Think Oil's Expensive? Covert Blizzard Ban Sends WoW Gold Skyrocketing

[everguide]

According to this blog post on stupidfuckbags.com:

[[Do not be a tool, tool.]]

(**Note: The Above Link goes to a site that I own, and could profit from if you happened to use our vendor reviews/price matching to purchase virtual currency which runs through affiliate links**)

“A massive covert banning by blizzard targeted at gold farmers has crippled their operations causing the price of World of Warcraft gold to skyrocket within the past week”

The article goes into details as to how a massive covert banning operation by Blizzard has caused the price of gold to double (includes some cool live charts to show this as well) within a matter of the past few days. It also presents some damming evidence and internal memos that some of the shops/suppliers are a bit worried about these recent actions by Blizzard.

I know that it’s a constant game of cat and mouse between Blizzard’s bans and the gold farmers, but it seems like they are a bit worried that Blizzard may be way ahead of them. If Blizzard can keep up with these bannings and it cost a ridiculous amount of money to purchase gold, obviously it’s no longer going to be a major factor in the game.

Is this the beginning of the end of the gold market?

[NiX]

Only for the companies who can afford to have a dedicated set of people to hunting down and banning these people. Blizzard could afford to have hits put out on every Gold Seller.

[Miasma]

Suspicious first post that links to a site that links to all the gold sellers for all MMOs.  Linking to an article could be an interesting way to get around a ban.

[dusematic]

good link

[Tale]

everguide
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1

moooooooole

Anyway, a few weeks ago Blizzard did another ban wave that took out some key members of my guild's WoW chapter (which I'm not in). Turned out they had all cheated by using WoWglider to level up an alt. They all accepted the ban as they deserved it, but it was quite a shock to lose their long-standing accounts.

But it demonstrated to me that banning players is a very effective commercial activity. They seem to just buy another box and come back as paying players again, their motivation refreshed.

[everguide]

Modified the post and put in a little disclosure below the link. However, the intent of the post isn't intended to really sell you anything, mostly just to look for some comments/opinions on the topic area which I've been interested in for some time now.

The actual goal of the site (besides hopefully at least being somewhat profitable) is an attempt to sort of reform the currency industry through self-regulation and exposing sites that continue to engage in unethical operations that are harmful to the playerbase. (A bit more information about our goals at: [[Your site is dead to us!]].

Taking a realist look, that secondary markets ares most likely going to exist, (although this does appear a decent effort to curb it) the best thing to do is to ensure that it's effect on the games/playerbase is minimal. This means that sites which by proxy or directly steal accounts, spam, use exploits, create holding companies to buy out fan sites and turn them into propaganda machines, or just provide awful service, etc. should no longer be tolerated and as long as we can get the information out there, there is little reason why a player shouldn't choose an ethical alternative (which often *surprise* provide much better customer service and are much more reliable to deal with).

[Chimpy]

In before da den.

[Kitsune]

The profitability of gold farmers isn't a concern for me, aside from a vague sort of hope that failure and ruin greet them all.  I have no beef in theory with people who sell gold, or buy it, but I have a great big problem with cheaters, exploiters, botters and resource-hogs.  If WoW had EvE's 'trade game time for gold or characters from another player' system, I'd have no problem with it; legit players having transactions between each other doesn't distress me.  It's when jerks come and mess with the game for everyone else that I become irked.  And WoW's goldsellers are definitely working overtime to mess with the game.

[Tale]

everguide you are scum - I hope your links are removed. No, I haven't followed them. You are scum because you profit from people breaking the rules of the games I've played, which has caused interruptions to my fun.

I have been blocked from completing in-game activities because there are professional gold farmers in my way. I have been excluded from auctions because other people have impossible amounts of gold due to RMT. I have had key moments of gameplay interrupted by gold-selling spam. I have lost in-game friends who have succumbed to buying their way forward to skip things we would otherwise experience together.

While demand from cheats is the root of the problem, anyone involved in meeting the demand is responsible for the above interruptions to my gaming. Maybe it puts food on the table for your kids, but it's weak, man. I've no time for you or anything you want to say.

[Oban]

Hmm, I actually found this interesting.  Considering that these operations are generally trying to operate under the radar, any public disclosure of information is useful.

Banning this poster or deleting this post would be like banning a discussion of drugs or sexual activities.  The more light that can be shed on these activities the better.

[Kail]

I kind of wonder if Blizzard isn't going to just cut out the middle man with Lich King and nerf (is that the right word?  Devalue, maybe?) gold altogether.  They already started giving players more coin than they'll ever need in BC for anything other than the epic flyer, and then they opened up the faucets even further with the dailies, and then further still with the Sunwell.  There are a bunch of ways to get nice gear now, but they're all tied to BoP Badges/Rep grind/Honor points/whatever, more than they are to gold.  Right now, all you need gold for is skill training (not normally a concern by itself), mounts (and they are already dropping the price of the L40 mounts on the PTR), and maybe trading cheap junk on the AH like potions and BoE blues.  If they lower the gold cost of mount training in Lich King, then all that's really left are AH items. So, I gotta wonder if there's going to be a significant market for someone willing to pay US$20 for some Mageroyal and a chance at an account ban.

[Tale]

Hmm, I actually found this interesting.  Considering that these operations are generally trying to operate under the radar, any public disclosure of information is useful.

Banning this poster or deleting this post would be like banning a discussion of drugs or sexual activities.  The more light that can be shed on these activities the better.

He's taking commission on sales from links through his site. That disqualifies anything he has to say.

RMT is corruption.

My family could be richer now, but an application to subdivide our property and build another house was rejected due to the area falling 50cm short. It was hinted that everybody in that situation greases the wheels with a corrupt payment, but we chose not to do this.

My team could perhaps have won the local community soccer league if I arranged some business favours for a certain referee. Some offsides and fouls could have been ignored, and corners/throw-ins called for our team instead of the other. It wouldn't really matter, because it's just a community tournament, and basking in the glory of winning is worth it.

Perhaps I could have set up a website looking at this phenomenon. Because whatever I say, there's a real demand for these corrupt methods of self-advancement. And on that website, I could sell hints at the best deals in development applications and sporting glory.

But then I'd be scum.

[Oban]

I think you missed something here...

WoW is a game.

It is something people are supposed to do in their spare time for enjoyment.

[Merusk]

If you're taking the 'realist' view that there will be a secondary market, then I suppose the games companies should do the same, and simply sell direct to their customers.  Nobody can do it cheaper, and nobody can do it more secure than the companies.

Yes, YES let's open this marked wide open, and encourage all game devs to sell gold, items and even characters to their customers.  Thanks for the brilliant idea.

Oh wait.. that'd kind of screw those poor rmt farmers. Ah well.

[Lakov_Sanite]

I think you missed something here...

WoW is a game.

It is something people are supposed to do in their spare time for enjoyment.

Baseball is a game, it's also against the rules to use steroids. By this logic we should just let all players dope up if they want to because it's just a game.

[Tale]

I think you missed something here...

WoW is a game.

It is something people are supposed to do in their spare time for enjoyment.

So is a community soccer tournament. But whether it's soccer or computer games, some people take it too far. They cheat, and they think they get more fun if they cheat.

I play these games in my spare time for enjoyment. I agree to play by the rules of the game and I never cheat. Meanwhile, my enjoyment is reduced by the impact of those who do resort to cheating (see the points I made about the impact of RMT on legitimate players, two posts ago).

Agree to play by the rules, or don't play at all. If you can't have fun without cheating to get ahead, you have a personality problem - it's not about game design, it's about your destructive effect on the gaming community as a player who brings corruption into play.

[Oban]

Baseball is a game, it's also against the rules to use steroids. By this logic we should just let all players dope up if they want to because it's just a game.

Baseball is a professional sport with a large legal sports betting system supported by governments.

Try again.

[Trippy]

Hmm...what to do with this thread?

[Tale]

Hmm...what to do with this thread?

I suggest Everguide paypals you a per-view commission and you keep his links up. If not, maybe they should be non-functional?

His intellectual approach doesn't alter the fact he's linking to an RMT service from which he gets commission. At the very least, he transgressed by linking to his blog instead of posting his writings here. But his site is also to RMT what a mortgage broker is to mortgages.

[schild]

Deleted the links.

[Trippy]

Oh goodie now I don't have to decide what to do

[Ironwood]

If Wow Gold is now like Oil, do we invade China ?

I'm confused.

[Tale]

Deleted the links.

The first line of his post still takes you there.

If Wow Gold is now like Oil, do we invade China ?

I'm confused.

Highly trained teams will begin efforts to recover gold from China on August 8.

Weak, pathetic even. Sorry.

[Tebonas]

I find the idea intriguing where Blizzards takes out all gold sellers with Assassins. Hell, give away free Diablo 3 betas for proven gold seller heads and the whole thing won't cost them a dime.

[Fordel]

I have been excluded from auctions because other people have impossible amounts of gold due to RMT

Most of the people who rule the AuctionHouse with an Iron fist, do it the legit way. By establishing an Alchemy Empire! 

[Adam Tiler]

Wow, what a little bitch.

[Trouble]

Is it true what he said though. Gold prices have at least doubled in the last couple weeks, getting closer to tripling.

[Sparky]

I love glider ban waves.  Time to check out their forums for a nice wallow.

[Ironwood]

Can I ask honestly if anyone has ANY trouble getting gold in WoW ?

I mean, the dailies alone are a non-stop pissing fountain of gold.

I don't get it.

Way back when, maybe.  Now ?  Not so much.

[Fordel]

There are always people with more money then sense. Fools soon parted and all that.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Can I ask honestly if anyone has ANY trouble getting gold in WoW ?

I mean, the dailies alone are a non-stop pissing fountain of gold.

I don't get it.

Way back when, maybe.  Now ?  Not so much.

I think this is the main reason why gold is so expensive. Not that it's hard to get but there is so little market for it sellers have to jack up their prices to cover operating costs/standards of living and rely on the handful of people so lazy they cant do a few dailies or need that boe epic NOW

[SurfD]

I have been excluded from auctions because other people have impossible amounts of gold due to RMT

Most of the people who rule the AuctionHouse with an Iron fist, do it the legit way. By establishing an Alchemy Empire! 

I have to agree with this statement.

Im pretty sure that every single AuctionHouse magnate is secretly an EvE player who wanted to try something new.  They rule the Auctionhouse with impunity because they have what 95% of the WoW playerbase does not: a thorough grasp of how to properly manipulate a market, and enough time to log on frequently to check their auctions.

I also second Ironwood's question: How the hell do you have trouble getting gold?  Just stop buying EVERY single fucking little thing you think you need for your character (especially if you KNOW you are going to replace it in like 6 hours of leveling anyway) and maybe go out and farm a few mats yourself and you will save a bundle.  And dailies are a licence to fucking print money once you hit 70.  

Hell, I have somewhere around 24k gold banked between 3 level 70 characters and a bunch of assorted low level alts i use for crafting (and thats AFTER buying three sets of epic flying skills), and i have never purchased a single copper piece in my life.

I would probably put myself somewhere in the category of being slightly more of a casual gamer then a hardcore gamer (i dont do any major raiding, have never set foot in an arena) but i probably play more then some of the truely casual.  But i can still manage to easily make 200 or more gold profit every 2 or 3 days with just doing dailys for an hour or two a night on weeknights.  If i REALLY wanted to make money, i could easily rake in 1kg a day doing all my dailys on all 3 characters on a saturday or something.

About the only thing i really ever do is try to stay self sufficient.  One 70 is an alchemist / herbalist so i can make all my own pots, another 70 is mining / skinning,  and 2 characters who i leveled to 60 from mid 30's after BC came out who i trained tailoring on just so i could make my own spell / shadow / primal moon cloths.   My current pet project is leveling up a jewlcrafting / enchanting alt so i never have to pay through the nose for my own raw gems / enchanting mats.    Those things alone probably save me BUTLOADS of cash since i never have to pay the gougers for stuff i want / need.

[Tale]

Can I ask honestly if anyone has ANY trouble getting gold in WoW ?

I have trouble getting gold in WoW. To get gold in WoW you have to spend time. It may be easy, but it's all time.

My impression is that gold is sold to the "need it now" crowd. They reach level 70 and want flying mounts NOW. They want the highest price auction items NOW. They want to grind up a different tradeskill NOW. They want expensive faction bonuses NOW.

All of these things are utterly pointless and worthless unless you've enjoyed the journey to obtaining them. So the sane attitude is to accept that you're moving through the game at your own pace, and it's only a game so it doesn't really matter when those things come, because they will eventually. But there's a wider perception that these things do have a point and are worth something, so ... need to experience it now, will pay.

[Ironwood]

That argument just doesn't hold up anymore.  Really.

The dailies, including the pvp ones, take literally five minutes.  Sometimes a lot less (the demon flag Sunwell one, for example).

They give up to 24g a pop.

Also, levelling to 70 these days should have you well on the way to epic mount unless you've been an impulse ADD victim at the AH.

[IainC]

Also Blizzard is pretty upfront about its continuing efforts to ban/sue the crap out of RMT operators so calling it a 'covert ban' isn't really appropriate.