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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:44 am Post subject:

Nice article!

It is fun to see more gaming related stuff. Related as in not a review (though those are nice too).

Gold farming is a very real problem. I play EverQuest 2. Used to play a lot but then Kalle Kitten was born. Now I play... more seldom.

Apart from the facts of sweat shop labour Dyph mentions in the article the Gold Farmers (dubbed Pharmers in EQ2) are a gaming problem. The person doing the labour usually plays several characters at once on several computers. "Follow" and "assist" commands are used to control characters and do just that to the main/played character.

The pharming is a real and very disruptive problem. Farmable assets in EQ2 - be it bushes, random treasure, or monsters that have good loot - can be sparce. This is especially true in the higher levels of the game and ecpecially true regarding rare special "Named" monsters. ("Named" becouse they have a name (duh!) and are mostly hard to get to, find, and kill.)

I should think the problem is the same in WoW.

Personally I report any and all gold sellers/pharmers to the admins as soon as I can. Not becouse the buying of gold is in any way unfair. But becouse the pharming of the gold/loot is often very disruptive.

/Akely

PS: Dyph is a CHEATER! Razz

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:56 am Post subject:

Bah. I'm more of a person with 250 gold and a sour taste in my mouth. I really don't want to use it even though I shelled out money for it, so I'm seriously considering sitting in game, watching for low level chars and just mailing them each a gold. Or something like that.

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 5:22 am Post subject:

all the more reason not to play a game you pay monthly to play

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 5:24 am Post subject:

Always charming. Then again isnt' everything made in places like that now? COmputers, Shoes, Clothes, WOW GOld stashes....

Come to think of it.....I can't remember the last time I saw anything that said Made in Canada.......or the US for that matter.

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 5:24 am Post subject:

skildude wrote:
all the more reason not to play a game you pay monthly to play

Yep. If there was a reason for me to cancel my subscription (other than not playing it in weeks), this is it.

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 5:30 am Post subject:

I saw this on tv on the weekend.

its just a job for them, like any other. they get to sit down and play the game and they earn about the same they would in a factory. They interviewed lots of the people farming and they preferred that kind of job to a job of manual labor.

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 5:33 am Post subject:

creed wrote:
Always charming. Then again isnt' everything made in places like that now? COmputers, Shoes, Clothes, WOW GOld stashes....

Come to think of it.....I can't remember the last time I saw anything that said Made in Canada.......or the US for that matter.

I still see things made in the US. I've been known to drink items that were made in the US and Canada.

Don't talk to me while I'm driving. You'll make me spill my crown and coke. Laughing

Not really people. I don't drink and drive. Be responsible.

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 7:33 am Post subject:

its an issue on all mmorpg's anarchy online has farmers as well. in anarchy's case they're farming alien loot after building a city of their own. almost al the city plots are owned by people farming so getting useful alien loot is next to impossible. What irritates me is even though its against the acceptable use policy the game providers don't prevent or punish it.

Leg Humper Joined: 11 Oct 2003 Posts: 5994

Good article.

Poor people in places like mainland China earn very little in Real Life and to them this Gold Mining in WOW is just a job like any other, maybe it is much better than many 'dirty conditions' jobs. Thinking about it though there could be a problem for some them of with repetitive strain injury RSI restricting some to a short working life and then to be an unable to work with their hands cripple, only fitted to the work that some do which is not disimilar to a donkey just carrying loads from diggings for construction or mining, (real life sweat and blood mining).
They are probably working at least eight hours every day of the week, or even twelve hours every single day of the year in a drafty (cold in winter, baking in summer), shack without breaks for the toilet or food/drinks.

A short working life is not restricted to just this type of work; many are physically crippled in many of the few jobs they can find. There is little in worker protection in the third world.

Could Gold Mining etc in the Virtual World of Games be made into a form of Fair Traid? Workers paid most of what they actually earn at a fair rate for their location without being ripped off by greedy bosses and the capitalists of the world between them and the consumer!

Taking it even further. Penetrating to the core of these games of virtual life, where Real Life money is spent, there is a controller who at the press of a key could release thousands in gold into the markets of these games every day or hour. The sale of this 'free' gold could be used by properly controlled charities or voluntary organizations for the benefit of the third world while they do some useful work for themselves like growing food.

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 10:13 am Post subject:

foxinhand wrote:
Good article.

Poor people in places like mainland China earn very little in Real Life and to them this Gold Mining in WOW is just a job like any other, maybe it is much better than many 'dirty conditions' jobs. Thinking about it though there could be a problem for some them of with repetitive strain injury RSI restricting some to a short working life and then to be an unable to work with their hands cripple, only fitted to the work that some do which is not disimilar to a donkey just carrying loads from diggings for construction or mining, (real life sweat and blood mining).
They are probably working at least eight hours every day of the week, or even twelve hours every single day of the year in a drafty (cold in winter, baking in summer), shack without breaks for the toilet or food/drinks.

A short working life is not restricted to just this type of work; many are physically crippled in many of the few jobs they can find. There is little in worker protection in the third world.

Could Gold Mining etc in the Virtual World of Games be made into a form of Fair Traid? Workers paid most of what they actually earn at a fair rate for their location without being ripped off by greedy bosses and the capitalists of the world between them and the consumer!

Taking it even further. Penetrating to the core of these games of virtual life, where Real Life money is spent, there is a controller who at the press of a key could release thousands in gold into the markets of these games every day or hour. The sale of this 'free' gold could be used by properly controlled charities or voluntary organizations for the benefit of the third world while they do some useful work for themselves like growing food.

I'm working on information gathering for my followup article where I'll go into detail on how the actual practice of selling gold is borderline illegal, as it's only a short step away from being a "Real Money Transaction." Mind if I include that idea in my article?

Leg Humper Joined: 11 Oct 2003 Posts: 5994

Dypheron wrote:
foxinhand wrote:
Good article.

Poor people....blahh.. do some useful work for themselves like growing food.

I'm working on information gathering for my followup article where I'll go into detail on how the actual practice of selling gold is borderline illegal, as it's only a short step away from being a "Real Money Transaction." Mind if I include that idea in my article?

Use it anyway you find useful. Smile

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 11:23 am Post subject:

foxinhand wrote:
Dypheron wrote:
foxinhand wrote:
Good article.

Poor people....blahh.. do some useful work for themselves like growing food.

I'm working on information gathering for my followup article where I'll go into detail on how the actual practice of selling gold is borderline illegal, as it's only a short step away from being a "Real Money Transaction." Mind if I include that idea in my article?

Use it anyway you find useful.

I think the idea is valid. The problem mining/pharming can pose is that it can disrupt the game for other players. That, in all cases I know of, is against the EULA of the game.

Buf the idea expanded upon and implemented from the start... that could work!

/Akely

Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:19 pm Post subject:

Good article, and relevant, considering that this week a Korean woman became a millionaire on a MMORPG...

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2006/11/second_lifes_fi.html

Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:39 pm Post subject:

FYI, Blizzard doesn't seem to give a damn.

- This is no in-game way to report a player. None that I've seen yet.

- The in-game spammers have player names such as "aaaaassdfg" basically random characters and I don't mean in a clever fantasy name way. It's bleeding obvious.

- The chat channels get flooded with ads, and just now when I went to check my in-game mail, what do I get? The equivalent of email spam.

So you all know I'm half chinese..... so.... wanna buy some gold? Twisted Evil

DSTG_II wrote:

skildude wrote:

creed wrote:

DSTG_II wrote:

foxinhand wrote:

DSTG_II wrote:

Dypheron wrote:

foxinhand wrote:

foxinhand wrote:

Dypheron wrote:

foxinhand wrote: