Blizzard are using Paypal to take on gold farmers, using the money transfer service to deliver warnings to suspected offenders. Gold farmers could find their Paypal accounts suspended as a result.
Gold farmers play World of Warcraft exclusively to earn gold, which is then sold for real money to those who don't have the time or inclination to earn their own fortune. There's so much profit to be made from gold farming that an industry has grown around it. Organisations in China have turned gold farming into a business, making money from Blizzard's virtual currency. now Blizzard are hitting back through the popular online payment system, Paypal. Suspected gold farmers will soon be receiving the following message through the service:
"You were reported to PayPal as an Intellectual Properties violation by Blizzard Entertainment Inc. for the sale of World of Warcraft Merchandise. If you feel your sales do not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of the Reporting Party, please complete the attached Objection to Infringement Report by January 21, 2011. The completed form should be faxed to the attention of the Acceptable Use Policy Department at [number removed] or emailed to [email removed]. Should you choose not to object to the report, you will be required to remove all World of Warcraft Merchandise from the website [url removed] in order to comply with the Acceptable Use Policy."
The use of Paypal could then be revoked for offenders. With many gold farmers based outside of the US, attacking them through Paypal is easier that using the courts. While Paypal is convenient, it's by no means the only way to buy things on the internet, but it's good to see Blizzard taking on the problem.
Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.
