🚀 go-pugleaf

An article from the new York Times. Wow how can I get this job?? ;-) -KC


Ogre to Slay? Outsource It to Chinese
Dec 9 2005

   FUZHOU, China -- 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.

   "For 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, my colleagues and I are killing
   monsters," said a 23-year-old gamer who works here in this makeshift
   factory and goes by the online code name Wandering. "I make about $250
   a month, which is pretty good compared with the other jobs I've had.
   And I can play games all day."

   He and his comrades have created yet another new business out of cheap
   Chinese labor. They are tapping into the fast-growing world of
   "massively multiplayer online games," which involve role playing and
   often revolve around fantasy or warfare in medieval kingdoms or
   distant galaxies.

   With more than 100 million people worldwide logging on every month to
   play interactive computer games, game companies are already generating
   revenues of $3.6 billion a year from subscriptions, according to DFC
   Intelligence, which tracks the computer gaming market.

   For the Chinese in game-playing factories like these, though, it is
   not all fun and games. These workers have strict quotas and are
   supervised by bosses who equip them with computers, software and
   Internet connections to thrash online trolls, gnomes and ogres.

   As they grind through the games, they accumulate virtual currency that
   is valuable to game players around the world. The games allow players
   to trade currency to other players, who can then use it to buy better
   armor, amulets, magic spells and other accoutrements to climb to
   higher levels or create more powerful characters.

   The Internet is now filled with classified advertisements from small
   companies - many of them here in China - auctioning for real money
   their powerful figures, called avatars. These ventures join individual
   gamers who started marketing such virtual weapons and wares a fewGetem
   years ago to help support their hobby.

   "I'm selling an account with a level-60 Shaman," says one ad from a
   player code-named Silver Fire, who uses QQ, the popular Chinese
   instant messaging service here in China. "If you want to know more
   details, let's chat on QQ."

   This virtual economy is blurring the line between fantasy and reality.
   A few years ago, online subscribers started competing with other
   players from around the world. And before long, many casual gamers
   started asking other people to baby-sit for their accounts, or play
   while they were away.

   That has spawned the creation of hundreds - perhaps thousands - of
   online gaming factories here in China. By some estimates, there are
   well over 100,000 young people working in China as full-time gamers,
   toiling away in dark Internet cafes, abandoned warehouses, small
   offices and private homes.

   Most of the players here actually make less than a quarter an hour,
   but they often get room, board and free computer game play in these
   "virtual sweatshops."

   "It's unimaginable how big this is," says Chen Yu, 27, who employs 20
   full-time gamers here in Fuzhou. "They say that in some of these
   popular games, 40 or 50 percent of the players are actually Chinese
   farmers."

   For many online gamers, the point is no longer simply to play. Instead
   they hunt for the fanciest sword or the most potent charm, or seek a
   shortcut to the thrill of sparring at the highest level. And all of
   that is available - for a price.

   "What we're seeing here is the emergence of virtual currencies and
   virtual economies," says Peter Ludlow, a longtime gamer and a
   professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
   "People are making real money here, so these games are becoming like
   real economies."
...

Full article at -
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/technology/09gaming.html