gold buyersFollow

They cant prove that you payed RL money for the gold. For all they know that person is paying you for something in game. People mail gold all the time.

Blizz goes after the sellers more than the buyers. Of course they could change that at any time, so it is not a safe thing to do. More than that though, it is cheating, causes inflation, and cheapens the playtime experience. The items your character has will mean so much more to you when you earn them.

I know some former gold buyers (luckily they have now reformed) and they would do things like buy an axe of the deep woods on Monday, and vendor it within a week for something else. It's funny to see how much happier they are now and how much more enjoyment they get out of the game since they have realized it was wrong to do and stopped. A buddy of mine has just gotten his epic mount for one of his 60's, totally earned on his part. He is so proud that he worked for all of the gold, and it means a lot more to him than the one paypal bought. Get the most out of the game and don't cheat. Don't buy gold!!

Just scan the FAQ or various money making posts here on the forum. Making money in wow is fun, not too hard, and very rewarding.

I wonder how they get the gold they are selling.

Hacking?

hmmm

What does botting mean? (english is not my native language and its not in the dictionary)

I think it would be worth the price of admission if Blizzard started banning people who have bought gold, I think you would also see many people gone you never would have expected.

I cant`t understand why people buy gold. For me it`s a part of the game to play well enough on the AH togheter with choosing the right skills for my character and thus earn the cash I need.

If Blizzard really wanted to stop buying of gold, they could just scan the mail delivery. If one single character mails more than 2-3k of gold in one week - check it out.

It should also be possible to stop people from advertising within the game. There´s always a toon inside Ironforge announcing their low price for gold. I have reported it to Blizzard several times but nothing happens.

After spending 2.5 years in FFXI, I laugh uproariously at people who think it's hard to make cash in WoW.

Big time.

---------

HAHAHA

I played FFXI for 2.5 years as well...

I too laugh uproariously at people who think it's hard to make money at WoW.

Compared to FFXI making money in WoW is like winning the lottery everyday.

The ToS prohibits selling of in game items, not buying. Yes the market exists because there is a demand and reducing the demand would naturally limit the supply... but Blizzard for some reason has not deemed this an appropriate strategy. *Supposedly* accounts get flagged when transferring in excess of 5000 gold, but that may just be a rumor.

Regardless, there would be no way for Blizzard to ever prove you paid RL currency for gold unless they sued the gold seller, got a subpoena, and found a copy of the transaction including your name, your character's name, and your credit card info. For all they can prove, it was just a benevolent chinese farmer sending random people bundles of gold.

Now of course that sounds rather ridiculous but it is the reason that Blizzard seeks to shut down the sellers. However, even then they are limited in their options. They can pretty much only shut down those accounts that are using 3rd party programs (i.e. bots) or those that are being shared by multiple individuals (in which case you would need multiple IPs... which is unlikely on a sharded computer).

There is no easy solution for Blizzard, as obvious as it may seem. Remember Blizzard is a business and has to operate within certain legal restrictions; they can't ban people on a hunch that they must have bought any large amount of gold sent to them.

And as to why people buy gold? I'd say three types of people off the top of my head:
1. The Casual - Either they just started the game or just don't play much. They want the best BoE's but don't want to spend the time to grind for the gold. They just like to hop on and dink around for a little while and don't want to spend their limited time farming when they can have that item now! This person is the most likely waste gold over and over as they buy BoE epics on their road from 1-60, forgetting that low level BoE's are quickly replaced.
2. The PVPer - Caught up in the unrelenting PVP grind, this person needs gold for repairs, pots, and the items they earn. Unfortunately being trapped in a battleground all day leaves them no time to farm. They buy gold to prop up their income-less PVP grind.
3. The Raider - The hardcore raider. When he's online, he is raiding. Between real life and the rigors of an intense raiding schedule, he has virtually no time to farm for gold. Unfortunately, high end raid encounters demand high repair costs and numberous consumables. When it comes down to skipping raids to farm for gold or just buying it, the latter is often the choice.

My post was in response to:



I was not justifying any of those positions, simply pointing out that gold buyers are not solely the random noobs snatching up BoE epics off the AH for ridiculous prices. It is surprising (to me at least) the variety of people that buy gold since it is often people who are very experienced at playing the game, yet are just too lazy (or simply unwilling) to farm for gold.

I must admit I'm a touch apathetic since very little of value in WoW is BoE anyway; once you begin raiding, the only difference between the guy who buys gold and the guy who doesn't is one saves an hour or two of farming but just wasted real life money =P

the people that buy gold are missing the whole point of the game...
you are supposed to have fun trying to get that gold for that really cool item you want, and have fun getting that gold through q's/farming...
and you will have to perfect your skills because enemy's will become harder to beat/the game will become more complex later on
if you skip that you will lose anyway in pvp because youre not skilled....

I too played FFXI for along time, from March of 2004 up till about 1 month ago.

I too LOL everytime I hear someone complain about making gold in WoW, or WoW's inflation. FFXI doesnt even give out Exp for quests, let alone any reasonable amount of currency.

Because they are too immature or impatient or whatever to understand that what you work for is what you cherish and enjoy most. They are the "right now" type of mentality who want everything given to them without work or effort.

Speaking impartially, I can see the lure. As I sit on my level 60 Tauren watching my epic mount cash creep up slowly enough to make me want to tear out my hair (OhMikeGhod's claims of how easy it is to make 6000g a week notwithstanding), I CERTAINLY understand. Or when someone offers something in Trade or on AH that I would love to own and can't afford. But I've never spent a nickel on bought money or items, even in games where doing it is 100% legal, and I never will. And thus every item I own brings me far more pleasure and satisfaction than something acquired with no effort or work.