http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13012041

- That's a hell of a market.

I sure would love to meet the lowlife, knuckle dragging losers that are supporting these gold farmers. Unbefreaking leaveable.

I sure would love to meet the lowlife, knuckle dragging losers that are supporting these gold farmers. Unbefreaking leaveable.

LOL, a 3 billion dollar growth industry was staring us all in the face. Our buddy Buyza knew a decade ago but who knows if it is still viable for him now due to the lack of visits to here. Either he is too busy running his digital empire of gold farming sweatshops in WoW or he got put out of business by lawyers who could not extend their reach to other countries but could certainly cause plenty of trouble here in the States.

Honestly though, if you were in a shithole country that can't produce much, producing and selling a commodity in demand that is nothing more than data means you earn a cash flow for something that requires no tilling of the earth, no factories, no traditional supply chains and next to no skilled labor. Can't blame people really. It fits the definition of a crime very loosely and even if it was a true criminal act, it would cost game devs more money to pursue it than just let it happen.

Actually it is in the benefit of devs/publishers to turn a blind eye. Farmers still need to buy the game and the subs in order to provide the gold to these players that feel that going to a farmer is important for them to continue to play, which translates into more software sold and subs re-upped as well. Rubbing it out is really bad business. If game publishers really gave a shit about it, they would just design the game to either trivialize money, such as in EQ, where there really is nothing to buy worth a crap or rely on no liquid medium of exchange at all. Barter or something like that.

I don't blame people for farming, I just can't imagine why someone would spend hard earned real world money for crap in WoW.....especially for nothing more than status symbols like mounts. But then again I have a life. ;)

There's two sides to that coin. I used to feel the same way, but its faded a bit over time. There are a lot of people out there that probably don't have as many outlets to feel special about themselves outside of the game ... but they can pay that $25 and get something to set them apart in their leisure activity.

The only place that I dislike stuff like this is in the games that require you to pay money to perform the best, etc. but I avoid them like the plague.

You can buy cash legitimately in EvE Online...sorta. You purchase Pilot License Extensions (PLEX) at about $35 for two 30 day license extensions. When claimed, they appear as in game items (DO NOT FLY WITH THESE IN YOUR CARGO HOLD!!! YOU WILL GET ATTACKED!!) until you use them. This works both ways.

If you need in game cash, you can see each of these for approximatley 330 million isk, a sizable amount regardless of market conditions. Or if you have enough in game currency, you can buy said licenses and pay for your game through in game efforts instead of using real currency.

A game which sounds like it's catching on to market trends (aka Amazon back in the day when it opened up 'Market Place').