Following Square Enix's action against over 800 players of its Final Fantasy XI, Blizzard has taken action against over 1,000 World of Warcraft accounts, instituting permanent bans for violating the game's terms of service.

The specific offense that earned players a ban was the practice of "gold farming," or playing continuously with the sole purpose of earning in-game money for the purposes of selling it offline through eBay or sites such as IGE. This round of bans marks the second time Blizzard has come down players who profit off of their game, the first being a December operation against item sellers.

The Blizzard forum post advising players of the crackdown on gold farming said that "After researching the situation, we have issued permanent suspensions to over one thousand accounts that have been engaging in this practice. We do not condone such actions and will take decisive action as they are against our policy and damage the game economy as a whole. We will continue researching this matter. If you suspect someone of taking part in said gold farming, please eMail the report to wowgm@blizzard.com."