Covert Blizzard Ban Causes Gold Prices to Skyrocket

[Everguide]

According to this blog post on Gamerates.com:
http://www.gamerates.com/posts/show/covert_blizard_ban_causes_gold_prices_to_skyrocket

“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?

[Eileithyia]

We can only hope.

[Pharoahe]

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

No. But 25 dailies caused a huge dent in their business, and it wont be the same thankfully. They'll move on to other games where the margins are higher

[Janfader]

God bless Blizzard . . . finally.

[mmorpg man]

the gold sellers have been desperate ever since the last patch. gold is so easy to get now that players aren't buying gold anymore.

[Aerath]

the gold sellers have been desperate ever since the last patch. gold is so easy to get now that players aren't buying gold anymore.

It's still more effort than shelling out $20 or $40. As long as that doesn't change, the lazy/incompetent/morons* will continue to buy gold.


*pick one of your choice.

[Pharoahe]

It's still more effort than shelling out $20 or $40. As long as that doesn't change, the lazy/incompetent/morons* will continue to buy gold.


*pick one of your choice.

Except for most people getting $20 involves having a job. And that is far more of an effort that doing dailes.

On a related topic, it should take anyone more than 3 weeks to have the money for an epic with 25 dailies...5000g is way to easy, raise it to 10k i say! :laugh:

[Leviathonlx]

The gold selling business was hurt a bit by how easily you get gold from dailies these days which is a good thing.

[rubberdubbie]

Has Blizz created some sort of automatic banning bot? In the last couple of weeks, I've noticed lvl 1 toons standing the SW and they don't seem to be doing anything. They're named with the usually "fdjksfjdkas" names that I associate with a gold selling spammer. But instead of spamming gold selling ads, they just stand there and do nothing.

[mmorpg man]

Has Blizz created some sort of automatic banning bot? In the last couple of weeks, I've noticed lvl 1 toons standing the SW and they don't seem to be doing anything. They're named with the usually "fdjksfjdkas" names that I associate with a gold selling spammer. But instead of spamming gold selling ads, they just stand there and do nothing.

Don't know about that. all I know is that in the past month I've recieved only 5 whispers from gold sellers. good job blizzard.

[Your Average WoW Player]

Has Blizz created some sort of automatic banning bot? In the last couple of weeks, I've noticed lvl 1 toons standing the SW and they don't seem to be doing anything. They're named with the usually "fdjksfjdkas" names that I associate with a gold selling spammer. But instead of spamming gold selling ads, they just stand there and do nothing.

They may be spamming the Trade or LFG channels, or mass, random invites of random players to spam their ads in party chat.

Or maybe they're just their doing nothing because they can't do anything because of all the restrictions placed on Trial account characters...
No whispering, no chat channels, no trading, no inviting, no AH, nothing. They're programmed to run into capital cities, start spamming but because they can't use chat channels, they just end up standing their like idiots.

Whatever the case, go Blizzard, make all those gold sellers go elsewhere. Like Age of Conan or Warhammer Online since they're apparantly going to be the downfall of WoW, what's the point of keeping the Gold Sellers around?

[GnomeMageee]

All of my friends who played the game usually bought all their gold. I never understood it. All you had to do was work a little bit and make it yourself. It wasn't that complex. I hope they have figured out a way to stop the gold sellers. That will stop my friends from being better than me xD

[Wintrow]

They're programmed to run into capital cities, start spamming but because they can't use chat channels, they just end up standing their like idiots.

I always found they stood their like idiots even when they DID say things :tongue:.

That will stop my friends from being better than me xD

They're not better, just ... more immoral, lazier and more willing to shell out RL cash for ingame stuff.

[Mollymog]

Don't know about that. all I know is that in the past month I've recieved only 5 whispers from gold sellers. good job blizzard.

Are we all getting in-game mails from gold spammers? I've had four or five in the last couple of weeks, all on different characters.

[waflob]

Are we all getting in-game mails from gold spammers? I've had four or five in the last couple of weeks, all on different characters.
I've had a few - report and delete, all you can do.

If you really want to get depressed, just check out Ebay - hundreds (possibly thousands) of damned gold sellers. It's clearly against Ebay rules, but as long as they keep making money out of it, they're in no great hurry to do anything about it. So sad and so lame.

DelBoy

[jschild]

I almost never see them anymore, guess they are more busy with AoC right now. I've seen one twice in the past 2 weeks and considering I was doing alot of BG's, they must not be out much at all anymore, at least on my server.

[Your Average WoW Player]

I haven't seen gold spam ads on my server in ages. Either from whispers, random invites, chat channels, in game mail, /yells in the cities, nothing. I agree with jschild, that it could be that they're all seeking their fortunes in AoC and Warhammer Online, which I think is in Beta right now.

[jschild]

WAR is gold actually, open beta, and is released in 3 weeks. So probably plenty getting their things in place.

I've actually been shocked by the silence.

[tigermeat]

Yeah, havent seen many gold spammers lately. Its nice and quiet, only the occasional beggar wanting some "phat lewtz and munies plzzz!". I personally cant understand buying gold with actual cash. I have rent, bills, car payments, groceries, etc. I pay my monthly fee and sometimes can only log on once a week, but I still feel its worth it. But paying money to someone to essential give me a "free" ride into WoW wealth? Ridiculous.

[Twoflower]

That will stop my friends from being better than me xD

just report them.

if they are your friends you have to help them to become better people. they will thank you in the end.

[Kasal]

just report them.

if they are your friends you have to help them to become better people. they will thank you in the end.

Please tell me you're joking.

[Kodonn]

just report them.

if they are your friends you have to help them to become better people. they will thank you in the end.
:grin:
You could even paraphrase a slogan from MADD.

"Friends don't let friends...buy gold."

[Kasal]

This is your toon. :grin:

This is your toon on gold. :goofy:

[swaldman]

Except for most people getting $20 involves having a job. And that is far more of an effort that doing dailes.

Then again, doing 25 dailies per day (at least if you don't have a dps class) requires *not* having a job, so.... :-)

[jschild]

15-20 dailies takes about 2 hours for decent DPS. Of course, doing dailies and ANYTHING else requires no job for sure.

I feel bad for prot tanks, holy priests, etc that have to struggle to quest and level compared to the rogue or warlock going on slaughtering sprees.

[Dakiter]

I have never purchased gold but I wont lie and say I have never thought about it. Between two jobs, girlfriend, family and friends I find myself not having as much time as I would like in game. People say it takes no time at all to gain enough money to get your epic flier just by doing dailies but when your time in game is limited dailies some times gets pushed aside to run instances or pvp or simply to run with your friends. Its tempting sometimes to think there is another option out there.

[swaldman]

15-20 dailies takes about 2 hours for decent DPS. Of course, doing dailies and ANYTHING else requires no job for sure.

Exactly. And what would I rather do with an evening in WoW (which might be 3 hours, say)? Do a fun instance, or join a raid, or do some pvp, or quest on an alt, or spend two hours doing the same repetitive dailies? ;-)

For me, most daily quests join other forms of grinding in the "I'm not having fun, so I'll stop" catagory. Admittedly doing them with a holy paladin probably doesn't help...

[jschild]

I don't mind them much as a supplement once your quest log is full. Better than grinding the same mob for clefthoof leather or flying all over the map looking for nodes.

That said, if you have other options I wouldn't blame you for taking them.

[Kodonn]

Exactly. And what would I rather do with an evening in WoW (which might be 3 hours, say)? Do a fun instance, or join a raid, or do some pvp, or quest on an alt, or spend two hours doing the same repetitive dailies? ;-)

For me, most daily quests join other forms of grinding in the "I'm not having fun, so I'll stop" catagory. Admittedly doing them with a holy paladin probably doesn't help...

I guess I don't see your problem. If you would rather "Do a fun instance, or join a raid, or do some pvp, or quest on an alt"...then why would you even need an epic flyer? None of those activities require one, and most of those will supply you with enough gold that you shouldn't have do any dailies for coin.

WoW was designed (on purpose) so that not everyone could have everything. It's about planning and choosing and making sacrifices to attain the things you want. That's why you don't get enough talent points to fully spec all 3 trees, that's why some classes are limitted in their weapon options, that's why hunters can't stealth...etc.

Those players who have their epic mount, or their T6 gear sets or <insert other hard to get items here>, have those BECAUSE they chose to make the necessary sacrifices to attain them. Sometimes that means grinding or giving up your raid spot in game, and sometimes it means not going out to that movie or drinking with your friends on Saturday night so you can put in a few extra WoW hours.

I'm not directing this at anyone in particular but I think many of us get tired of seeing the lame excuse..."Well I have a (real) life and I just don't have the time to put in all the hours grinding in WoW, so it should be ok to purchase some gold." If you really find yourself saying or thinking those words, then maybe WoW just isn't the game for you. Maybe you should reconsider even playing online at all. WoW was designed to be a time-sink. That's how subscription games make the money.

[swaldman]

I guess I don't see your problem.

I don't have a problem. I just don't like daily quests :-)


If you would rather "Do a fun instance, or join a raid, or do some pvp, or quest on an alt"...then why would you even need an epic flyer? None of those activities require one, and most of those will supply you with enough gold that you shouldn't have do any dailies for coin.

I don't "need" an epic flyer[1]. Equally I don't "need" to do a fun instance, or join a raid[2], or whatever. I don't "need" to play WoW! It's all about what is fun to do - that being the point of a game, after all.


Those players who have their epic mount, or their T6 gear sets or <insert other hard to get items here>, have those BECAUSE they chose to make the necessary sacrifices to attain them. Sometimes that means grinding or giving up your raid spot in game, and sometimes it means not going out to that movie or drinking with your friends on Saturday night so you can put in a few extra WoW hours.

Hmm. Personally I feel that if ever I find myself giving up "real life" activities in order to put in game time, then I'm playing too much. But that's a personal choice and doesn't reflect on others' choices, and indeed that is why I don't raid seriously any more.

The way I see things, an hour that I spend in-game not enjoying myself is a wasted hour of my life. There is no need for game design to require tedious grinds - and by and large WoW doesn't require these any more. Woot!

Getting an epic mount isn't difficult... even if you don't do anything to specifically make money, I'm pretty sure that doing all the quests in the game would naturally get you to 5k gold in not too many months. If people arrived at 70 without enough money for a 60% flyer, then I'd feel there was a design problem - but that doesn't generally happen. I tend to find things reasonably well balanced in terms of cash flow, with the possible exception of raiding (and that's a seperate question).


WoW was designed to be a time-sink. That's how subscription games make the money.

Yes and no. Certainly it has to keep people playing for months on end. There are different ways to do this. By and large, WoW does provide these different ways - some people enjoy instancing, some people like to do every quest, and some (presumably?) enjoy endless grinding. I do wish that some of the more interesting ways were as profitable as the grinds.


[1] As it happens, I have three - but I don't think that's relevant to this conversation.
[2] Incidentally, raiding doesn't take long to be far more expensive than a flappy mount.

[Kasal]

I don't mind them much as a supplement once your quest log is full. Better than grinding the same mob for clefthoof leather or flying all over the map looking for nodes.

I love the dailies. Or at least I love the cash they bring in. 2 hours a day = 1000g a week. The dailies have made epic flying mounts attainable by everyone (I just got mine last night, and it's worth every penny, btw).

Kudos to Blizz for finding a way to inject some cash flow for the casuals like me.