1) Add-ons must be free of charge.All add-ons must be distributed free of charge. Developers may not create “premium” versions of add-ons with additional for-pay features, charge money to download an add-on, charge for services related to the add-on, or otherwise require some form of monetary compensation to download or access an add-on.
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I support this. All it is saying is that authors cannot sell an addon, and users cannot pay to download an addon. Donations are still okay, as long as said donations do not provide more addon than is publically available.
2) Add-on code must be completely visible.The programming code of an add-on must in no way be hidden or obfuscated, and must be freely accessible to and viewable by the general public.
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Also a good policy. I recall there being an addon released here a few weeks ago that had code like this. It would prevent the addon from working on the author's realm if you were of the opposite faction. Here's an extreme example of what obfuscated code could do: If you're playing on my server and of the opposite faction, then I'm going to block your mouse clicks.
3) Add-ons must not negatively impact World of Warcraft realms or other players.Add-ons will perform no function which, in Blizzard Entertainment’s sole discretion, negatively impacts the performance of the World of Warcraft realms or otherwise negatively affects the game for other players. For example, this includes but is not limited to excessive use of the chat system, unnecessary loading from the hard disk, and slow frame rates.
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This one is kind of sketchy. I'm savvy enough to realize if I'm suddenly having significant slowdown, it's probably due to that addon I just installed, so I'll disable it. But if you're not that savvy and just expect everything to work, then such slowdown might wrongly be attributed to Blizzard. In certain cases, GMs may be contacted and use of their services required. This clause also safeguards against your addons, even if they aren't negatively affecting you, from affecting other people who your addon is sending data to.
4) Add-ons may not include advertisements.Add-ons may not be used to advertise any goods or services.
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Great clause. My only concern is for addons such as Lightheaded, that display the Wowhead logo.
5) Add-ons may not solicit donations.Add-ons may not include requests for donations. We recognize the immense amount of effort and resources that go into developing an add-on; however, such requests should be limited to the add-on website or distribution site and should not appear in the game.
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The key word here is "requests." You're not allowed to say, "please donate money." Having a simple, non-invasive button that provides a link for donation should be okay, as long as you're not asking for the donation. The important part about this is to just have the button clearly labeled, "Donate." As long as it's just there and no attention is drawn to it, then it's inclusion should be alright.
6) Add-ons must not contain offensive or objectionable material.World of Warcraft has been given a “T” by the ESRB, and similar ratings from other ratings boards around the world. Blizzard Entertainment requires that add-ons not include any material that would not be allowed under these ratings.
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These are arguably installed at the user's discretion, but as with the clause with obfuscated code I can see where there might be potential problems. If the game is rated T, then by extension the user-created content should be rated T. I'll have to point out that Blizzard is not the first to add this kind of clause to their mod policy. Bethesda (Elder Scrolls games) had to add something like this after some mod authors made full, detailed nudity possible in one of their games.
This isn't anything new.
8) Blizzard Entertainment has the right to disable add-on functionality as it sees fit.To maintain the integrity World of Warcraft and ensure the best possible gaming experience for our players, Blizzard Entertainment reserves the right to disable any add-on functionality within World of Warcraft at its sole discretion.
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Now this is something I definitely have a problem with. Specifically, the wording is not clear: Does this simply mean they can change the addon API (as they always have and often do), or does it mean that they will prohibit the usage of certain addons? If they're going to ban addons, then only bad things can happen, and they will happen fast.
Overall, this new policy is pretty okay. Like Blizzard's other policies, these just have to be read a few times before you start to actually understand it. Also like their other policies, these are likely to change to better address what it is they're trying to accomplish.