Can I play with Shadow.Tech?

Support Customer Support
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Hi there,

I apologize if I missed this in a pinned post, did a search first.

This evening I saw an ad on my feed for Shadow.Tech. The cloud computing service seems too good to be true. I want to give it a try, but have a couple questions needing addressed.

There are some folks saying that in June Blizzard added a “no cloud computing playing” (I’m paraphrasing) to the EULA. They are also saying folks are getting banned for using some of the services out there.

Is Shadow.Tech considered one of these services? I mean, who wouldn’t need to have to upgrade their computer especially now that BFA increased video card requirements.

Most reviews of the subscription service are positive. Probably latency issues here and there. The advertising in my feed (verbatim) is, 'Play World of Warcraft and all your games at max settings on any device with Shadow! :video_game:
And with this special offer, get $10 off your first month! ':fire:"

The service is now available to my state.

So, support… would I get banned if I played WoW via Shadow.Tech? And if not, under what circumstances would using this service warrant a ban? Any reasoning would be much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Snoogans

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You can review the Blizzard EULA for yourself here.

The relevant bits, highlighted for emphasis:

“You may install applicable components or features of the Platform (including the Games) on one or more computers or mobile devices under your legitimate control.”

" License Limitations. Blizzard may suspend or revoke your license to use the Platform, or parts, components and/or single features thereof, if you violate, or assist others in violating, the license limitations set forth below. You agree that you will not, in whole or in part or under any circumstances, do the following:

i -
ii -
iii -
iv -
v - Cloud Computing: Use the Platform, including a Game, in connection with any unauthorized third-party “cloud computing” services, “cloud gaming” services, or any software or service designed to enable the unauthorized streaming or transmission of Game content from a third-party server to any device."

And for clarity, there are no authorized third-party cloud-computing or -gaming services.

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Well, this begs the question of what the “unauthorized third-party could computing services” are? Is Shadow.Tech unauthorized?

If so, and Support please chime in, then Shadow.Tech is seriously at the risk of false advertising and should be sued. Blizzard, are you working with them or letting their company fan the fire?

I had Beta AWS training in August at a new Amazon building in Northern Virginia. There were some cat out of the bag rumors Blizzard would soon be utilizing AWS. For what purposes I have no idea. I’m a developer so I get it…

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I would assume that the confirmation of which cloud gaming services / cloud computer services were authorized would come in the form of the announcement of an official partnership of some form on Blizzard’s news site. So far I’ve seen nothing announced there on the subject.

Depends. Let’s get technical here - is it Shadow Tech themselves advertising that they will work with World of Warcraft. Or is it a third part company / streamer or blog site that’s saying that ?

I did a quick search on shadow tech vouchers and couldn’t see anywhere where it’s advertised as working with World of Warcraft.

You might of misheard or misunderstood things - Blizzard already utilizes Amazon Web Services for Overwatch.

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Support aren’t legal team. Literally everything on the market uses some sort of false advertising. Blizzard will never endorse a third party developer of this nature to work on their products. If you’re a developer, you should know this.

Overwatch.

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If I understand correctly, you are asking what are the authorized third-party cloud computing services? There aren’t any. If there were, there would have been a huge announcement.

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For what? I’m looking at their website. I don’t see any mention of WoW or other Blizzard games?

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Op,

More directly, no you can’t use it. Aside from the Eula language, there hasn’t been any specific statement that they can’t be used, but there are widespread reports of receiving bans. Presumably this is to combat botting but we don’t exactly know why they made the change.

If any or all of these cloud services become allowed I think there would be an announcement specifically stating which one(s) are ok.

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I have used Shadow.Tech, as well as Liquid Sky. In both cases you are essentially using a virtual machine in the cloud. It’s your ‘computer’ running on cloud hardware; Usually AWS or Paperspace. Because you have full control of the environment, it’s ‘your’ computer. None of the cloud computer businesses do anything else. They run a VM for you on really good hardware.

You shouldn’t have an issue, every bit of control you’d have in a normal windows environment, you have the same on Shadow.Tech and LS.

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Except there is a bit more to it then that… Blizzard has said in the ToU that it is against the rules. Until they come out and support one of these services you are playing with your account if you continue to use them. You might not have been banned yet, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be.

There are issues surrounding how these will affect the ability for Blizzard to detect bots, and how it would affect account sharing and piloting.

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What shadow tech does is described, word for word, as being against the rules. Calling it “your ‘computer’ running on cloud hardware” is not accurate, and just an attempt to rephrase that it is a third party computer that transmits the game content to you to make it sound better. That is literally spelled out in the EULA as being against the rules, and people using shadow tech have received bans for it within the last few months.

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Blizzard practically never endorses a third party product that they have no control over.

Even if the product is harmless today, there is no gaurantee that it will be harmless tomorrow.

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First, the word shouldn’t strongly would concern me.

Second, this is directly contrary to the EULA where it specifically states no cloud computing. If you want the exact wording, it was listed above.

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I disagree. Using any form of cloud computing for WoW is against Blizzard’s EULA. Until that is changed by Blizzard, stay away from cloud computing of any kind.

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You missed the “or any software or service designed to enable the unauthorized streaming or transmission of Game content from a third-party server to any device” part of the paragraph prohibiting cloud computer or cloud gaming services.

Sure you can play rules lawyer around the “cloud computing” or “cloud gaming” part of the restriction. But you can not get around the unauthorized streaming or transmission of game content part of the restriction in any way shape or form.

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By your logic it’s against the rules to play in a CyberCafe or Lan Center.

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You’re still physically present at a PC, controlling the character. It isn’t cloud gaming to log in at a different PC.

Just stop. You’re not going to be able to poke holes to try to justify this.

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What? The ToU specifically calls out cloud computing, what does that have to do with playing in a CyberCafe or Lan Center?!? Also, it isn’t advisable to play WoW in either of those places because it is very easy to get your account compromised doing so.

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Woah there, hoss. Where else could I ask this question?

Someone hit the nail on the head that the shadow.tech site doesn’t mention the name of any games. I did a google search site:… “warcraft” , and since the company is based in France, a lot of support pages to translate. Complaints about bans for datamining from running AH addons, etc. Not sure how many complaints are legit towards the 3rd party service or Blizzard. The translations are sloppy at best. I can’t find support forums yet for the East Coast region.

And some of you are probably right. Maybe the sponsored Facebook ad was placed there by someone with a referral code? Then again, shadow’s site started a chatbot session with me and gave me a free $10 off code. Guess I’m just really old and was baited by the ad.

I was not aware about Overwatch using AWS. Cool.