Actually, China Didn’t Ban Gold Farming

A closer look at China’s legislation on the trade of virtual money reveals that ‘gold farming’ as we know it will, in fact, not be affected.

Contrary to reports earlier this week, the new rules state that virtual money may not be used to buy real goods, which is the opposite of a ban on gold selling. The restriction applies to the use of virtual currencies such as QQ coins, banning them from being used to purchase real items instead of virtual items as intended. Gambling with virtual currency has also been banned, as explained by Professor Richard Heeks:

“This therefore is not about what gold farming clients do: use real money to buy these virtual currencies; it’s the mirror image.  And it’s not about the major trade in gold farming such as World of Warcraft, which relates to other types of virtual currency.  And it’s not about buying/selling in-game items.  And it’s not about the power-levelling of avatars.” He summarises, “Bottom line: it’s not about gold farming.”