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[Mashable] Blizzard sues cheating service for $8.7 million and wins

9K views 130 replies 65 participants last post by  the w3rd 
#1 ·
Quote:
The court's judgement (obtained by TorrentFreak) declares that Bossland must stop its operations and pay Blizzard over $8.7 million for copyright violations and covering Blizzard's court fees. The judgement was a default, meaning Bossland did not respond to summons or failed to appear in court.
Link:
http://mashable.com/2017/04/04/blizzard-cheating-lawsuit/#0N25Sax7Oaq2
and another:
https://torrentfreak.com/blizzard-beats-cheat-maker-wins-85-million-copyright-damages-170403/

Waste of time and money much, Blizzard?
 
#3 ·
It's not a waste of time or money. They have basically killed Honorbuddy (the bot from Bossland).
I have been using Honorbuddy since 2011. For everything from leveling up to using combat routines (bot using skills while I run around) to pvp and even running 3 bots for gold selling.
Bossland first removed lifetime licenses, then their 3 session 1 year option was changed to 3 sessions 3 months for the same price (€60). That price increase and also Blizzard banning every 2 or so months makes it not worth botting anymore.
And before someone starts to give me moral lessons about botting - I don't care. I never liked obeying the rules anyway.
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghoxt View Post

The undefended judgement in the US will be interesting as far as enforcement of payment, sans any appeal, or settlement.
IMO it would be wise to pay up as you do NOT want creditors and the IRS involved (the latter has an uncanny ability to find anyone). If you don't pay, the next best thing will be taken: your assets.
 
#10 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by lombardsoup View Post

It is a US case.
I don't like online cheating, don't get me wrong. But I really dislike when US companies go and sue anybody anywhere and everywhere for being creative.
There seem to be other cases outside US so if they sued them in Germany and won sure Bossland will pay or be made to pay. The US ruling? I think they can stick it unless Bossland operates physically in US in some way.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by JackCY View Post

I don't like online cheating, don't get me wrong. But I really dislike when US companies go and sue anybody anywhere and everywhere for being creative.
There seem to be other cases outside US so if they sued them in Germany and won sure Bossland will pay or be made to pay. The US ruling? I think they can stick it unless Bossland operates physically in US in some way.
US rulings can stretch outside of the US; not sure how this will fit into the jurisdictions but it can and has happened.
 
#15 ·
I like bots. I hate bots.

It's hard to really describe it. My first actual run-in with bots was when I played Dragon Nest frequently. There was the "Bot-Train", a literal un-ending stream of accounts, all identical warping into town, dumping gear at the store for whatever tiny gold amount they could get, then running back out again to do it all over again. The reason I hated those bots was because I was 100% sure that they were pooling all that money to then control the marketplace for the shadow owner. At the same time I liked the bots because they brought in a constant supply of material needed to upgrade gear in the game, keeping the prices of those materials relatively low. You could say the same thing about them in any game really. I saw the same kind of bot in Guild Wars 2 later on, it would warp around from resource node to node, mining them all. Keeps resources in the game, but then you're sure some shadow puppet master is now controlling the market with their ill gotten gains.

However I have also written my own bot code for a game called Kingdom of Loathing, a rouge-like game with a huge amount of content. Doing everything you want to do every day would take several hours if I were to do it by hand, but with some coding I can now have it all handled automatically while I do something more interesting, like posting on overclock.net.
smile.gif


The difference being on KoL botting is explicitly allowed, with free botting tools for everyone. It's multi-abuse which is disallowed (using more than one account to supplement a main account), which I think is actually a great way to go about it. With botting you can eliminate the biggest problem with video game RPGs, the grind, and focus more on the things which actually interest you. I'd still be playing GW2 if I had a bot I could run during the day while at work to gather gold/gear, then I could come home and enjoy the actual part of the play that requires some real thought (PvP, WvWvW).
 
#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zen00 View Post

The difference being on KoL botting is explicitly allowed, with free botting tools for everyone. It's multi-abuse which is disallowed (using more than one account to supplement a main account), which I think is actually a great way to go about it. With botting you can eliminate the biggest problem with video game RPGs, the grind, and focus more on the things which actually interest you. I'd still be playing GW2 if I had a bot I could run during the day while at work to gather gold/gear, then I could come home and enjoy the actual part of the play that requires some real thought (PvP, WvWvW).
i wish they simply just integrate GUI with bot functions into the game itself.
this would have benefits to the game developer, that is to say they'll be able to balance the bot functions to be fair and inline with their gameplay.
this would be akin to macro managing the game instead of micro managing it, where the bot functions can take over the more tedious tasks for the user.

a good example of this is angels online with their angel baby system.
 
#17 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by M4c4br3 View Post

It's not a waste of time or money. They have basically killed Honorbuddy (the bot from Bossland).
I have been using Honorbuddy since 2011. For everything from leveling up to using combat routines (bot using skills while I run around) to pvp and even running 3 bots for gold selling.
Bossland first removed lifetime licenses, then their 3 session 1 year option was changed to 3 sessions 3 months for the same price (€60). That price increase and also Blizzard banning every 2 or so months makes it not worth botting anymore.
And before someone starts to give me moral lessons about botting - I don't care. I never liked obeying the rules anyway.
And this is why I don't play MMORPGs lol. Cheating in a competitive environment (pvp) is pretty dishonorable by any standard, has nothing to do with morality or rules...it has everything to do with how much mutual respect you have for other people.

Not caring about respecting your fellow humans is pretty much the universal definition of being a bad person.
 
#18 ·
People are also forgetting one thing about botting: the impact to servers. CCP posted some interesting stats a few years ago about what happened when they banned a bunch of macrominers and bots... Server loads dropped a whopping 30%, and latency in a number of areas went down significantly.

Edited due to autocorrect changes having to be fixed.
 
#19 ·
botting is for mentally challenged people, if you can´t play a game by yourself then don´t do it, don´t ruin others experience by cheating
thumb.gif
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiteWulfe View Post

People are also forgetting one thing about botting: the impact to servers. Cup posted some interesting stats a few years ago about what happened when they banned a bunch of macrominers and bots... Server loads dropped a whopping 30%, and latency in a number of areas went down significantly.
Its nice to be able to play without 300+ pings ruining the experience.
 
#21 ·
I dunno, some games it's fun to specifically target botting characters. In Lineage II it can be quite painful to your wallet if you suddenly have to revive at town a few (dozen) times. What was even funnier was the owner of those bots brought his "main" but didn't know how to play his class so a mid-30's char escaped the wrath of a mid-40's... Pity I couldn't have taken down his main that time. Best part was the guy tried to accused me of botting and wound up being banned for such himself...
 
#22 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by M4c4br3 View Post

It's not a waste of time or money. They have basically killed Honorbuddy (the bot from Bossland).
I have been using Honorbuddy since 2011. For everything from leveling up to using combat routines (bot using skills while I run around) to pvp and even running 3 bots for gold selling.
Bossland first removed lifetime licenses, then their 3 session 1 year option was changed to 3 sessions 3 months for the same price (€60). That price increase and also Blizzard banning every 2 or so months makes it not worth botting anymore.
And before someone starts to give me moral lessons about botting - I don't care. I never liked obeying the rules anyway.
Games are so much more fun when you don't actually play them.
rolleyes.gif
The ladies love my high level characters, and I don't have to work at all for them? Sign me up because I don't like obeying the rules bro, no one tells ME what to do!
rolleyes.gif


This is why online gaming is ridiculous most of the time. I've been gaming near enough 30 years and never had to cheat online once. What's the fun in that? Do people really hate the game that much or suck at it so much that they'd rather have a paid bot do it for them for whatever reason?

What's the point of a bot if you don't even play? To hit max level and still not want to play it in the end?

I seriously don't get the point of it.
 
#23 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by epic1337 View Post

i wish they simply just integrate GUI with bot functions into the game itself.
this would have benefits to the game developer, that is to say they'll be able to balance the bot functions to be fair and inline with their gameplay.
this would be akin to macro managing the game instead of micro managing it, where the bot functions can take over the more tedious tasks for the user.

a good example of this is angels online with their angel baby system.
And then I have to ask the question: Why have these tedious tasks that are just automated, anyways? Kind of defeats the purpose of the 'game', at that point. Either phase out that kind of play, or you'd be admitting your game is garbage by offering a bot that does the 'not fun stuff' of the game for you.

Are you not playing a game to have fun in all aspects? If something isn't fun, it needs to be fixed. But - Aha! That's the guise of the MMO. It has to keep you doing busy-work in order to make the game sustainable.

~All this and more, weeknights at 10.~
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoloCamo View Post

Games are so much more fun when you don't actually play them.
rolleyes.gif
The ladies love my high level characters, and I don't have to work at all for them? Sign me up because I don't like obeying the rules bro, no one tells ME what to do!
rolleyes.gif


This is why online gaming is ridiculous most of the time. I've been gaming near enough 30 years and never had to cheat online once. What's the fun in that? Do people really hate the game that much or suck at it so much that they'd rather have a paid bot do it for them for whatever reason?

What's the point of a bot if you don't even play? To hit max level and still not want to play it in the end?

I seriously don't get the point of it.
I do not get it either man.
headscratch.gif
 
#25 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoloCamo View Post

Games are so much more fun when you don't actually play them.
rolleyes.gif
The ladies love my high level characters, and I don't have to work at all for them? Sign me up because I don't like obeying the rules bro, no one tells ME what to do!
rolleyes.gif


This is why online gaming is ridiculous most of the time. I've been gaming near enough 30 years and never had to cheat online once. What's the fun in that? Do people really hate the game that much or suck at it so much that they'd rather have a paid bot do it for them for whatever reason?

What's the point of a bot if you don't even play? To hit max level and still not want to play it in the end?

I seriously don't get the point of it.
Trying to understand the mentally ill is a fruitless endeavor; the closest thing I can come up with is that such behavior is projection over a lack of skill (among a lack of, um...other things).
 
#26 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mand12 View Post

They don't care about the settlement money, it's a rounding error for them. They do care about shutting down a group of people dedicated to ruining their product. It becomes quite worth it.
Yeah, but using loopholes to do it? That's definitely not cool.
 
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