Ajour and CurseBreaker Addon Managers No Longer Maintained

[Relapses]

Lmfao -- nice to see that a post I made about this a year ago turned out to be 100% accurate.

I don't give a shit about CurseForge because I won't be using anything related to the partially aborted fetus that is OverWolf. WoWup is a decent alternative but it seems as if OW would prefer apps like this didn't exist since they impact their precious bottom line. What really concerns me me is -- and I said this in the last thread on this subject -- is that I can easily see a world where Curse decides to remove the ability to download apps directly off their website and forces people to use this program; I'm hoping this remains cynical fiction but it's a natural progression of the (extremely flawed, imo) business model whereby add-on developers are financially incentivized to participate in their partner program.

This doesn't mean that I don't think add-on developers should get paid for work but rather that I believe they should rely on traditional support networks like Patreon (which many still have on top of residuals from Curse at the moment) instead of actual malware with a user-friendly interface.

[T-34]

There are no adblocks for the client.

My point was that Blizzard has no problem/issue with referring people to use Wowhead when they have problems with doing quests.
And Wowhead relies mainly on add-revenue and Blizzard does not in any way encourage people to block adds there or forbid Wowhead to show adds on its site.
So in short: I can't see why Blizzard would have any issue with add-on writers publishing their add-ons solely on Curseforge as long as the "cost of access" stops at showing adds to people.

If I understand it correctly we will still have the option to manually download add-ons from the web-site, where people like us can block what we don't like.
I don't like this one bit either, but I don't see why Blizzard would interfere.

[Drusin]

That said, I always thought making money (unless they are donations or something) was against Blizzard's addon rules. Maybe someone with more knowledge on the subject can enlighten us.

The official addon development policy from Blizzard

A snippet that's relevant to your question.



In no way does Curse rewards charge users for addons. It's 100% free and I assume it has to do with ads.

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There are no adblocks for the client.

That might not be true, I've been meaning to look into for some time now but there is https://pi-hole.net/ that blocks ads on a network level so anything on your wifi or lan will have ads blocked which should include software like Overwolf

[Nobleshield]

I've seen a few addon creators who are very against things like WoWUp for "stealing" money from them since the CurseForge app gives them a cut, and the third party ones don't.

[rrayy]

So... how many stocks in Overwolf do you have?

None. I have two eyes and I also go by my experience so far running the app. Players are just mad that they can't rip off the API for free. Player entitlement at it's worst.

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The official addon development policy from Blizzard

A snippet that's relevant to your question.



In no way does Curse rewards charge users for addons. It's 100% free and I assume it has to do with ads.

You are correct. The addon maker gets a cut of the ad revenue, but the users can download all addons for free.

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How about making a software light, safe and non-intrusive enough that we wouldn't have to think what dangerous shit it might do if we leave it running.

I don't have a problem having to see an ad or two while updating my addons. But for the love of god not with that fucking pile of elefant dung that overwolf is.

Have you even actually run the Curse Forge app? Nothing of what you say is happening. Hell, you can even set it so it closes Overwolf when you close Curse Forge. People are making assumptions based on past history and haven't even bothered to try the Curse Forge app first before rendering their opinion. AS it is there is zero reason for anyone to keep it running after they are done downloading their apps.

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And what about the ads they shove on our faces? Are those also vetted?

Shove in our faces? There is one ad down in the corner. People really need to run the app to see how it actually works before spouting off.

[Haniel]

Welp... Time to say goodbye to overwolf then.

[Relapses]

Shove in our faces? There is one ad down in the corner. People really need to run the app to see how it actually works before spouting off.

It was pretty egregious in the past. And if we're being honest here, the kinds of ads that often get served by these companies care far more engagement metrics than they do professional integrity so even though it's "just an ad in the corner" today doesn't mean that it won't change in the future (especially if people are largely ignoring the current ads).

[Drusin]

Shove in our faces? There is one ad down in the corner. People really need to run the app to see how it actually works before spouting off.

and to be fair, when he had this back in the day



I hated that too :]

[Soon-TM]

Once I discovered Wowup, I never went back

WowUp also has a Linux client, which comes in quite handy

[kaminaris]

lol... just because it might be safe now doesn't mean it's not a possibility they get ads that can infect your computer...
https://www.networkworld.com/article...tisements.html

There is far higher chance you get infected while browsing a net than from curseforge app. Simply because adds there don't have even a fraction of permission that those on webpages.

The amount of bullshit i read about OW/Cursforge is astonishing.

https://overwolf.github.io/docs/start/ads-sdk-overview

What does that mean in practice? You cant fukken display entire webpages over overwolf ad network, if you pass them some shady shit it will not be accepted. Pretty much only videos or image banners.

[bluspacecow]

And what about the ads they shove on our faces? Are those also vetted?

Finally tracked it all down.

According to -

https://www.overwolf.com/legal/priva...ice-providers/
https://brands.overwolf.com/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwolf/co...m_some_things/

They work with a number of services to vet their ads including (and not limited to)
* Virustotal
* Geoedge
* Protected media (Flashtalking Inc)
* Pixalatae
* MOAT (Oracle)
* DoubleVerify
* iab Europe

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What does that mean in practice? You cant fukken display entire webpages over overwolf ad network, if you pass them some shady shit it will not be accepted. Pretty much only videos or image banners.

According to the API here are the ad sizes supported -


400×300 Video
300x250 Video & Banner
728x90 Banner
300x600 Banner
160x600 Banner

https://overwolf.github.io/docs/star...ze-description

To reiterate - for someone to see an ad when Overwolf is installed the following must happen in order -

* They have to find an overlay for their game on the Overwolf store. Overlays are specific to a game , one written for one game won't work for another game as they use specific hooks
* They have to install said OW overlay. They do not come pre-installed
* Enable overlays for the game you want to overlay to appear (if it isn't already)
* Them to launch game and open the overlay's interface.
* Overlay's author needs to place a UI element that effectively is a "insert ad here" element. These can be the sizes listed above.

[TheRevenantHero]

So now people who want to keep their addons up to date reliably have to constantly go to the site that makes the addon or download a program filled with spyware. Jfc.

[Ealyssa]

Actually it's against the rules to monetize addons for WoW. So yes, we are expecting the addons to be free.

Addons are still free…

Nobody forces you to use overwolf services. Feel free to update your addons by hand. The service they provide has nothing to do with the addons.

So now people who want to keep their addons up to date reliably have to constantly go to the site that makes the addon or download a program filled with spyware. Jfc.

Or they can stop being crybabies and use overwolf software. I use it since the end of the twitch app and it’s the exact same… All the people whining didn’t even try it. They take a stance against a supposed "spyware" (hint, it’s bullshit) but they don’t really know what they are talking about.

[Nerph-]

Or they can stop being crybabies and use overwolf software. I use it since the end of the twitch app and it’s the exact same… All the people whining didn’t even try it. They take a stance against a supposed "spyware" (hint, it’s bullshit) but they don’t really know what they are talking about.

Yes, we're all being crybabies and there is absolutely no reason Overwolf has such a bad reputation on the internet...

[TheRevenantHero]

Addons are still free…

Nobody forces you to use overwolf services. Feel free to update your addons by hand. The service they provide has nothing to do with the addons.



Or they can stop being crybabies and use overwolf software. I use it since the end of the twitch app and it’s the exact same… All the people whining didn’t even try it. They take a stance against a supposed "spyware" (hint, it’s bullshit) but they don’t really know what they are talking about.

OW is riddled with spyware and malware. Do you work for them or something?

[ek0zu]

Since the game in unplayable without addons, Blizzard has to do something!

[rrayy]

I have nothing against the addon devs getting a bit of pocket change, it's honestly nothing considering the time they spend but anyway. I just don't want sketchy parasite companies like Overwolf to have any involvement (or exist). Also, I really want to use open-source software, which I do whenever possible.

So you actually are against them getting pocket change and want to get the addons for frere while the devs get nothing. You completely contradicted yourself.

[Clozer]

Just use that stupid client. It's not as bad as people make it out to be. Yeah, I remember back in the day the client was pure trash. It literally froze my computer but the new one seems pretty lightweight and .. I only use it like once a week for 2 minutes anyway.

[rrayy]

To be honest... yes.

Addons were made by players for players. It was like a hobby, to make a WoW better place.
I think that everyone should be able to put their addons on the Curseforge website... and then the website would get money from the traffic/adds and use part of that money and help the addon-makers.

That is exactly what is happening with the Curseforge app. Addon makers get money from the traffic/ads on the app

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Yes, we're all being crybabies and there is absolutely no reason Overwolf has such a bad reputation on the internet...

BEcause yes erveryone is. Every single person whining about the app has never run the Curseforge app and they don't because they would then know their whining is compete BS. Buy not running it they can convince themselves the BS they are spewing is the truth,

[TheRevenantHero]

That is exactly what is happening with the Curseforge app. Addon makers get money from the traffic/ads on the app

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BEcause yes erveryone is. Every single person whining about the app has never run the Curseforge app and they don't because they would then know their whining is compete BS. Buy not running it they can convince themselves the BS they are spewing is the truth,

"Everyone who is whining is wrong and I am right about everything. I don't care if there are tons of people who hate Overwolf because it gave their computer viruses. they're obviously just whiney babies." This is basically what you're saying. There are plenty of people who hate Overwolf because it's blatant malware and spyware. I've used Overwolf. If I didn't have a good anti-virus it would have royally fucked my computer. But hey obviously your words are gospel and anyone who disagrees is just a liar, I guess.