Minecraft EULA loophole found. Think this guy is pretty clever.

So I play on a server called Gamerforce Minecraft.

And reading up on mojang EULA i noticed a loophole was exploited.

The server I play on the owner is pretty clever

He sells ranks for money but it is just a cosmetic prefix.
You then can Buy using webshop points (which you cant buy but earn in game) the permission packs. This is pretty clever also he still sells items like godswords for webshop points too. There is a catch though to play on the server you had to sign up on the website. if you don't sign up you couldn't use the shop or earn the points.

This is a clever use of a loophole as posted in the quote above is in regards to real money you cant buy the web points but you can still sell the items using web points if you make it available in game play. in this case the server offers gameplay points every 3-5 minutes (depending on server load) and certain actions and contributions in game (such as helping staff with a build and good behavior) earns you even more bonus points.
and i wondered how he does this he uses Enjin to operate the server shop.

 

I don't see the loophole, though. Do they cheat by dealing out points to donators or can other people but donators not register? Both would be pretty fishy, because they effectively mean an ingame advantage from paying, more than just "being more popular" or "the only one with (cosmetically) readable chat".

 

The loophole I found is you can still sell permissions and items using a point system instead of actual money. The points are earned in game and everyone who does register are able to get and use points. I also noticed upon signing up you get 2500 bonus points for registering on site. I've seen everybody who is registered get issued 50 points every 5 minutes of gameplay. And I've seen staff dish out points to players who have helped out. Those usually range from 100-500 points depending the level of help done. I believe this to be clever as it bypasses real world money but allows ranks and permissions for those who can afford it by saving up their points.

 

I think ranks and permissions have been no problem all the way long - there's no problem with giving in-game advantages for playing time, as by my reading of the EULA. All it does is prevent getting advantages for real money (pay to win), so i wouldn't call that a loop-hole, because if i understand it right, what you describe is "play to win", which does not seem to be a problem.

If i was going for donations having an effect on in-game play, i would make them deal out perks to "all recently active players" rather, be it randomized/lottery for a part, probably also scaling with the amount of recently active players, to keep the risk lower, which then may be a gray zone. That would be an interpretation of "all get the same" from that EULA-clarification post.

 

If the ranks you buy are not actually just cosmetic, but allow the player to earn points faster or if there's any sort of "thank you" points you get for buying a rank, then that would be going against the EULA. You might wanna dig a little deeper and find out if that's the case.


EDIT:

Looking into the server, it seems they are violating the EULA. As for ranks, Mojang says:

and so let's go through each rank:

Hmmmm, already affecting gameplay, can only be bought with real money. Going against the EULA.

Affects gameplay, goes against EULA.

Affects gameplay, goes against EULA.


Yeah, no... this server you play on is heavily going against the EULA. I wouldn't be surprised if they get found out and taken down.

 

Stop trying to make loopholes happen, there are NOT going to happen.

The EULA clearly forbids making money with Minecraft, even with Screenshots or Videos. Mojang, however, created Guidelines for some things (e.g. videos) that allow making money from it under certain conditions.

In the end, Mojang has the last word if you're allowed to make money with it.

So instead of investing time in finding loopholes, how about updating your server to the latest set of rules and/or convincing your users, that it's WAY better for them than the P2W crap.

PS: Don't forget, Mojang is owned by Microsoft now. And they have a waaaaaaaay bigger legal department than Mojang.

 

see you buy the ranks but you cant use the permissions without spending points to get the permissions pack.

The descriptions of the monetary ranks purchases from what i hear are old pre EULA he only changed the commands issued
also you get some points when buying something from the shop. its the same amount of points as a bonus added for purchasing which is 1000 points for any transaction monetary or point based.

I contacted owner of the server and he says hes fixing the descriptions to be up to date.

EDIT by Moderator: merged posts, please use the edit button instead of double posting.

 

So the permissions are not obtainable without paying money? I would call that pay to win then...

Besides.... what are people going to do when Microsoft/Mojang publish another clarification to the current EULA... sue them?

 

Ya know what I wonder about the EULA? Is it version/time based or specific? I'm sure people smarter than I know this, but it seems to me if a company says in their EULA, hey do what you want and 1000 servers set up, and then the company says, wait, EULA change - Now you can not do 'this', seems to me it should apply only to 'new' versions as of that date, or newly created servers.? The same way in thousands of legal contracts people get "grandfathered" in because they are doing what they were allowed to, but then a company changed the rules - It doesn't mean they have to change, just the new people.. (thinking of like, cell phone contracts, as merely an example)..

 

Might, but i'm not an IP lawyer. Could as well vary amongst different countries.

 

killerwbb Net result: If you have to pay real money to get non-cosmetic benefits on the server, even if it's not explicitly stated like that, then it is against the EULA. It's not a clever loophole, it's a stupid attempt to be sneaky and avoid the EULA. It fails pathetically, by the way.

 

ANd what legally (by the way, I really don't care, I don't charge for my server, just curious about the legal portion for sake of interest) is the effect/legal expectation when a EULA is changed after game purchase, after a server has been running for days/months/years, etc.. See my previous post.

 

How is a permission non cosmetic? It lets you do X thing, which maybe might not be cosmetic. That's breaking the EULA (gl finding a lawyer that will defend you)

 

Exit151 You'd have to agree to the changes for them to take effect. However, since the EULA has been forbidding monetisation outright for quite a while, they don't need to change the EULA to make monetised servers against the rules.