14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard, the company in charge of the MMO World of Warcraft, has reached out to PayPal, the company which specializes in facilitating payment across the digital space, asking it to close down the accounts that are associated to the practice of gold selling in the blockbuster video game.
World of Warcraft is the biggest subscription-based MMO in the world of gaming, with a player base of more than 12 million players and Blizzard has maintained, since launch, that no one will be permitted to sell gold, their characters, the equipment they gain in game or schemes that lead to power leveling.
Curse, a site which specializes in MMO-oriented material, says that gold sellers have begun receiving notices from PayPal that read, “You were reported to PayPal as an Intellectual Properties violation by Blizzard Entertainment Inc. for the sale of World of Warcraft merchandise.”
Until now Blizzard has limited its actions to banning those who farmed gold from the game, which usually led to them rejoining under the different name but with the same aim.
Banning PayPal accounts might be a better idea because it makes it more difficult for gold sellers to get money for the services they are offering, but it's unlikely that it will eliminate the phenomenon altogether.
PayPal allows individuals to dispute the closure of their account if they think they are not violating any of the terms of agreement.
A lot of online based games allow players to get extra in-game currency if they are willing to spend real world money in official in-game shops, but Blizzard does not seem to be interested in such an initiative, which would make gold sellers all but redundant.
The developer has launched the Cataclysm expansion for World of Warcraft in late 2010 and another expansion is expected to arrive in late 2011 or early next year.