There are quite a few
WoW database sites out there.
Thottbot was the first big one that I was aware of; other big sites include
Allakhazam,
the Goblin Workshop, and of course
Wowhead. Then there are some lesser-known contenders (at least to me; it took me a bit to come up with them), like
WoWd.org,
WarCry (I use their news constantly, but never saw the database),
GameAmp,
WoW Guru,
WoWDigger, and
TenTonHammer (again, I know TTH for news, but didn't know they had a DB).
And now
Curse, long one of the big names in Add-On and news sites, is throwing their hat into the ring with the very capitalized
WOWDB, which appears to be in beta right now. It seems like a pretty complete database; it's got all the items, quests, NPCs, and so on that you would expect from a serious act like Curse. But hold on a minute, doesn't it looks a bit similar to a certain other
WoW database site
of which Curse doesn't seem to be too fond? (
Update: Curse has contacted us to say that the linked article wasn't written by anyone on their staff-- instead, it was posted by a user of their site, and that they have no ill will towards Affinity Media or Wowhead). Ignore the
Wrath of the Lich King-esque blues for a second, and...oh. Oh dear. Well, at least it's a good design they're copying from, I suppose. See the gallery below for more comparison screenshots. What do you guys think -- is this within the bounds of inspiration and homage, or a blatant rip-off?
Update: Someone named Kody, who claims to be a representative of Curse, has appeared in our comments, and claims that Curse has obtained an "exclusive content contract" with WoWWiki for the use of their information. An interesting claim, especially since most of the content on WoWWiki (
written by users) should be covered under
Wikia's terms of use and the
GNU Free Documentation License, and thus available for use to anyone who credits and sources it. We've sent requests to both Kody and WoWWiki for more information.
Another update after the jump.
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