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12-16-13, 07:29 PM   #70
spiel2001
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Just because one *can* do something does not imply it is wise, or moral, or even legal to do so. It never pays to bite the hand that feeds you.

WoW had over 13 million active, dedicated, users at its peak. It has how many now? For that matter, how many high quality addons have you seen fall away over the past few years?

The bottom line is that everyone has focused on the vocal minority of whiners who want everything easier, faster and for free and lost sight of who and what it was that created their success.

Yes... Blizzard can choose to do anything they want. As can WoWInterface. However, cutting off your nose to spite your face has never been a good business model.

Where would MicroSoft, Adobe, AutoDesk, Apache, Java, OpenOffice, and on and on and on, be had they not actively *encouraged* and *incubated* the extension markets that have made them who they are today?

Want a concrete example of the difference between an open architecture and encouragement of the market versus a specious restriction of the market? Compare Windows/PC to iOS/Mac in the public space. Microsoft ate Apple's lunch in the business and private sector because Apple was to restrictive of its ecosystem. Likewise, Apple has been slowly but surely losing its market share to Android for the exact same reason. Apparently they're slow learners over there.

Blizzard is making the exact same mistake with their policy. Rather than encourage a rich ecosystem of motivated authors seeking to improve the game experience, innovate and build community, they stifle the same entreprenurial spirit that gave rise to their own existence.

Sure... they *can* -- but they are fools for having done so and it shows in their staggering loss of market share not to mention the quality of the customer to whom they are appealing in the future. When you fill your ecosystem with refuse (polite word), it's only a matter of time before it dies. Doesn't just apply to rain forests, it applies to everything.
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Last edited by spiel2001 : 12-16-13 at 07:31 PM.
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