Casual Huntering

Posts Tagged ‘gold sellers’

Have you ever looked at something on the auction house and drooled? You wanted it so bad, but the price tag is a little high. So, you get on all of your alts to see just how much gold you have. You start looking under the couch cushions poking around the guild’s frat house looking for loose change, temptation to ask someone or do something even more deplorable, go to the gold sellers.

Well, I have to say, I never have purchased gold, or even done any begging, but I can see where one might have the temptation. I usually don’t give it a second thought until recently.

My brother told me this weekend that he bought gold. He bought gold. I couldn’t believe it. He actually bought gold. You see in my mind this is just something you don’t do. You just don’t do it. You’re helping the very people who are hacking accounts, who are ruining server economies, driving up the prices of everything on the AH, and single handedly giving Scott Johnson an excuse to use his Ding Pong voice. (I actually find the former point to be amusing, but that’s beside the point.)

I couldn’t believe it. He actually bought gold. Well, I guess he wanted a piece of gear, but he didn’t want to grind the 12k+ gold that he would need for it. He wanted a piece of 264 gear for his druid. Anyway, he was wondering how to go about getting enough gold for it when some guildies told him just to go buy it. He spent like $60 something for, what like 15,000 gold I think? I don’t actually remember. He got an email to post some bandages on the AH for like 1,000 gold each and the gold seller bought it off of him. I guess that’s how they get around the large qualities traveling via in-game mail. He told me it was fast and efficient and now he doesn’t really have anything against it.

Makes me wonder just how many people are buying gold out there. The industry wouldn’t be there if they weren’t making money. There are probably a lot more people doing it than I would expect, keeping it hidden from guildies and spouses, deleting internet histories while in dark shady rooms filled with smoke, booze, and that evil jazz music playing in the background.

I have to admit, when I heard my brother talk as so, the temptation to succumb even came to me. Yes, I admit, I am weak. You see, I’m really slow at grinding and farming. It doesn’t hold my attention span for very long, not long at all. (I say this, but both of my level 80 characters have epic mounts and my hunter has the motorcycle.) But Aoirselvar is still obsessed with mounts, it calls to him. He’s not content with only 74 mounts, he needs more, he’s willing to build onto the family ranch, build another stable (yes his family has a ranch outside of Iron Forge, you’ll have to visit sometime). There were several mounts he never got because of a lack of gold.

But I’ll hold strong. I’ll hold to my ethics. I’ll hold onto my money. Who am I kidding? I can’t afford to buy gold anyway. I work in education and have cosigned myself to a life of poverty. Just paying my $30 a month our accounts is pushing it. You know I could save almost $400 a year if I didn’t play WoW? Well, that’s for another post on another day. But no, I’m not going to buy gold. Its not worth it (money wise or knowing that you are taking stolen goods).

Plus someone mentioned in the comments, it would be like a cheat code. I remember when I found out cheat codes to games that made you have endless money or make your character invincible. It really ruined the game for me. I usually would have fun for a few moments then stop playing altogether shortly after. I remember making a huge mansion on The Sims then having no desire to do anything with it. These things that cost a lot of gold should be a challenge, something to work towards, but my goodness the grind gets annoying sometimes.

Now is buying gold much of an account security risk? They never know your battlenet ID or your password at anytime (of course they do have your credit card which could do far worse damage, but my brother hasn’t had any problems.) Now a leveling service, doing that is just like begging people to break into your account and sell all of your epics. Of course going to the gold seller’s website might be the security risk right there. You’ll be entering the shady part of the internet; on the other corner is the p0rn, then gambling down the alley way with other unmentionables across the street. Who knows just what kind of scripts are trying to write onto your computer? But then maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about.

So, not to get to far from topic, but I have to tell you this, later that night as we’re driving home I’m talking to my wife. I told her that my younger brother told me something, that he did something that was so wrong, so against our morals, so disdainful. I told her that I was shocked and appalled by his distasteful actions. I’m sure she had a hundred different despicable acts racing through his brain. Did he get some girl pregnant? Did he visit a brothel? Did he get into drugs? Did he kill somebody?!? When I told her what he did she said, “Oh, is that all?”

I guess it kind of put things into perspective for me as well.

“Is that all?”

I guess there could be far worse things one could do in this life. Your Deity of choice probably won’t condemn you forever for such an act. (Well, maybe…) But by golly the Gods of Azeroth might. Well, maybe, I’m not sure if they would care or not. Oh wait, blizzard sure does. Not to mention your ToS, could pull a perma-ban down on yourself (the equivalent of a lightning strike from the WoW gods.)

What do you think about buying gold? Do you think it’s harmless? Do you think ethically it’s just flat out wrong? Do you buy gold? What was your experience? Do you know of someone who has bought gold? I’m really curious about this now. Let me know your thoughts and such.

I went into Stormwind the other day and I saw this creative advertising. Yes, these guys managed to kill off people in such a way as to spell out their webpage. Don’t bother going to the website, I looked it up in google, their just a WoW gold selling/ power leveling service. But at least they’re starting to get creative with their advertising. Much better than having some gnome yelling out spam in Ironforge.