Gold Farmer Sues Over Stolen Real-Life Gold

[randommaster]

I'm confused.

Why would anyone buy gold bullion? It seems so pointless.

Gold retains it's value over time because there's a (relatively) fixed amount of it. Whatever one pound of gold will buy you today is what it will buy you in fifty years while your casj has become less valuable because of inflation.

Well I suppose that makes sense, but I do wonder why she didn't do what everyone else does and put it in a Swiss bank vault like everyone else, or something to that effect.

Maybe she was going to plant it and have another gold farm at her house.

 

[sdafdfhrye3245]

Just so people are clear gold "farmers" don't really farm the gold they hack others accounts and take the money.

 

[uppitycracker]

the irony.... oh, the wonderful, wicked irony....

I think this is more like Poetic Justice. Gold Farmers tend to wreck the economy of MMO's. But I suppose my opinion is subjective.

there is a difference between opinion and fact. and you, sir, just stated fact.

 

[Sovvolf]

Snip

I see, thank you for clearing that up, I guess this is a case of me not doing my research or doing the wrong research. I did research the how much a gold bar weighs and it said around 12kg per bar... I just assumed it was £1000 per 12kg.

 

[hutchy27]

Just so people are clear gold "farmers" don't really farm the gold they hack others accounts and take the money.

Thanks for stating that, I don't play MMOs so I just thought it was a person mining a rock and selling the ore for gold to then sell that gold for real life money.

 

[antidonkey]

And now that the whole thing is out in the open i'm sure if she wins her lawsuit Blizzard will be right there to file their own suit to take her 75 grand.

 

[Booze Zombie]

I'm confused.

Why would anyone buy gold bullion? It seems so pointless.

Gold loses less value over time than paper money? I think that's the idea behind it, anyway.

 

[mirasiel]

the irony.... oh, the wonderful, wicked irony....

I think this is more like Poetic Justice. Gold Farmers tend to wreck the economy of MMO's. But I suppose my opinion is subjective.

No.

Players who buy gold wreck the economy , mainly by paying stupid amounts for what were once only sightly expensive items and grossly inflating the market price for anything. Although high level players can be just as bad at this, hello there 25g half stacks of copper bars, how do you do mr.35g cloth stack and on the flip side you have bank rolled alts who sell items waay below the market price

In general most MMO economies are fucked anyways, the only one I can think of that isnt is Eve and even then isnt they because they hired an economics expert to manage the whole damn thing?

-----------

I am really loving the attitude here of 'oh noes she cheats in a game I may play, she totally deserves to get robbed* ' .... really?

I have no problem with the insurance company denying payment if they suspect fraud, though why are they not pressing criminal charges if that is the case?

*maybe we could toss in a little beating, maybe a lil rape too, just for good measure eh, cos its not like she's a real person or anything.

 

[Reed Spacer]

I am really loving the attitude here of 'oh noes she cheats in a game I may play, she totally deserves to get robbed* ' .... really?

I have no problem with the insurance company denying payment if they suspect fraud, though why are they not pressing criminal charges if that is the case?

*maybe we could toss in a little beating, maybe a lil rape too, just for good measure eh, cos its not like she's a real person or anything.

She's not. She's a gold farmer. And based on the way things look probably trying to defraud her insurance company, which makes her a gold farmer and a thief.

 

[mirasiel]

I am really loving the attitude here of 'oh noes she cheats in a game I may play, she totally deserves to get robbed* ' .... really?

I have no problem with the insurance company denying payment if they suspect fraud, though why are they not pressing criminal charges if that is the case?

*maybe we could toss in a little beating, maybe a lil rape too, just for good measure eh, cos its not like she's a real person or anything.

She's not. She's a gold farmer. And based on the way things look probably trying to defraud her insurance company, which makes her a gold farmer and a thief.

So being a dickhead on the internet is considered grounds for being reclassified as non-human then?

Well I imagine just about every forum user on the planet is fucked, in fact pretty much anyone who plays online is fucked too.

As for her ALLEGED fraud, innocent until proven guilty my friend. Its the basis for most modern legal systems, might want to consider that a while. My main confusion is why the insurance company isn't pressing charges on her arse because fraud is still a crime right?

Unlike being a dick on the internet.

captcha: defirea evolution

 

[Uncreation]

Wait, she made 75000$ from gold farming? Over what period of time? Seriously, if it was like 2 or 3 years that sounds really good. I might get into Wow for that. And i am not kidding, that's good money. Does someone know how long it took her?

 

[Daelda]

In court documents, Kristina Fincham says her business "mined" gold in the game world and on-sold it to other players for real cash.

- Wouldn't this admission open Ms. Fincham up to an investigation by Blizzard, and possible lawsuit over trademark and intellectual property rights infringement? After all, she is admitting making money off of Blizzard's IP. Normally, I don't believe that a person can, say, make a T-Shirt with Mickey Mouse's picture on it and sell it without the permission of Disney. Nor can someone take clips from the Star Wars movies and sell them without Lucas Arts giving the Okay. Wouldn't the sale of WoW items technically fall under the same umbrella?

According to the current WoW EULA:

Blizzard owns, has licensed, or otherwise has rights to all of the content that appears in the Game. You agree that you have no right or title in or to any such content, including without limitation the virtual goods or currency appearing or originating in the Game, or any other attributes associated with any Account. Blizzard does not recognize any purported transfers of virtual property executed outside of the Game, or the purported sale, gift or trade in the ?real world? of anything that appears or originates in the Game. Accordingly, you may not sell in-game items or currency for ?real? money, or exchange those items or currency for value outside of the Game.

In the event that you breach this Agreement, you hereby agree that Blizzard would be irreparably damaged if this Agreement were not specifically enforced, and therefore you agree that Blizzard shall be entitled, without bond, other security, or proof of damages, to appropriate equitable remedies with respect to breaches of this Agreement, in addition to such other remedies as Blizzard may otherwise have available to it under applicable laws. In the event any litigation is brought by either party in connection with this Agreement and consistent with Section 17, the prevailing party in such litigation shall be entitled to recover from the other party all the costs, attorneys' fees and other expenses incurred by such prevailing party in the litigation.

D. Exceptions to Informal Negotiations and Arbitration. You and Blizzard agree that the following Disputes are not subject to the above provisions concerning informal negotiations and binding arbitration: (1) any Disputes seeking to enforce or protect, or concerning the validity of, any of your or Blizzard?s intellectual property rights; (2) any Dispute related to, or arising from, allegations of theft, piracy, invasion of privacy or unauthorized use; and (3) any claim for injunctive relief.

So...basically...even if this woman were to get her $75,000 - would Blizzard just be able to sue her for it? I'm no lawyer, so I could be completely wrong, but it looks like it to me.

 

[whaleswiththumbs]

I'm confused.

Why would anyone buy gold bullion? It seems so pointless.

Its price is more stable than most currencies and actually increases in value. It is a very valuable investment because no matter what happens, people always want some gold.

OT:
I like imagining this woman sitting around her house with the gold just there. Like it's nothing

 

[samsonguy920]

Wait... Ain't the whole "Selling gold to people over the internet" illegal or atleast again Blizzard's terms?

It's not a legal issue as gold-selling falls under the TOA which isn't a legally binding document. As it stands the lady did get her money legitimately(if immorally but that's between her, her suckered customers and Blizzard).
How she got the gold bars doesn't relate to the real issue of them being stolen and the insurance calling foul and then her calling the insurance foul.
Sounds like a Blake Edwards script.

 

[wfpdk]

well of course it was going to get stolen if you leave the gold in your home, that's why you have to hide it in a chest, in a cave, preferably guarded by a dragon. duh.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

I hope she gets her money. Thats a lot of loot to lose.

We do not know that the gold was, in fact, stolen. Given that her very means of making money is illegal, I wouldn't put it past her to be doing exactly what the insurance company is worried that she's doing. That is, having a friend "steal" the gold bullion so that she can get them replaced, then have twice as much gold.

If they were actually stolen, then sure, I sort of hope she gets compensated... but only sort of. After-all, like I said, she gets her money through illicit means. So she doesn't exactly deserve it in the first place.

 

[EvolutionKills]

Wait... Ain't the whole "Selling gold to people over the internet" illegal or atleast again Blizzard's terms?

It's not illegal but Blizzard can ban her for breaking their rules if they find out her account(s) but it's the part where her property was stolen (not so much how it was paid for except to have purpose on a gaming site) and her insurance not willing to cover it due to them thinking she arranged for it to be stolen. So it'd be like finding Ivory selling it for cash then using the cash to buy a Sports Car if the CAr is stolen the how you paid for it shouldn't effect the insurance on it,but They think the particual situation is just being done to double her money.

Well it makes sense, and it is kinda shady... All those gold bars going missing. No mention of police reports though, so I'd live to know just HOW it was stolen. You'd think you'd keep gold bars like that in a vault of a safe or something. Also would love to know how much time went by before it was stolen

If the theft didn't involve at least 3 tricked out Cooper Mini's, Tyler Durden, and Marky Mark, I'm calling BULLSHIT!

You DID mean to mix up Tyler Durden [actually Brad Pitt (Fight Club)], and Mark Wahlbeg (Italian Job) right?

And it's mini coopers XD sorry, couldn't resist coreecting

Nope, I actually meant Edward Norton. He's in both films and (spoiler warning) he is in fact Tyler Durden. Then never give his real name, but everyone knows him as his alter ego, personified in his head by Brad Pitt. Edward Norton plays the main protagonist of Fight Club, and he's in the Italian job as the main antagonist. So it's meant to be read as a homage to the Italian Job, the only movie I could think of off the top of my head that involves the theft of an improbably large amount of gold bullion from a private estate.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

Wait... Ain't the whole "Selling gold to people over the internet" illegal or atleast again Blizzard's terms?

It's not illegal but Blizzard can ban her for breaking their rules if they find out her account(s) but it's the part where her property was stolen (not so much how it was paid for except to have purpose on a gaming site) and her insurance not willing to cover it due to them thinking she arranged for it to be stolen. So it'd be like finding Ivory selling it for cash then using the cash to buy a Sports Car if the CAr is stolen the how you paid for it shouldn't effect the insurance on it,but They think the particual situation is just being done to double her money.

Well it makes sense, and it is kinda shady... All those gold bars going missing. No mention of police reports though, so I'd live to know just HOW it was stolen. You'd think you'd keep gold bars like that in a vault of a safe or something. Also would love to know how much time went by before it was stolen

If the theft didn't involve at least 3 tricked out Cooper Mini's, Tyler Durden, and Marky Mark, I'm calling BULLSHIT!

You DID mean to mix up Tyler Durden [actually Brad Pitt (Fight Club)], and Mark Wahlbeg (Italian Job) right?

And it's mini coopers XD sorry, couldn't resist coreecting

Nope, I actually meant Edward Norton. He's in both films and (spoiler warning) he is in fact Tyler Durden. Then never give his real name, but everyone knows him as his alter ego, personified in his head by Brad Pitt. Edward Norton plays the main protagonist of Fight Club, and he's in the Italian job as the main antagonist. So it's meant to be read as a homage to the Italian Job, the only movie I could think of off the top of my head that involves the theft of an improbably large amount of gold bullion from a private estate.

Fight Club is probably my favorite movie, so I know.

 

[mirasiel]

I hope she gets her money. Thats a lot of loot to lose.

We Given that her very means of making money is illegal,

um...no it isnt.

It may be against the TOS but since thats not a legally binding contract ..its not a crime. At best Blizzard can ban you and ask paypal to stop hosting accounts for you.

Im not sure what law you(general, not specific) think this falls under.