Blizzard warns WoW: Forever gold buyers that real money trading is not worth the risk

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Blizzard has told TechRadar Gaming it is fighting botting and real money trading in World of Warcraft: Forever, which is in beta now and launches next month. Real money trading, or RMT, means players buying in game gold with real cash. It breaks Blizzard's terms of service. It also pushes up in game prices and can create a pay to win imbalance

One of Blizzard's tactics is limiting class abilities that help bots farm gold. Some Mage talents have already been changed to make solo farming of instances harder. Blizzard said one big area it is working on is limiting the class abilities that make bot gold farming easy. Mages have been the classic gold farming class since the original game

Penalties are getting harsher too. Blizzard is bringing in tougher punishments for gold buyers that escalate faster and can end in permanent bans. It said that it is watching very closely, and that engaging in RMT is not worth putting your account at risk. That is about as direct a warning as you get from a game company

Blizzard is keeping the details back. It described the situation as a cat and mouse game, and said talking too much about its plans could tip its hand. That makes sense, because bot makers adapt quickly to anything published. Every detail shared is a clue for them

Gold selling has plagued WoW for twenty years, and Classic servers were hit especially hard. A fresh launch is the best chance to set the tone early. If Blizzard bans buyers quickly and visibly, the market for gold shrinks. Whether it can keep that up after the launch rush is the real question

Will tougher bans stop gold buying in WoW: Forever? And should Blizzard offer an official way to buy gold instead, like the WoW Token?

Blizzard Issues Stark Warning To Wow Forever Gold Buyers Engaging In Rmt Is Not Worth Putting Your Account At Riskwww.techradar.com