WoW Gold Facts

I have a confession to make. I regard all virtual currency stores with letter-only names with complete suspicion. How can you take a store seriously when it feels like the by-product of an Ouija board session?

ZYY.com is no exception to this irrational prejudice, but in this case I do feel somewhat vindicated, because this website simply can’t supply Rift Platinum efficiently to gamers.

Limited Selection

ZYY.com’s first failing is offering only up to 100 Platinum when most other websites can offer three or even four times the amount in a single order. It baffles me why a company that boasts of being a reliable distributor to gamers would have such a limited maximum order.

Further investigation revealed their Rift Platinum supply to be so unreliable that gathering 100 Platinum seems to be a Herculean task. Hence the reluctance to even commit to 200 Platinum and up.

ATMI Live Chat
Second and more unforgivable offense is asking for too much information (ATMI) in live chat. Why do they even need my character name and PayPal email address before initiating a live chat?

There is something suspicious in ZYY.com’s chat policy. It would have been far more appropriate to solicit my shard info, especially when I’m still deciding whether or not to actually buy.

Looks very fishy to me; who else tries to get your character name and PayPal email address information, which incidentally might also be your game account email? Ding, ding, ding, ding! HACKERS.

ZYY.com has no Rift Platinum stock, just like our bumbling triplets from last week, and worse this website “couldn’t give a [sic] exact time” they would have stock because “it is hard to collect so much at the same time.”

Yeah because gathering 100 Rift Platinum is so hard compared to 450 Rift Platinum that other sellers like IGE.com can deliver in less than a day. Either their supply system is sketchy, or they were hit hard by the sweep of spammer bannings in-game. Either way, consider ZYY.com a no-stock zone until further notice.

And just because I had nothing better to do (no stock means I had some free time to spare), I browsed through their website to see if I could find out exactly how my Character Name and Paypal email address were going to be used. Then I came across this gem of a disclaimer:

Guess it’s time to set up the spam blocker. Providing information to “EXTERNAL CLIENTS”!? That right there is Gold seller speak for sister site spamming, and I’m having none of it.

PS. Rift still Rocks!

Related posts

• No related posts.

No Comments yet »

Nothing is more frustrating than to arrive at a RIFT Platinum store, cash in hand, but with no stock to purchase.

Or maybe there is, because a trio of sellers — all operated by one shady company — are still taking orders even without having actual stock. Apparently we’re supposed to trust them to deliver when it finally comes. Or trust that they won’t run off with our money. Fat chance Chinese chaps.

Here’s a conversation I had with the apologetic chat agent Nickey on riftgoldsale.com:

What kind of a seller takes money from customers without knowing when exactly they will be delivering RIFT Platinum? Blatantly opportunistic ones, I tell you.

That’s a strong accusation, but what am I supposed to think when further queries on stocks on other servers resulted in the immediate end of my chat session? Notice a conversation I had with the exact same chat agent Nickey at riftsale.com (the poor girl must be spamming her apologies across all three websites like crazy!)

And in case you don’t believe that these three sites are conspiring together, let me compare all three websites using the same web copy and chat service. Two’s a coincidence but three’s an underhanded modus operandi.

Again, I strongly advise you not to purchase from these sites until they show demonstrable proof of having stock. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Related posts

• No related posts.

2 Comments »

I’ve been tracking the WoW Gold prices of late, and they’re currently the lowest I can remember, at least for the duration of the Cataclysm expansion. Good news for us, eh?

Consider that Wowgoldpig.com is now peddling the lot at $1.75 per 1k Gold. I believe they’re calling it an insano-sale, which is apt given how crazy that site can be when it comes to undercutting their competitors, still not sure quite how they do it. I’ve even heard of Chinese sellers using that cute blue pig mascot as a dartboard, presumably out of sheer frustration at the fact that they’re always one step ahead in the “low prices” game.

In order to frame how cheap WoW Gold has become, I’ve listed below ten everyday items and expenses that are now more costly than a bushel of virtual Gold:

1. Any cup of Starbucks that isn’t regular black coffee
2. One metro card swipe
3. Taxi fare (even a one block ride)
4. A slice of pizza
5. A mug of beer or a vodka shot
6. Four cigarette sticks or a pack of nicotine gum
7. Renting a videogame for a day
8. Pocketbook, with paper pages or the eReader kind
9. New York Times newspaper
10. Most Ipad games

Not quite comprehensive, but the list above should be a handy guide for those wondering where to cut back and save some cash for their next WoW Gold fix. If you’re wondering which of these I’ve had to give up, then I point you to my ever trusty pot that’s been brewing coffee for cents since early Wrath.

I’m still doing research on Rift Plat sellers at the moment, should have some interesting results tomorrow. But as far as I can tell, the worst of the bunch can be described in two words: Total rip-offs!

Related posts

• No related posts.

No Comments yet »

I got a big response from readers yesterday about my time with Rift, with people encouraging me to apply more elbow grease to my leveling. Sure, there were a few that berated me for being a WoW traitor, but the overwhelming majority urged me to see more of this fantastic gem.

So, buckling to peer pressure and an unhealthy attachment to my Rogue hybrid, I went ahead and logged an unprecedented ten straight hours in Rift. It’s now well past midnight and I can say that the game does open up a lot more once you get past those first initial zones.

The game grows on you too, especially when you’re smashing mobs and rival players alike with your geared toon. I’m seriously considering getting some Rift Platinum given all the nice items that are on sale at the auction house, I might just spend the weekend scouring the net for dependable sellers. Rest assured I’ll get back to you with my findings next week.

Don’t worry folks! I’m still going to be rooting out those shady WoW Gold sellers, but this could be a fun little experiment. There’s bound to be a whole platoon of unscrupulous Rift gold sellers though—spammers, hackers, scammers—just waiting to be exposed for what they are. I promise to be as extra caustic as possible so tune in when I post my thoughts next week.

As a preview of sorts, here are some imbecilic ads from Rift Platinum sellers:

Can’t even get the currency right!

I’ll have to pass on these mind readers. I can already hear the excuses lined up when they deliver short, “but sir, you only dreamed this much Gold!”

Typos galore. Plus isn’t that supposed to be 24/7? It’s gonna be a long weekend boys and girls!

Related posts

• No related posts.

1 Comment »

Last month, I broached the idea of RIFT being a godsend to WoW, that should the new MMO become a hit, it could divert the attention of scammers and spammers away from Azeroth.

Lo and behold, RIFT is now getting the full brunt of hacking attacks while my spam folder has seen a noticeable decrease in WoW Gold offers. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

RIFT is attracting a fairly big gaming crowd and naturally those parasitic hackers are tagging along. Out of curiosity, I checked out the game over the weekend to see what the commotion is all about. Why would whole guilds, based mainly on anecdotal stories of course, leave the most popular MMO in the world?

Call me pleasantly surprised but I actually enjoyed my short jaunt in RIFT, even though the limited race options ticked me off right away.

One of the best things going for the game is its familiar controls. I’m speaking of course as a WoW player who wants to avoid terrible learning curves ala EvE Online. The controls are intuitive, and group combat is frantic but a lot of fun.

The soul class system also grew on me. At first, I found the idea of having just four callings—none of them a Hunter!—ridiculous. But then I realized that my dream spec in WoW can be made in Rift: A survival hunter with the stealth powers of a rogue and healing over time perks of a druid. I just had to combine the Ranger, Assassin and Bard souls!

But when it comes to immersion RIFT is still playing second fiddle to WoW… for now. Quests for instance, lack the fun and humor associated with something like WoW, which has always offered doses of wit and absurdity. Then there are the unstoppable in-game spammers now lording over the chat channels.

Speaking of the devil, SusanExpress is back with a vengeance on my server. Just when I thought they’d finally retreated to their rathole for good, out come the level 1 vermin spewing those inane SSEX ads. I can’t believe there are still some Gold Sellers out there that do this. I’m attempting to mobilize a guild to troll their spammers into oblivion—hopefully we drive them out before Patch 4.1 hits so we can raid in peace. Wish us luck!

Related posts

• No related posts.

No Comments yet »

Some readers—who I always suspect to be the disgruntled owners of Gold spamming websites—have always accused me of being an inveterate snob, an elitist who sneers at Chinese gold sellers just because of their poor grammar. Shame on my prep school upbringing, they say, I should feel more compassion for the less learned.

Nevertheless, it seems my constant jabs have affected one Gold spammer from Get4Gold.com. Here she is offering not only her body, but also some wonderfully tacky poetry.

Nice idea, but “F” for the effort, Kit-slash-Eva If only you put as much effort to your header as you did the title of your poem (Cook? What in Ragnaros’ chicken legs is that supposed to mean?) then maybe you’d have a barely passing grade.

And don’t get me started on that ridiculous last line, which I imagine cost you what little potential dollars you might have earned from e-mail spamming. Calling the millions of hormonal boys playing WoW diva’s? Do you wish a most brutal death?

I think sticking to your pink-laden jibberish last year would have been a smarter move. As Christopher Fry—a true poet—says: “Poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement.” And this mishmash of rhymes explores nothing but a big “duh”.

Related posts

• I’M TOO MANLY TO HATE PINK, BUT THIS SPAM MAKES ME WANT TO KILL BARBIE (2)

No Comments yet »

We’ve all heard the usual sob stories, like Chinese Gold farmers being crammed in steamy computer shops to mine 12 hours a day for chump change, or how the unemployed gamer tries desperately to build an auction house empire for game subscription funds.

We come away thinking WoW Gold farming earns, but only as a last-resort - way below “burger flipper” and “street sweeper”. Who knew you could earn five-figure sums off it?

Just ask the Australian woman whom, according to the Escapist , earned so much from WoW Gold farming that she was able to purchase 74 real gold bars worth $74,500! (At the current conservative rates, this amounts to a whopping 37,250,000 Gold farmed in-game, not counting the cut taken by sellers.)

While the article focuses on the legal battle between the woman and her insurers (the gold bars allegedly got stolen), what immediately popped into my head was how untapped the job market for WoW Gold farming is.

It’s not such an outlandish idea, bringing in WoW-based income on the side. Thousands of gamers who are newly laid off and in-between jobs can earn cash on the weekends from farming. Of course, veterans who know how to efficiently gather or work the auction house will be the best candidates, although newbies can easily learn if they want to.

There’s the matter of ethics sure, but would you consider the Gold you earned through painstaking ore mining and auction posting dirty? Hell no! Profit from it, my dear friend, and you’ll be doing us buyers a huge favor by making sure our Gold is clean as it’ll ever be.

Related posts

• No related posts.

No Comments yet »

Chinese scammers have an average IQ of 2 (floor-licking retarded), but among their kind are intelligent exceptions who can write nasty phishing e-mails.

The perfect analogy would be Cookie who rose beyond the beach-bumming ways of the murlocs and became at one time the personal chef of Edwin VanCleef. Now in Cataclysm, Cookie has risen to the rank of captain.

Elite Chinese scammers undergo the same evolution, with those who can construct legible English getting promoted to scam-writing duties.

But even with all their practice, it’s still fairly easy to spot a phishing e-mail made by these goons. You don’t even have to open the questionable e-mail most of the time, because the subject header will tell you all you need to know.

Below are the top five e-mail headers used to lure you into clicking unsavory links, and ultimately rob you of your hard-earned or recently-bought Gold. Learn them, then trash at first sight.

1. Warning: World of Warcraft Account Notice

Nothing like a good ‘ol scare tactic to get you scrambling to a phishing website. Scammers often dupe readers with a headline that threatens: “Open me… Or else!”  The first word alone should be a red flag to you. As a customer service company, Blizzard will avoid using a sensationalist header that causes the same panic as a cigarette advisory.

2. Your Account Has Been Hacked!
The worst nightmare for any player, well unless you’re a tank and a Death Knight activates Army of the Dead on cooldown. The thought of getting hacked can make even the toughest raider hurl his lunch, so fear is an effective come on here. Of course, Blizzard will never send such a panic-stricken e-mail. If anything, they will alert you when a problem has been fixed rather than stating the obvious.

3. Please Verify Ownership of Your Account or Get Banned
Here, some context clues are needed. If you’re not in the middle of account arbitration proceedings or did not violate any policy, then there will be no reason for you to even read through the e-mail. Scammers often ask you to provide your login details on the premise of confirming account ownership at the risk of banning. Ignore such threatening statements, because this verification policy is not a standard practice of Blizzard.

4. You Won a [INSERT POPULAR PET OR MOUNT]!

So you magically won sparkling pony, huh? We all like freebies, but when it get delivered via e-mail, beware. Phishers play on the desires of players as much as their fears, so resist the temptation and just be happy with what you have. (Or buy Gold/swipe the credit card for those rare animals you don’t have). Contest winners are always announced on the blog and forums along with the e-mail confirmation, so check first at the boards before opening that love letter from the scammers.

5. Official Blizzard E-mail
Blizzard would never call itself “official”—that’s just the height of redundancy. Is there an e-mail from them that won’t be official? Scammers are banking on your tired brain after a long slog at work or school to miss this major blunder in logic. A safe rule is to trash “official” emails, because at the tiniest chance that those are legitimate and urgent, then Blizzard would just send another reminder as follow-up.

Related posts

• No related posts.

No Comments yet »