Warcraft III: Reforged is now available, offering nostalgic players the chance of going through upgraded versions of both the original title and its Frozen Throne expansion, however, the game’s Terms of Service could discourage custom map creators from contributing as intensely as in the original.
Custom maps were responsible for a sizeable chunk of Warcraft III’s appeal, introducing various new modes for players to try out and birthing the excellent Defense of the Ancients mod.
Warcraft III: Reforged TOS Custom Maps
The reason why members of the community believe Warcraft III: Reforgeds TOS could discourage the creation of custom maps is because it requires creators to waive the “moral rights” to their creations.
Here’s how the full excerpt, spotted by Reddit user Man_Eating_Boar reads: “To the extent you are prohibited from transferring or assigning your moral rights to Blizzard by applicable laws, to the utmost extent legally permitted, you waive any moral rights or similar rights you may have in all such Custom Games, without any remuneration.”
As Wikipedia reads, moral rights are, in practice, the rights of creators of copyrighted works, which include being credited as the creator of said works.
The full paragraph begins with saying that, by default, “Custom Games are and shall remain the sole and exclusive property of Blizzard”.
The excerpt dealing with moral rights seems to suggest that as long as local law prohibits these rights to be transferred over to Blizzard, the creators of custom maps are forced to renounce them, potentially having their names as creators of said maps removed.
The reason why this requirement proves contentious is that, at least in the past, custom games have greatly enriched the experience of the original Warcraft III.
Custom games and maps were also free, their creators mostly benefitting from renown and the satisfaction of having others playing and enjoying their creation.
By requiring that they “waive moral rights”, Warcraft III: Reforged’s TOS could make such creators look elsewhere, subsequently hurting the game’s potential longevity.
Are you a map creator or, perhaps, someone who’s enjoyed them in Warcraft III? How do you think this will affect custom gaems in Reforged? Let us know in the comments.
