World of Warcraft Selling Gold on BBC

[IKShadow]

World of Warcraft is a gaming phenomenon, with more than eight million people playing around the world and tens of millions of pounds being earned in revenue each month. But for some this is more business opportunity than leisure pursuit.

The game has its own version of eBay in which players can buy or sell weapons and armour to make their characters more powerful. But just like eBay you need money to buy things - in this case the game's currency is gold.

That gold can be earned by doing jobs like mining or collecting herbs. These jobs aren't difficult but can take a very long time. And that means the game's players are split - between those who can play a lot and generate their own cash, and those who work and don't have the same time to devote to the game.

People who work full time can feel penalised by the system, since it's harder for them to compete. But there is a solution - they can buy their gold for real money.

Read all (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6592335.stm)

[Lichlord]

Thats very interesting....I've been noticing more and more articles about the MMO world in the "more serious" newspapers.......I find the way they try to bring it to ordinary people (hence the way they describe everything) very interesting :)

[Drago]

What bothers me about it is that on many games u run into botters or people farming areas and they will kill you if you trespass into competition with them for the mobs. Now that just stinks and makes me angry. Also it ruins the economy for the regular gamers becuase they CAN earn the money in the game but it splits the crafters and sellers of items start basing their pricing on people who Buy money for items and then the people who otherwise might have a FAIR price for an item find themselves not having enough cash anymore. Understand?