Is the Discord Overlay allowed?

Read all the stuff about the hud overlay thing and the bot stuff. Discord uses a overlay so you can see who is in the channel and who is talking. Is using the Discord overlay grounds for account being banned or suspension?

Oh brother…

:roll_eyes::roll_eyes::roll_eyes:

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Yes, but actually no.

The general case is that if the overlay gives you information that isn’t stated directly in the game then it’s against the rules.

For example in HS there are overlays that show you the cards you played and some statistics, and they are not forbidden since the developers’ position is that this is something you can write/deduce yourself. But for me these are pretty much a cheat since no one can do the Math so fast aka they save you time and when time is competitive resource like it is indeed it should be considered gaining an unfair advantage.

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Wait WHAT? Having an overlay in HS is totally an unfair advantage over someone who has to keep track of all that information manually. It is confirmed that they aren’t forbidden?

Blizzard needs a zero tolerance policy on any third party program that provides information which aids in the discernment of decision making. That, or simply integrate whatever they deem appropriate into the user interface.

Sheesh.

At this point I feel like it should be option #2. If they are going to balance around .01% of the population, allow addons in other games and distance themselves so very far from what D3 was originally (Jay Wilson was famous for not wanting addons, his ‘vision’ of the game is gone) then they need to update the current philosophy.

Allow Thud/bots blizzard. You allow multi boxing which is a bot and a script. Why? Because you make money on having several accounts tied to one person instead of one account. With the new metric for success you use to keep investors happy (time played) botting now actually makes you money. In both cases it’s at zero cost to your company in terms of development, which is a cherry on top for your company.

If you green light bots/thud the micro percentage of the player base who don’t like these things because they ‘present an unfair advantage’ no longer have an argument, as they are now available to everyone officially.

Maybe 20-30 people will actually have the stones to refute/protest what I wrote above. Again, you’re a micro percentage of the community and shouldn’t be balanced around strictly.

If you play Warcraft imagine for a moment the outcry that would happen if addons were suddenly taken out of the game. D3 was several steps back in several ways for the franchise and company. Itemization, character progression/customization, loot system, RMAH, stance on 3rd party programs, quality of servers and server tech. The sheer shortsightedness of party structure in D3 (considering it’s fundamental role in endgame) deserves its own post based on what it’s done to the game.

Do better with D4. You allow paragon and other power increasing purchases in China server, catered the entire game to Chinese standards of acceptability relative to graphical design, console is open season on modding and you hold EU/NA/Asia server PC players to these weird standards of ‘fairness’. Except not so, you let Wizards run rampant for years with bugs causing over performance but won’t hesitate for a moment to disable a set for another class mid season (Monk) when another bug causes that class to over perform. Nerfing other potential group build dps into the dirt so they can’t match Wizard; meaning in order to preserve the ability to gain gem/augment levels you have to leave WIzard alone.

The companies TOS isn’t respectable because as a company they aren’t respectable; meaning that you allow things (multi boxing) that violate your own TOS. Can’t blame people who aren’t weak for playing your game by your own rules; meaning some do as they like and forget what was ‘intended,’ or make it up as they go along when something doesn’t suit them.

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That’s fair. Are they even able to prevent these things. Given that some of them provide additional revenue - would they? It’s like a CEO of big pharma outright admitting that their interest is with the shareholders - not in health of the general public. Tough times we live in eh?

It does not violate the TOS. You simply don’t understand how it works if you think it does.

Multi boxing comes from the practice of installing a game on several computers (say 4), then using one mouse and keyboard to control them all. So when you type “1” each computer gets the keyboard command “1”. That is allowed because a human is typing the keyboard command for each and every single action, even though that action is sent to 4 computers. It does not read game memory, automate gameplay in the game client, or otherwise modify the game.

Modern hardware lets a person run 4 instances of the game on one PC. There is software that sends the keyboard and mouse commands to each instance of the game. Same as using one mouse/keyboard to send the same command to 4 different computers.

The rule of thumb is one keyboard press = one in-game action per game client.

None of those are overlays or third party programs. Addons for WoW are lua files made in Blizzard’s sandbox using commands Blizzard provides. They modify the UI - as in what the player sees for controls. The game simply reads them and displays things accordingly. They are not executable files.

No. Cheaters have no place in the game. Period. Ban hammers for all :hammer::hammer::hammer::hammer::hammer::hammer::hammer:

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I just checked out the hearthstone overlay. Are they permitted then?

The amount of information it presents for you is incredible. Imagine if casinos allowed such systems at the tables. They’d go bankrupt. Or at the very least, lose the houses edge over the players that utilized them.

Which is in effect a bot, scripts are used to determine what actions those other 3 accounts take. You never win this argument with me, but I expected you to give it the ol’ college try.

I absolutely know how muti boxing works, your making an emotional point and sputter argument that essentially backs up what I wrote. By the by, for the last nail in the coffin how did multi boxing scripts/programs get access to the API? That wasn’t supposed to be allowed period; and if that was actually the case these programs directly fall into the same ‘bannable’ category as bots/thud.

Multi boxing is using a bot, scripts are used to determine what actions those other 3 accounts take based on one keypress to the account the others are slaved to.

Battle ground targets is most certainly an overlay; and weakauras allows for scripting/automaion. To be fair though the macro system in wow allows for a degree of automation with !condition macros. Name plate cooldowns/ability tracker in pvp. This is an overlay that shows you what offensive/defensive cd’s your opponent has used. Gladiator los creates an overlay that shows you this information as well as showing the player if the opponents freedom trinket is on cooldown. Deadly Boss mods in pve, to name just one of several notable raid addons which create overlays featuring timers and key positioning information.

None of the above are allowed in LAN/Online competitions in pvp. Which says it all in regards to these programs ability to influence outcome. All are 3rd party as they are not written by blizzard. All accept donations. Only thing you’re accurate on is that these 3rd party developers have allowed access to the API in Warcraft.

Access allowed in 2006.This is 2019. Can’t touch any of my arguments. Have a Merry Christmas.

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I honestly don’t know what is, or is not, permitted in Hearthstone. I don’t care for that game so don’t follow what happens with it.

I know a while back I heard that if you can do something manually like write down played cards, that the Devs allow an overlay that does it.

I think that is a very different concept though. HS is not gambling.

They don’t have access to the API at all. The keyboard commands operate totally outside the game in the operating system.

Every single bit of that information is provided by Blizzard through the API for addon makers to use. When Blizz has an issue with any of it, they change the API to stop the info from being available.

You know full well WoW addons, operating within the limits Blizz sets for them, are not the same as prohibited programs.

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Wow… did not expect my simple question to balloon up like this.
Just wanted to know about the Discord overlay. It does not do anything to D3. It just shows who is in the discord channel that you are in plus highlights when someone talks. Below is why I ask…

Third party addons of any kind are strictly prohibited. While any kind of botting software falls clearly under violation of our Terms of Service, for Diablo III, this also includes any kind of overlay software, map hacks, or any other addons or alterations to the client. Addons are not supported for Diablo III and use of them may result in account warnings or permanent account closure.

Yes, correct.

As I said that devs’ logic would be sound if we had infinite time at each turn which is not the case, so it’s pretty much allowed cheating.

Hey rbroz73,

This overlay is perfectly fine.

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I really wish I could find the old video of hardware based multiboxing.
The fella used like 4 keyboards and mice all rigged up with balsa wood across the keys. Gotta love software.

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Those folks were super creative! I have to give them credit for that. It certainly is easier these days.

blinks a few times. It is so rare Blizz ever gives official approval for anything outside the game.

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And yet when ask direct i would like a yes or no on TurboHud you give a cloudy responce. Thats not exactly fair

@Keyblade

I think that’s a pretty clear “do not use this” to me.

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You are not making any sense.

Multi-boxing was declared legal by Blizzard since D3 began.
Also, MB is legal for hundreds of other games as well.

Jay needs to brew a nice cup of chamomile tea, then find the sofa, sink into it and relax.