December 13, 2004

Blizzard Threatens to Sue People Who eBay Warcraft Online Items

According to Blizzard and their legal fine print, all the in-game items you slave over in questing through many hours of play are owned by Blizzard. The company is threatening legal action to any person who sells in-game content on eBay as it ruins the “fun and fair environment” of those who play by the rules. This is an interesting take on the online role playing game economy as Lineage, Everquest, and Ultima Online players have always suffered or gained through off-line auctions and sales of in-game items.

In order to promote a fun and fair environment for all our customers, we are actively investigating those individuals who engage in this inappropriate activity and reserve the right to take legal action against these individuals to protect World of Warcraft for all those who "play by the rules.We understand the temptation to purchase better items, but Blizzard, and not the seller, does own all in-game property. In addition, we feel that characters can find ample equipment and money within the game through their own adventuring and questing. Please understand that if you do purchase in-game property from sellers on eBay and personal sites, we may temporarily suspend your account, and at the very least, delete the offending items.