Does zygor guides requiring us to pay a sub for their addon to be able to read the guide files violate TOS?
Their stand on it
“The full version of the guide viewer addon is available free of charge to everyone with the Basic account. The subscription is not for the addon or any feature of the addon. The subscription is paying for the guide files that we create and the addon is able to read. The guide files do not change the functionality of the addon in any way and the addon does not require our guide files to work. The addon policy you quoted was implemented by Blizzard in 2009 and has not changed since then. Blizzard has never sent us any messages or legal letters telling us we were breaking the rules with how we operate and they have been fully aware of how we operate since before 2009. We are legal according to Blizzard and their current policies. If you have any other questions or problems please let us know.
Ticket ID: QRVX86
Assigned agent: Cabby”
If it violates the tos then the addon should be blocked from being able to be used or forced to be released with the guides for free
This right here is how it is “legal” to use. They don’t gate the addon content behind a paywall. You can use the full addon without it.
Behind the paywall are their “premium” features, which are things like optimizing routing, gold making routes, etc.
Zygor has been around for nearly the entire life of WoW. Blizzard is well aware of its existence and functionality, and it is allowed. It may operate is a grey area with its paywall, but if Blizzard does not like what it does, they will shut down the addon (or more likely, work with the addon author to stay with their rules).
Then just don’t use it. Idk why people are crusading against it. It is entirely optional and not needed. Is its kind of shady to charge for it sure. It provides no advantage like people are acting.
I do believe shutting down how it works will break a lot of addons not involved so its an all or nothing kind of thing.
There isn’t anything more I can really add here. If you have concerns about a particular addon you may use the email address in the thread from my previous post that Forumcat provided.
What I will say is that we’re very much aware of our rules and what does and does not violate them.