First I want to say I'm still tossed up over the no "for pay" addons rule. I am a programmer myself and I'll never argue that programmers don't deserve compensation for the work they do. Especially people who make mods that attempt to please such a large range of people and take time to listen to requests and input from so many people.(Seriously you guys are awesome *Yes all of you. Even the ones who make ridiculously simple/stupid mods)
HOWEVER
I for one think that people complaining about the rules regarding in game donation buttons are are being quite ridiculous I have a couple mods that have in game donation buttons and I for one always laugh at them when I see them because I feel they are the dumbest idea ever. Do the authors who write these mods actually expect this conversation to happen.
Player 1: Alright guys one boss down two to go.
Player 2: Hold up guys I need a sec to alt tab out and donate to this mod.
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or this
Player 1: Alright guys its 3am I'm headed to bed
Player 1: has gone offline.
Player 1: has came online.
Player 2: I thought you were going to bed
Player 2: I was but I forgot to copy the donate link from my new mod.
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The answer is NO that isn't going to happen.
So evidently that's not why the authors put it in there. So I must assume that argument is actually "If I don't put it where they can find the link (in game) they wont be able to find my site to donate if they choose to."
What kind of morons do you think are downloading your mod that they would completely forget where to go to get your addon AND develop an allergy to Google that prevents them from searching to find it.
But then again how would they get the updates if they didn't know how to find you.
"Well there are updaters out there like wowmatrix and curse's updater and such so they never have to come to my site so they never donate from there."
Solutions to that issue.
1.) Stop offering your mod through there so they have to come to you.
Argument against solution #1: They will stop using mine and find one that is easier to update.
If they don't care enough about what mod they are using for that purpose were they really going to track you down to donate anyway? But you may be right so lets move to solution #2
2.) Add a notification in game that there is a new version to the mod and they should visit your site to download it. And release updates 2-3 days behind to the auto updaters so people have incentive to visit your site(and will see your donate link and maybe even think I came here to get this addon and I like it I should donate something. But they don't have to and can still use their auto updaters. There is a trick to making this work better Update with newer and better improvements to your mods often. This will serve 2 purposes actually 1. Getting people to your site. and 2. If you update often and people know it they will appreciate it and show it.
Personally I think this move by blizzard is directed at the leveling guide mods that charge for use and can quite easily be and several have been a scam.
I think that removing that aspect of things is a good move.
I have also heard that there are theories that some mods with obscured code may be hiding account security compromising functions.
To prevent this banning obscured code seems to be a logical step. However it makes it somewhat difficult for people who make legitimate for pay mods to keep a hold of their mod and keep it proprietary.
I can think of another solution that would be far worse that we should all be glad Blizzard didn't decide on.
mod writers apply for a key for each mod blizzard sends them a key then anytime the mod is loaded it asks blizzard if it can run. When the authors finish the mod they submit it to blizzard to for inspection if blizzard approves it they activate the key and then and only then can it be used in game.
personally Ill be ok with the changes as they are.