> Even if they did that, wouldn’t it only affect servers created after such a license was issued? Any private servers created before that would still need to have legal action taken against. Like many have said, IP in the US is wonky.

Where did I say that I would not pay for a legacy server?

> I am aware of that, but Blizz is not interested in taking that action. They feel it fractures the customer base and would harm their revenue enough that it matters, and that’s their call to make.

If you’re going to use a truck analogy, it would be more like buying a truck that changes color, shape and size over time, and being annoyed with the truck company for not leaving the damn thing alone.

> I’m talking about unlicensed servers like the one they shut down. There’s where the legal problems come into play.

Deciding to ignore what some customers want (maybe thinking that a larger number don’t want it) and telling a customer, who is asking for something, that he doesn’t actually want it, are very different.

> And that translates to there being no legal consequences to a company allowing private servers to run their product without license?

> Private servers raise significant issues about IP, not to mention draw people that would otherwise pay Blizzard to play Blizzard’s game.

> —> But you said they won’t lose that much money!! (Right, but they still lose *some money* and that is reason enough.)

Then why don’t they release it under a free to use license? Your argument is that the base of people who want to play legacy is inconsequential, so it wouldn’t hurt their revenue stream, but it would improve their PR. Basically you’re wrong even if you are right.

> you do understand that MOST of those people are playing on private servers because they dont have to pay a monthly subscription and thus they are not customers that bizzard lost but customers that would never have payed blizzard to begin with.

Because every time they report on Blizzard they skew it towards Blizzard being right? They’re clearly biased.

Again, it makes sense to release the older IP under a free to use license, if the numbers really would not make it feasible to support legacy directly, and that move would be great for PR.

> Ya make Vanilla WoW so a few can come back for a month then quit because they did the same shit for 10 years already....

As I’ve said in other threads (not that anyone takes the time to read through a discussion thread), my interest is broader than legacy WoW. I’m addressing IP laws and good business practices, in general. WoW just happens to be a topic that is in the spotlight right now.

> I agree with bliz, i’ve been an employer before and its the same in business. You will never please everyone.

> Strip out everything Blizzard created and then see how much they have.

> The question is not whether it will cost “millions upon millions” of dollars (I’m not sure anyone suggested that?), but instead, whether it will cost more than is likely to be earned back through legacy subscription fees.

> Are you kidding? Signing an internet petition is as easy (and pointless) as it gets.

You asked if they were using a ground up implementation, which was compatible with the maps, DBC files, and server-client protocol. I pointed out that the answer is yes.