China bans gold farming

Those of us who have been fans of the MMORPG genre for a long time will be well familiar with the art of gold selling - a generally frowned upon "business" where third party businesses sell in-game currency for real gold.

Today, it was reported that China has finally made the act of gold farming illegal. According to the new law "virtual currency, which is converted into real money at a certain exchange rate, will only be allowed to trade in virtual goods and services provided by its issuer, not real goods and services."

The Chinese government justified the decision of banning virtual currency trading as a means to stop online gambling and other illegal online activities.

It is estimated that between 80% and 85% of gold farmers are based in China.