Blizzard KOs WoW Glider

02 Oct 2008 at 00:28:18 by Jerry Friestad

As reported over on BBC News World of Warcraft has won $6million in the first round of its on-going legal battle again MDY Industries, the maker of MMO Glider. Its estimated the product sold over 100,000 bots to consumers at a $25 dollar price point, not to mention the money lost by the bots affecting the in game economy and overall experience of the legitimate players. The program MMO Glider, referred to as a bot, simulated the players actions in the game allowing them to complete tasks without actually playing.

This bot would commonly be used to do mundane tasks such as consistently killing enemy mobs in a specific area for an extended period of time to ease the leveling process. The money this program generated may seem like a small amount to Blizzards monthly income from subscriptions but it cannot be estimated how all of the legitimate players may have been affected and/or quit the game because the program degrading their experience. These bots have recently been seen in PvP battlegrounds being used to accumulate honor points and marks that translate into in epic quality gear. The players botting would not participate in the pvp match making it harder for their faction to win the match.

The case is scheduled for another court date in January 2009 where they will decide if MDY broke the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act and whether Mr Donnelly will have to pay the damages out of his own pocket.

As gaming moves on to connect more gamers via cooperative and competitive online play games are beginning to develop an economy. Even console shooters such as Call of Duty 4 are implementing some sort of leveling system to reward players willing to invest their time in the game. Gamers will always be looking for a way to exploit the games mechanics to their personal benefit making the balance of the game unfair for legitimate players. Blizzard to a huge stand for all future developers making an MMO or not, showing them that cheaters don't always prosper, especially when they are charging $25 on the side to do so.

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