Ludeon's stance on absorbing mods?

[Bozobub]

Literally exactly what I was hoping to hear.

[Koriath]

I don't really post a lot, but I quickly logged in just to post this:
This EULA's you read are pretty much copy-pasted from one company to the other from standard legal procedures a lawyer hands you. The moment you hire a lawyer and tell him you're doing this and that, he'll hand you half a dozen papers pre-formatted for your activity. EULA's are one of them.

As for the "Ludeon can use everything you do without mentioning you or compensating you" bit:
Back in 2000 (maybe a bit before that), modding games involved editing in-game textures with Paint or hexediting random files before distributing. A few years later, when LUA scripts showed up and better tools, people started "hacking" in new code and actually changing the gameplay, not just cosmetic aspects.
This version of EULA hit us around the same time SDK's became popular (Valve's Hammer probably is the best example).

How could it not? These tools were clamoured and requested by comunities but notice the bind they place the devs in: Supose you are a Dev for Diablo 2. You're working on patches for a few months until someone says "Hey fellas, we're gonna start working on a frozen-north expansion to the game with two new classes!" All giddy, you set to work but... tough luck.
Two months from then, one modder already made a new snowy area, another mod made two new classes and there's 7 diference "balance patch" mods already.

Are you gonna launch that expansion anyway? You'll be taken to court and have to explain it's diferent code. Yes, it is, you know that. Even the guy accusing you knows that. But he won't care, he's hoping for an "out-of-court" settlement worth 12k$ or for you to run out of funds to defend yourself legally.
If you're with Blizzard, your boss might get angry at you but their legal department will rip-apart the modders claims.
If you're a small studio like Ludeon... you're gonna eat canned tuna for the rest of your short-homeless-life.

The EULA isn't there because all modders are greedy immoral bastards.
The EULA is there because 1% of them are, and when you give them any chance to screw with you, they'll do it.

[Alenerel]

If you're a small studio like Ludeon... you're gonna eat canned tuna for the rest of your short-homeless-life.

Tuna isnt cheap. Rice or potatos are a better example.