Les Comber
Lurker
A month ago, I published an app to Google Play called "Hearthstone Arena Drafter". The app was designed to simulate drafting an arena deck like you would in the Blizzard game Hearthstone and then it would provide feedback and suggestions on the resulting deck. Within a few minutes of publishing the app, it was suspended for "impersonation or deceptive behavior".
After doing some research, I figured the issue was either with the name of the app sounding too much like an official Hearthstone app or with the app icon (which used Hearthstone images) so I changed the name of the app to "Arena Draft Simulator" and changed the icon to a simple icon that says "ADS" on it and published it as a new app. I had no issues initially but just the other day, I tried to update the app to include the new cards that Hearthstone recently added in an expansion. Again, within a few minutes of publishing the update, it was suspended for the same reason.
Here is a link to a cached version of the Google Play page: http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...arenadraftsimulator+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
The app does use images of Hearthstone cards and portions of images for Hearthstone heroes. There are many other apps on Google Play that use that same content in a similar fashion seemingly without issue. Also, Blizzard's Legal FAQ grants permission to use their images, sounds, etc. for the Internet (specifically fansites). Obviously an app isn't a fansite but it's the closest answer in the FAQ and I would think a fan-made app would follow the same rules.
Is the problem that the app simulates a small part of the official Hearthstone game (drafting a deck)? My app is simply a practice/educational tool to help you improve your deck drafting skills and I would argue that Hearthstone doesn't provide anything like that. Besides, the point of drafting a deck in Hearthstone is to then take it into the arena and play with it. An app practicing drafting decks (which you can't do anything with) hardly seems to be stepping on Hearthstone's toes.
I submitted an appeal for Arena Draft Simulator (politely) and included a link/explanation to the Blizzard Legal FAQ but received a notice that they will not be reinstating the app.
Obviously I want nothing more than to be compliant with Google Play's policies but I don't understand where I'm going wrong. Having two app suspensions on my Google Play record, I'm worried about uploading a new version of the app in fear that any more suspensions might lead to an account-wide ban. Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.
After doing some research, I figured the issue was either with the name of the app sounding too much like an official Hearthstone app or with the app icon (which used Hearthstone images) so I changed the name of the app to "Arena Draft Simulator" and changed the icon to a simple icon that says "ADS" on it and published it as a new app. I had no issues initially but just the other day, I tried to update the app to include the new cards that Hearthstone recently added in an expansion. Again, within a few minutes of publishing the update, it was suspended for the same reason.
Here is a link to a cached version of the Google Play page: http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...arenadraftsimulator+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
The app does use images of Hearthstone cards and portions of images for Hearthstone heroes. There are many other apps on Google Play that use that same content in a similar fashion seemingly without issue. Also, Blizzard's Legal FAQ grants permission to use their images, sounds, etc. for the Internet (specifically fansites). Obviously an app isn't a fansite but it's the closest answer in the FAQ and I would think a fan-made app would follow the same rules.
Is the problem that the app simulates a small part of the official Hearthstone game (drafting a deck)? My app is simply a practice/educational tool to help you improve your deck drafting skills and I would argue that Hearthstone doesn't provide anything like that. Besides, the point of drafting a deck in Hearthstone is to then take it into the arena and play with it. An app practicing drafting decks (which you can't do anything with) hardly seems to be stepping on Hearthstone's toes.
I submitted an appeal for Arena Draft Simulator (politely) and included a link/explanation to the Blizzard Legal FAQ but received a notice that they will not be reinstating the app.
Obviously I want nothing more than to be compliant with Google Play's policies but I don't understand where I'm going wrong. Having two app suspensions on my Google Play record, I'm worried about uploading a new version of the app in fear that any more suspensions might lead to an account-wide ban. Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.