Nice they are trying to scare people, I honestly think is a noble idea.

blizzard lecturing us gurus on PC security. WoW = teh suck

"These are the friends, relatives, and guildmates you may know"
OMG Even Blizzard is beginning to think their game is real and worthy of such 'honorable' terms

If you will pay 125$ for something in a game...get a life.

I think it's not to scare people, but it is to inform us from the Blizzard's and Jagex's perspective on why buying online gold is dangerous. I play Runescape on and off,and I have never bought any in game items for real life cash because it's not safe and the risk is too high. I have seen some of the websites that sell gold.Some have bogus paypal screens and some tried to give me a trojan. Of course, I have Anti-virus, however many other younger players don't know a darn thing about whats out there on the internet. As a result,this effects many younger players who don't understand that these gold-selling websites are scams to get their personal information, parent's credit card, paypal information,in game account,and their game items.

CCP, the makers of EVE, introduced something they call PLEX (Pilot license extension) which is 30-day playtime card that you can buy for about 15$ and sell in-game. The going rate for one is about 350 million isk (interstellar credits) which is a rather good sum of money. So buying once for real money, and thus getting the funds needed to start a "business" in-game,can ultimately allow you to pay for your subscription with in-game money.

I know this has been done before in other games but just wanted to point it out anyway.

It really is cheating though. I don't care one way or another if people do it but also have no sympathy if they loose their character and items because of it either.

I mostly play EQ2 and haven't had a problem leveling my character quickly. theres plenty of guides on the good EXP quests to do to level quickly anyway.

Silly game makers - don't they smell an opportunity to make money when it stares them in the face? Instead of banning it or pushing gamers out to 3rd party services, offer it yourself!

Want some gold, a particular item, or extra levels? Get it charged to your account (or convert a game card to cash for these purchases) by visiting the Wizzard.

This would give them the opportunity to take revenue from these 3rd party services while letting those who can only occasionally game maintain relationships with constant gamers. For example, I stopped playing because my available time dropped to about 1-2 times/month (where I could play up to 10 hours because it was my day off), but the groups I was involved with were able to play almost every day and soon were well beyond my power range. If I could have bought levels, I could keep playing with my group and thus would have still been a customer.

Blizzard doesn't want people doing it because of security? What a joke.

I played eq2. I made a decent amount selling platinum to other players through sony's own station exchange which allowed you to sell and buy characters as well as items and money. I never heard about any higher rate of account hacking on the station exchange servers than on the normal servers.

Blizzard accounts will be hacked continuously until the game is in the grave. It's the biggest game on the block and people are stupid in their choices of who to trust and in their id/pass choices.

Having seen what life is like with EQ2 and the station exchange I have no doubt that allowing just one or two wow servers to use the current incarnation of the station exchange, livegamer would not only NOT harm the game in any way, but would actually reduce the amount of hacked accounts.

Finally, Blizzard is selling a extra security gizmo for like $7 a pop, anything they can do to scare people into buying them is more money for Blizz $$$$

This is really nothing compared to Second Life where people were buying Linden dollars to put it in the virtual banks that paid out at 100% interest. They had a rude awakening when the money dried up and people weren't able to cash out.

I agree that Blizzard is missing an opportunity to cash in. But then again, I don't really give a damn since I don't waste my time and money on these games. I waste my time and money on other games.

I used to buy gold for an MMORPG called KalOnline :\ I probably spent around $100 on gold an armor.

I thought it was very worth it at the time, and I kind of still do. I wasn't about to spend any more than that though.

Its like of a double edged sword here. They do not want the game unfair, but they ARE making money from all the gold farmers.

Put caps on what players cann sell items for and people wont be able to charge 2500g for something the merchant says is worth 15g. If stuff wasnt so much there would be no market.

To me this is a big issue, first I do not play many games, and I work 40+ hours a week, so the little time I get to actually play an MMORPG should not be tied up farming gold to pay for exotic items.

There are people that have 40 hours a week to sit at a computer and farm away and move up in the game.

I have no issue paying some one to farm for me, be it my little cousin or some crazy person in China, as long as they are doing it legally and not stealing accounts.

I really think that players that like to play the game, and do not have the time to play need to put their foot down with these gaming companies.

I had gold removed from my account on a game because they claimed I purchased it from some one. If that is against their rules, then fine.

If I prove with a receipt from the purchase that I did in fact buy gold or items, and they decide to ban me from the game, fine, I broke their rules. The minute they take an item I purchased with a credit card or debit card out of my account in the game, they have committed mister meaner theft of a purchase I made, just like some strange person breaking into my car or home and stealing it and they should be taken to court over it.

rofl mister meaner theft?

Misdemeanor is the word your looking for.

yeah my mistake, but it is electronic theft. They destroyed data that was purchased and they should be liable for it.

Some of these "virtual worlds" like Second Life and the such have an exchange rate for what they call "real world currency" from the currency they use in the virtual world, and because it deals with "real world money" they are liable for it.

Right now people playing games like wow or guild wars, or the like, may not think about, and be like, I was banned for a few days and they destroyed the items I purchased, but in the coming years, this is going to be a big deal.


Blizzard could loose all their money from a few big lawsuits.

They don't give a crap about 'safety'. They ban if you get caught

Runescape=fail
it was actually pretty fun pking, pures and such. they made trade and duel caps, took away the most fun part of the game (pking) and made things overally really boring and thats when i quite. if you dont want real life traders on your game, MAKE YOUR OWN FUCKING MONEY/ITEMS STORE. thats all you can do, otherwise, people leave your game.

putting restrictions on games/people on ANYTHING (time warner) is the stupidest idea ever, it makes you feel like your rights are threatened and that's when you start hating it.

"If you will pay 125$ for something in a game...get a life."
Actually I think those who are ready to pay 125$ are those who are more likely to have a life...
The main issue with world of warcraft is that if you have limited play time there is no way you can enjoy all aspects of the game; unlike many other games proguressing in wow does not require skill but rather huge amount of time... You find yourself doing the same stupid quest again and again to get x amount of gold or x amount of repuation. 125$ is money but time is money as well that could be better spent. Blizzard has to understand that there is soemthing wrong with their game system; That WOW has been slowly drifting away from an innovative game to a money making machine... You can fool some people for some time but you can't fool all the people all the time...

Actually I think those who are ready to pay 125$ are those who are more likely to have a life...
The main issue with world of warcraft is that if you have limited play time there is no way you can enjoy all aspects of the game; unlike many other games proguressing in wow does not require skill but rather huge amount of time... You find yourself doing the same stupid quest again and again to get x amount of gold or x amount of repuation. 125$ is money but time is money as well that could be better spent. Blizzard has to understand that there is soemthing wrong with their game system; That WOW has been slowly drifting away from an innovative game to a money making machine... You can fool some people for some time but you can't fool all the people all the time...

Wow is a game on rails, anything that speeds up the process of getting a character to level 80 where the "real" action takes places is justifiable. The legal and hack free way is just to "multiple box", purchase multiple game accounts and play multiple characters at once via specialized software or separate hardware.

Buying online anything from a none secured site is dangerous. Keyloggers, viruses, or even viewing a pdf from older versions can compromise your account security from these sites. These sites may try and trick you into giving your info by setting up account name and passwords for their site.

Buying gold is dangerous because it could have come from a compromised account. The owner of the compromised account finds virtual data gone and report it to the owner. Blizzard for example then washes there hand of this by deleting any account receiving the virtual data. Blizzard cant tell if your the thief or if you committed a crime by receiving the stolen property. Either way you broke their EULA. Lastly there EULA frees them from any compromised accounts as it states they will not return any lost or stolen items.
If you receive virtual data from a gold farmers account, used for spamming their site info, your account is subject to a ban. All it takes is for another play to report the spammer.

I have paid for power leveling and gold before. I had already gone through the painful grind to level up before, and couldn't stand to do it again with a new toon. The game is suppose to be fun, the grind for me is not...so I didn't see the big deal in getting a little help with my next toon.

besides, the game only begins when you finish leveling up.

I don't care if someone uses a GameShark for their PlayStation, or uses CheatEngine for Mass Effect, or does whatever they have to in order to have fun, as long as it doesn't make MY gaming less fun. WoW is an MMO, meaning among other things that we all share an economy. If people buy gold and get rich quick, then the whole realm's economy suffers inflation and we all suffer for it.

I would agree that Blizzard and other MMO's should sale in game content. This would go a long way in reducing the problems in buying gold or other virtual data. Blizzard in this way could protect their customers.

The profits from such sales should go for reducing subscription costs. Without lowering subscriptions many, whom wouldn't buy virtual data, would fill cheated. This lowering of subscriptions most likely would increase population which should increase profits.

One way to settle this. Change the game mechanics where it will only take you about a week of playing to reach lvl 100 Super Ninja Jedi ranking. Everyone can run around with these fantasmigorical uber-orcs with 18" dicks swinging in the wind and the world will be at peace. Then everyone can stop their pussy-ass whining about a GAME!!!

What happened to the good old days where the worthless tard who spent his entire existence to levelup his character only to have it crushed by a cruel twist of dice-rolling fate would run and throw himself off a cliff?

By logging into your account you agree to Blizzards TOS/EULA which basically states that your claim holds no ground whatsoever. Blizzard offers you the service of accessing their online servers through a monthly subscription which they can terminate access to at any whiff of a EULA violation, which I'll mention again you agree to every time you play the game.

You won't find any loopholes, period. They spend thousands of dollars on lawyers just to ensure that. The second you create a account you cease to have ownership of it, if you play by their rules you can have access to it. You don't, well...tough luck.

That Blizzard just woke up is one thing. Turbine fixed this issue 10 years ago. That Tom's Hardware gave it the time of day? Priceless.

If bliz sold gold themselves they know EXACTLY what would happen. The game would go even more Noob and would have no skill=gear but LOOK I have 100bucks for Tier8. I would go along with this aslong as above there names it either said NOOB or I really dont know how to play but mom gave me my allownce. As for They deleted my items BLABLABLA. YEA read the TOS. In essence kids cant even play the game without the parents giving the ok since the TOS is a legal contract and under 18 you cant legally agree.

I guess they are nicer then I. I think gold buyers should be beaten for fucking up the economy.

Well, Blizzard has a great game going. 8 Million subscriptions or so, and probably 1/4 of those paying monthly fees are gold farmers and another 1/4 are gold buyers who would stop playing if their easy access to equipment upgrades is cut off. They pay lipservice to getting rid of these aspects, but as they say, customer security is the real goal for them, as it should be. As for whether or not some people buy gold or not, there will always be inflation, as a server ages, so too does it's population of high level characters with an ever growing number of alternate lowbies that must be equipped with the most ultimate of limited items. I am not even sure why i quit playing WoW, guess it got boring after a bit. Not enough side things to do maybe.

I have played Online RPGs since Ultima Online, and one thing has remained through all of them, developers who listen to a loud vocal minority and implement their demands. The game starts off awesome, a few people complain about fringe elements are character balance, the developers listen to this voal minority, and start tweaking things until all that remains of the population are the vocal minority.

Ultima Online succumed to the need to get rid of Player Killing, and instead of handling it properly, they care bear'd the game out of 85% of it subscribers in three months time. It hired corrupt game masters that went from house to house stealing from players and even desroying houses to allow their friends to build on that lot, or more likely ebay payers. In the end, only the hardcore ebayers played/play ultima Online.

Everquest decided the only players that matter are those hardcore guilds, and started tailoring 99% of all new content to keep them happy. They spent months and millions in developing ever increasingly hard dungeons to conquer, feeling it would be months before those guilds conquered them and started demanding more, only to have the uber guilds crush the new dungeon 3 to 5 days later and start demanding something more. Everquest, at least up til the point I got tired and left never stopped trying to satisfy those people, and continued to ignore the small guild people like me. I quit after I realized that after getting to the highest level I had no hope of ever getting my epic items unless I joined some uber guild.

Dark Age of Camelot listened to the crafting community to that factions demise. They demanded changes that would make their wares more valuable, and in the end their wares became worthless. Thus ended my gaming there, as I was a crafter in that game.

Starwars started off great, once again I was a crafter, and once again the developers listened to a fringe group and made sweeping changes, and overnight starwars became a hasbeen and never recovered. They screwed with crafting, combat, classes, equipment, pretty much every aspect of the game got screwed 9 ways to wednesday on a regular basis. The game started off AWESOME and had HUGE numbers of players. The only thing they needed to do was add content, and yet...

Dungeons and Dragons Online just plain sucked, although it had huge potential, the designer's desire to FORCE players to group in order to do anything killed that games population within a few months. The first update only tailored to the uber guildies and super levelers, while leaving out every lower level. Eventually they catered to solo players, but it was too late by then, as the new next thing was already out, Lord Of the Rings.

Lord of the Rings lost me when they did the same thing that Dark Ages of Camelot did. They listened to retarded people about how to make crafting more profitable. They instituted a bind on equip on all crafted gear, thus making that gear worthless to the people who buy it. I sure as hell am not going to pay massive amounts of money to gear up for level 35 when in three levels I have to throw that gear away because it is not sellable due to being bound. I go back and check out my lifetime membership, and when i go to the auction house, there is no crafted equipment for sale, the reason is that it is completely pointless to buy the stuff if it is only good for a couple levels. No point in crafting it, as the materials are worth a fortune, and even if you did craft it, putting up for sale is not worth is, as the auction requires a fee, so your out the fee and still have the crappy item.

Now I am into the free to play games. I tried a couple, but I like Atlantica Online for now. The one thing i like most about the free to play games is that the developers seem to listen to the fringe players demands alot less than the rejects over at the pay to play games I mentioned above. If I have learned one thing from all my years of playing games online, the last thing a developer should ever do is listen to the most vocal people in their forums. There are always going to be ways to change things and make them better, but just remember, when you have 25 people out of thousands screaming loudly that things must change, that leaves thousands of people who are not complaining, and likely are not complaining because the way it is right now suits them just fine.

I buy gold, and I have even paid for powerleveling services and when pwoerleveling is too expensive, i just plain out buy someone elses account. If this company is wanting to protect the customers, I would say that they should have an account login/PW for the webpage where all personal information is and a seperate and required to be different login/PW for the game client.

8 million subs? they're over 11 million now

Gold farmers and leveling services have been known to be responsible for account theft and trojan viruses for a long time. It's nothing new. People need to stop supporting these "shaddy" organizations.

If you don't have the time to play an MMORPG the way the creators intended... go play something else. The game was obviously not meant for you and your current life sittuation.