China Bans Gold Farming [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

InformationWeek is reporting that the Chinese government has declared a ban on the sale of virtual goods for real currency. This move is poised to shut down a several billion yuan a year business that has been growing by leaps and bounds every year. "The trading of virtual currency for real cash employs hundreds of thousands of people worldwide and generates between $200 million and $1 billion annually, according to a 2008 survey conducted by Richard Heeks at the University of Manchester. He estimates that between 80% and 85% of gold farmers are based in China. [...] Game companies typically forbid gold farming but committed virtual currency traders find ways around such rules. Some game companies have recognized the futility of trying to ban the practice and have built virtual commerce into their game infrastructure."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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[TheDomesticInstitution]

Is it still legal to dig for buried treasure?

[AB Positive]

Wow... if this goes through and actually gets enforcement... the economies of many MMOs are going to change DRASTICALLY for the better. Wow. This might be enough to get me into a MMO again... maybe... probably not but still.

[hellfire]

finally the runescape stock market will be secure..................
now I can buy that bandos godsword Ive been wanting without the worry of it dropping drastically in price

[tofu]

I wonder if I can buy out contraband Chinese pixels and setup my own virtual currency business.

[SegaAges]

Dude, I still see spammers in SWG. Serious. They are still there

[Kitsune Sniper]

They'll just move to North Korea or something.

[Jorpho]

They'll just move to North Korea or something.

And then those who trade real money for virtual currency would be helping to prop up a totalitarian regime. What a curious thought.

I might argue that the North Korean population might not be sufficiently well-educated or at least not have sufficiently wide access to computers, but then grinding doesn't require much intelligence, does it? And if they did bring in new computers, perhaps they might end up being used for organizational purposes or the spreading of information, and the regime might be toppled.

[FantasiaWHT]

This is China, here, are they going to be executing offenders?

[zemmix]

Hmm not all gold farmers are bad I think. There's two people on my wow server who constantly farm for Azure Whelplings and other dragon pets (less than 1% drop rate) and there's a lot on the AH at the moment (I saw 14 Azure Whelpling's last night!). No normal person would farm them that hard unless your trying to make gold to sell. It's nice though because it gives normal players chance to pick one up for around 500G where they normally would be ~1500G easy if they were even on the AH.

[Snapple]

I used to play FFXI, and Chinese gil-farmers were a HUGE problem. They camped out all the rare drops and monopolized the economy. They were very organized too, teaming up so that they got all the kills in a 24 hour period and even turning chains of monsters onto any North American or Japanese player who tried to mess with their business. Chinese farmers are like the mafia.

I am totally in support of this legislation. I've always said the Chinese government isn't strict enough (wait what?)

[The 1 2 P]

This is China, here, are they going to be executing offenders?

They don't do that anymore. Now they just make them replay crappy games over and over again. Nothing can break the spirit of an ex-gold farmer quicker than a 24 hour marathon session of ET for 2600, Superman 64 and Aquaman.

If I ever lose my job I think I might become a fulltime gold farmer. Atleast I won't have to dress up for work.

[Berserker]

This headline is incredibly misleading. The article cited by Slashdot actually changed its headline to "China Limits Use of Virtual Currency", although it remains the same on Slashdot.

An article referenced in the revised article spells it out a little more clearly:

The government also spells out the definition of the virtual currency for the first time, which includes prepaid cards of the virtual game, but excludes any outfit such as costume and weapon in the game, according to a joint circular issued by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Commerce Friday.

Basically, what this actually means is that the Chinese government is cracking down on the trade of virtual currency for real goods, not the trade of real currency for virtual goods. In other words, gold farming isn't a target of this crackdown, and will continue as it always has.

[Ed Oscuro]

And then those who trade real money for virtual currency would be helping to prop up a totalitarian regime. What a curious thought.

About as curious as pachinko parlors in Japan propping up a totalitarian regime.

p.s. Thanks for brooming away the BS, Berserker. That helps!