Yi-Shan-Guan; 21st centaury racism vs Chinese MMO players

[Ender Wiggin]

http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001493.php?page=1

Wow, just wow. I can't believe how stupid some people are. And I find the 1870 comparisson apt.

[FriedRiceNSpice]

The truth is gold farmers really do screw up the game. Every experienced WoW gamer knows how annoying and iritating gold farmer can be. It is pathetic how many gold farmers sell their cyber-gold for real money. I mean, why dont you just go out and get a job and play the game its meant to be played!?!?! (A good gold farmer can make about $5-$10 an hour)

However, WoW gamers hate all gold farmers equally, regardless of race. White gold farmers screw up the game just as much as asian gold farmers, and are treated with equal contempt.

[Ender Wiggin]

5-10$ an hour? you do realize that that is minimum wage in some countries and if you dont like dirty work its an golden oppurtunity?

They are simply doing a boring repetitive task that no one else wants to do. And some people live day to day with this money maybe even supporting families.

[FuManChu]

5-10$ an hour? you do realize that that is minimum wage in some countries and if you dont like dirty work its an golden oppurtunity?

They are simply doing a boring repetitive task that no one else wants to do. And some people live day to day with this money maybe even supporting families.

That may be the case, but I believe that they are breaking the law. I know that for other games similar to WoW the companies in question retain all rights over their in-game items. Just because there is a demand for something does not make supplying it right. As FRNS said, farmers spoil games for other people by driving prices up. I'm not so sure that this is any different from DVD/music piracy.

[Ender Wiggin]

woah woah woah, an economics teacher says that inflatation is not caused by farming because there is already an infitnit supply of money being fed into the market. If anything they're helping combat inflation seriously read a little into the article. In Lineage II Farmers are considered important in the ingame market to keep things balanced.

Selling ingame currency for real world currency I do not believe is illegal in anyways for your not selling illegal copies of the game you are only selling an item inside, kinda like selling an account for 5000$ on ebay.

Infact If I am not mistaken I know they're are games that actually operate on a principle of the more you play the more money in RL you can make.

[xihaoli]

Well....you must also realize that the only way that a person can afford a Pentium 4 computer, a whole day of electricity, and an envirement to use it all is in a developed country right? Unless theres some kind of factory in a third world country with a gang of children gold farming WoW all day long....

[Ender Wiggin]

Maybe they actually go somewhere to work? read the article.

[xihaoli]

Im just saying that this does not represent a "golden oppertunity" for people in third world nations as the only people who have time for such vanities are those in developed western nations.

[Ender Wiggin]

I am not saying it is, I am saying that for those who do not wish to do manual labour or some other demeaning job like washing dishes for a living can do this instead, make the same amount of money and play a video game while doing so.

[FriedRiceNSpice]

Yes, it is good money compared to the average income of third and second world nations, but it is pathetic for people to try to make a living out of doing so.I mean, why not get a real job and make some contribution to society!?!?! And for those people who have jobs... why not just enjoy the game? I can tell you that farming is NOT FUN. Gold farmers make the game less fun for everyone else, and that is the point I am trying to get at. Their selfishness and greed is ruining the experience of all the gamers who want to play the game the way it is meant to be played. Plus- 10+ hours of WoW a day really kills your eyes. That is why I don't play anymore. Also, it is illegal, and the selling of accounts is also said to be illegal by Blizzard Entertainment. However, Blizzard has failed to attempt to crack down in either case. Items in game can be considered intellectual property of Blizzard Entertainment.

[Obcession]

Name any famous basketball star and I can guarantee you he earns more than the US President. Who contributes more to society?

[FriedRiceNSpice]

Name any famous basketball star and I can guarantee you he earns more than the US President. Who contributes more to society?

Well, the president (Bush) only contributes to make society worse. :roll:

People enjoy watching basketball players (or they used to at least), but no one finds watching people farm gold is enjoyable.

And after reading through that site, I cannot see how the anti-goldfarming sentiment among WoW players thats is portrayed in that site bears any resemblance to how real WoW players think and act. Either that site is 100% BS or it cites only the most extreme examples. I'd like to point out that on EVERY professional WoW forum there is, users making racist comments have their posts deleted are are banned immediately.

[Kampfwagen]

Trust me. Every community has the people they dislike. Online is no exception. Being an FPS player, I can assure you that a good portion of the community I play with is something close to being completely mornic. You have l33t gamers, the ones that cheat, campers, rocket-whores, etc. etc.

But Gold Farming? Yich. That is one of the surest signs that the people doing this sort of thing have totaly lost their social lives and their minds. Its rather pathetic when someone can post something as ludicrise as this, then have people stupid enough to pay REAL money for FAKE money. Personaly, I would rather just work hard for it. Or overfish or something (Like I used to do on Animal Crossing...I love that game). Though I have never really played these games, it seems absolutely ridiculous.

Though I apologize if by not being a member of the WoW community, I miss out entirely on something...

[Spike]

That may be the case, but I believe that they are breaking the law. I know that for other games similar to WoW the companies in question retain all rights over their in-game items. Just because there is a demand for something does not make supplying it right. As FRNS said, farmers spoil games for other people by driving prices up. I'm not so sure that this is any different from DVD/music piracy.
It's not illegal to gold farm, you actually think they should get arrested or executed by the government for playing a virtual game? At the most it violates the game's EULA, which means they should get their accounts cancelled.
Well....you must also realize that the only way that a person can afford a Pentium 4 computer, a whole day of electricity, and an envirement to use it all is in a developed country right? Unless theres some kind of factory in a third world country with a gang of children gold farming WoW all day long....
Well I've read in an article that some entrepreneurs in China set up LAN's in old warehouses and employ people to play these games. They then sell off the items and characters to people who have the money but don't want to spend hours and hours lvl'ing up characters. Of course they're not exactly proud of what they're doing but it gets them by in the meantime.

[PanAsian]

Well I've read in an article that some entrepreneurs in China set up LAN's in old warehouses and employ people to play these games. They then sell off the items and characters to people who have the money but don't want to spend hours and hours lvl'ing up characters. Of course they're not exactly proud of what they're doing but it gets them by in the meantime.

Getting by making a buck is all fine and good but this kind of 'work' could be a very inefficient allocation of resources with minimal returns to the individual and society. It's relatively expensive to get a PC with the specs and setup needed to play WoW in some developing country like China and for people who are tech savvy enough to be farmers on WoW, they could be learning and doing a lot more with that PC than earning a few bucks farming in some game. Hopefully this is more of an inspiration and opportunity for these workers to learn and do more productive things with computers than just earning a few extra bucks.

[FuManChu]

It's not illegal to gold farm, you actually think they should get arrested or executed by the government for playing a virtual game? At the most it violates the game's EULA, which means they should get their accounts cancelled.

There's nothing wrong with farming - it's selling those in-game items in the real world that's wrong.

They then sell off the items and characters to people who have the money but don't want to spend hours and hours lvl'ing up characters. Of course they're not exactly proud of what they're doing but it gets them by in the meantime.

And it spoils the game for everyone else because little kiddies who pinch their parents' credit cards (or spend all of their allowance) can buy infinite amounts of money. I remember someone talking about this (on another forum) and his experiences playing another game called Guild Wars. When a patch was released that made farming more challenging, all the prices for things dropped heavily because the farmers that sell their gold on ebay couldn't make enough money.