It came to our attention that a new breed of outsourcing companies for World of Warcraft are sprouting left and right these days. We don't mean the game per se as everybody already knows that by now. Known as power-leveling companies, these "game consultants" take over players' accounts for a fee and take their characters where they want to be.

But where is "where" exactly? Why, at the top of the heap of course! According to some estimates, it would take a player 768 hours to reach level 70 of The Burning Crusade from scratch. If ever you've attained level 60 in the original WoW, the report mentioned that you will still need another 384 hours to get to the top level.

Now, the first service (from start to level 70) will cost players US$ 556 and the jump from level 60 to 70 is another US$ 239. The figures here are rather surprising, we know, but some players indeed go that far. If you're wondering what this practice implies, Blizzard Entertainment sent out an email last Monday regarding the matter.

Making use of a power-leveling service is a violation of our account-sharing policy. This policy is discussed in World of Warcraft's terms of use, which players agree to prior to playing.

Sony Online is aware that it happens, and we do not condone it. It is against our terms of service. You can not give anyone else access to your account. Players are responsible for the security of their own accounts. And players that use those types of services are at risk of having their accounts stolen or compromised.