Full FeedBlizzard maintains stance against virtual item trade
It’s no secret that there are thousands of people and websites on the internet ready to trade World of Warcraft valuables for real money. It is something that games publisher Blizzard has never approved of, and the game’s terms of use explicitly prohibit such trades. But the rest of the major MMO developers are ready to ignore Blizzard’s lead and have given their assent to the trading of virtual items in a new dedicated online marketplace: Live Gamer.
A Blizzard rep told gaming website Next-Gen that the company had not changed its stance on the issue. He also reiterated that the game’s terms of use rendered such trades illegal, as the in-game goods are a property of the company. The MMO developer also fears that such a trade might jeopardize the game’s economy and could rob the game of its fun element.
The WOW developer seems to be fighting a lonely battle as several other MMO developers have fallen for the lure of money. The online game publishers that have given their seal of approval to Live Gamer include Funcom, Sony Online Entertainment, 10tacle Studios, Acclaim, GoPets LTD and Ping0 Interactive Limited. Live Gamer is the first dedicated marketplace of virtual goods that is backed by the major online game publishers. It will be interesting to see whether Blizzard can retain its ethical ground.
Read [Next-Gen]
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I’m against RMT as well. But as you and I both know it is impossible to track all these people selling these goods illegally. What other choice do these companies have to combat this if they want their games to have a stable economy?
I like the fact that Sony and Funcom have the balls to try new things in MMO’s. Unfortunately for Sony most of theirs haven’t worked so well.
On another note. Funcom has stated that this will not be used in Age of Conan but in another MMO that is unannounced as of yet.
on December 23, 2007 at 08:52 PM - LINK