The secondary market is an aspect that most MMOs
will have to deal with at some time in their existence. The selling of
in-game currency and items has at times been very detrimental to games
not designed to support it. Some community members involved in MMOs of
note, such as World of Warcraft and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, have recently
united to take a firm stand against the secondary market. I had the privilege
of speaking with representatives of two of these sites recently. Dalgar
is one of the founding members of NoGold.org--an alliance of sorts involving
many webmasters who have taken a pledge against the secondary market.
NoGold members offer help to each other in many beneficial ways. I also
got to speak with Traldan of Diplomatters.net, one of the newer members
to join the NoGold roster and the newest affiliate site of Vanguard: Saga
of Heroes.

NoGold.org

MartukVTTH: What is NoGold?

Dalgar: NoGold.org is an organization of MMORPG webmasters who
are opposed to the secondary market that exists outside of MMORPG games.
Members of our organization have adopted a zero-tolerance policy against
gold-selling, account-selling, item-selling, power-leveling, exploits,
BOTs, and related "services" which violate the Terms of Service
agreement everyone agrees to abide by before they begin playing.

Websites often get put into a tough position when they become popular.
Bandwidth gets very expensive, and they need to find a way to pay for
that. Often, it is the gold companies who come and offer that money. We
want to provide another alternative…a way for websites to stay functioning,
without gold company support.

MartukVTTH: What sort of support does your site offer in this manner?

Dalgar: NoGold is a relatively new organization, and we are still
in the process of developing these alternatives. We figure there are two
ways to approach the fansite problem. NoGold either needs to help fansites
cover their expenses (ie: hosting costs), or find a way to provide them
with an alternative source of revenue. If we can accomplish that, there
won't be much incentive to give into the gold company's pressure.

We have recently started a hosting program, but it is still in the "beta"
stages. Azzor.com has offered to host gold-free websites who are having
trouble paying their hosting bills. Roguespot.com and Blizzplanet.com
are currently taking advantage of this opportunity, and we hope to expand
the program further in the near future. In the future, we also hope to
assist gold-free websites financially through legit advertising programs
and other opportunities. Unfortunately, this program probably won't be
possible until NoGold grows much larger than it currently is. This is
a long-term goal of the organization.

MartukVTTH: That should go over well with some sites.

Dalgar: Yeah, we've had a very positive response so far from webmasters
and gamers alike. It seems a lot of people are disgusted with the gold-selling
in today's MMORPGs, and are generally in favor of anything that might
help slow the gold trade down.

MartukVTTH: Who are the staff members of NoGold?

Dalgar: NoGold was started by Volon and Dalgar of the Azzor.com
Network. We saw the problems that were plaguing the WoW fansites community,
and wanted to do something about it. We are the only current staff members.
Athalus, the owner of www.wcradio.com was also a founding member of the
site, and has had a fairly active role in planning NoGold's future.

MartukVTTH: What prompted you to form this organization?

Dalgar: In the World of Warcraft community, we have seen nearly every
site give in to gold company pressures. Before being bought out by IGE,
the OGaming Network purchased many major fansites in the WoW community.
The popular database site Thottbot.com, as well as fansites like WarcraftCentral.com,
WoW-Rp.com, etc. Other MMORPGs have had this same problem. In the Vanguard
community, I believe Oktratas.com is a good example. Many other sites
have given into displaying gold advertisements (either through Google
ads, or otherwise), and it is really unfortunate. I don't have any statistics,
but the vast majority of WoW websites feature gold advertisements of some
sort. Its really disgusting, to be honest. We wanted to create an organization
to recognize those fansites who were gold-free, and to help them stay
that way.

MartukVTTH: What are the requirements for a site to join NoGold?

Dalgar: I'm glad you asked that one. Joining the NoGold organization
is really simple. We simply ask that prospective fansites take a pledge
against gold-selling, account-selling, item-selling, power-leveling, exploits,
BOTs, and related "services". Sites then add the NoGold logo
to their site, and are added to the NoGold member list.

MartukVTTH: Who are your current members?

Dalgar: Our current members are mostly within the World of Warcraft
community, but we are actively looking to expand into new games. The sites
include wow.azzor.com, wcradio.com, wowirc.com, pvp-rp.com, roguespot.com,
blizzplanet.com, as well as a large number of WoW guilds. The full list
can be found at http://www.nogold.org/385/sites.php . Diplomatters.net,
a Vanguard (affiliate) fansite, has recently joined as well.

MartukVTTH: Do you have anything you would like to add?

Dalgar: I'd really like to thank Martuk and Vanguard Ten Ton Hammer
for doing this interview, and raising awareness of the NoGold gold-free
community. Together, maybe we can make a difference! If anyone is interested
in being a part of the discussion of the future of NoGold, I encourage
you to post any ideas you have on the NoGold forums ( http://www.nogold.org/forum/
).

We thank you for taking the time to answer these
questions. The MMO world can definitely use the benefits your site offers.
We look forward to seeing more of you in the coming days within the Vanguard
community. If you wish to see more about the role of NoGold in informing
and supporting the gaming community, visit their site and browse here.

Diplomatters.net

MartukVTTH: What prompted you to join NoGold?

Traldan: We joined to affirm our firm stance against gold sellers,
etc. They've got a great message that is already a big part of the Vanguard
community, specifically the requirements for being an affiliated site,
and it seemed to fit very well with these views.

MartukVTTH: How did you find out about NoGold?

Traldan: Somebody posted about it on the OVF about it - we checked
it out, decided that it really fit well with the Vanguard message, and
decided to look into joining.

MartukVTTH: Has joining No Gold increased the awareness of your
site?

Traldan: I'm sure it gave us a little more notice, but that's
really not the goal - it's to promote the NoGold message, and reaffirm
our stance against botters and gold sellers.

MartukVTTH: What has the community reaction been to your joining
NoGold?

Traldan: So far, very positive. The Vanguard community as a whole
is very against the secondary market, and this is no exception.

MartukVTTH: What does NoGold represent to your site?

Traldan: It's a nice way to demonstrate our message against the
secondary market. And we get to put the cool logo on our site!

MartukVTTH: Do you have anything you would like to add?

Traldan: Only that we strongly encourage other fansites to look
into joining NoGold as well, and strengthen their own stances against
the secondary market.

MartukVTTH: Thank you for taking the time for this interview Traldan.
Congratulations on your new affiliate status for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.

I would like to thank both Traldan and Dalgar for
taking the time to allow me these interviews. It is good to see sites
and people banding together to take a stand against companies like IGE.
We look forward to seeing more of both these sites in the future. Please
pay a visit to both NoGold and Diplomatters
and show your support.