Having played World of Warcraft ever since its release in 2004 and having personally used WoW glider for my personal gain, I have much to say regarding the recent lawsuit filed by Blizzard Entertainment against MDY Industries. World of Warcraft by all means is an addictive game. The feeling of satisfaction one attains from progressing through the game in form of ‘leveling up’ by killing progressively difficult monsters is exhilarating. More memorable are the fun experiences throughout leveling that create a sense of attachment between the player and the character. Leveling up is by large a central element to the game. The game caps characters at level 70 at which point one may move on to larger end-game challenges, or begin new characters and go through the grind to level 70 once again.
Needless to say, progressing through the game can also be very tedious at times and many players prefer to play end-game content which they claim is ‘when the game really begins’. As for those who restart new characters at level 1 once they reach 70, there are many portions of the game that one would rather skip due to its tedious nature. An example is gathering the items needed to attain an in-game mount. WoW glider, by automating your character, allows the player the option to skip any part of the game between level 1 and 70. It also allows the player the powerful ability to obtain an inhuman amount of items and gold.
I first started using WG when I started my second character. I just wanted to skip certain parts of the game I would rather not play through again. However, I soon realized I started using it to gather more items than I needed so I could sell them for extra profit. Then I started using the program even for portions of the game I planned to actually play. Eventually I just let the software ‘play’ my character to level 70. It was then that I realized the pointlessness of the game. I felt that all my ‘work’ put into my character was in vain when a mere third party software can do all that I could do, and more. If I didn’t use the program, my character would not be on par with those who did and I felt obliged to let the ‘bot’ play instead of me. Even when I did play, I noticed an increasing number of players ‘botting’ instead of playing.
Eventually I quit altogether, and I would say that WoW glider was the main reason. The game no longer became about fun, but about gathering as much virtual wealth as I could by letting the WoW Glider bot play the game for me. I had no attachment to the characters. It really ruined the game experience and countless others like me have quit the game.
Now Blizzard is claiming the same things as I have outlined and have accused MDY of causing monetary losses for Blizzard in the form of players quitting the game. I am a prime example. Additionally, the influx of items from ‘botters’ or ‘gliders’ (those who use WG) have disrupted the economy and legitimate players have a very difficult time purchasing items.
Though I do not think WoW glider formally violates any copyright laws, it definitely causes players to break their terms of service agreement which states that third party programs are not to be used. To me, Blizzard is clearly in the right for this one and MDY is simply trying to worm its way to winning the case by finding loopholes in the legal system and interpreting laws in a straightforward way, rather than in a way that applies to the case. Unfortunately cases involving intellectual property are a relatively new thing in the courtroom and therefore the formal legal guidelines have not been stringently set. With some luck, MDY might just emerge as the victor and WoW may fall into ruin further.
