With this unprecedented success have come headaches, from persistent server outages, to virtual plagues, and even allegations of sexual harassment. However, one of the major issues for Blizzard has been the problem of gold farming, the practice of paying workers in poor countries to spend all day gathering virtual gold and then selling it to anyone with a credit card.

In keeping with Blizzard's aggressive stance against cheating in World of Warcraft, we banned over 30,000 accounts in the month of May, and with that removed well over 30 million gold from the economy across all realms. The banned accounts were taking part in activities that violate the game's Terms of Use, including using third-party programs to farm gold and items, which severely impacts the economy of a realm and the overall game enjoyment for all players.