This site makes extensive use of JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser.
Live
PTR
10.2.7
PTR
10.2.6
Beta
In-Game Casinos — Legal?
Live
Posted
2009/05/07 at 6:21 PM
by
MasterOfDisguise
I wrote this blog a little while ago, so the topic may be a little played out. But
Malgayne
just got around to publishing it—so blame him!
Blizzard announced earlier this year that their policy on running an in-game casino had changed. For three years, the policy had been that an in-game casino was against their Terms of Use. For the full story, click
here
.
Originally, running casinos was banned altogether. Now, their stance on it is that "they do not represent a violation" of their Terms of Use, but you could not
spam
advertisements or scam players. In a more recent post, found
here
, Blizzard decided to ban advertisements altogether due to two reasons: one, because the advertisements were going out of hand; and two, because players expressed their disapproval over this.
So why exactly did Blizzard decide, after three years, to suddenly overturn their decision to ban casinos? The reason they were closed in the first place was because of their extremely high potential to cause spam and scam. Saying that "casinos are okay, as long as you don't do that" is not exactly going to stop players from doing that. The only thing they'll be concerned about casinos are no longer banned—nothing more.
Casinos and gambling, while very entertaining, are associated with too many problems (I believe) to be allowed inside of World of Warcraft. Wherever you go, you will always find disreputable players who find joy in conning innocent players who were only looking to entertain themselves—and possibly make a profit.
Not only that, casino advertisements can easily get out of hand. I don't think it's unreasonable to have perhaps one person advertising at a reasonable rate (1 ad per minute, no less), but if you combine 100-200 people advertising in Trade, how are you supposed to
trade
in the aptly named channel? All it does is flood the channel with casino advertisements, which I don't think anyone enjoys.
In my not-so-humble opinion, I think Blizzard should not allow
any
player-run casinos under any circumstances. It's not that casinos are wrong. It's just there are too many bad players out there who enjoy ruining others' experiences.
What are your thoughts on Blizzard's stance on casinos? Should they have overturned the ban on casinos? Do you feel they affect your in-game experience?
Get Wowhead
Premium
$2
A Month
Enjoy an ad-free experience, unlock premium features, & support the site!
Show 44 Comments
Hide 44 Comments
Sign In to Post a Comment
1
2
3
Comment by
23608
on 2009-06-08T11:22:45-05:00
Nothing's illegal unless you get caught.
Wrong.
Many many things are illegal before your interaction with them. They are already in the 'existing state' of "Illegal".
And in any case, you cannot claim ignorance. This will not protect you from the law.
Casinos are back to help with inflation problems, but should never have returned.
First of all, this is not 'the law' being discussed, but Blizzards rules. Second, I'm pretty sure that the post you quoted was mostly a joke. Third, was it really worth bringing up a almost month old post for this?
Comment by
237531
on 2009-06-08T11:35:37-05:00
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Comment by
23608
on 2009-06-08T13:18:58-05:00
First of all, this is not 'the law' being discussed, but Blizzards rules. Second, I'm pretty sure that the post you quoted was mostly a joke. Third, was it really worth bringing up a almost month old post for this?
First of all, laws are rules. You must follow Blizzards rules or you will be punished and penalized potentially by national rules (laws).
Second, there are many people that think the with the attitude that poster was expressing, and my post was meant to discourage it from spreading to others.
Third, a lot of people work for a living, get sick, have lives, etc and cannot read blogs and forums every single day, so they read posts at different times.
The main point is, don't break the rules.
Not all rules are law, though. My point was that the Blizzard ToS are not laws themselves. But yes, breaking the agreed terms could get you into legal trouble.
I don't think anyone expects you to follow the forums daily, but once a thread has remained inactive for 3 weeks one could assume that the issue has been resolved. I'm not bothered personally, but my understanding is that it is generally not appreciated to bring up old posts like this.
edit: and yes, I recognize the hypocrisy in keeping bumping this, so I'm just gonna stop now :)
Comment by
341327
on 2009-06-08T20:54:50-05:00
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
1
2
3
Post a Comment
You are not logged in. Please
log in
or
register an account
to add your comment.
Previous Post
Next Post