Story here. Gamers in Vietnam are being hired for up to US$160 a month to play online games. That’s the same salary as the average state-enterprise worker receives and more than quadruple that of a government employee.
Not being a gamer myself, I’m not sure why someone would hire people to sit around and play games. The story mentions boosting “the virtual bank balances of their personas.” Is there some way that players can convert virtual bank balances into real ones?
I used to play Final Fantasy XI quite a bit. Yes, people do sell game money for real money on places like ebay. You can get scammed, but some sales are actually legit. Players that achieve ultra-high levels attain skills that allow them to make huge sums of money in the game (neccessary to buy the ultra-expensive gear for high level characters). Some people are willing to pay real money to gain a virtual bank balance to buy the top of the line gear for their character without having to spend hours (or days/weeks/etc) neccessary to earn the money in the game.
Not a far stretch to get others to play for you, doing the repetitive tasks neccessary to earn money/gain skills in the game.
That’s interesting. Thanks, I never realized that.
There was an article in the NY Times last year about Chinese gold farmers who spend 8 hours a day winning loot in World of Warcraft and then selling it online. It was really interesting (registration required) here’s the link http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/magazine/17lootfarmers-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=chinese%20gold%20farmers&st=cse&oref=slogin
OK, so Chinese farmers are now from Vietnam? How does one say Ni-Hao in Vietnamese?
Sam, in YouTube there’s quite a few videos about gold farmers. Music videos about the woes brought by them, videos about running into one and killing him (well, his “toon”), etc. There’s also been mentions in threads here, check Cafe Society and the Game Room.
I haven’t seen any about getting in a group with someone who seems to be skilled (judging by level and equipment) only to discover that he’s so bad he must have bought the character in ebay or paid someone to level for him. Or about the pleasure when the group kicks him out, reports him (paying others to “play” for you is forbidden in the EULA) and a few minutes later gets the message that he’s been wiped.
Dunno about videos, but this right here is one of those little pleasures of online gaming that they never tell about in the ads.
What sales are actually legit? I don’t know of any MMO where it is legit to buy ingame goods for real money. Don’t all of the player agreements expressly forbid it?
I wouldn’t exactly call it getting paid for “gaming” either. They sit at the computer doing mindless repetitive tasks day in and out, farming for online gold is in no way shape or form “fun”, otherwise people wouldn’t pay others to do it for them. The only game with “legit” virtual gold for real cash bussiness model i know off is Eve Online, which allows you to pay for your monthly subscription with ingame money.
The NYTimes article linked above was kind of interesting. A lot of the gold farmers would hang around at work after their shift and play the same games for fun they had just worked as miners. One company had this plan to put together teams of escorts to take paying clients into the highest level dungeons and then let the client pick up all the loot. The farmers really got into the idea of creating one of the most elite clans in the online world.
At least for FFXI, gold farmers and those in the gold trade posed an interesting ethics situation. On the one hand, they absolutely ruined the in-game economy through inflation. FFXI had a public, centralized auction system so inflation mattered immensely.
On the other hand, a lot of gold farmers depended on it for their livelihood. Is it right to stop them to protect others enjoyment of a simple game?
Just idle musings…
Yes it is absolutely right. To even get the account you agree to abide by the player agreement. All of them stipulate that you will not trade in game items or gold for real life money. There is no grey area.
In Southeast Asia, agreements are not worth the paper they’re written on, let alone the computer they’ve been clicked on in agreement.
Just because they refuse to abide by them doesn’t mean Square Enix or any other company has to tolerate it.
No, it doesn’t, and that’s not what I meant. It’s just that I know from years of experience that if there is any way at all around something, it will be found and exploited. Pointing out to them that what they’re doing is illegal will only bring a chuckle to their lips.
I had a whole awkward post written up making an analogy to the drug trade, but realized it would be simpler to say that while engaging in black market activities may be the best way for farmers and sellers to make a livelihood, I shed no tears for those who are caught. Hell, they have it easier than drug runners and dealers; you can get thrown physically in prison for dealing drugs, whereas a real money seller just loses their account and has to start a new one, with no real world penalty.
In World of Warcraft, I used to report every gold spammer I saw; however, this was back in the day when there weren’t as many spots to farm mats, so when you did need mats for something, it was overrun with farmers. Blizzard doesn’t seem to be doing enough to get rid of these guys, and making it so that you have to wait an hour to get the money from the auction house from something you sold hasn’t fazed them one bit.
I find this all very bizarre, as I had no idea that people could transfer any sort of “money” earned by a gaming character into real funds. Just when you think the world is as strange as it gets, it gets a little bit stranger.
Xin chao (xin chào) … or was that a rhetorical question?
Not completely, I’ve been greeted with a “Ni Hao” when my toon was in an area where someone her size wouldn’t be expected 
and it’s always cool to learn more stuff.
Well, maybe you haven’t seen anything about this, but in the higher level “pick up groups” (PUGs) I have certainly encountered these jerks - they are invariably dickheads, convinced they are the Light’s gift to Azeroth (and Outland), and a royal PITA. The farmers themselves…generally not a problem since, after all, they are there to farm as efficiently as possible, not boast, duel, or stir up trouble. Except, of course, for the bad side effects their farming causes in the game, not the least of which are the [expletive deleted] in the PUG’s that makes me wish I could throw lightning bolts for real.