Although illegal on many MMORPGs, the buying and selling of in-game items and even characters using real world money is still rampant. Among those MMOs that frown upon Real Money Transactions (RMT) is Final Fantasy 11 Online (Xbox 360, PC).

In their efforts to root out RMTs in the community, the FFXI team has set up an enforcing body in the community whose job is to exterminate the system. Called the Special Task Force (STF), the group is part of Square Enix’s No Real Money campaign.

It’s also the STF’s job to ban and confiscate cheat tools, which some hackers use to take over other people’s characters. Some people use these tools without their knowledge, making their accounts vulnerable to hackers.

The FFXI team explains that a decrease in RMT in the game isn’t enough; as long the community still feels that any such transactions exist, the STF will not be dispersed.

When asked whether any legal Ream Money Transactions will ever make it to the MMORPG’s actual gameplay, the FFXI team gave a firm no, saying that it’s not fit for the game’s design.

Source: GameSpy