Insidious IGE Spins Virtual Gold into
Real Gold...



...and screws up our games in the process.



Ten Ton Hammer's Vanguard community manager, LadySirse, linked a truly
fascinating article about the history of the gold farming industry in
her href="http://ladysirse.blogs.tentonhammer.com/?p=8#more-8">blog
today.



If you're a fan of MMOGs and you don't know much about gold
farming...you should. Gold farming has become a multi-million dollar
industry, and its bread and butter involves degrading the virtual
economy of MMOGs by selling in-game currency for real world cash. This
causes something known as MUDflation. As the game's currency drops in
value, the prices of items skyrocket. Pretty soon, those who don't buy
gold with real world cash are unable to afford the in-game items they
need to remain competitive players. It's a vicious spiral.



Many MMOG sites are owned by the most prominent secondary market gold
seller, IGE. These include OGaming, Thottbot, and, more recently,
Allakhazam's. Other MMOG sites carry advertising for secondary market
gold sellers--it's a lucrative source of revenue for them.



Ten Ton Hammer, however, is a GOLD FREE SITE. We recognize that gold
farming and gold selling is bad for our games and refuse to carry "buy
gold" advertising. We hope that you, our readers, will support us in
that, and recognize the decision as a mark of integrity.



Want to learn more? These articles are worth your clicks:

• href="http://wow.azzor.com/445/truth_about_IGE.php">The Truth About
  IGE and the Gold Industry
• Boomjack's blog entry about gold selling: href="http://loading.blogs.tentonhammer.com/?p=14#more-14">Eyes Wide
  Shut
  
• href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=104&meid=75">Press
  Release: TTH Pulls Secondary Market Ads