Blizzard reminds carry buyers to pay gold directly

Gold paid for a raid carry should move directly from the buyer to the service provider. Blizzard reiterated that requirement on October 27 after describing a new round of actions against accounts involved in buying third-party gold with real money. The central question is the payment chain: who buys the service, who pays, and who receives the gold. Kaivax’s official post.

A carry here means an in-game service, such as a place with a group helping someone complete a raid. RMT in this announcement concerns buying gold from an outside seller with real money.

Why is payment through an intermediary a problem?

In the cases Blizzard describes, some buyers purchased illicit gold and asked its seller to send it directly to another player providing a service such as a raid carry. The gold purchase and the service payment became parts of the same chain.

Blizzard says gold arriving through an intermediary has an extremely high likelihood of being linked to illicit RMT. It warns of account suspensions and gold removal. A guild providing carries can also lose the gold it receives when payment comes from an intermediary instead of the customer. Blizzard’s explanation and consequences.

The practical distinction is straightforward: the service buyer pays the service provider. An outside gold seller paying on the buyer’s behalf is precisely the kind of arrangement described in the post.

Direct payment does not make illicit gold acceptable

Do not read the announcement as a way to legitimise RMT gold by routing it through your own character first. The route a payment takes and the origin of the gold are separate questions. Blizzard specifically says it acted against involvement with third-party gold purchases.

The post also does not announce a blanket ban on every gold carry. It is a reminder about direct payment and RMT risk, rather than a complete new catalogue of service rules for every version of WoW. It promises no guarantee that one correctly routed transfer makes an entire arrangement compliant.

What should the buyer and group agree on?

Our practical suggestion is to establish the paying character before the activity. Buyer and provider should share an understanding of who is paying and for which service. A promise that a completely separate character will send payment deserves attention, rather than being dismissed as an administrative detail.

That makes the payment chain easier to understand; it is not a Blizzard guarantee about dispute resolution or refunds. The announcement’s central lesson is narrow but significant: an intermediary payer can create risk for the group that simply carried out the agreed in-game activity as well.