So, in my daily internetting today, I stumbled upon this Reddit post questioning the safety and...morality?...of buying in-game gold for Elder Scrolls Online. The responses were incredible. Mindblowing, in fact. Just how sure people are about their opinions today frightens me, especially when they all share the same opinion and bring nothing new to the table.
So here's my opinion (you're welcome.) Do what you want, but be cautious and definitely do not use any website out here that you're going to find in a Google search. They might not all be genuine scams, but a significant portion of them are. And furthermore, those that aren't are rarely handled with any care for either the consumer or seller, which leads to scams at the user level when no safety nets are in place (like the buyer protection procedures Ebay utilizes).
No, if you're going to buy or sell any in-game content, gold or otherwise, in any MMORPG, get yourself into a guild, make some friends, build a level of trust, and still tread cautiously. I've both bought and sold gold in these games. The conversations leading up to these transactions were simple and effective. My first sale was the easiest.
I'd been in this guild for weeks, made some real connections with the more dedicated members, ran some dungeons, learned a bit about farming, etc. Then one day, while farming, I was in group chat with the guild leader (and just the guild leader, no one else was in chat.) I happened to check my inventory and realized I'd racked up several hundreds of thousands of in-game gold. I simply said "Man, I wish I could find one of those people that pay for gold," with a little chuckle and low and behold, my guild leader was one of those people.
Now before you judge either of us, I didn't need the gold but could sure use the money and he only 'needed' the gold to buy in-game materials and equipment for other members in the guild. He's one of those rare gems that actually plays the game to help others. He enjoys it.
Now at this point, we'd played several hours together and had built a certain level of trust. What made it easier was the fact that I sent the gold first, so there was no chance of him getting scammed here and if I got scammed, I was out of a bit of play-money that really didn't hurt me. A few minutes later, he messaged me with a code for a prepaid game card. It was nice and smooth.
No one got hurt, the game in question didn't go out of business (especially since they have no option to pay for in-game gold,) and both parties got something they wanted. I hear the argument all the time that this is unfair for those that just grind and put the work in but don't have the money to buy or the gold to sell. We are both end-game content users who only play the game for the social aspect of it all. Running dungeons and raids together, learning new tricks, researching new gear that comes out, and helping those just getting started.
Now mind you, I have given away far more gold than I have sold. In this particular game, there are plenty of things you can spend cash on (rides, costumes, experience 'potions', and such,) and I would never sell any of these things because this could potentially take away from the distributor's profits. But I'm rambling now, so will leave you with this: It's just a game, play it how you're best able to enjoy it and don't worry about what others have to say about your methods.
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