Actual gold stolen from virtual gold farmer results in ugly court battle

In Australia, where gold farming is perfectly legal (and income from such must even be filed on your tax return), Katrina Fincham had managed to earn $75,000 by farming and selling gold in World of Warcraft. As we know from farming our own gold, grinding for in-game cash takes time and effort, and Fincham was running her operation like a business -- which we're guessing takes most if not all of the fun out of things.

But when she decided to turn her newly made loot into actual gold bullion, her nest egg became a problem. While on vacation, her house was robbed and the safe containing the gold taken -- and her insurance company has refused to pay up, claiming that she was trying to swindle them by converting the cash into gold so it could be stolen. The legal battle is ongoing, but Fincham has already had to sell her house in order to pay court costs associated with fighting the insurance company. And in a final terrible twist of fate, it turns out it was an inside job: her boyfriend helped arrange the theft.

While we have no love for farmers, it's hard not to feel sorry about this: Fincham wasn't hacking or exploiting the game and had done nothing legally wrong, but farming gold has led to her financial ruin anyway. Yikes.

[Via GamePolitics]