Why WowMatrix is bad.

[Phanx]

I'm sure many of you use the WoWMatrix program to update your addons. I personally know many people who use it, including my roommate. However, as an addon author, the concept bothers me greatly, and I have actually requested that they stop making my addons available through their program. Why? Here are some things to think about:

1. WoWMatrix doesn't show an addon author's name anywhere. They are making money off of providing access to an addon, and they can't even spare a few pixels of screen space to give its author nominal credit?

2. WoWMatrix doesn't show an addon's real download URL anywhere. This means that users who download an addon through their program have no way to give feedback to the author, or report problems they may encounter.

3. WoWMatrix doesn't show the author's description of an addon anywhere. On a release site, an author can place a big, bold warning at the top of the description stating than an addon is under development, currently in beta status, is not yet complete, and/or may be unstable. Users who find and download an addon through WoWMatrix will never see that warning. They'll just download an addon, deem it broken, and tell their friends that "Addon X sucks, don't use it". While the erstwhile WoWAce suffered from this problem to a lesser degree, it was generally understood that everything on WoWAce should be considered beta. No similar understanding is attached to WoWMatrix.

4. WoWMatrix makes money off of providing access to addons it doesn't host. WoWMatrix doesn't pay the storage bills or the bandwidth bills for the addons you download through its program. If you're downloading an addon that's hosted on WoWInterface, through WoWMatrix, the file is sent to your computer from WoWInterface's servers. Prior to requesting that they remove access to my addons from their service, I inquired as to how their service works, and recieved the following:

The WowMatrix application downloads directly from the official website of each addon. For instance, Ace addons such as the ones you've written are downloaded directly from wowace.com. We do not run scheduled updates nor do we host addons on our servers.

Finally, when I requested that they remove access to my addons, citing the first three concerns above as well as the "no redistribution" clause in the license that ships with my addons, they didn't even bother to respond to me to let me know that they'd complied. I had to check their site to see if my addons were still available or not. This, more than anything else, makes me think ill of their site and their application, and - when viewed in light of the fact that they don't credit authors anywhere on their site or in their application - really gives the impression that they hold very little respect for the authors whose work is making them money.

[Tekkub]

OMG WUT....

... hey the forum de-capsed my caps, WTF?

[Petrah]

I fully understand and respect your views as they are very valid. However, I have never been charged a dime to use WoWMatrix and cannot find anywhere on the site where they force anyone to give them cash.

It's advertised as free on the official Apple web site and on CNet Download, which gives them heaps of advertising (I can only imagine how many hits that site gets because of this) and yet they are not charging a dime for the software. I see a subtle donation link on the FAQ page which it cool because it's not shoved in my face from the main page. Hell, I don't even see any huge ads in my face other than the well placed small ads for the leveling/gold making guides.

As for them not answering your emails, lets go back to how much advertising and site hits they get. I can only imagine they get hundreds if not thousands of emails regarding their product, so it doesn't surprise me if they have not answered your emails. Keep trying though and you'll get through eventually.

I cannot find it at the moment, but I got the link for WoWMatrix in the same thread along with the few other non Ace supported addon downloader over on the Ace forums.

Anyone can get the addon authors contact info from right inside of the addon folder, or by checking the About feature in game for whatever addon they are checking on. Personally, I don't need to see the authors name. I am only interested in the version numbers, the name of the addon, and a short description of what it does. Anything other info on the GUI is a waste of time for me, the average user. If I really need the info, it's far too easy to come by.

Opening WoWMatrix right now and comparing the first 5 or 6 addon descriptions from that window and what is on the Ace file site, the addon descriptions are a dead on match word for word. I use almost 100 addons, I'm not gonna compare em all

I suppose the only way anyone can protect their bandwidth is to block WoWMatrix at the server level, or for all addon sites to force account creation in order to download anything from their sites. But, I think that would go over like a fart in a diving helmet lol.

Let me reiterate, I respect and honor your views and opinions as they are valid. But I am allowed to disagree with them and still like ya's

[Dridzt]

1. Revenue does not only come from users paying for a service (good or bad) directly.

2. Your post can be summarized with:
"I know it's bad but it's convenient, so who cares".

I'm not trying to be confrontational - although disagreement cannot be entirely devoid of that -
but that's a whole lot of words to say 1 sentence.

[Cairenn]

Our stance on WoWMatrix is pretty well summed up in the reasons why we *won't* do stuff with our updater.

[Petrah]

Originally Posted by Cairenn Our stance on WoWMatrix is pretty well summed up in the reasons why we *won't* do stuff with our updater.

I've never read that link until now nor had I thought of it quite the way you put it, so I guess I will not be using WoWMatrix anymore.

The reason why I was drawn to WoWMatrix is because the GUI is easy to use and it's pleasing to the eye. Not one single other updater is designed for ease of use, none. WAU started crashing entirely too much so it got deleted, and I tried the updater here at WI and got lost as soon as the thing opened.

I'll manually update all of the addons that I use... until the Ace files get moved to Curse. Then I suppose I will only use the addons from here, and Carbonite.

[Phanx]

Originally Posted by Silenia The reason why I was drawn to WoWMatrix is because the GUI is easy to use and it's pleasing to the eye. Not one single other updater is designed for ease of use, none. WAU started crashing entirely too much so it got deleted, and I tried the updater here at WI and got lost as soon as the thing opened.

WoWMatrix is indeed very user-friendly, especially for the average user who doesn't want to learn any more about addons than "I install it and it works". I don't have a problem with the basic concept of a single application that can pull addons from multiple sources. Indeed, I would likely consent to my addons being distributed through such an application -- if it were on an opt-in basis for authors (rather than opt-out), if it credited authors, and ifit didn't leech off of other sites' disk space and bandwidth.

[Phanx]

Originally Posted by Silenia I have never been charged a dime to use WoWMatrix and cannot find anywhere on the site where they force anyone to give them cash.

Monetary profit doesn't have to come directly from the end user paying a fee to use the service. Look at all of the sites you use on a daily basis. How many of them charge you money to use them? How many of them do you think don't make any money, and operate at a loss out of the goodness of their hearts?

As for them not answering your emails, lets go back to how much advertising and site hits they get. I can only imagine they get hundreds if not thousands of emails regarding their product, so it doesn't surprise me if they have not answered your emails. Keep trying though and you'll get through eventually.

My first message, inquiring how their site and service worked, was answered within a few hours. My second message, requesting that they not distribute my addons through their service, was never answered. However, I know it was read, as my addons are no longer listed on their site. In the time it took them to copy and paste my addon names into whatever filtering system they have in place, do you think they couldn't have spared another 30 seconds to type a brief reply to me? I think it's rather telling that they didn't.

Anyone can get the addon authors contact info from right inside of the addon folder, or by checking the About feature in game for whatever addon they are checking on.

The in-game About feature is provided by the Ace2 and Ace3 frameworks, which are not used by all addons. Many users don't even know where addons are installed, let alone that they can find information about the author by looking in the .toc file or a readme file.

How many users do you think will encounter a problem in a beta-test addon that they don't know is a beta-test addon, and go looking in the .toc file for contact information to report the problem to the author? I'd guess that very, very few users would do this, or even think about this. Most users will just delete the addon, and tell their friends that it's broken and shouldn't be used.

Personally, I don't need to see the authors name. I am only interested in the version numbers, the name of the addon, and a short description of what it does. Anything other info on the GUI is a waste of time for me, the average user. If I really need the info, it's far too easy to come by.

Let's say you're a photographer. One day you take some portraits of your cat, and post them on a photography forum for critique. A few months later you're in a bookstore flipping through a book of cat photography. You turn to page 42, and there, lo and behold, is your cat portrait! Your name is mentioned nowhere in the entire book. I'm sure most people reading the book wouldn't ever wonder who took the picture of the cat, but I'm equally sure you would feel some sense of injustice to see your work distributed without your consent and without any credit to you.

Opening WoWMatrix right now and comparing the first 5 or 6 addon descriptions from that window and what is on the Ace file site, the addon descriptions are a dead on match word for word. I use almost 100 addons, I'm not gonna compare em all

WoWMatrix uses the addon's .toc description. This is all well and good for a stable, finished addon. But if my addon is brand new, undergoing public beta testing, and not yet suitable for daily use by the average user, seeing that my addon provides "Easy hunter pet care" isn't very helpful. The .toc description is meant to be a brief phrase or sentence describing the addon's purpose, not a detailed document explaining the addon's current development status or explaining how to use the addon.

Beyond all of those things, the license I release my addons under explicitly forbids any redistribution. That means you can't release MyAwesomeUI if it includes my addon, you can't upload my addon to UI.WorldOfWar, and you can't distribute my addon through a third-party leech site.

[vpr]

Upon logging into Wowmatrix today, it advised me that PhanxChat needed updated.

I thought you've requested that they be removed?

[aross]

Well the wowmatrix ppl must be reading in here bc i wanted to see what all the fuse was about and well they have made a update that displays the authors now... still not were they get the adddons but the authors are posted on there now

[VincentSDSH]

So far they've ignored repeated requests to remove my mods from the site/service.

[Meldas]

Sorry if this sounds a little bit harsh but this is my standpoint as a WoW Addons User:

WoWMatrix is currently the only working Addon Updater for a Mac. For me this is an absolutely free application and it is essential. I challenge you to point me to a Mac application which does the same. There are NO other updaters of this kind - at least I haven't found them after weeks of searching and hours of trying out.

I'm using less than 70 Addons but there were times I got more than 10 updates every day. Locating them (they aren't all on the same Addon site), downloading them and unzipping them costs a tremendous amount of time. It costs that much time that I, as a user, value the benefits of WoWMatrix more than any benefits from any single WoW addon.

And yes, I have to update every day. This is my user (or customer) feedback. Believe it or ignore it.

If you want to remove your addons from the WoWMatrix list, please go ahead (well, you have the right to do so). However, for me this means I'm not going to use your addon any longer. You want me to join your crusade against a free, helpful application? Hm, let me think about this for a moment ... well, no and good luck!

Sure I accept the rights of you as an author (I'm a professional programmer myself - I know what I'm talking about). However, I also know that as soon as I put something as 'free to use' into the internet I'm also loosing the control over this. There are ways to fight for your right, like lawyers, but they are expensive. There are other ways like a boycott as you suggest (this is some form of vigilantism) but don't expect that everybody joins your way with a 'Huzzah!", especially if this is linked with drawbacks for them.

Btw, I also agree to that what Cirk said. But the question is: How to achieve this?

[Tristanian]

Some part of me, sometimes wishes that God would rain fire one day on all automatic updaters out there, so we can go back to how things used to be, back when you didn't need to use 1340829348236234 addons to have a "cool" UI, when in reality you weren't using half of them, half the time.

While updaters have been a convenience, ultimately they've made a good deal of users demanding, obnoxious, condescending and with actually no regards to anything else than their little own addon world, a world that would never exist in the first place without authors.

So, go ahead and not use our addons. We are probably better off. We are not asking for anyone to join us in our "Crusade" (lol "Crusade"...really), least of all users. Just because something is 'free to use' does not entitle you to act like a freaking *censored* and if you do, then be prepared to receive responses such as this. It's also bad that you are a professional programmer because at the end of the day, you don't really understand jack.

[Arabeth]

Originally Posted by Meldas Sure I accept the rights of you as an author (I'm a professional programmer myself - I know what I'm talking about). However, I also know that as soon as I put something as 'free to use' into the internet I'm also loosing the control over this.

That a piece of software is 'free to use' does not mean that the person using it for free has the right to its distribution, moreover if they do not attribute it to the original author and even worse, as has happened, they imply that it was them who wrote it!

WoWMatrix's 'business model' is not particularly robust. If the sites it relies on to supply the addons themselves rely on ad revenue to survive and WoWMatrix is essentially taking that revenue away from them, then those sites may (will) fold. If they all do that, WoWMatrix folds as it has nowhere to source its addons. And of course Meldas (for example) will have stopped using the ones that have only one source, which having folded ... you catch my drift.

As an addon user (never having written one) Tristanian still has my support (whether you need it or not) because I understand the effort that goes into producing the addons I use and appreciate it. And I do that because I am also a professional programmer!!