Zam.com Q&AFollow

My guild's website is hosted on Guildportal.com ... and we use to have a link to Wow.Allakhazam.com for searching items and all, but it seems GuildPortal.com removed that feature to replace it with this message:

We apologize, but due to the recent acquisition of Allakhazam by IGE (the account / item / currency sellers), and the damage they inevitably do to the games we support, this content type has been removed. Please note that guild admins can add any type of content they like -- this is only a removal of the built-in content type that previously linked directly to Allakhazam's search.

- GuildPortal.com

I always supported sites like www.worldofwar.net that promise to never have any ads for gold selling or anything that would go against Blizzard's terms of services.

For those reason, i never refer anyone to curse-gaming.com or any sites with banner ads that sells Gold on WoW.

If Allakazam.com or Zam.com ever has suh publicity, you can be sure that i will no longer visit the site and will post on Blizzard's forums to ask other ligetimate players like myself to do the same.

Good day !

Want to stop with the weak attacks? Most of my friends are out of college, with money and time to burn. Either way, I don't help Gil Buyers at all.

Gil *bought*ers are different.


There's a big difference between a friend who once stole a car radio, and helping a friend fix the car radio he stole.

They support RMT. I don't see a difference.



Wow, that's pretty lame. So you advocate RMT AND the stealing of stereos?

And there is no difference. Nice try Feba.

All you whiners.. It's amazing. You all whine about resellers, and people that "pay to play" --

You should ALL stop playing SOE games (Sony) - You should all stop using Google, MSN, ANY shopping comparison site, Froogle, Yahoo (and ANY site that accepts Overture advertisements) -- The list goes ON and ON.. The most amusing thing I saw was a link from that Azzor.com about IGE -- At the end of the article it says to check out the digg on it. LOL - in that article the VERY FIRST THING I SEE are advertisemnets in the form of google advertising selling EQ GOLD.. Guess your "NO GOLD" stuff means nothing --

Unofortunately it seems that people post on these forums to stroke their egos. The very same people that run large guilds, and lash out about the reselling of game items and everything involved in RMT. The reality is that these are the very same exact people that BUY these items.

With regards to RMT, while the majority of the people that are whining are either high school kids, college kids or kids playing in their bedroom while mommy and daddy foot the bills -- the bottom line is that more than likely you can't afford it. Which does in fact give you an unfair advantage. The market for MMORPG genre games has grown and will continue to grow. For professionals, like myself, I have a tremendous amount of cash flow available to me - just not time. Why wouldn't I spend my money how I see fit, to enjoy a hobby the way I see fit? Do you honestly think I care how you feel, or anyone else for that matter? The fact is companies like IGE or Yantis whom I started buying from before IGE make my families and I experience in these type of games alot more enjoyable.

Fact is, I see a fairly small amount of people whining about paying $30.00 a year for this incredible network. It is a business above and beyond anything else. If $30.00 is a goal that "someone and his wife" were working towards - listen man, I'm glad they got broadband into the trailer park, but lets face it, I'm sure theres another shift open at the circle-K somewhere in your community and your time would be best spent working to put more money in your families bank account than to be playing video games.

I'm an older guy, been playing MMORPG's since UO came out. I've played everything and seen the market develop. Although I'm not too happy with the -quality- of the games these days, I am impressed with the fansites and the dedication.

I have friends that work in the RMT industry, I will not divulge which ones, but as we are being amused by these postings, he's telling me that he's found three of you so far that he can see past orders for platinum for your characters on your servers. Sig files are amazing aren't they?

I thought I'd add my two cents worth and as much as I love thottbot, I read this site as well. This network is going to be a good thing, especially with all of the different functions of the "parent" company now. I've used the sites I know about, I've purchased from their stores (incredible that I can get a time card or game from one of their stores before my local EB gets it) - and they email to me.

I think the best thing in the world is that my kids can PK you faster because your gear sucks, and theirs don't. Thank goodness for RMT, thank goodness for FASTER SERVERS here, and I for one look forward to the upgrades!

By the way, I'm sure all you people that play Sony Online games now are rushing over to their forums to cancel all your accounts in EQ, EQ2, SWG, Planetside, Matrix and a slew of others becuase they also facilitate the RMT.

LOL -- This new generation of gamers is hypocrisy at its finest.

Google & MSN aren't gaming websites - they dont know any better and there is no conflict of interest. Allakhazam is a gaming website and they do know better and it is a conflict of interest for them to belong to a group that damages the gaming community in the manner that IGE does.

Sticking your head in the sand and pretending that something doesn't happen does is pretty much a sign of denial.

The fact is that you can whine and moan about it all you want. It's not going to change a thing.

How many of you shop on eBay? Do not think they know the difference from all of the people that advertise there. Have had problems listing items when someone complains, do they still make millions and millions of dollars on these items. Of course they do.

Do you really honestly believe if the game companies right were in fact infringed upon that they would not go out and file a lawsuit against anyone involved in this type of activity to cease it? Do you think if they REALLY wanted to shut the market down and they had a solid case against it, they wouldn't attempt to do so? If they could win a case they'd get an injunction against google and everyone else advertising these services to stop promoting it.

Fact is, on a business side of things, RMT is wonderful for the games - Don't ever be fooled that a game like WOW isn't anything more than a cash cow for blizzard and vivendi universal. They aren't stupid. Why shut it down? Seriously? I wouldn't play if I couldn't play my way. I don't have the time to invest, but money is alot easier to spend to get where and what I want - (sort of like the non virtual world) --

Now lets look at it from a publisher point of view.. You have a percentage of your game base subscribing - because they play the way they want. Why end it? You have the RMT people who deliver items with accounts and pay fees. Usually timecards from what I understand. You have people that gather the gold and items. Again, buying the game and subscription cards. WOW - it's against the EULA - OMG - violations! Your accounts are banned. Does this knock them out of the business? LOL - NO. What do these people do. Buy more timecards and subscriptions. What's that do? Add to their bottom line, makes shareholders happier. Who frowns? "Game purists", people that can't afford to pay for items. Who gets hurt. Well, you're point is correct. The people that can't afford it. The RMT / Secondary market is a tremendous market. More than likely approaching 1 billion dollars for 2006 --

What is it going to accomplish by whining about it? It's a business that won't end. If there was no demand, there would be no supply -- the bottom line is if I want to play and sell my excess items or armor or characters to someone who wants to pay. I've put my time, MY BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS into it. I'm going to do what I so choose. It's not like I'm selling crack. I'm selling items that you can't even touch. That I've played hours and hours to obtain. It's my time. It's worth something.

Alla has told us the benefits of this. If this is true, that a company with real money has invested here, and bought in. I'd much rather be on this network with backing that would be a one stop shop for all the information I could possibly want. Everything. They now have the money to pay the proper staff to get ME all the information I want. This is WHY I'd pay for the service.

With regards to a "lack of integrity" on my part. I'm not posting here coming out against RMT and then supporting the industry on the back end.

I do know people that will not pay to buy items. They also have no lives, no jobs and play for 16 or 17 hours a day, 7 days per week.. Live in moms house, and my gear is still better. Heh..

Stop whining about something you'll never be able to control.

It's a free market world for the most part. The virtual world should be no different. If it really bothers you so much, my suggestion: Stop playing MMORPG's -- IT WILL NOT END. There is FAR too much money that changes hands -- from the publishers, the professional game players, the RMT sites, the resellers of the games, everyone makes a piece of the action. Even the websites that are promoting the "no gold" thing.

How do they make money? By chest thumping about how they promote that they are no gold, by writing senseless articles on a business they can't control. By getting threads, and hits.

What's this mean? That the CPC on the advertising on their site goes up. More exposure = a higher rate for CPC.

For everyone involved, it's like leading the sheep to slaugther.

Bye!

Gildaman,

Nope Im a grown man who finds it despicable that anyone would do business or sell out to a pedophile. Please reference the article links I posted earlier in this thread. Thank you.[/quote]

Ok, I see your links.

Now show me links of where Brock Pierce was convicted. Show me where he served jail time for a conviction and a jury of his peers convicted him. Please. I'm patient.

Don't know about you, but I live in America. In this country, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. So please, take a few more moments of your time and show this to me - I must have missed this.

Thanks in advance.

If Alla don't allow banners or posts advertising rmt things then i dont see any problem.

So lets just wait and see what alla is up to. :)

OH WOW the "EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING SO THAT MAKES IT OK" defense.




Very original...

A Cheat and coward who exploits others' poverty for his OWN enjoyment. Cuz he paid his dues.

You're the one stating you can't play the game without cheating.
You're the one stating you do it because everyone else is doing it.

You're also the one claiming to have been in the top five guilds in EVERY MMO you've played. WHO doesn't have a life outside of MMO's?

I have more than enough to money to buy gold if I chose to do so and I play a single MMO ( Wow currently, before that eg2 and before that eq).
5 to 10 hours/wk on average.

No, MMOs are not my life and I'm not jealous of your e-peen.





Edited, Sat May 6 15:04:43 2006 by Vassa

out of curiousity, when will everything become public knowledge so that we can see what the real deal is, instead of creating speculations that may or may not be wild?

Alla and all Admins:

If I replace the IGE with Allakhazam will that be the wording for your mission statement? I am prepared to see where this will all go, but as many are concerned, I hope that your intentions are true to develop the community without supporting RMT, I would hate to see the collapse of so many great people, ideas, and forums to a financial decision.

Our Business

IGE, a diversified service provider and market maker, operates the world’s largest secure network of buying and selling sites for massively multiplayer online game (MMOGs) virtual currency and assets on the Internet. IGE currently offers exchange services for many of the world’s most popular MMOGs, including both direct buying and selling services as well as a trading platform.

Since its founding in 2001 by Brock Pierce and Alan Debonneville—consummate gamers themselves—IGE has been an outspoken pioneer, a market steward, and an industry trailblazer. In meeting the demand of game players to buy, sell and trade in-game items, IGE provides gamers with fast transactions, 24-hour customer service and guaranteed transactional security. IGE is dedicated to improving gamer services and fostering a more enjoyable gaming experience.

Another thrilling dimension

The dawn of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) has marked a decisive revolution in entertainment and socialization opportunities for millions of game players around the globe.

Multiplayer online games such as EverQuest, Final Fantasy XI and Lineage 2 embody the creation of rich virtual worlds, whose inhabitants band together each night to engage in the most immersive form of online entertainment available today.

The popularity and success of MMOGs is largely due to immersive game designs that allow players to create and participate in new virtual realities. Commerce is a natural consequence of these complex, exciting virtual worlds as game players create, trade, buy and sell in-game assets. Gamers have assigned real-word value to virtual currency and other in-game commodities, creating a vibrant secondary market for MMOGs. This secondary market represents one of the most successful forms of emergent behavior ever seen in entertainment.

Gamers see the secondary market as yet another thrilling dimension of the MMOG experience. It not only gives players the advantage of greater flexibility so they can focus on aspects of the game they most enjoy, but it also allows players to get real world value for the effort and time they invest in the games. This remarkable connection between virtual and real world economies is the beginning of the next generation of entertainment that is contextually-based and commerce-driven.

It’s Big Business

Analysts estimate the 2005 marketplace for virtual assets in MMOGs is approaching $900 million. Some experts believe that the market for virtual assets will overcome the primary market—projected to reach $7 billion by 2009—within the next few years.

There is also a growing demand for in-game services that will more tightly integrate the secondary market to the games themselves, giving game players even more game play flexibility and enjoyment. It is the continual infusion of new game play opportunities in the secondary market that intrigues new gamers and enlivens game experts. Indeed, the vanguard of MMOG players can be found in the secondary market—IGE was founded by such individuals who understood that facilitating the trading, buying and selling of virtual assets is a valuable service in itself for the MMOG community.

Stretching the boundaries

Whether it's by bringing players together outside the virtual settings of online games or by facilitating secondary markets within the games, IGE is a market steward and gamer advocate that stretches the boundaries of MMOGs.

IGE offers gamers an always-on, secure network and the choice of an exchange platform site or direct buying and selling sites where they can exchange, buy and sell virtual assets and currency.

Advocacy and stewardship

IGE takes the role of advocate, steward and community member seriously. Building on relationships with publishers and players alike, IGE advocates healthy, secure and responsible secondary market practices. IGE does not farm or use bots or macros of any kind to create or collect virtual assets, and the company leverages its market presence and distribution power to avoid practices that have a negative impact on game play.

IGE maintains administrative offices in Los Angeles, California and Miami, Florida. The Company's market making and currency exchange services are operated by Internet Gaming Entertainment, Ltd., the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary in Hong Kong. The Company's auction exchange services and content network sites are administered by wholly-owned subsidiaries in the United States.