I think this is a smart move for Ebay, but I wouldn't call it the end of Chinese farmers by a long shot. All this will do is make it a lot harder for the "freelancing" gold farmers. Those that either sell to companies like IGE, or can handle their gold/cash transactions privately (like peons4hire, who probably spam the worst on Blackhand), shouldn't be affected at all by this.

There's dozen of sites dedicated to selling/trading virtual items. eBay is not the end of item farmers, Chinese or otherwise.

There would be no farmers, if there was no one buying the gold/items. The fault lies on those creating the need, not the ones filling the need.

I don't want my comment to send this to P&C, but I wonder how many folks that are so vehemently anti-gold-_buying_ are also very much in favor or real-world "free" markets or market driven economies...

I've considered buying gold before, around level 60.
I've also considered paying to have a character levelled to 40 or 60.

Sure, I hate running into a kill-stealing, zone-hogging gold-farmer as much as the next guy, but I also run into just as many asshats that do the exact same thing except instead of saying "Ni hao" they say "Bite me, I'm on a quest" or "I'm trying to level mining" or whatever.

There's a market for gold just like there was a market for Levi's and Nike's in Soviet Russia or cocaine in 1980s America. Not all things that are against the rules are "wrong" and not all things that are "wrong" are against the rules, but I do know that the market will find a way. It always finds a way. Even without eBay.

Sorry I couldn't disagree more. Most MMORPGs and WoW in particular don't even have a way to win -- so, not at all analogous to a zero-sum wagering game.

Kicking your ball out of a sandtrap is a much better comparison though.

[edit for clarity]

I'm with Strekos, par - your example isn't anywhere close to analogous. You're example is analogous to wall-hacks in FPSs, or speed hacks. This isn't a competitive sport or even game.

You may think it's wrong, but let's see how strongly you believe in that:
Have you ever taken something from another player in-game? Gold? Items? Crafting materials?
Have you ever bought anything from another player in-game?
Have you ever had someone spend their time doing something in your stead, whether you compensated them in-game, out-of-game, or not at all?
Have you ever broken any rules? Speed limit? No Parking Zone? Littering? Underage drinking? Pot? Cheating on a test? Padding your resume?

My philosophy is this:
My time is worth a certain amount of money. I can prove this with my paychecks and tax return. It is worth that because the market agrees it is worth that.
Anyone's time is worth a certain amount of money. In fact, money is just a substitute for time, agreed on by a community. Buying milk with US Dollars is really just trading my time for someone else's time(well, quite a few someone else's, technically).

Buying in-game gold is the same. I'm trading an hour of my work for an hour of someone else's work, and in the grand scheme of things, I think you're hard-pressed to call it "cheating". It's the MMOG equivalent of going 70 m.p.h. in a 55 m.p.h. zone, both in the severity of the offense and in the ability of the police to catch every single speeder. We're not talking about murder or even grand theft, eh? Hell, it's not even graffiti, in my book.

#1 - isnt a part of the game. You cant "take" things. I'm assuming you mean stealing? That is not possible in-game.
#2 - buying something in game from another character is part of the game. its why there is an economy and things are "tradable". You can sell something for 10x's as much as I am selling it. If you get a buyer, your not cheating.. you just have some buyers that are not looking for another deal. Its part-of-the-game.
#3 - Nope. All my characters are my own and nobody has logged on them in any way other than myself. And in all honesty, nowhere in the EULA does it say you cannot allow someone else to play your character. They suggest against it due to security reasons... but its not forbidden. And sorry duck, but this has nothing to do w/ buying things outside of the game (which IS explicitly against the RULES OF THE GAME).
#4 - Speeding - yes. Parking - no. Littering - big no. Not underage (and didnt... guess im square). Pot - nope, no chems at all (not even cigs). Cheat on test - nope. Padding resume - in my business you cant... if you say you can do something on your resume you damn well better be able to show that you can. Have I done some of them? Yep, I would lie if I told you something different. Do I deliberately do them? I answered.

But, really. What you are saying is "Its ok to condone cheating because... well... you cheat in other things". I dont see it that way sorry. I worked pretty hard for my characters AND my guild and to have a portion of my guild banned from the game due to being caught cheating isnt worth it to me.

At work, do you "skim a little off the top"? I mean, you work hard for your company. You make them money. Since you make them money it should be ok for you to take 1 penny out of .... oh every 10 dollars. Its ok. Albeit its against the law and all but hey, its YOUR time.

I'm not being black/white about this. If you are caught, your done. If your in a guild and people rely on you.. well you let them down. And all that hard work... gosh 68 days on a single character for over 2 years and you lose it by deliberately cheating? Knowing that you did it?

Seriously... I guess I am outnumbered here... but wow.

Oh well.

PAR

Ok I guess my views are skewed then. A good 1/3 of my guild was banned for something that is ok in the eye's of so many.

Of course the Terms of Use, section 8 states:

Ownership/Selling of the Account or Virtual Items.
Blizzard does not recognize the transfer of Accounts. You may not purchase, sell, gift or trade any Account, or offer to purchase, sell, gift or trade any Account, and any such attempt shall be null and void. Blizzard owns, has licensed, or otherwise has rights to all of the content that appears in the Program. You agree that you have no right or title in or to any such content, including the virtual goods or currency appearing or originating in the Game, or any other attributes associated with the Account or stored on the Service. Blizzard does not recognize any virtual property transfers executed outside of the Game or the purported sale, gift or trade in the "real world" of anything related to the Game. Accordingly, you may not sell items for "real" money or otherwise exchange items for value outside of the Game.

So I guess I am reading this wrong? Ah well... guess its ok to cheat =/

And Im sorry GG, but your example of having to do things because of the game mechanics is kind of a lame excuse to me. We made it to Rag w/out buying anything because I was in pretty much full control of the guild. We worked hard to have all of our members w/ good enough gear and we all farmed a little throughout the week so that we had the pots needed for the fights. There was NO reason to buy anything online. But once officers started changing positions due to what the guild leader was doing, well.. thats when all this crap started happening.

But your excuse is like complaining that your constantly getting ganked when you knowingly chose a PvP server. Its a part of the game. If your guild works together there is no need to "buy" gold online.

PAR

Might be so. But I know I would never personally play a game that allows people to "buy" their way to the top. We have enough of that in our society... I make good money but I'd rather put it away towards my retirement or other things and earn what I get in the game by the bounds of the game.

I play hockey too... I wouldnt want to play in a league in which the other team can "buy" the referees because they had more money.

But if someone makes a game like that and is successful... more power to them and hope their player base has fun. I just wont be there.

PAR

I never understood that argument.. especially in WoW since 99% of the stuff you CAN purchase in game is useless (gear wise) once your into the end game raiding. And its even more useless for PVP..

I agree I'm breaking the EULA and ToU but I would stop at saying I'm cheating. Since by definition to me I'd have to be cheating something or someone. It is a fairly harmless act.. but to you its like I'm haxxoring the game or something.

If I do get caught (though with gold as easy so far in the BC I dont foresee any need to purchase gold) I will naturally blame you.. and use all my resources to hunt you down.. buy out your company.. fire you.. ruin your credit.. and kick your dog (if you have one)

I understand, but realistically, aren't you already playing such a game and enjoying yourself? I don't play WoW, but I was drawn to this thread because of its general application to game economics or design (correct me on anything I get wrong about the details of the situation).

i don't know, what's the difference between time and money. The game rewards people that have much more "time" then others, what is the difference if it rewards people with more "money" then others?

Would you care if there was no PvP, and WoW was purely co-operative multiplayer?

Edit: What ducki said. Aside from PvP, it seems as much cheating as using cheat codes in a single player game.