World of Warcraft and the battle against black market gold

[Administrator]

I'd tried saving the hard way, and it wasn't working. That glowing skeletal horse seemed permanently out of reach, so I kept dipping in.
It all seems so ridiculous now. I don't remember how I ended up there, but in 2005 I found myself at a gold shop, breathlessly confirming my intention to buy 1000 World of Warcraft gold for £100. I had to take an authentication phone call in the middle of the night while living in my Dad's house, and about an hour later the money turned up in my mailbox in the game. I loved that horse.
And it got easier each time I went back. I ended up spending hundreds. I didn't talk about it in the game - only to friends on chat programs, voice or text, hosted outside of WOW. I knew it was against the rules and that I could be banned, and that I could lose everything I'd played for. I ended up leaving WOW in 2006 but a good friend stuck around, buying gold ever since. He laughs in a slightly embarrassed way when he says he's probably spent "thousands" of pounds this way. "I just don't have the patience to grind, and I have the money." So why not? Who were we hurting?
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