WOW - Selling Gold on BBC : World of Warcraft General Discussions

World of Warcraft is a gaming phenomenon, with more than eight million people playing around the world and tens of millions of pounds being earned in revenue each month. But for some this is more business opportunity than leisure pursuit.

The game has its own version of eBay in which players can buy or sell weapons and armour to make their characters more powerful. But just like eBay you need money to buy things - in this case the game's currency is gold.

That gold can be earned by doing jobs like mining or collecting herbs. These jobs aren't difficult but can take a very long time. And that means the game's players are split - between those who can play a lot and generate their own cash, and those who work and don't have the same time to devote to the game.

People who work full time can feel penalised by the system, since it's harder for them to compete. But there is a solution - they can buy their gold for real money.

Read the full article here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6592335.stm

Oh really now?

The sort of article the BBC posted is nothing new ofcourse and it makes one wonder about it's newsvalue.
Still it remains great to see what this game does for so many people and the very concept of the implicated influence of it on everyday real lifes will remain mindboggling.