Of course, all of the above will be anathema to the publishers of the games in question, including Blizzard (World Of Warcraft) and Sony Online Entertainment (EverQuest), who clearly believe that their End-User License Agreements dictate that you are not permitted to sell in-game items. Blizzard has stated its position very clearly on its official messageboards: "The World of Warcraft Terms of Use clearly states that all of the content in World of Warcraft is the property of Blizzard, and Blizzard does not allow "in game" items to be sold for real money. Accordingly, Blizzard Entertainment will take any and all actions necessary to stop this behavior. Not only do we believe that it is illegal, but it also has the potential to damage the game economy and overall experience for the many thousands of others who play World of Warcraft for fun."

However, it's obvious that IGE does not share that belief, with COO Clarke commenting pointedly: "We very much stand behind the concept of in-game property being owned by the players", and expressing "exceptionally high confidence" that this belief is true. Of course, U.S. and international courts have not ruled absolutely definitively on the matter, and indeed, Clarke claims that no companies have ever tried to challenge IGE legally over their behavior. But it's clear that IGE continues to find enough suppliers to allow its business to grow, despite multiple MMOs banning users for 'gold farming'.

Clarke also noted that his company intended to open strategic dialogues with a wide
variety of publishers to handle currency and item selling for them, and that some had even approached IGE themselves regarding that concept. No official partnerships with MMO game creators have yet been announced, however.

Blizzard claims that item selling is not permitted in World of Warcraft

Farmers, Farmers, Farmers

The issue of 'gold farmers' - those who are making a living from supplying gold and items, and therefore are extraordinarily motivated to hang out around enemy spawn points, and so on, has definitely polarized the game community. Sony Online Entertainment's John Smedley commented on the issue earlier this year in an official SOE weblog: "Let’s face it…farming does happen. People do get cheated. I’m not going to suggest that IGE or any of these companies cheat people, because I don’t believe that. What they are doing however is saying, “It’s ok to break the rules, as well as the EULAs,” which I think is just plain wrong. It’s like being a fence for stolen merchandise."

The topic has not slipped under IGE's radar, either. Clarke commented definitively of the item/gold farming problem: "When we have knowledge of gamers that are cheating, we sever relationships with them", also noting that the company is "very sensitive" to those who may be "disruptive professional gamers". However, it's clear that this is a very fine line, and some players can 'gold farm' efficiently without explicitly cheating (depending on the definition of 'cheating', of course), so it's in this area of interpretation that a lot of the controversy around gold farmers seems to arise.

Whether all, some, or indeed any of those suppliers selling their items and gold to IGE can be explicitly identified by fellow players, it's clear that IGE sees supplying virtual items as a great business opportunity for the suppliers. Clarke notes that in China alone (where a significant amount of IGE's items are sourced) there are "tens of thousands" of suppliers, and they "can range from an individual in a cybercafe to much larger organizations."

In fact, he suggests that the Chinese MMO items suppliers, sometimes tarred with the term 'sweatshop', can be a genuine business opportunity for those who set them up, commenting: "The start-up costs are very low... you can basically start your own business solo with some very modest tools. In many places, that's looked upon as a great opportunity."