Its both (Score 1)

I bought a few hundred Gold for one of my WoW characters for like $35, which over a short period of time after upgrading my character to the best weapons and armor, eventually found its way to my other characters. The game now, I must admit is much more fun than before now that I can hang with the elite creatures in higher areas. Plus I can explore the higher levels without worrying of getting blitzed by over powerful creatures. It was a chore and still is, to skin and leatherwork for money, but its fun to get new patterns as well and sell those in the AH. I know for a fact that I would'nt be as happy playing WoW if I didn't have that gold initially. I had like, 10 or less gold before I bought my gold stash. I'm down to 40 gold now, as I'm trying not to spend it all in one place. But now that my character is lvl 40+ money is a little easier to come by in larger quantities. I must note though, that Blizzard did cancel/suspend hundreds of accounts a week AFTER I bought the gold for players doing just that! Buying illeagl gold on the grey market so I myself might be faced with a suspended account in the future as well... But in the end, I say its both cheating and making the game more enjoyable at the same time.