Blizzard aims to emulate Zynga, also permanently bans Linux users from playing Diablo 3 - offline and on

[Guest Slinky]

Linux users should sue them.

 

I'm sure it states somewhere in the user agreement that Blizzard has the right to terminate accounts whenever they want without even giving a reason, so legal action would have no grounds. Also Diablo 3 doesn't officially support linux, so Blizzard doesn't have to do anything to correct this.

 

Funny how little rights game "owners" have these days.

[Blarghagh]

How well do EULA's hold up in court? They're practically meaningless in Europe.

 

Also, I have all Blizzard games and have not ONCE gotten a spam e-mail about it. Ever. If you're getting them, you've probably shared something on the wrong place.

Did you not read that Gorth hasn't had any of the games and still gets the spam emails? Look, I don't want to get into a fifty page spam war over this, but your personal experiences are useful in informing your views, but really don't reflect on a larger reality as a whole. I have different accounts for different things. I have a shared email account with my wife that gets household related things but also gets spam. I have a personal email account that is virtually spam free. I get spam emails regarding World of Warcraft and Diablo 3 on both accounts, even though the shared account has never had a Blizzard game associated with it at all. Moreover, TN, I've already said that I don't blame Blizzard for the spam emails and the hackers. On the other hand, since these guys seem pretty dogged and determined to spam me regarding Blizzard games, it's still part of a larger discussion as far as I'm concerned. So, you have all Blizzard games and have never had a spam email regarding them. Good for you. Blaming someone else for spam emails when he hasn't shared any information about them with others? Not good. After all, how did Gorth share information about accounts he's never had?

 

At any rate, I've had Blizzard account for two games for many years and, while I get spam emails regarding them, I have never had my accounts hacked in all that time. I must not be sharing particularly vital information.

 

Just because you don't have a Blizzard account doesn't mean that spammers can't spam your e-mail. I'm assuming that like all other spam this too is sent en masse to whatever e-mails they can find hoping to hit something. It's like buckshot. I've been sent spam from fake Amazon, fake eBay, fake Origin, fake XBoxLive and I have never used nor signed up for these services (I don't even own an XBox). I've had several non-existent accounts threatened with closure over 'misuse'. It means you've likely shared your e-mail on something unsavory or public. Simple as that. I've changed e-mails since, stopped using it anywhere public, and now I'm barely ever getting spam. Ultimately, your own responsibility.

 

Also, thanks for explaining to me about personal experiences not always conforming to everyone else. A whole new world has opened up to me.

Edited October 27, 2012 by TrueNeutral

[Gorth]

How well do EULA's hold up in court? They're practically meaningless in Europe.

 

Also, I have all Blizzard games and have not ONCE gotten a spam e-mail about it. Ever. If you're getting them, you've probably shared something on the wrong place.

Did you not read that Gorth hasn't had any of the games and still gets the spam emails? Look, I don't want to get into a fifty page spam war over this, but your personal experiences are useful in informing your views, but really don't reflect on a larger reality as a whole. I have different accounts for different things. I have a shared email account with my wife that gets household related things but also gets spam. I have a personal email account that is virtually spam free. I get spam emails regarding World of Warcraft and Diablo 3 on both accounts, even though the shared account has never had a Blizzard game associated with it at all. Moreover, TN, I've already said that I don't blame Blizzard for the spam emails and the hackers. On the other hand, since these guys seem pretty dogged and determined to spam me regarding Blizzard games, it's still part of a larger discussion as far as I'm concerned. So, you have all Blizzard games and have never had a spam email regarding them. Good for you. Blaming someone else for spam emails when he hasn't shared any information about them with others? Not good. After all, how did Gorth share information about accounts he's never had?

 

At any rate, I've had Blizzard account for two games for many years and, while I get spam emails regarding them, I have never had my accounts hacked in all that time. I must not be sharing particularly vital information.

 

Just because you don't have a Blizzard account doesn't mean that spammers can't spam your e-mail. I'm assuming that like all other spam this too is sent en masse to whatever e-mails they can find hoping to hit something. It's like buckshot. I've been sent spam from fake Amazon, fake eBay, fake Origin, fake XBoxLive and I have never used nor signed up for these services (I don't even own an XBox). I've had several non-existent accounts threatened with closure over 'misuse'. It means you've likely shared your e-mail on something unsavory or public. Simple as that. I've changed e-mails since, stopped using it anywhere public, and now I'm barely ever getting spam. Ultimately, your own responsibility.

 

Also, thanks for explaining to me about personal experiences not always conforming to everyone else. A whole new world has opened up to me.

Oh get off your high horse. If you had bothered reading what he was referring to, you would have known that it was exactly the point instead of getting all huffy about it. Thanks for implying that I share my work email with unsavory elements, I'm sure our corporate clients will love that classification. Guess what, sometimes people get access to your email due to circumstances beyond your control.

 

[smithereen]

Want to create an accurate thread title, try:

"Blizzard is recruiting Zynga employees, and is wrongly banning Linux users due to false positives in their cheat detection software"

*alleged* false positives.

[Cantousent]

Also, thanks for explaining to me about personal experiences not always conforming to everyone else. A whole new world has opened up to me.

Look, I'm not trying to insult you, TN, but I simply can't understand why you're being snarky about this. In all the years I've been working with computers, I've never had a single virus. I've never had an email, game, or social media account hacked. I've never had any problems with online order or any other sort of thing. I did have someone at a utility company take a hard copy of one of my checks and use it to steal money from my checking account once, but that wasn't exactly high tech. Maybe you can say that the blame for spam emails resides entirely with me, but it just smells of a Blizzard apologist getting in a bit of a bunch because I said something critical of the company. ...But, and this is what makes it so strange, I never blamed Blizzard in the first place. Even my first post wasn't critical of Blizzard. I was voicing frustration with the Blizzard related spam emails, but I don't blame Blizzard because some numbnuts in China wants to try to hack my account.

 

I mean, you can take the next fifty pages to respond, I guess, and that's your right. I'm not going to complain, but I don't think we really have a beef with one another. I'm saying, without rancor, that just because you haven't had spam emails regarding Blizzard doesn't mean that I'm at fault for the ones I get. Let me tell you, I get virtually no spam in my personal email account *except* for fake Blizzard emails. If it's my fault, my fault is extremely selective.

[Meshugger]

Somehow i would hope that there would be a major case like this in a European court since:

 

1) It would never fly since EULAs break pretty much any customer law that there is

2) It could possibly set a standard for future dealings such as these

 

I find these things the worst cancer against the customer that is out there. You do not own anything, you just license a right to use it according to the terms of the EULA.

[pmp10]

Somehow i would hope that there would be a major case like this in a European court since:

 

1) It would never fly since EULAs break pretty much any customer law that there is

2) It could possibly set a standard for future dealings such as these

 

I find these things the worst cancer against the customer that is out there. You do not own anything, you just license a right to use it according to the terms of the EULA.

That's a lost cause by now.

The licensing/subscribing of software much like many DRMs and forced online should have been challenged before they became the industry standard.

By now the best answer you'll get is don't buy them if you don't like them.

 

Besides unexplainable bannings are the standard when it comes to cheat-protection.

Much like most DRMs such systems on the PC have the effect of a placebo.

[Blarghagh]

Also, thanks for explaining to me about personal experiences not always conforming to everyone else. A whole new world has opened up to me.

Look, I'm not trying to insult you, TN, but I simply can't understand why you're being snarky about this. In all the years I've been working with computers, I've never had a single virus. I've never had an email, game, or social media account hacked. I've never had any problems with online order or any other sort of thing. I did have someone at a utility company take a hard copy of one of my checks and use it to steal money from my checking account once, but that wasn't exactly high tech. Maybe you can say that the blame for spam emails resides entirely with me, but it just smells of a Blizzard apologist getting in a bit of a bunch because I said something critical of the company. ...But, and this is what makes it so strange, I never blamed Blizzard in the first place. Even my first post wasn't critical of Blizzard. I was voicing frustration with the Blizzard related spam emails, but I don't blame Blizzard because some numbnuts in China wants to try to hack my account.

 

I mean, you can take the next fifty pages to respond, I guess, and that's your right. I'm not going to complain, but I don't think we really have a beef with one another. I'm saying, without rancor, that just because you haven't had spam emails regarding Blizzard doesn't mean that I'm at fault for the ones I get. Let me tell you, I get virtually no spam in my personal email account *except* for fake Blizzard emails. If it's my fault, my fault is extremely selective.

 

I'm not even defending Blizzard. You keep bringing up Blizzard as a factor. As far as I'm concerned you can replace Blizzard with [nameless company] and I would still say the same thing, which is that almost all spam e-mail comes from your e-mail address ending up where it shouldn't. It's very unlikely the senders even know you if have a Blizzard account or not. They're just hoping to randomly hit some jerk who does have one and who is dumb enough to give them their information so they can steal whatever's worth stealing - in this case personal information, all your gold and stuff and another free game account to turn into a gold farmer so they can sell more gold.

 

The only thing I'm snarky about was your implication that I couldn't see beyond my personal experience. Okay, I don't know where you're located or how long you've had this spam problems, so it may be because of the recent security breach at Blizzard, but that seems unlikely since you describe it as a long lasting problem and because your other e-mail isn't connected to your Blizzard account. If it was another company I would say the same thing. I've never even considered that Paypal was to blame for spam I've received about a nonexistent Paypal account because that's ridiculous.

 

How well do EULA's hold up in court? They're practically meaningless in Europe.

 

Also, I have all Blizzard games and have not ONCE gotten a spam e-mail about it. Ever. If you're getting them, you've probably shared something on the wrong place.

Did you not read that Gorth hasn't had any of the games and still gets the spam emails? Look, I don't want to get into a fifty page spam war over this, but your personal experiences are useful in informing your views, but really don't reflect on a larger reality as a whole. I have different accounts for different things. I have a shared email account with my wife that gets household related things but also gets spam. I have a personal email account that is virtually spam free. I get spam emails regarding World of Warcraft and Diablo 3 on both accounts, even though the shared account has never had a Blizzard game associated with it at all. Moreover, TN, I've already said that I don't blame Blizzard for the spam emails and the hackers. On the other hand, since these guys seem pretty dogged and determined to spam me regarding Blizzard games, it's still part of a larger discussion as far as I'm concerned. So, you have all Blizzard games and have never had a spam email regarding them. Good for you. Blaming someone else for spam emails when he hasn't shared any information about them with others? Not good. After all, how did Gorth share information about accounts he's never had?

 

At any rate, I've had Blizzard account for two games for many years and, while I get spam emails regarding them, I have never had my accounts hacked in all that time. I must not be sharing particularly vital information.

 

Just because you don't have a Blizzard account doesn't mean that spammers can't spam your e-mail. I'm assuming that like all other spam this too is sent en masse to whatever e-mails they can find hoping to hit something. It's like buckshot. I've been sent spam from fake Amazon, fake eBay, fake Origin, fake XBoxLive and I have never used nor signed up for these services (I don't even own an XBox). I've had several non-existent accounts threatened with closure over 'misuse'. It means you've likely shared your e-mail on something unsavory or public. Simple as that. I've changed e-mails since, stopped using it anywhere public, and now I'm barely ever getting spam. Ultimately, your own responsibility.

 

Also, thanks for explaining to me about personal experiences not always conforming to everyone else. A whole new world has opened up to me.

Oh get off your high horse. If you had bothered reading what he was referring to, you would have known that it was exactly the point instead of getting all huffy about it. Thanks for implying that I share my work email with unsavory elements, I'm sure our corporate clients will love that classification. Guess what, sometimes people get access to your email due to circumstances beyond your control.

 

I implied nothing. Especially not about your 'work e-mail', which is something that was never mentioned in this thread. I wasn't even talking about you. Cant used you specifically as an example of a group (namely those without Blizzard accounts but who do get spam) and I continued on that group, not on you as an example, and the group doesn't have to apply to you as an individual. I wasn't referring to, implying about or adressing you. As far as I'm concerned you never even figured into my posts in any way whatsoever and any implications about you personally are simply projections on your part.

 

For the record, I never said it was exclusively because of people sharing their e-mail with 'unsavory elements', I just said it was likely and probable and as much as you seem to hate that, it is. All the people I have helped with spamming, spoofing and other such matters (as well as almost all cases I find on the internet) could all be tracked back to them doing something dumb on the internet, myself included. Due to the odds I'm going to think the same is the most likely situation with you. I'm sorry you find this apparently offensive, but I don't know you as a person so I'm going to assume you fit in with the average.

 

I do find it funny that I am on my high horse and 'huffy' because you seem to find the possibility that this might be at least partially your fault so insulting that you have taken my post, which was not even specifically adressed to you at all, as a personal attack. Honestly, I'm not even sure why Cant involved your case in the first place since it proves my point - you have no connection to Blizzard the spam mails have to be coming from another source. This means your information has ended up somewhere it shouldn't - if it makes you feel better I'll concede to the possibility that you might not have shared it yourself, but I'm wondering who is ultimately responsible for where your information ends up if not you.

 

Interesting that both you and Cant take my post as being 'huffy' or 'snarky' when that's not the tone I intended at all. I'm more amused than anything else because both of you have problems with things you're reading into my posts yourselves. I'm almost tempted to see if I can add extra snarky implications just to see what else will be read into it, but if I did I would have to end this post with "r00fles" and I think that's something I should avoid.

 

But this is getting horribly off topic so I'm taking my leave of this subject. Judging by the tone of your posts this can only get ugly.

Edited October 28, 2012 by TrueNeutral

[Hurlshort]

My WoW account was hacked, and Blizzard kept telling me it was an issue on my end with security. I don't believe it for a second. Blizzard has security flaws and they are targeted more heavily than any other company out there.

[NOK222]

Linux users should sue them.

 

I'm sure it states somewhere in the user agreement that Blizzard has the right to terminate accounts whenever they want without even giving a reason, so legal action would have no grounds. Also Diablo 3 doesn't officially support linux, so Blizzard doesn't have to do anything to correct this.

 

Funny how little rights game "owners" have these days.

 

True, they could still make a strong case though and rattle their bones enough for them to change their policy.

[Cantousent]

I bring up Blizzard because this is a thread about Blizzard. I've never had to ditch an account because of spam and it's not like I'm going to ditch any of the ones I have now. With that said, fair enough. I'll concede that maybe it really is my fault that I'm getting Blizzard spam. :Cant's shrug icon:

 

As far as Blizzard goes, I've spent more time talking in this thread about them than I've spent playing any of their games since... August? It might be July. I think the problem with Diablo 3, apart from the things I mentioned in my first post, is that they intentionally made it so you had to grind in order to get to the real challenge. There's nothing like having to pound your way through relatively boring and easy enemies, and a lot of them, just to get to the fun abilities and more interesting and difficult enemies.