences of this earlier in the thread, no need to get angry.

I simply dislike baseless fearmongering. I've yet to hear what exact "private info" was invaded by OW and how working with that app is different from just going to CF in browser.

[Baneto]

Right on front page and I believe it was in this thread few pages earlier too. https://www.mmo-champion.com/content...ad-Only-Update


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I simply dislike baseless fearmongering. I've yet to hear what exact "private info" was invaded by OW and how working with that app is different from just going to CF in browser.

Okay thanks, I guess I'll adapt to whatever happens, but I much prefer the lightweight alternatives though.

[rowaasr13]

If your addon is launch critical then you would be in beta to get it up and running. You can't use the excuse that not everyone plans to jump in right on launch while also complaining about a website not having downloads right on launch. You are basically just complaining because you can. That is silly. They couldn't have planned around a delay or Twitch. If the expansion launched on time the migration would be happening about a month after launch. A time that isn't as critical for addons.

Not a single addon is critical. They're "addons" after all. And no, authors can and will use any excuse they please. They don't actually need any excuses at all, as they're not getting paid to do that stuff. Also no, authors don't get free beta if you didn't knew that.

Could they have made a contract with Amazon (Twitch) with delays and stuff included? Sure. Could they have done it sooner? Maybe. Even Blizzard still has downtime so it is a bit silly to use that as a detractor. How easy you think it is, or you've encountered in your career, doesn't mean it is always like that. In a perfect world? Sure.

Man, I have far more than enough knowledge on backends to know how to make this particular transition without DT (and no, it wouldn't require lots of resources). They simply decided to not bother and do migration the simplest way for whatever reason. Since this is one-time thing it would be logical decision any time, except that close to release. You just have to take my word for it - it's how I actually make money for last few decades. They plan to finish in a week so it is not a worst thing they could do, but still they could've done better without much effort.

By the way you may want to update your signature links. Curse is part of Fandom. Curseforge is part of Overwolf and where addons are stored. Your links currently go to fandom's main page.

Sure, thanks. Lots of link to fix in all the docs with all those migrations, might as well fix sig since you've brought attention to it.

[FrostyButt]

People are sleeping on Cursebreaker. It's literally the best addon updater available. I have tried WoWUP and Ajour and they can't hold a candle to Cursebreaker.

[Baneto]

People are sleeping on Cursebreaker. It's literally the best addon updater available. I have tried WoWUP and Ajour and they can't hold a candle to Cursebreaker.

What makes Cursebreaker so much better? Sell it!

[rhorle]

Not a single addon is critical. They're "addons" after all. And no, authors can and will use any excuse they please. They don't actually need any excuses at all, as they're not getting paid to do that stuff. Also no, authors don't get free beta if you didn't knew that.

So then your argument holds no water. It can't be a bad time if no addons need to be updated at launch. And yes popular developers will have their addons updated for Beta or Pre-patch. Most people get into beta eventually and Blizzard does target popular developers and streamers for such things. Of course you can will use whatever excuse you want that still doesn't mean it works.

If you are going to say that people don't jump in right away to update or release apps then not being able to do it the first or second week won't be an issue. Because you aren't jumping right in to update right? It doesn't matter what experience you have and how you think everything can be done without downtime. The point is that even multi-million dollar companies have downtime. It happens. Just because it can be done with out doesn't change that it still happens.

It wasn't supposed to be this close to release. That is something you seem to overlook. Overwolf and Amazon decided on a date long ago. Changing things with contracts and stuff isn't always easy to do. Something you should know if you are as knowledgeable as you claim. The game was delayed. Should a better contingency have been in place? Sure.