Private Servers?

[Sambob]

New guy, so hey (:
Does anyone on here play on any private/"hack" servers?
for instance when you really cant be bothered with the work that is end-game retail? lol.
found a couple of good ones the past few weeks like. Insta-70, free gear etc. Its pointless, but a laugh sometimes.

[UncleDave]

Sorry for the slight necro but I happened to be chatting about this the other day. It's gonna sound like a tired old line but its true - I dont PS but I know a guy who does. I've considered it once or twice just so I can go and see the inside of BT and whatnot... but I really just cba.

What interests me though is their legal status. There's always debate about whether these things are illegal or not. Since you've used one, do you happen to know whether the server itself transmits any copyrighted data, or is everything you get from it built from scratch?

And more interestingly, when you break the EULA to log on to a private server, or if you dont agree to the EULA in the first place, does that mean it's illegal to continue to use the software?

[karbon14]

it is illegal as they're hosting copyrighted data. though the countries they are hosted in usually dont care.


i played on one for a bit, was a laugh but most of the instances didn't work etc so really wasn't worth all that much. unless you know your class at an endgame level you'lll never be any good at it anyway.

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted by karbon14

it is illegal as they're hosting copyrighted data. though the countries they are hosted in usually dont care.

See thats one bit I dont understand. The names of mobs and items cant be copyrighted, as they're not literary works, but they could be trademarked. I understand that if the server sent you a message saying "Illidan hits you for eleventy billion hit points" that it could be a breach of trademark law. But if it says "Orc hits you for three and a half hit points" its a different matter. And the maps are stored locally, not on the server, or so I was led to believe. The drop rates etc are definitely not copyrighted because I know for a fact the database of drop rates etc are not Blizzard's originals - on some servers thats kinda the whole point!

But I've seen so many people say this, that I really wonder what copyrighted data they're actually transmitting. I'm just trying to understand why so many people are so adamant that it's actually a criminal offence.