Well, it's all about the EULA. Plain and simple. And until consumer law gets rewritten to actually PROTECT consumer rights, software licensing comes in a very gray area.
Until then, you have to read the EULA to know your rights. Currently, most EULA's are worded carefully enough to close the loophole of selling "your time". Basically, most MMO EULA's contain a clause stating that they own all rights to IP derived from the game, tangible and intangible. And as such, they usually also list that you may not legally "transfer" ownership of the account associated with the game in any way, shape or form. In plugging the "account" hole, they basically are saying that all that time you invested cannot be recouped monetarily, as you are the account holder of record, and to transfer that title would be in violation of the license agreement which you agreed to by creating the account in the first place.
Despite what people think, as unfortunate as it is, just because you went to a tangible store, and bought a tangible item, it does not mean that you own it. The ownership is retained by the developer/publisher/distributor/whatever, and you are simply paying for the right to use it - just like a driver's license. If the cops feel that you're not fit to carry a driver's license, they can and will take it away.
It is pretty sad that companies can make up laws willy-nilly. Unfortunately, that's the power our legal system gave them in order to prevent certain abuses. But as with everything, governments and legal systems cannot be perfectly forward looking.
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