Quote:

Gold Farmer Site Bought for $10 Million
Investors drop loads of real money on company that sells virtual currency.
By Dustin Quillen, 01/29/2009
World of Warcraft

Despite the best efforts of MMORPG developers like Blizzard, gold farming services continue to rake in serious dough in exchange for virtual currency. There's probably no better example of that than My MMO Shop -- a seller of in-game money that, Yahoo Finance reports, was just purchased for a cool $10 million.

Acquired by My MMO Inc. -- a company established by a private firm in 2008 for the sole purpose of buying My MMO Shop -- the service reportedly ranks third in overall sales among other gold selling sites. Though the buying and selling of in-game currency is explicitly forbidden in almost every MMORPG out there, My MMO Shop offers their services to players from virtually every popular game in the genre, including World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI, Warhammer Online, Everquest II, Age of Conan, and many, many others.

Why, in these uncertain times, would anyone invest in a company that basically sells pretend money? My MMO Inc.'s Hunter Crowell reiterates the controversial theory that certain aspects of the gaming industry are recession proof. "This is a risky time for any kind of traditional investing," explains Crowell, adding, "People are staying home more and choosing less expensive forms of entertainment, like playing video games."

Just keep that $10 million price tag in mind the next time you're inundated with gold farmer spam. Somebody paid damn good money for that guy to stand in Stormwind and repeatedly shout advertisements in your face.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172532

well well. i thought gold sellin is illegal...

Kinda was hoping they bought it for 10.mil and shut it down. MEH, a man may dream, may he not?

Profit is the overwhelming motivator.

I suppose MMOs shout start using the same system as Chaos Online regarding Gold Farm bots. If you are the first to report a gold farmer, his account will be banned and you will receive 10% of all the gold the bot had accumulated on his account. Probably the only good thing about this game though. Would be a good idea to close those sites but it will probably never happen.

Originally posted by khartokhar3

well well. i thought gold sellin is illegal...

i guess u thought wrong. Against company policy != illegal.

Plus, illegal != enforceable.

I report my share of gold selling spam to blizzard too .. but i don't think it is going to go away, as long as there is the demand for it.

It makes me feel all warm and happy inside to know that someone paid 10 million   just to ruin my gaming experience. How sweet.

I hope they die in a fire.

Games really should start awarding incentives  for players to want to get rid of spammers. I am so sick of people being  apathetic and  telling everyone to "just ignore them". This solves nothing and allows them to continue harassing  everyone else.

For me, just the thought of knowing that  the spammers I report get banned, and have to buy a new copy of the game in order to advertise,  is reward enough. 

That idea to give players  a percentage of the spammer's fortune is a decent idea. How well does it work? t might be enough to motivate all the apathetic fools into reporting  the spam they normally just ignore.

Originally posted by iamspamicus

It makes me feel all warm and happy inside to know that someone paid 10 million   just to ruin my gaming experience. How sweet.

I hope they die in a fire.

 

Games really should start awarding incentives  for players to want to get rid of spammers. I am so sick of people being  apathetic and  telling everyone to "just ignore them". This solves nothing and allows them to continue harassing  everyone else.

For me, just the thought of knowing that  the spammers I report get banned, and have to buy a new copy of the game in order to advertise,  is reward enough. 

That idea to give players  a percentage of the spammer's fortune is a decent idea. How well does it work? t might be enough to motivate all the apathetic fools into reporting  the spam they normally just ignore.

Curious. Where is this company located? If it's in the U.S. and has its drones spamming WoW, Blizzard may have a chance at whacking the mole.

 Wait, if selling gold is illegal...then how is a serious investment of an illegal operation not raising a bunch of flags?

Imagine seeing in the news:  Hitman Corporation Bought by Venture Capital Firm for $20 Million USD.

Am I wrong, or does this just seem ... well, wrong?

internet pixeled items are serious business , obviously...

Personally i would never pay for anything other than the subscription for the game , even if i was a millionare , but i suppose some need to feel power over others even in a computer game and have the uber sword of greatness +10 no matter what the cost.

Originally posted by demalus

 Wait, if selling gold is illegal...then how is a serious investment of an illegal operation not raising a bunch of flags?

 

Imagine seeing in the news:  Hitman Corporation Bought by Venture Capital Firm for $20 Million USD.

 

 

Am I wrong, or does this just seem ... well, wrong?

Just to clarify..it's "Illegal" from the game company's point of view, not the civil or corporate "legal" system.

The gold selling company isn't doing anything illegal per se, just selling virtual currency. To USE the currency ingame, THAT's illegal, because the gaming company wishes it so, not by law.

Doesn't make sense, but that's really the truth of it. There are REAL laws against smoking in public establishments, but you can still buy cigarettes.

The world seldom makes sense when money is involved.

10 million eh?  nice work (insert original owner), you can now go into a far less sketchy business and be happy to know that your retirment is fully funded by gold spam.

seriously though good on him for making 10 million off something like that.

Originally posted by khartokhar3

Quote:

Gold Farmer Site Bought for $10 Million
Investors drop loads of real money on company that sells virtual currency.
By Dustin Quillen, 01/29/2009
World of Warcraft

Despite the best efforts of MMORPG developers like Blizzard, gold farming services continue to rake in serious dough in exchange for virtual currency. There's probably no better example of that than My MMO Shop -- a seller of in-game money that, Yahoo Finance reports, was just purchased for a cool $10 million.

Yeah right.

There was an interesting article about IGE (the guys who pretty much started it all) awhile back in WIRED magazine.

If you recall, as annoying as it was back then, for IGE you went to their website.  The reason you get so much in game spam now, is because IGE basically self destructed and all the little chinese sweatshops they use to buy gold from had to go into business for themselves, so they spam you in game relentlessly. 

We traded one evil for another, bleh.

I think devs should make reported spammers accounts flagged red to everyone, so anyone can kill them anywhere, anytime they want.  Let people track them down.  Perhaps drop tokens from their corpse that allows you to access their banks and take all their stuff.  Would be entertaining to say the least.

They just need to make gold untradable unless acquired through an auction house. Meaning what gold your character earns becomes bound to that character only. IF wealth needs to change hands it can be done through the auction house by buying and selling items, and through this gold is transferred. Or, gold can only be traded and given away with characters on the same account.

This is what will pretty  much hurt gold sellers big time. The NPCs and AH become the middle man and limit what can be done and where the items can go.

This is the best alternative, you either let gold farms run free or you take away the means at which to farm for others. Its a sacrifice that has to be made.

Originally posted by Rabenwolf

They just need to make gold untradable unless acquired through an auction house. Meaning what gold your character earns becomes bound to that character only. IF wealth needs to change hands it can be done through the auction house by buying and selling items, and through this gold is transferred. Or, gold can only be traded and given away with characters on the same account.

 

This is what will pretty  much hurt gold sellers big time. The NPCs and AH become the middle man and limit what can be done and where the items can go.

This is the best alternative, you either let gold farms run free or you take away the means at which to farm for others. Its a sacrifice that has to be made.

Goldseller: "Hello, how much gold would you like to buy today?"

Goldbuyer: "5 million should do it."

Goldseller: "Very good. Please place your noob weapon in the auction house for 5 million gold, and we can make the transfer."

You agree to an End User Agreement when you install the game. Which is a contract... Making gold buying illegal if it is included in the EUA... Don't people have any common sense? So obviously these companies could be found liable if the game company wanted to sue them... Cause people will spend less time playing the game cause they can get things quicker... = Game company loses money + gold farming company agrees to EUA when installing game  = Game company sues gold farming company for loss of income...

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by Rabenwolf

They just need to make gold untradable unless acquired through an auction house. Meaning what gold your character earns becomes bound to that character only. IF wealth needs to change hands it can be done through the auction house by buying and selling items, and through this gold is transferred. Or, gold can only be traded and given away with characters on the same account.

 

This is what will pretty  much hurt gold sellers big time. The NPCs and AH become the middle man and limit what can be done and where the items can go.

This is the best alternative, you either let gold farms run free or you take away the means at which to farm for others. Its a sacrifice that has to be made.

 

Goldseller: "Hello, how much gold would you like to buy today?"

Goldbuyer: "5 million should do it."

Goldseller: "Very good. Please place your noob weapon in the auction house for 5 million gold, and we can make the transfer."

And thats a red flag for the developers. You see, no one in their right mind would pay that much for an item with little to no value. Depending on how the AH is set up, exploitation can be avoided and extreme attempts alert the team, furthermore it makes the process harder for both reciever and seller when trying to exchange any worth while sums of money.

Didnt think before you posted did you?

Originally posted by Rabenwolf

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by Rabenwolf

They just need to make gold untradable unless acquired through an auction house. Meaning what gold your character earns becomes bound to that character only. IF wealth needs to change hands it can be done through the auction house by buying and selling items, and through this gold is transferred. Or, gold can only be traded and given away with characters on the same account.

 

This is what will pretty  much hurt gold sellers big time. The NPCs and AH become the middle man and limit what can be done and where the items can go.

This is the best alternative, you either let gold farms run free or you take away the means at which to farm for others. Its a sacrifice that has to be made.

 

Goldseller: "Hello, how much gold would you like to buy today?"

Goldbuyer: "5 million should do it."

Goldseller: "Very good. Please place your noob weapon in the auction house for 5 million gold, and we can make the transfer."

 

And thats a red flag for the developers. You see, no one in their right mind would pay that much for an item with little to no value. Depending on how the AH is set up, exploitation can be avoided and extreme attempts alert the team, furthermore it makes the process harder for both reciever and seller when trying to exchange any worth while sums of money.

Didnt think before you posted did you?

I did indeed think. There is always a way around things.

The only way to truly get rid of goldfarmers and sellers is to.........wait for it.........get rid of gold.

You make people barter and trade consumables.

Need armor? Volunteer to protect a harvester in exchange for a percentage of the mats, then offer extra mats to a tradeskiller to make your armor.

You make mats available in multiple locations, with no "rare" mat hidden off in one area where it can be controlled and camped.

A good example of a game which actually got its economy right as far as blocking out goldfarmers/sellers is Ryzom.

Originally posted by nariusseldon

Originally posted by khartokhar3

well well. i thought gold sellin is illegal...

 

i guess u thought wrong. Against company policy != illegal.

Plus, illegal != enforceable.

I report my share of gold selling spam to blizzard too .. but i don't think it is going to go away, as long as there is the demand for it.

Here lies the biggest problem with the gold selling market. The fact there's a demand for it.

No matter how aggressive companies persue the companies selling the gold, no matter how much reporting is done, if there's still demand for it, they'll just shrug it off and come back for another go.

Unfortunately, there's no way I can see that demand could be eliminated, as there's gold sales even in games like WoW where you can get huge amounts through very little time.

Originally posted by daelnor

 

I think devs should make reported spammers accounts flagged red to everyone, so anyone can kill them anywhere, anytime they want.  Let people track them down.  Perhaps drop tokens from their corpse that allows you to access their banks and take all their stuff.  Would be entertaining to say the least.

Best idea ever !