Wowisland.com mmorpg on sale, php + ajax + flash

Because everyone is asking about the use of the name 'Blizzard', I have sent another mail to the Blizzard team, I will post the reply here.

 

Actually what I was talking about is that the seller is fully aware that Blizzard (the makers of World of Warcraft) will very much likely send you a cease and decist (C&D) letter if you try to truly advertise this site and make it big.

I offered the seller a $1,000 BIN because honestly this site has HUGE potential. WoW is a very popular game and I'm sure it would be very easy to advertise this game on WoW forums and other communites.

However before I sent payment I contacted my attorney on a whim just sitting waiting for my paypal bank transfer to complete and he told me it's pretty much guaranteed blizzard will send a cease and decist once they find out about the site.

nightwolfz said he sent Blizzard an email and they said it was OK... But when I asked him for the email text he showed me a quick paragraph where he explained to Blizzard that he was building a fan site...... not a game based on Blizzard's graphics, characters, and plot.

My attorney says if Blizzard actually sees how much you've copied their game they will not only enforce it but have no choice but to because once they stop actively defending their trademark they could lose it. He also says this easily falls under "derivative works".

You can tell the seller already knew that by his comment in a Digg thread here:

"They said it was OK to make a 'fan' game on a 'fan' site (fortunatly they dont know how big my 'fan' game is )"

But apparently had I not said anything he didn't plan to telling potential buyers....

Or am I wrong there?

The seller told me that I could just change the name and graphics but the problem is hes used so much warcraft art and similar art and story you'd basically have to chnage everything. Note the seller is not offering to do that in the sale.

 

Actually they do know how big it is, and I also told them I'm using their graphics, name and everything. They still said it's OK as long as it's not for commercial or illegal game copy selling use.

Here's a copy, and I also asked what they meant by commercial purposes, they said it is selling anything with their brand names like t-shirts, cards, posters, and so on.

And it is still a fan game (which is legal according to their legal faq). On that digg post I was just showing off lol

 

May I ask that

1) wowisland.com is completely text or browser based, which does not require a client software download?

2) wowisland.com is 2D, instead of 3D?


Are my statements as above correct?

 

1) text/images with ajax(realtime) and flash

2) 2D

 

What is the current offer?

 

basically they are saying that if you make too much money they will come after you, but a minimal amount is probably ok. I suggest the buyer emails their PR department and includes a link to the game for review.

 

My Bid $370. When will this listing close ?

 

If you try to make money off the site it isnt considered a fan site anymore and Blizzard will have the site taken down.

 

They haven't done anything for 5 months already (and I've sent them emails about it and all), why would they start now ?

 

Because you haven't actually sent them the URL yet.

 

Person who purchases this can get a free backlink from my World of Warcraft website (alexa ranking around 150,000) ... I like this Wowisland thing ... it's neat. : )

PM me whenever you want to discuss the backlink. Will require proof of purchase from nightwolfz

As for the Blizzard issue.. once your site gets big... and raking in money, Blizzard WILL send you a C+D to stop using their copyrighted images for your game.

Otherwise, you are probably in the clear.

 

Oh they already did that, and I removed those few images.

 

There wont be a problem running this game. It's a FAN based game. No problems.

 

I played your game though, and you're still using copyrighted images. : ) If Blizz took the time, they'd see it too.

 

As long as he dont use it for commercial use there wont be a problem. If you go to google and search for world of warcraft backgrounds/wallpapers or whatever you will see LOADS of copyrighted images wich other sites use and even sites that's using them for commercial use.

 

Hey, Sorry I haven't been around for a while, I'd still like to buy it at the BIN price I PM'd you.

site sold if you accept it ^_^

 

Yep, payment sent and waiting on the files and domain.

 

SOLD, files and domain on the way

 

How much did it sell for?