Buying WoW gold in the real world - ok?

[Romanov]

Hi,
Was just wondering if people buy Wow gold from IGE I think its around 50$ for 200G is this deemed ok by Blizzard? I assume it is but its amazing to see how cheap it all is , no wonder some people have all the gear in Ah

Anyway is this illegal and is this why people are barred from Warcraft? or are they barred for actual cheating exploits etc and selling items?

cheers

Rom

[rox0r]

Buying and selling WoW gold is 'illegal' and, if caught, will get your account terminated.

[Kaine (AoD)]

yea and thats pretty exspensive tbh, i know a legit (to an extent) site that sells 100G for just under £8, dont pay that much

[Romanov]

So it is legit to buy gold then? tbh I cant see me paying real money for imaginary stuff I'm lvl 55 as it is but Im still interested, I cant see why buying gold would not be legit after all you pay to play the game in the first place? Also how could they say 'gold' is their intellectual property? You pay to play the game ergo the gold is yours to do with what you want?

[shaithis]

Also how could they say 'gold' is their intellectual property? You pay to play the game ergo the gold is yours to do with what you want?

Its in THEIR game, on THEIR servers and you agreed to the TOS that you wouldn't buy/sell their virtual items in the real world.

Hense they can ban you at a whim.

Just because you bought a music CD, doesnt mean you can do what you like with the contents. Same principle - Intellectual Property.

[rox0r]

Indeed, read the lengthy TOS that you tick at startup.

[Goberpiles]

How many players do you know have been banned for buying/Selling online money?

I have done both in SWG and no account ban, if their were banns sites like IGE would not off been around for donkeys years.

[Spud1]

It's totally beyond me why people would even want to buy gold outside of the game tbh..

Its basically cheating, no better than (and in many ways worse than) entering a debug code (ie cheat code) or hacking about with the dlls etc/making trainers etc etc

What on earth is the point in buying the game, and in this case subscribing, and then not playing it...part of the fun of the game is making money, trading wtih others, ripping people off in the AH, finding that elusive blue item...

In this situation it does more than just make it pointless for your to play the game, it affects others too..bleh if you can't be bothered to put the work in don't play.

[Goberpiles]

Their are a few reasons why people buy and sell in game items:

1. They have limited game time maybe 3-4 hours a week
2. They make a lot of credits/gold and have nothing to buy (This has happend to me in SWG) I make hundreds of millions a week and I have no end game, a 2 year vet, I have everything I would ever need in game.
3. That one item you want but cannot afford appears, you need the money from somewhere.

[Spud1]

So, it's cheating, and totally immoral.

If you want the gold/item etc then you should be prepared to play it...It would be like buying Half Life2, installing it, starting level one and then paying 8quid to see the end credits and then never playing it again - totally pointless.

Where's the fun? Wheres the sense of achievement? again I say, 'wheres the point?'

Just makes no sense :S

[Romanov]

"immoral" tosh.....

You pay to play the game monthly for crying out loud....if you already pay to play why not pay to make the game even better for you? Some of us have jobs that cuts our game time we're not all spotty 14 year olds and $50 is peanuts to me....but I've not bought any gold main reason is that theres ot much to buy with it at lvl 59 on Arathor, all the good items come from start runs etc and rarely turn up on Ah so theres no real point to it.

But if people want to buy gold I must admit it sounded bizarre but if you already pay hard cash to play why not pay cash to play better as it were.. as for cheating gold does not give you any advantage over another player at all....if you consider it does then how is it fair that a 16 year old can play for 10 hours a day and I can only play for 2 hours a day?

You'd say thats tough luck well okay tough on the 16 year old I can buy 1000G because I work all day

[Spud1]

err i hope that initial comment wasnt aimed at me...i work long hours aswell you know, and dont have 10+hours a week to play wow let alone 10hrs a day..and yet I still don't cheat.

I was going to argue with you again but I would just be repeating myself.

However you look at it buying gold etc outside of the game is against the rules (read the T+C), so therefore you are cheating (dictionary.com - 'To violate rules deliberately, as in a game') and forfeiting your account/right to play.

[Romanov]

No not aimed at you I don't knwo you so I couldn't comment, I think I wouldn't by gold as it would bring the real world into the game ...that would spoil it for me - anyway cheeers for the post s clears it all up for me....btw had a first go at Arathi last night - didnt realise the fun I'd been missing..much better than WSG

[Davey W]

I'd guess that Blizzard need to cover themselves hence the making the buying and selling of in game items against the agreement. Until it actually becomes an issue it most likely isn't worth their while chasing the problem down and stopping it. But if something does occur, such as a dispute over what was purchased for example, they can just say "well we forbid in our terms so you are banned", problem solved. That's my take anyway.

As for the use of the words totally immoral, I feel this is rather unfair. If you gain enjoyment from earning the credits then that is what you are getting from the game. If another player likes everything about the game except the monetary system, and the purchase of credits outside of the game enables him to be happy with the game and continue playing, what does he do?

With the Half Life 2 example, I cheated when I played it. I gave myself ammunition whenever I needed it. I bought the game and I am not going to let a game I paid good money for sit unplayed because I cannot get passed a certain point on my own.

I can only speak for myself in this case but I wouldn't want to jump from the start to the credits, for me there is no point in that. But I do want to see all of the levels, I do want to try all of the encounters, and I do want to follow the story.

At the end of the day there is a big difference between Half Life 2 and an MMO in that you cannot, or at least it is very difficult, to cheat in an MMO. But then in the case of money, if I run low, my guild members would help me out, and I would do the same for them.

Is my giving a gold piece to a fellow player who needs it also cheating?

The idea of cheating isn't black and white, and is subject to everyone's personal opinion. And given that, one's opinion should not be forced upon another.

/steps off box

Davey

[Butcher]

Blizzard have banned people for trading in-game items (including gold) for IRL cash. Blizzard are far more active in enforcing their rules than other MMO companies. If you want to risk your account that's your perogative.

[Allen]

Is my giving a gold piece to a fellow player who needs it also cheating?

Stupid comparison tbh. You played and made that gold you can do with it as you wish, if you were to have sold that "gold" to him for real money you would be breaking the T&C's and therefore cheating.

That's my view anyway.