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Chinese Government Bans Gold Farming

July 01, 2009 in News comments 17

It seems the days of players paying their way to success in MMO's could soon be coming to an end. China has announced that it is banning the sale of virtual goods for money (unless by the issuer of the title). What are the ramifications of this? Well, the days of people paying real life cash in order to get an unfair boost may be coming to an end. Also, it would undoubtedly see the number of people getting scammed or hacked by gold farmers diminish. Overall, a win-win in my opinion.

The Chinese government has banned MMO 'gold farming', declaring that virtual currency can no longer be traded for real goods or services in the country.
Bin Sponge via computerandvideogames.com »
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  • 0
    Play ISDF Jul 1, 09
    I can definitely understand the benefits of the action, but China? You're being unrealistic and STUPID. Come on, if people want to buy virtual goods, then let them! It's their choice. Bloody controlling governments... drives me up the wall.

    A better question though is what can they really do about it? It's like piracy, it's a lot easier to say it's illegal than it is to actually enforce that.
  • 0
    mercenary_sora Jul 1, 09
    Most of the gold comes from Korea, the companies are American and gold selling has been banned in China already. This is more like a re-ban but even so, it won't work as long as people are willing to pay for virtual money.
  • 1
    Fallen Royalty Jul 1, 09
    Because the Chinese government really has control over anything important. Bah. Just look how faggish they are.

    • 2
      Euphoric Jul 1, 09
      You didn't just compare selling WoW money to the tank man?
      • 0
        Fallen Royalty Jul 1, 09
        No, I compared the government's attempt at restricting gold-farming to their feeble attempt at internet censorship. If you took a second to look at the picture before you replied, you would see the screenshot is comparing the American versus Chinese image search results for Googling "Tiananmen".
    • 0
      Akira_EX Jul 1, 09
      I'm going to ask that you stop with trying to link the Tiananmen Square incident with Gold farming.

      That's just not right.
  • 1
    Euphoric Jul 1, 09
    Which means you are trying to say that the government censoring a globally important, political and human rights event that has seriously destabilising potential to them is the same as them trying to stop a few nerds making some extra dollars on a computer game. Again, you didn't just make that comparison?

    Before you type some reply to that, consider that it's a rhetorical question.
    • 1
      Big A2 Jul 1, 09
      No, here's saying if the Chinese government has control over what people see on the internet, then they can control what happens on an online game. It was a reply to;
      quote
      A better question though is what can they really do about it? It's like piracy, it's a lot easier to say it's illegal than it is to actually enforce that.
      • 1
        Euphoric Jul 1, 09
        quote Fallen Royalty
        I compared the government's attempt at restricting gold-farming to their feeble attempt at internet censorship.
        That begs to differ.
    • 0
      RabidChinaGirl Jul 2, 09
      Well, to be fair it's not just "a few nerds making some extra dollars on a computer game." It's actually very lucrative in Asia, where the farmers spend hours upon hours farming. People will also hire kids to play their characters for them, and it works in much the same way. A lot of these people make a living on providing a service to other MMO players.
      • 0
        Euphoric Jul 2, 09
        Which is essentially what work is. So what's the problem? I realise the phrasing if that statement was a little over the top but the point remains the same and still stands. Using your words, why is some people making money by providing a service to other individuals who desire that service such a big deal? Although what I was saying in the first place was how the hell is that in any way comparable to the Tienanmen student riots?
        • 0
          RabidChinaGirl Jul 2, 09
          My best guess (and I haven't read the other comments very thoroughly, in case someone already brought this up) is regulation and taxable incomes. Gold farming is already illegal according to the games' ToS, and virtual items can't be sold through online retail or auction sites. Since it's illegal then, it's also unregulated. Considering democratic countries frown upon free money, I can't imagine China being too fond of it either.
        • 0
          Euphoric Jul 2, 09
          Sorry I wasn't being entirely clear. I wasn't really trying to get at why they were banning the sale of online money. I was just trying to show how ludicrous the comparison was.

          I actually disagree with any form of in-game item sale once you've purchased the game. No matter who is doing the selling, you shouldn't be expected to fork out money to keep up-to-date with the latest fad items and other rubbish.
  • 0
    TurMoiL911* Jul 1, 09
    This doesn't really surprise me. A lot of major game developers that operate MMOs don't take too kindly to people selling game items and characters for real world currency. I know Blizzard for sure considers all their in-game items their own property and considers the real-world sell of it illegal.

    Besides, China's already proven that they can do a lot with regulating the Internet.
  • 0
    Bin Sponge Jul 2, 09
    I'd like to know why my image was removed
  • 0
    Hideo1 Jul 2, 09
    This is just to divert us from all the Human-rights issues, those sneaky bastards!
  • 0
    Bin Sponge Jul 2, 09
    Anyway, I'll give my view. I don't think money people earn outside of a game should be used to give them an unfair advantage within the game over players who choose to play it as it was intended. Play the game as it was meant to be played imo.

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