Blizzard are suing the creators of cheating tools for their online games

[WYP]

Blizzard is suing Bossland, the creators of cheating tools for several of their online games including Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, and Diablo 3.



Read more on Blizzard suing Bossland.

 

[demonking]

what????? i can understand ruining the gaming experience but damaging sales? don't you have to buy the game before you can use hacks for it?and when they get caught and banned 9/10 time the cheater will just get a new account. and really? blizzard cant be bothered to put in a decent anti cheat system and are now sueing them for their own laziness?
yeah i hate cheaters in games, but it should be down to the developer or server provider to sort.

 

[Warchild]

what????? i can understand ruining the gaming experience but damaging sales? don't you have to buy the game before you can use hacks for it?and when they get caught and banned 9/10 time the cheater will just get a new account. and really? blizzard cant be bothered to put in a decent anti cheat system and are now sueing them for their own laziness?
yeah i hate cheaters in games, but it should be down to the developer or server provider to sort.

Not sure it is that easy to prevent when you go along the lines of DLL injection. I am pretty sure Blizzard being a company who is so obsessed with milking us all, has the best servers, best equipment etc money could buy in order to increase population on the servers and its games.

 

[SPS]

what????? i can understand ruining the gaming experience but damaging sales? don't you have to buy the game before you can use hacks for it?and when they get caught and banned 9/10 time the cheater will just get a new account. and really? blizzard cant be bothered to put in a decent anti cheat system and are now sueing them for their own laziness?
yeah i hate cheaters in games, but it should be down to the developer or server provider to sort.

This post screams ignorance

Who'd want to play/buy a game that consists of people constantly cheating?

 

[SeekaX]

what????? i can understand ruining the gaming experience but damaging sales? don't you have to buy the game before you can use hacks for it?and when they get caught and banned 9/10 time the cheater will just get a new account. and really? blizzard cant be bothered to put in a decent anti cheat system and are now sueing them for their own laziness?
yeah i hate cheaters in games, but it should be down to the developer or server provider to sort.

People might not buy the game if they know it's filled with cheaters.
There is no 'decent' anticheat which works effectively and efficiently. Even if you go all the way with randomly timed screenshots, demo reviews, etc., there are things which slip through the cracks. A well used private silent aimbot can pretty much not be busted.

 

[Greenback]

Think Blizz need punkbuster, did they not look at other online FPS games and notice that people make cheats for them and the developer has to do it's best to keep up with them, do Blizz not know they sue this company another will be up and running the day after.

And an after thought isn't this like suing smith and western after someone shoots another person with one of their guns

 

[SeekaX]

Think Blizz need punkbuster, did they not look at other online FPS games and notice that people make cheats for them and the developer has to do it's best to keep up with them, do Blizz not know they sue this company another will be up and running the day after.

And an after thought isn't this like suing smith and western after someone shoots another person with one of their guns

Not quite, because smith and wesson doesn't sell a product whose only purpose is illegally shooting people. It's more like suing the drugdealer instead of the addict.
But yea, it's kinda pointless.

 

[demonking]

This post screams ignorance

Who'd want to play/buy a game that consists of people constantly cheating?

who'd want a bank card that someone can just walk by you and have all your details? no one, but i bet if you haven't got one you will know quite a few people that have. anyone can download software to there smart phone that can read the NFC chip from your bank card, and with the right software they can have all your bank details, name and address. is it down to the police to ensure that this sort of exploit cannot be found or the developer of the card?

I'm not trying to justify cheating, i hate people who cheat in multiplayer. but they need to come up with a better anti cheat solution than we'll sue people who make cheats. There is nothing illegal about making them and i think Blizzard will end up just wasting money trying to get them to court. using them is probably something Blizzard could sue for, im sure there will be somthing in the tos about modifying, copying redistributing ect ect and injecting dll's is modifying the program even if it only temporary.

 

[Kushiro]

Plenty of cheaters in COD, still plenty sales

Maybe just a tiny hit in sales cause most people who buy it would buy it regardless.

 

[shambles1980]

This post screams ignorance

Who'd want to play/buy a game that consists of people constantly cheating?

its why i dont play GTA V any more and wont buy any more rockstar games.

----

As for the legality of it..
Yo would be surprised how illegal somethings are after a few of the laws that were passed in the early to mid 90's..
very vaguely worded laws can easily be used to show that this is a computer crime..
And they can carry 20years prison sentence or $15k fine or even both:

i mean im sure you could manage to use one of these examples to describe the act, and then prosecute accordingly

A person commits a “computer crime” when he or she:
1. accesses a computer system without authorization;
2. accesses or uses a computer system to obtain unauthorized computer services (including computer access, data processing, and data storage);
3. intentionally or recklessly disrupts, degrades, or causes disruption or degradation of computer services or denies or causes denial of computer services to an authorized user; or
4. intentionally or recklessly tampers with, takes, transfers, conceals, alters, or damages any equipment used in a computer system.



It is also a computer crime to misuse computer system data. A person commits this crime by:
1. accessing a computer system to use, disclose, or copy data residing in, communicated by, or produced by a computer system;
2. intentionally or recklessly and without authorization (a) tampering with, damaging, or taking data intended for use by a computer system or (b) intercepting or adding to data residing within a computer system;
3. knowingly receiving or retaining data obtained through misuse of computer system information;
4. using or disclosing data he or she knows or believes was obtained through misuse of computer system information


Im pretty sure that Vaguely worded bullet point 3 (the 1st one) is close enough because you can argue its degrading and disrupting the service.
and if you can argue that the offense has costed you $10k or more for whatever reason..
Then thats 20 years and $15k max sentence.

 

[Kushiro]

Crap, does that mean pron is illegal???

 

[shambles1980]

Crap, does that mean pron is illegal???

in the uk almost lol..
Spanking porn is illegal here now apparently

 

[Greenback]

its why i dont play GTA V any more and wont buy any more rockstar games.

----

As for the legality of it..
Yo would be surprised how illegal somethings are after a few of the laws that were passed in the early to mid 90's..
very vaguely worded laws can easily be used to show that this is a computer crime..
And they can carry 20years prison sentence or $15k fine or even both:

i mean im sure you could manage to use one of these examples to describe the act, and then prosecute accordingly

A person commits a “computer crime” when he or she:
1. accesses a computer system without authorization;
2. accesses or uses a computer system to obtain unauthorized computer services (including computer access, data processing, and data storage);
3. intentionally or recklessly disrupts, degrades, or causes disruption or degradation of computer services or denies or causes denial of computer services to an authorized user; or
4. intentionally or recklessly tampers with, takes, transfers, conceals, alters, or damages any equipment used in a computer system.



It is also a computer crime to misuse computer system data. A person commits this crime by:
1. accessing a computer system to use, disclose, or copy data residing in, communicated by, or produced by a computer system;
2. intentionally or recklessly and without authorization (a) tampering with, damaging, or taking data intended for use by a computer system or (b) intercepting or adding to data residing within a computer system;
3. knowingly receiving or retaining data obtained through misuse of computer system information;
4. using or disclosing data he or she knows or believes was obtained through misuse of computer system information


Im pretty sure that Vaguely worded bullet point 3 (the 1st one) is close enough because you can argue its degrading and disrupting the service.
and if you can argue that the offense has costed you $10k or more for whatever reason..
Then thats 20 years and $15k max sentence.

That could be argued but I think it's the use of the program and that would be the person cheating, the person who made the program isn't doing anything listed there

 

[SPS]

The game relies on having players available for multiplayer, they 100% should be trying to sue a company that is deterring players away while also making money by doing it.

 

[Tramik]

what????? i can understand ruining the gaming experience but damaging sales? don't you have to buy the game before you can use hacks for it?and when they get caught and banned 9/10 time the cheater will just get a new account. and really? blizzard cant be bothered to put in a decent anti cheat system and are now sueing them for their own laziness?
yeah i hate cheaters in games, but it should be down to the developer or server provider to sort.

The success of the game also depends upon player experience. If people hear Overwatch suffers from an abundance of cheaters, people won't buy the game. People who have already bought the game may quit playing, which reduces the likelihood they will buy lootboxes or any addition content.

Look at The Division. Hackers were everywhere and people stopped playing, that means people like me would never recommend someone buy the game, and myself I won't be buying any DLC.

The bottom line is this - hackers cost Blizzard money, and that can be objectively proven.

 

[Kopesetic]

I lol'd when I read this article and the responses that followed. Is OC3D REALLY just learning of Blizz trying to sue Bossland? They've been trying to for the past 6 YEARS in Germany, only to be met with complete failure. So now they are going to try to sue them in the US as if that matters. US courts have no jurisdiction over Bossland to create any concern whatsoever. Even if the courts were to find in favor of Blizzard, Bossland would never have to acknowledge the ruling as the US courts have no avenue in which to enforce it's ruling on Bossland, which lies outside of it's jurisdiction, as previously stated.

Bottom line is, the program is actually not costing blizz anything as most people that use the program buy and maintain a subscription on multiple game licenses, and when 1 or more gets banned/suspended, they simply buy more.

The program isn't hurting the multiplayer community when the bots keep the Auction Houses full of materials for players to obtain for profession training and item enhancement. This helps because most players don't have the time to dedicate to farming up the materials themselves.

I can prove this because I am one of the players. If it weren't for bots keeping the AH stocked with materials so that I can simply buy them and then enjoy the aspects of the game that I want to, I would have quit playing years ago. Blizz could combat this by simply having their systems keep a set stock of mats in the AH when no one in the game is posting those particular materials, which has been suggested and urged for by the multiplayer community HUNDREDS of times, but Blizz ignores it's players.

In the end:
US Courts can't make Bossland acknowledge anything they decide (Hell they couldn't get the German courts, that DO have jurisdiction, to rule in their favor)

Bots don't cost them money, only the players willing to buy it.

Bots help the server economy's by providing players with things they need that blizz ignores them about.

 

[SPS]

I lol'd when I read this article and the responses that followed. Is OC3D REALLY just learning of Blizz trying to sue Bossland? They've been trying to for the past 6 YEARS in Germany, only to be met with complete failure. So now they are going to try to sue them in the US as if that matters. US courts have no jurisdiction over Bossland to create any concern whatsoever. Even if the courts were to find in favor of Blizzard, Bossland would never have to acknowledge the ruling as the US courts have no avenue in which to enforce it's ruling on Bossland, which lies outside of it's jurisdiction, as previously stated.

Bottom line is, the program is actually not costing blizz anything as most people that use the program buy and maintain a subscription on multiple game licenses, and when 1 or more gets banned/suspended, they simply buy more.

The program isn't hurting the multiplayer community when the bots keep the Auction Houses full of materials for players to obtain for profession training and item enhancement. This helps because most players don't have the time to dedicate to farming up the materials themselves.

I can prove this because I am one of the players. If it weren't for bots keeping the AH stocked with materials so that I can simply buy them and then enjoy the aspects of the game that I want to, I would have quit playing years ago. Blizz could combat this by simply having their systems keep a set stock of mats in the AH when no one in the game is posting those particular materials, which has been suggested and urged for by the multiplayer community HUNDREDS of times, but Blizz ignores it's players.

In the end:
US Courts can't make Bossland acknowledge anything they decide (Hell they couldn't get the German courts, that DO have jurisdiction, to rule in their favor)

Bots don't cost them money, only the players willing to buy it.

Bots help the server economy's by providing players with things they need that blizz ignores them about.

You're talking specifically about WoW here. The FPS genre becomes unplayable when cheaters are around in force. Just try and play older CoD games like MW or WaW, they are unplayable due to the amount of cheating.

 

[Warchild]

I lol'd when I read this article and the responses that followed. Is OC3D REALLY just learning of Blizz trying to sue Bossland? They've been trying to for the past 6 YEARS in Germany, only to be met with complete failure. So now they are going to try to sue them in the US as if that matters. US courts have no jurisdiction over Bossland to create any concern whatsoever. Even if the courts were to find in favor of Blizzard, Bossland would never have to acknowledge the ruling as the US courts have no avenue in which to enforce it's ruling on Bossland, which lies outside of it's jurisdiction, as previously stated.

Bottom line is, the program is actually not costing blizz anything as most people that use the program buy and maintain a subscription on multiple game licenses, and when 1 or more gets banned/suspended, they simply buy more.

The program isn't hurting the multiplayer community when the bots keep the Auction Houses full of materials for players to obtain for profession training and item enhancement. This helps because most players don't have the time to dedicate to farming up the materials themselves.

I can prove this because I am one of the players. If it weren't for bots keeping the AH stocked with materials so that I can simply buy them and then enjoy the aspects of the game that I want to, I would have quit playing years ago. Blizz could combat this by simply having their systems keep a set stock of mats in the AH when no one in the game is posting those particular materials, which has been suggested and urged for by the multiplayer community HUNDREDS of times, but Blizz ignores it's players.

In the end:
US Courts can't make Bossland acknowledge anything they decide (Hell they couldn't get the German courts, that DO have jurisdiction, to rule in their favor)

Bots don't cost them money, only the players willing to buy it.

Bots help the server economy's by providing players with things they need that blizz ignores them about.

Well I on the other hand am the opposite. I hated raid loggers who showed up. I enjoyed the preparation for events. I quit because of the bots in the game ruining economy, crashing the AH and flooding it making it no longer to utilise market playing. bots, and people with auto scripts, this is not what MMO's were about.

And since Legislation differs country to country, I can understand why Blizzard would fail and try elsewhere. I don't agree what they are doing is right and stinks of sheer greed, but they have a reason to do so.

Bots killed the server I used to be on since it became so overpopulated by them the zones were empty of trash, and only bots remained running around. How does that help immerse you into an MMO?

tl;dr
Blizzard are greedy but nothing new. Bots ruin MMO experiences. Would love to see them gone. I would say it is costing blizzard money. Bots get banned and come back again. Subscribers quit and dont return.

FPS games its 100 times worse.

 

[demonking]

in the uk almost lol..
Spanking porn is illegal here now apparently

Lol been blocked out of ur favourite site?
Our law is so strange. Block porn but there are talks in parliament about making prostitution legal?

 

[smilertoo]

I guess it might affect sales

I wouldn't pay for an online game i know people could be cheating at, so i can see why Blizzard are trying to clamp down on it.