If, when you make a movie, TV show, or video game your only end-goal is to sell a product to the end-user, you’re doing it wrong. To really cash in and make your media-event legendary, you need a moderately unique idea that has broad-spectrum appeal and a vocal fan-base. Why? Anyone can roll out a product that a few people will buy (ala Vanguard: Saga of Heroes), but if you’re a real market-savvy motherfucker, you know that you want consumers buying your lunchboxes, t-shirts, comic books, pins, plushies, card games, convention tickets, bed sheets—you get the idea. You want an Empire so vast that your fans will quietly grumble, gloss over the inadequacies, and chide the non-believers with a simple “I find your lack of faith disturbing” when you follow your original work with mediocre sequels. Please see the Matrix Reloaded, Star Wars Episodes I-III and Halo Wars.
More than anything else, you want to keep people talking. You need to skim over the hordes of blogs, speculative research, terrible fanfiction, and fanmade monstrosities because they represent Your People. Your People aren’t interested in the money, but rather the product and the direction it will take in the future—they are your glorified cash cows, and it would do you well to keep them well-groomed and fat. Don’t get me wrong; following that formula isn’t necessarily the path one takes to create a “perfect product”—just a well-marketed one. Keeping the masses happy, however, doesn’t always require pandering—just a healthy dose of watchful minding and respect.
We can argue all day whether Blizzard has been feeding casual-cows and destroying the challenge of the game in direct proportion to a rise in profits, but they do a more-than-acceptable job in reaching out to the community. They read our blogs. They regularly publicize fanart and recently championed a creative writing contest. There are a number of in-game tributes to helpful players (see: Phaelia’s Vestments of the Sprouting Seed and quest-reward items named after DK beta testers), memorials (think: Ezra Chatterton), geek-culture references, regular responses to fan-questions and demands via forums, GM visits, Blizzcon—really, we WoW players are a pretty lucky (and simultaneously gullible) bunch.
Why risk invoking the ire of the Internet community that so celebrates the machine by threatening creative fans with legal action? I’ve been pondering that very question since I heard that Shakes & Fidget, makers of an e-famous WoW comic, were hit with a Cease & Desist order. I cannot pretend to know the fine-details, even with the ability to read German, but I fail to see the problem with what’s essentially a “free” comic that popularizes Blizzard’s universe. “But they’re making money from merchandise and advertising!” the finger-wagglers wail, “Blizzard has every right to stop them!” This is correct, if indeed S&F are making money from the comic. I am not totally convinced.
Blizzard has the right to make sure that no one else makes money off of their copyrighted material—but the real question is whether folks like Shakes & Fidget are in any way, shape, or form cutting into the deck of Blizzard’s profits. Are they feasting off a glut of Euros, or are they funding hosting costs for their WoW-tribute comic? Is it even enough revenue to be taxed? Are they selling merchandise that directly competes with a 2nd party vendor like J!NX? I could be wrong. Maybe Blizzard isn’t worried (and shouldn’t be, for that matter) about the monetary aspect, but rather find that comics such as S&F’s “defame” their image. Straight from Blizzard’s legalese:
“…Also, we reserve the right to revoke this limited use license at any time, for any reason, and at the sole discretion of Blizzard Entertainment®. You may not use our materials on sites that feature defamatory, pornographic, or inflammatory content, including, but not limited to, hacks and cheats for any of our games or any other content that Blizzard Entertainment® find objectionable or unlawful.”
Judging from the general content of said comic, we can rule out “defamatory,” “pornographic,” and “inflammatory.” I also haven’t stumbled across any private servers at S&F’s website, nor have I found any roll-hacking mods. Blizzard—or shall I say ActivisionBlizzard—has seemingly invoked the “for any reason” clause. To what purpose? The new add-on policy (although arguably harmless) coupled with these first-tier Cease & Desist orders seem to represent an ever-darkening cloud on the horizon, and I’m admittedly a little worried. S&F wasn’t the first (as the creators of the WoW iPhone applications can attest to), and they won’t be the last. Who’s next? Penny Arcade? LFG? Astrylian, the creator of Rawr? Me? For once, I’m glad I’m not nearly that popular.
You, as a reader and as a consumer, should be upset about this. ActivisionBlizzard is more than willing to lap up the monthly subscription fees, transfer and name change dollars, Arena Tournament entry costs, Blizzcon ticket sales, and extensive merchandising opportunities, but may be increasingly tight-fisted when it comes to “sharing” their World. Blizzard’s content is not only enriched by new hardware and a slick design team, but also by the tremendous support and ancillary creativity of the players who populate it.
