Here is a great article discussing the pros and cons of being able to buy cheapest wow gold so readily through third party currency providers. PAY real cash for virtual goods. That is to what many players like Wang Kang Yi have resorted to quicken their progress in online games. The 25yearold administrative executive shelled out $200 in March this year for 500 gold credits in World of Warcraft, a popular massive multiplayer online roleplaying ffxiv gil. And he thinks the money was wellspent. ''I couldn''t afford to be glued in front of the computer for at least two hours at a stretch since I was already working full time. ''By doing my sums, I realized that it would take me about 100 playing hours to earn that amount of gold. Buying became a better alternative,'' said the game fanatic.

Replete with night elves, Orcs and dwarves, world of warcraft gold is set in a fantasy world not unlike Tolkien''s Lord Of The Rings. Thousands of players interact with one another in real time through the virtual environment, and earn gold credits through their team conquests. For Mr. Wang, adding the virtual currency he bought to his own hardearned cache of gold meant that he could finally purchase his object of desire a horse worth a princely sum of 900 gold credits. He is not alone. Many computer gamers around the world are paying hard cash to gain an edge over others in the online fantasy world. Other games which attract such "trading" include Maple Story, Ultima Online, EverQuest, Asheron''s Call and Star Wars Galaxies.

Players have been known to buy virtual money, rare items in the game or even entire characters with their associated powers and accompanying weapons. As it takes a lot of hard work, not to mention time and luck, to attain these virtual goods, the high prices they command seem reasonable. However, World of Warcraft player Eric Chua thinks otherwise. "It does take a lot of time and effort to build a character to a level where you actually start to enjoy wow gold," said the 29yearold advertising brand manager. "But the current market rate is just not something I would be willing to pay for." A scan of auction site Ebay produced over 700 results for various items of the game on sale. The highestpriced item is a World of Warcraft account sold by a New Yorker for US$5,000.

Meanwhile, to raise the game level of a character in the shortest time, known in gaming parlance as "leveling", online hawkers are charging up to US$360. These vendors will log into your account and play the game for you. Indeed, the industry is so lucrative that Chinabased sweatshops and established companies, such as Miamibased Internet Gaming Entertainment (IGE), have been set up just to ''farm''. The word is used to describe the activity of playing the game to acquire as much gold or items as possible for resale. Selling skills and weapons online, however, is frowned upon and banned by Blizzard Entertainment, the games developer of World of Warcraft. It has threatened to take legal action against individuals ''who engage in this inappropriate activity''.