@9

I think you have a good idea. If Blizzard is serious about getting rid of gold farmers, it would be fairly simple (probably easier than the measures they're taking now) to just put them out of business by offering gold cheaper than the farmers can. Blizzard could do this easily because, as the developer, gold doesn't cost them anything at all. They don't have to pay anyone to farm it. If people want to buy it, Blizzard can just create it to meet the demand and probably make some money in the process.

The pros:
1. Increased revenue for Blizzard.
2. Reduced gold farming/spamming by third parties.
3. Availability of gold for the more casual player who has the RL money but not the time to farm.

The cons:
1. Economic inflation. As gold is more readily available from 'legal' sources, prices for items will go up.
2. Increased pressure to buy gold and decreased motivation to farm for some players who would not otherwise choose to buy gold.

Overall, I think the pros outweigh the cons. I liken it to the game Gauntlet, where you could plug in some extra quarters to buy yourself more life. It certainly wasn't necessary, you could do well without it. But it was a lot easier.

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