Blizzard is introducing "temporary economic restrictions" in the World of Warcraft: Infinite beta to track gold flows suspected of involving real-money trading. Although progress in the beta will not carry over to the official release, some players are still spending real money to purchase in-game gold.
Blizzard stated that if an account is suspected of engaging in such transactions, whether selling gold or receiving illicit proceeds, it may first be subject to temporary restrictions. During the restriction period, players' access to trading, mail, guild banks, and the auction house will be limited, allowing the team to investigate before suspicious gold continues to circulate or enter the game's economy.
If the investigation determines that the behavior triggering the restriction was not a violation, the restriction will be automatically lifted; if real-money trading is confirmed, the account may face further penalties. Blizzard acknowledges that the new system may produce false positives during its initial adjustment phase. Temporary restrictions alone will not result in a permanent violation record unless the account is later confirmed to have engaged in real-money trading.
Blizzard plans to deploy these measures to other versions of World of Warcraft once they are proven effective. Currently, this plan remains contingent on the actual effectiveness of the measures.