Criticism of World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft, an online computer game, has been associated with several scandals and criticisms since its release. While many of these criticisms may also apply to the MMORPG genre as a whole, World of Warcraft has been specifically cited with those criticisms. Blizzard Entertainment have worked to address some of those criticisms but others still remain unresolved.

Technology

Server instability, capacity and data integrity

As with other online games, game server and network stability is critical. Due to failures in these, there have been times when the game has been unplayable by a large number of players. For example, in September 2005, Blizzard gave all European players two free days of play as compensation for repeated network failures. During the early days of World of Warcraft's U.S. release Blizzard also gave out free days to compensate players for days lost due to problems on their end; a policy which was, and still is, common in the industry. The issues were suspected to be Blizzard's upstream Internet service provider.

As World of Warcraft grew in popularity, many players began to experience problems with connecting to and logging in to the game. Cases include long delays waiting for usernames and passwords to be authenticated or large queues on certain realms. Sudden server crashes that would force realms offline also occurred. The situation became worse when trying to coordinate activities across a number of players or guilds on the same realm. On 3 May 2006 Shane Dabiri, World of Warcraft Lead Producer, stated that new realms would be introduced to relieve the burden on existing ones. Existing realms would be upgraded. The paid migration service was also unveiled at this time. Some realms had been earmarked for upgrade since January 2006, with a large block of realms upgraded in August of the same year.

World of Warcraft uses a client-server model common among many MMORPGs, where data about the game environment is continually passed between the two. Weaknesses of this model have been exploited in order to crash the cluster of servers that make up a realm. Exploits also include characters being able to instantly change location or teleport, or automate interaction with the game environment through the use of external software. Warden (see Warden or later section in this article) was largely intended to resolve these issues.

Account security

When a user creates a World of Warcraft account, he is asked to choose a username and password. Whenever the user then plays World of Warcraft, he is asked to supply the same username and password in full. This is also the case when using account management facilities online. This type of authentication is vulnerable to Keystroke logging. While this is not unique to World of Warcraft and is common to many MMORPGs, the game has been directly targeted with trojans being specifically crafted to capture account login details. Attacks have been reported as early as May 2006, although they may extend as far back as 30 July, 2005.

In September 2006, reports emerged of spoof World of Warcraft gaming advice websites that contained malware. Vulnerable computers would be infected through their web browser, downloading a program that would then relay back account information. Blizzard's account support teams experienced high demand during this episode, stating that many users had been affected. Claims were also made that telephone support was closed for isolated periods due to the volume of calls and resulting queues. In April 2007, attacks evolved to take advantage of further exploits involving animated cursors, with multiple websites being used. Security researcher group Symantec released a report stating that a compromised World of Warcraft account was worth US$10 on the black market, compared to US$6 to US$12 for a compromised computer (correct as of March 2007). In February 2008, phishing emails were distributed requesting that users validate their account information using a fake version of the World of Warcraft account management pages.

Interestingly, some phishing attempts are disguised as recipes to hack the account of other players.

In June 2008, Blizzard announced the Blizzard Authenticator, a hardware token that provides extra, two factor, security for logging into World of Warcraft. The token generates an one-time password based code to logon. The password is only valid once for a limited time, thus providing extra security against trojans and keylogging virusses.

Warden

Blizzard makes heavy use of a system known as Warden on the Windows version of the game in order to detect third-party programs, such as botting software, allowing World of Warcraft to be played unattended. There has been some controversy as to the legality of Warden. Warden uses techniques similar to anti-virus software in order to analyze other running software on the players' PCs, as well as the file system. However, unlike most anti-virus software, it sends a portion of this information back to Blizzard, which caused privacy advocates to accuse it of being spyware. The Warden's existence was acknowledged in the opening legal proceedings of MDY INDUSTRIES, LLC. vs. BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

One example of the information Warden collects is the title of every window open on the system while WoW is running. Blizzard has not stated what information is passed by Warden over the Internet, or if that information is encrypted, so it is entirely possible this information is passed over the Internet back to Blizzard. On balance, many gamers responsed positively about the development, stating that they supported the technology if it resulted in fewer cases of cheating. Blizzard's use of Warden was stated in the Terms of Agreement (TOA).

In March 2008, Blizzard sued Michael Donnelly, the creator of MMO Glider, software that can automatically play many tasks in the game. In a suit filed in federal court in Arizona, Blizzard claimed the software is an infringement of its copyright and software license agreement. "Glider use severely harms the WoW gaming experience for other players by altering the balance of play, disrupting the social and immersive aspects of the game, and undermining the in-game economy," Blizzard said in a court filing. Donnelly claims to have sold 100,000 copies of the $25 software.

Game misuse

Gold selling/spamming

As with many MMORPGs, companies emerged offering to sell virtual gold and other associated services to players. After Blizzard started offering free trial gameplay accounts, players started receiving increasing numbers of spam sent by bots in the virtual mailboxes of their characters, advertising these services . One study shows that this problem is particularly prevalent on the European realms, with gold being over 14 times more expensive to buy on US realms than their European counterparts. In patch 2.1, Blizzard responded to this by adding additional anti-spam mechanics including whisper throttling and the report spam function. Additionally, trial accounts are prevented from speaking in the public chat channels (although they may speak to players within range or whisper to other players that have first whispered them), participating in in-game trades, using the Auction House and the mail feature and several other limitations.

The practice of buying or selling gold in World of Warcraft is seen as highly controversial with wide ranging consequences. On February 212008, Blizzard released an article describing the effects and consequences of buying gold. In it, it describes that an "alarmingly high" proportion of all gold bought originates from hacked accounts (see Account security, earlier). The article also states that customers who have paid for character leveling services find their accounts hacked into months later, with all items stripped and sold off for virtual gold. The article concludes by mentioning that these companies often use "disruptive hacks ... which can cause realm performance and stability issues".

In May 2007 Blizzard filed a complaint against In Game Dollar LLC (trading as peons4hire) in federal court. In February 2008, the parties filed a consent decree in which In Game Dollar agreed to refrain from using any World of Warcraft chat or communication to advertise any business or sell any services relating to World of Warcraft.

On the contrary, World of Warcraft in Chinese realms have a gold selling community and even purchasing of bind on pick up items. It is very common for players in Chinese realms to have over 50,000 gold with full tier 6 and arena gears due to gold buying and items.

Account trading

A relatively recent phenomenon, account trading is where a player's account is sold for cash, either through a private transaction or through an auction website. In January 2006, eBay blocked the sale of MMORPG accounts although other similar sites still offer the service. As characters progress in World of Warcraft and take on some of the toughest challenges, many of the rewards received are bound to that character and cannot be traded, generating a market for the trading of accounts with well-equipped characters. The highest noted World of Warcraft account trade was for £5000 (7000 euros, $9,937.49USD) in early September 2007.

Game design and mechanics

PVP criticisms

Some players have criticised WoW for its focus on PVE content at the expense of PVP content. PVP in WoW generally refers to either the instanced battlegrounds "Warsong Gulch" (10 players), "Arathi Basin" (15 players), "Alterac Valley" (40 players), and "Eye of the Storm" (added in the Burning crusade expansion; 15 players), or PVP arenas, a form of dueling in 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 settings. PVP in WOW is generally of a consensual nature, with the exception of world PVP on "PVP servers", where it is possible to experience spontaneous world PVP between players of opposing factions in so-called "contested zones."

One criticism of WoW's PVP support includes the many regions of the WoW world that are labelled as "contested", yet there are no gameplay mechanics that develop the notion of these zones ever being in conflict. Another criticism is that there are dozens of PVE instances, but only 4 PVP instances, and WoW's heavy emphasis on gear as the underlying character progression and player retention mechanic strongly diverts attention away from the war that is described to exist between the Horde and Alliance factions.. For example, players of opposing factions are as likely to ignore each other and even aid each other in quests as they are to engage each other in factional PVP.. It is also argued that game mechanics limit the impact that PVP outcomes have on the game world.

Blizzard has responded in part to such criticisms through the introduction of "world PVP objectives" as patches to the original game, and in the Burning Crusade expansion. The upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, will feature an entire world PVP zone, with player-achievable outcomes that will affect all players within that zone.

Another criticism of WoW PVP comes from "AFK honor-farming", and the more recent practice of "arena point selling". The former is where players join the various instanced battlegrounds that exist with the deliberate intention to go AFK in order to earn "honor points", with which they are able to buy gear. This practice is especially common in the Alterac Valley battleground, to the point it is has been referred to by players and satirists as "AFK Valley." In response, Blizzard has introduced new game mechanics designed to curb this behavior, with mixed success.

Other

Treatment of LGBT players

Blizzard garnered criticism for its decision in January 2006 to ban guilds from advertising sexual orientation preferences. The incident occurred after several players were cited for "harassment" after advocating a group for gay-straight alliance. Blizzard initially responded by saying its objective was to, ".. promote a positive game environment for everyone and help prevent such harassment from taking place as best we can, we prohibit mention of topics related to sensitive real-world subjects in open chat within the game, and we do our best to take action whenever we see such topics being broadcast."

Blizzard later reversed the decision to issue warnings to players promoting LGBT-friendly guilds. Included in this decision was the announcement that it intends to set up in-game channels intended specifically for guild advertisements, as well as provide "sensitivity training" for its staff after players complained of anti-homosexual language being used openly and without punishment.

Game addiction

World of Warcraft has also come under criticism for stories of game addictions to the popular video game. In June 2005 it was reported that a four month old South Korean child had suffocated due to neglect by her World of Warcraft-addicted parents who were reportedly at a nearby cafe playing World of Warcraft. In August of that year, the government of the People's Republic of China introduced an online gaming restriction limiting playing time to 3 hours, after which the player would be expelled from the game. In 2006, it changed the rule so only citizens under the age of 18 would face the limitations.

Dr. Maressa Orzack, a clinical psychologist at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, was interviewed August 8, 2006 stating that many of the then 9 million subscribers are addicted. She is quoted as saying "... 40 percent of the players are addicted." Note that the 40 percent figure was not derived from a scientific study overseen by Dr. Orzack, but rather came from "a forum that Nick Yee runs". She added in an August 2006 interview that "even if the percentage is 5 to 10 percent which is standard for most addictive behaviors, it is a huge number of people who are out of control." Also, according to Dr. John Grohol, a colleague of Orzack's, "Dr. Orzack is not claiming that up to 40% of World of Warcraft gamers are addicted based upon any actual evidence or surveys of players. This is just her opinion, based upon her own experience and observation of the problem."

However, there is still much speculation of gaming addiction problems caused by World of Warcraft; a November 14, 2006 article in The Philadelphia Inquirer featured individuals who admit becoming addicted to World of Warcraft and other MMORPG's.

Cultural issues in China

The Chinese government and The9, the licensee for World of Warcraft in China, have imposed a modification on Chinese versions of the game which places flesh on bare-boned skeletons and transforms dead character corpses into tidy graves. These changes were imposed by the Chinese government in an attempt to "promote a healthy and harmonious online game environment" in World of Warcraft.

External links

• Ward, Mark (2006-05-05). "Problems plague World of Warcraft". BBC. Retrieved 2008-02-25. Players are being left frustrated and angry by ongoing problems with online game World of Warcraft.