Gaming factories

[Cowperson]

Interesting . . .

One of China's newest factories operates here in the basement of an old warehouse. Posters of World of Warcraft and Magic Land hang above a corps of young people glued to their computer screens, pounding away at their keyboards in the latest hustle for money.

The people working at this clandestine locale are "gold farmers." Every day, in 12-hour shifts, they "play" computer games by killing onscreen monsters and winning battles, harvesting artificial gold coins and other virtual goods as rewards that, as it turns out, can be transformed into real cash.

That is because, from Seoul to San Francisco, affluent online gamers who lack the time and patience to work their way up to the higher levels of gamedom are willing to pay the young Chinese here to play the early rounds for them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/te...IrJ4J33c9AHsbw

Cowperson

[Resolute 14]

I hate these farmers when playing, but they are terribly easy to pick out, often because they can't speak a word of english.

I always laugh at people that would rather spend $20 to buy "gold" rather than play for three hours to earn it.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Snakeeye

I always laugh at people that would rather spend $20 to buy "gold" rather than play for three hours to earn it.

That still works out to less than minimum wage. How much is your time worth to you?

Myself I play games to pass time. But I know if I wanted to join my buddies who play WoW, I'd need to get levelled up as fast as I could.

[Kjesse]

Interesting... I had no idea they were so organized.

I've had my share of difficulties with farmers in World of Warcraft... they'd pick the same areas to farm for cash as I did when I was trying to get enough gold for my epic mount. And there were so many of them, it just got frustrating.

They sure are easy to pick out though. I've even learned a few words from some asian language as a result. Ni hao!

I don't play anymore (got bored with the 40 man raids... too time consuming) but when I did, it was fun to message the opposing faction to come kill and camp the farmers so the real players could play. And of course I was always happy to return the favour.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

And mom said playing video games would never get me a job....pffft.