Breakfast Topic: Do you buy gold?

Once upon a time, the only way you could purchase in-game gold for real money was to go through a guaranteed unscrupulous vendor. These vendors hire (or enslave) farmers to earn as much gold as possible in a short amount of time. Over time, they have discovered that hacking accounts is much quicker and more lucrative. Account thieves get your information from scams, phishing emails, keyloggers, and selling you gold (oops).

So Blizzard came up with a way to satisfy the desire to buy gold in WoW by introducing the Guardian Cub. In case you didn't know, you can purchase this tradeable pet for $10 or €10 at the Blizzard Store and then sell it on the AH. So buying gold safely is now possible with Blizzard's approval (and to Blizzard's profit).

Of course, you are not guaranteed the price you want when you try to sell your pet, just like anything else on the AH. Croda from Markets for Gold estimates the average sell price for the Guardian Cub is 4,000g at this time, down from 6,500g. Paying attention to the market price before buying the pet is obviously a good idea.

People who buy in-game gold for their hard-earned cash often cite a busy schedule as their reason. They work a lot in the physical world and don't want to spend their limited playtime getting Azerothian currency. Unfortunately, when they buy from hackers, we all lose. Buying gold illegitimately keeps the account thieves in business.

Have you ever bought World of Warcraft gold for real currency? If so, was it from the bad guys or via the Guardian Cub? If you supported the account thieves by purchasing gold from them (yes, I'm being judgmental), what was your experience and why did you do it?

Oh wait -- none of you have ever bought gold from the bad guys. So tell us the stories of your friends and/or family members who have. /nod