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Gold farmers form trade associationJanuary 22nd, 2007 |
This is embarrassing — the gold farmer and RMT companies in Korea, such as ItemBay and Item PlayForum, have formed an industry association in order to have more leverage with the Korean government, given its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to it. It’s called the “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association,” and the CEO of ItemBay will be its first head.
Of course, it’s not hard to see why they might need this sort of legitimacy, when articles are coming out with titles like “Online Gamers Turn Tricks for Cash: The profitable world of Korean gold farming.” Never mind that the guy in the article who actually turned tricks for cash was based in Philadelphia…
Perhaps the most unique use of a “female character” was by Rob Conzelman of Philadelphia who wrote of his own experiences as a “cyber whore” for Dragonfire magazine. He explained that he tried his hand at “gold farming” but was frustrated by the amount of game time needed to acquire even a small amount of game cash. Plundering and pillaging dungeons and cities was not enough to get him the money he needed so instead he resorted to the world’s oldest profession — prostitution. He went to the largest cities in the World of Warcraft where he stripped off all of his female character’s clothing and positioned her in front of the cities’ inns and propositioned players to have a good time upstairs. It is surprising how many players actually took him, excuse me, her, up on her proposition, and she soon made much more money than she could have done tramping through dungeons.
Conzelman summed up his experience as: “I was earning zilch when I played legitimately, but cyber-whoring paid off in virtual dividends. Instantly I earned the equivalent of 80 cents and boosted my wage to a near real-life $4 an hour wage. That’s way better than those Chinese gold farmers, assuming I could maintain a rate of 12 clients an hour.”
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[...] my comment worth a blog entry of it’s own? As of today it is, thanks to Raph Koster and his blog entry regarding credit farmers creating a trade [...]
[...] Instead, they’ve formed a trade union to lobby the government, according to veteran MMO designer Raph Koster — who is also the author of the draft Declaration of the Rights of Avatars, a document we at the [...]
[...] Gold-farmers’ trade association [...]
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[...] ytorna för guldfarmare företagen som enligt vissa rapporter, funkar som regelrätt slaveri. Källa: Raph’s Website Skriven av pondefredrik@kabom.se+46 70 778 77 20 Inga kommentarer postade ännu. Kommentarerna [...]
[...] Sources: Ars Technica | GamePolitics.com | ETNews | Ralph Koster [...]
[...] fair wage and tax system for their work, not the best website but one that will get the point acrosshttp://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22…e-association/ this coupled with a documentary being formed by Chinese college students [...]
[...] (makes me wish I had that sort of skill :p) but the other half is . . .well, read for yourself! http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gold-farmers-form-trade-association/_________________ Visit my [...]
[...] virtual meets the real: Perhaps the most unique use of a “female character” was by Rob Conzelman of [...]
[...] – Gold farmers form trade association http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gold-farmers… [...]
Slightly off-topic, but the neatest summary for/against “gold farming” I’ve found is here:
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1776327
The “against” argument comes first, then the “for”.
[...] Gold farmers have lobbyists too. I did a search in TML for gold and farmer and didn’t see this one show up. Gold famers hit a new low. How fucking pathetic. __________________ Quote: [...]
[...] quoted from raph’s website This is embarrassing — the gold farmer and RMT companies in Korea, such as ItemBay and Item PlayForum, have formed an industry association in order to have more leverage with the Korean government, given its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to it. It’s called the “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association,” and the CEO of ItemBay will be its first head. [...]
[...] Playfuls.com – Play your life! You can imagine my amusement when I saw this story on some guy’s Raph’s website, about Korean gold farmers banding together, just as I was listening to “Africa Unite”. But of course, unlike Bob Marley’s song, there’s absolutely nothing commendable about the gold farmers’ [...]
And the mice voted to bell the Cat
[...] Email this | Linking Blogs | Digg It! | Comments [0] Bookmark / Find this article on: …please select document.write(‘Top 10 Jumped Up Posts in the last 24 hours’); 9 Jumps *Update* US 1.50 firmware update fixes display annoyances.. 4 Jumps ”Hold your wee for a Wii:” an audio excerpt 3 Jumps Toy SOLDIER: Square Enix Master Arms 3 Jumps Cipher Complex: Q&A with Thomas Coles 3 Jumps No warm welcome for Pelican’s PS3 Pro Cooler 2 Jumps First forays into BlackSite: Area 51 2 Jumps Simulate the 2008 U.S. Presidential race 2 Jumps Kane and Lynch: Popping up in Sony consoles 2 Jumps Trade association for… gold farmers? 2 Jumps PSP WiFile Transfer v0.01 [...]
[...] http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gold-farmers-form-trade-association/ Man they are really going for the gold this time. If they actually succeed in changing any policies it will make lawmakers do a double take…The needler is the future people. You will soon learn to respect it. Due to the fact you will FEAR its presence. O-o woah…gold farmers get unionizedRating:Rate This Topic!5 – Best43210 – WorstTopic by: donttalkPosted: Jan 24, 07 – 2:18 PMLast Reply: Jan 24, 07 – 2:18 PMForum: Off-TopicGo To: Select ForumHalo Planet Forums——————— Active Topics- Online UsersCategory: Halo 3——————— Halo: 3Category: Halo 2——————— Halo: 2- Xbox Live & Custom GamesCategory: Speculation——————— Halo: The Movie- Halo WarsCategory: Halo: Combat Evolved——————— Halo: Combat Evolved- Multiplayer- Tech Support- Halo: Custom EditionCategory: Halo Series——————— Tips | Tricks | Eggs | Glitches- Clan Central- Tournament BoardCategory: Halo Planet——————— News Discussion- General Discussion- Off-TopicCategory: Community——————— Feedback and Questions- Plaza de la VIP- Fan ContributionsCategory: Library [Archives]——————— ilovebees [Archived - Read Only]- :.:Category: Staff——————— Staff BoardReplies: 0Page: 1 ModeratorsPermissionsContact InformationModerated by Fluffaluffer, dixor, NightShade, Ecko, Noctaurus, shock.New Topics: Members Only.Replies: Members Only.Moderated: No.· Contact Us· Email this page to a friend. document.write(“”); document.write(“”); [...]
[...] nicht wirklich lustig aber ihtgendwie zu bemerkenswert um sie nicht zu posten#http://www.plasticbag.org/archives/2007/01/on_space_art_in_sebas/http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gold-farmers-form-trade-association/ Mein Leben für Ner’zhul. [...]
[...] Email this | Linking Blogs | Digg It! | Comments [0] Bookmark / Find this article on: …please select document.write(‘Top 3 Jumped Up Posts in the last 24 hours’); 2 Jumps Specialized WoW keyboards in stock once more 1 Jumps Burning Crusade burns down day one sales record 1 Jumps Trade association for… gold farmers? [...]
[...] Email this | Linking Blogs | Digg It! | Comments [0] Bookmark / Find this article on: …please select document.write(‘Top 2 Jumped Up Posts in the last 24 hours’); 1 Jumps 9Dragons and Carpe Diem developer closes 1 Jumps BBC to open a virtual world for children [...]
[...] In Korea wordt namelijk dankzij de politiek het goldfarmen bedreigd. (goldfarmen = games spelen met de intentie om gamegoud of ‘waardevolle’goederen op E-bay te verkopen) Dus dachten de farmers zich te saampjes te gaan verzetten tegen de plannen van de politici. Het verenigen van criminelen is geen uitzondering. Afzonderlijk zijn deze 21ste eeuwse outlaws makkelijk te vangen, wanneer zij zich echter verenigingen dan krijgt Korea het nog zwaar met alle nieuwe wetsvoorstellen. Het farmen kan wel de nekslag worden voor MMORP games als WoW. De economie is zo belangrijk in de game dat het essentieel is om te grinden. Elke speler zal een periode hetzelfde stuk van de game moeten herhalen tot hij/zij de beloning krijgt die ze willen. Wanneer er heel veel gefarmed wordt door hordes Koreanen en Chinezen dan gaan de droprates (hoeveelheid goud en items die random droppen) omlaag. Dat is gewoon ingeprogrammeerd om de economie te beschermen tegen de grote hoeveelheid van goederen die anders de markt verpesten. Zelf ben ik nooit zo`n ster geweest in economie maar sinds ik veel WoW speel, ben ik meer bezig met economische wetmatigheden dan in acht jaar middelbare school. De Koreanen hebben het een beetje gehad met de farmers, dat komt eigenlijk omdat zij stelselmatig de inkomstenbelasting ontduiken. Check hier een aantal blogs, er is nogal wat over te doen. Dat is in principe ook niet zo gek, we hebben het wel over de toekomst en hoe de online community zich gaat ontwikkelen. Het doet mij een beetje denken aan de hoeren, iedereen heeft altijd medelijden met de dames achter het raam en niemand gaat er ooit naar toe. Maar die vrouwen zouden er niet zitten zonder klanten. Als niemand iets van Goldfarmers zou kopen zouden ze toch niet bestaan? En check ook nog effetjes deze en deze link! [...]
[...] via raphsipoo [...]
[...] var uri = ‘http://impse.tradedoubler.com/imp?type(js)g(16572864)a(1289620)’ + new String (Math.random()).substring (2, 11); document.write(”); Om Rakaka Annonsera pĺ Rakaka var uri = ‘http://impse.tradedoubler.com/imp?type(img)g(910655)a(1289620)’ + new String (Math.random()).substring (2, 11); document.write(”); var uri = ‘http://impse.tradedoubler.com/imp?type(img)g(16442544)a(1289620)’ + new String (Math.random()).substring (2, 11); document.write(”); Publicerad 2007-01-23 21:32:55 Guldfarmare startar branschorganisation i Sydkorea De större guldfarmarföretagen i Sydkorea har förenat sina krafter och bildat sin genres första branschorganisation. “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association” kallas den nya klubben som ska bedriva lobbyverksamhet för guldfarmare. Den sydkoreanska regeringen vill förbjuda delar, eller hela den digitala försäljningen av spelitems och spelkaraktärer. Bakom intiativet ligger bland annat företagen ItemBay och Item PlayForum, och det förstnämnda företagets VD kommer agera frontfigur för den nybildade organisationen. Det verkar uppenbarligen inte handla om nĺgon facklig verksamhet för farmarna utan snarare en näringslivsgrupp för RMT- och guldfarms-ägarna. Fler och fler länder vill lagstifta eller krympa ytorna för guldfarmare företagen som enligt vissa rapporter, funkar som regelrätt slaveri. Källa: Raph’s Website Skriven av greykarngreykarn@gmail.com #1 Inlagd av 2007-01-23 22:31:33Seriöst, är det inte barnarbetare som fĺr farma? :d Kommentarerna sponsras av: [...]
[...] http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gold-farmers-form-trade-association/ Free Wowfeng!_________________¤´¨) ¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨) (¸.·´ (¸.·`¤ Thren – for all your dps needs! ¤ "Eat Phoenix Down, Undead Scum!" [...]
[...] Read — Commentary from Raph KosterRead — Korean ET News story (paid. reg. required)Read [...]
[...] When will you be getting the expansion? Poll closed!Winner: Midnight opening, with 4 votes. Close date: 1/16/2007 1:00:00 AM News How big is Azeroth?Added by Poga on 1/23/2007 12:34 PMBlizzard isn’t telling so this guy went ahead and measured it himself.Gold farmers and cyber-whores!Added by Poga on 1/23/2007 12:33 PMWhat can you really say when Raph Koster goes off on Korean gold famers forming a union and cyber-whores? Just read it for yourself.Welcome to Patch Day!Added by Poga on 1/9/2007 10:06 AM2.0.3 is up and we have patch notes! Some damn big patch notes especially for druids and rogues.Happy Holidays!Added by Rafias on 12/24/2006 10:54 PMHappy Holidays to all you LV folks, and all our friends.Hope you get tons of phat BoE Epics under the tree this year!Get out the lube, Blizzard’s at it againAdded by Poga on 12/12/2006 2:24 PMJust a day after Drysc said that they weren’t goint to raise the cost of the PvP rewards, here comes the announcement that instead, as of today, they’re lowering the amount of honor you get in each battleground.It sure would have been nice if they’d mentioned this before.Honor Cost of PvP Rewards Going DOWNAdded by Poga on 12/11/2006 7:07 AMOk, I’m going to dispel a rumour that I myself am guilty of propogating. I had heard there was a blue post saying that the honor costs of the PvP rewards was being scaled up dramatically. HERE is a link to a blue post (Drysc) stating that the honor costs will actually be moved DOWN either with the expansion or just after it releases. So my apologies to the people I had inadvertently mislead and pardon me while I whisk the sweat from my brow… I had been panicking myself.How about that LAG?Added by Poga on 12/8/2006 5:44 AMIf you’ve been seeing a lot more lag since the patch, take a look at this forum posting that describes a fix for it. It seems that part of the 2.0 patch was a change in how the cache is handled but they seem to have left out creating the cache directories themselves. Without these directories, WoW isn’t using the cache and thus causing more network traffic and file reading.To fix the problem, create this directory path: World of WarcraftCacheWDBenUSPatch coming December 5thAdded by Poga on 11/29/2006 10:54 AMAccording to the post by Drysc in the official forums:The next World of Warcraft content update, “Before the Storm,” will include the new PvP Honor System, as well as other new features that will prepare us for The Burning Crusade expansion. We are currently planning to release this content update next Tuesday, December 5. Please note that the patch date is still subject to change, and we will keep you informed of any changes to the plan as they happen. If the patch goes live as planned, this will be the last week that new PvP ranks under the old Honor System can be earned, as the patch will immediately introduce the new Honor System. We will run one final honor calculation on December 5 and update everyone’s ranking accordingly on that date so that players who achieve a new rank for that week have the opportunity to display that title on their character. Please note, however, that no new PvP rewards will be unlocked for purchase with this final “old Honor System” calculation, regardless of any increase in rank. For those who have been seeking high-rank PvP armor and weapons, note that the new Honor System will still include these item rewards, and it will actually be easier to earn these items under the new Honor System than under the old Honor System. Those who wish to see how their PvP abilities measure up against other players will still be able to do so under the new Arena System. View News Archives RSS var control = document.getElementById(“TopBar1_txtUserName”); if ( control != null ) { control.focus(); } _uacct = “UA-1156809-1″;urchinTracker(); [...]
[...] So, while the rest of us virtual citizens are struggling for our representation, some gold farmers are not so disorganized « The Virtual Citizenship Association [...]
Legitimacy is the name of the game here. I suspect that there are american counterparts involved with this as well. Future games will either embrace and design for RMT activity as an integral function, or legal teams will soon be earning their keep.
[...] Trade Association For Gold Farmers [Raph Koster via Dark Diamond Network] [...]
[...] Read — Commentary from Raph KosterRead — Korean ET News story (paid. reg. required) [...]
[...] I posted about gold farming on MMORPGs earlier (I’m actually working gold-farming into my new novel quite a bit). Apparently, Korean gold-farming firms are forming a trade association. [...]
[...] Raph Koster flags a report from Korea’s ETNews (subscription only) that describes a new trade association that’s been formed by Korean gold farmers and real-money trade sites to lobby the Korean government, which has been considering regulation of the sector. This is just the kind of issue we’re often concerned with over at the Second Life Herald, and which Herald founder Urizenus Sklar (aka Peter Ludlow) and I address quite a bit in the book we recently wrote (which should perhaps appear between covers by the end of this year). While it may be quite apparent to most readers of this blog, a lot of the general public has little notion that there’s so much more going on in virtual worlds than simply games. Real-world issues like this and related issues of taxation, law and contractual obligations are only just now beginning to be examined and worked out by the courts in various countries. Call it a first step in the rationalization of the metaverse. In the best case scenario, it should lead to the online portion of our lives becoming more secure and more grounded, and less of the wild-west scenario it’s still often portrayed as. games, governance, law, metaverse, Politics, virtual commerce, virtual worlds [...]
[...] This is just sad This is why MMORPGs scare me. [...]
A few questions come to mind:
Can you min/max this?
Is there a WOW addOn for this: “Please note in the latest WOW patch the XXX button may not work….
What are all those BE female avatars doing outside the UC inn?
[...] Y nunca he creĂdo más cierta esa frase hasta que me entero, por el blog de Raph Koster, de la curiosa forma que habĂa encontrado un chico de Philladelphia para ganar dinero en los juegos online. Recuerdo que lo mas “extraño” que he echo era encontrar un nicho de mercado provechoso en WoW (concretamente un tipo de pez usado para una pocion de alto nivel), pero ese individuo me supera. [...]
[...] Raph KosterRead — Korean ET News story (paid. reg. required)ReadPermalinkEmail thisLinking BlogsComments[1] [...]
[...] Link [...]
[...] http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gold-farmers-form-trade-association/ [...]
[...] Here is some fun and exciting information Montana Skye Honored Patron Joined: 28 Oct 2006 Posts: 178 Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:50 pm Post subject: Here is some fun and exciting information http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gold-farmers-form-trade-association/ it almost makes you want to laugh Audina Resident Cleric Joined: 02 Mar 2005 Posts: 1661 Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 3:58 pm Post subject: It sure made me laugh._________________ – Audina Anulo’za – Arcadian Exiles Signature by Divine/Zeverai the Raven, Mythic Forum Index -> Banter Page 1 of 1 All times are GMT – 4 Hours Select a forum Harvest Public Forums—————-Harvest General & EventsTales of the HarvestApplication RecordsThe Foundry Harvest Private Forums—————-Members OOCWith Pain, PleasureCommand Tent Raven Mythic IC Forums—————-Character ProfilesIn the Inn, And Out Of ItStories and SongJournalsUnchainedOther Inns and Taverns Raven Mythic OOC Forums—————-Information ArchivesBanterImagesQuizzes and TestsIryssinia’s House of Rants You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Raven template v1.0 © D.S.Original Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group [...]
[...] http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gold-farmers-form-trade-association/ it almost makes you want to laugh [...]
[...] Trade Association For Gold Farmers [Raph Koster via Dark Diamond Network] [...]
[...] Gold-farmers’ trade association Korean “gold-farmers” (people who accumulate and sell in-game wealth) have formed a trade-association in order to lobby the government for better treatment. Gold-farmers sometimes just play a lot of games to get their items, but many use “cheats” like scripts that exploit bugs to accumulate wealth, or even hire sweatshops full of people to do the repetitive busy-work for them (something I explore in my story Anda’s Game, which appears in Overclocked, my new collection). This is embarrassing — the gold farmer and RMT companies in Korea, such as ItemBay and Item PlayForum, have formed an industry association in order to have more leverage with the Korean government, given its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to it. It’s called the “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association,” and the CEO of ItemBay will be its first head. Link [...]
[...] http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gol…sociation/ “Bringin awesome to a whole new level” http://ctprofiles.net/677731 [...]
[...] http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gold-farmers-form-trade-association/_________________Accipitor – 62 Warlock…….Scrudzilla – 60 Shaman Azyxxi – 53 Hunter…………Apodyopsis – 32 Warrior Agapetae – 28 Priest………Deiparous – 13 Druid Microlipet – 15 Mage……….Rupicoline – 14 Rogue _______________ Forever Casual/Alt [...]
[...] For… The Union Label… Look For… The Union Label…: “Gold farmers form trade association. Or more accurately, apparently, the Korean version ofa PAC. You know your little industry’s all grown up when it has its own lobbyists! Clearly, there are soil preservation issues that must be addressed by any RMT industry group. [...]
Korean Gold Farmers Form Trade Association…
Korean gold farmers aren’t taking the news of possible governmental regulation lying down. Instead, they’ve formed a trade union to lobby the government, according to veteran MMO designer Raph Koster — who is also the author of the draft Declaration…
[...] Gold farmers form trade association. Or more accurately, apparently, the Korean version of a PAC. You know your little industry’s all grown up when it has its own lobbyists! Clearly, there are soil preservation issues that must be addressed by any RMT industry group. [...]
Korean Gold Farmers Form Trade Association…
Raph Koster flags a report from Korea’s ETNews (subscription only) that describes a new trade association that’s been formed by Korean gold farmers and real-money trade sites to lobby the Korean government, which has been considering regula…
[...] http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gold-farmers-form-trade-association/ [...]
Yes, but those slave auctions weren’t for sex, they were for fun. People would go bid on their friends and have a fun time. I was sold for 2 mil :p
[...] For those of you like me who aren’t about to pay for a Korean online newspaper, Raph Koster summed this little parable up well in his blog. [...]
[...] Making more with prostitution We’ve read enough about Chinese and Korean companies where underpaid employees are working hard to earn money in virtual words by collecting valuable objects (farming). Prosititution however appears to be more lucrative for some…;-) [...]
[...] Many of you read this column because you are against the RMT (Real Money Trading) industry. Be afraid. Be very afraid. The Korean powerhouse RMT companies have formed a “pressure group” to persuade the government that what they are doing is legal trading. [Story here] For those of you like me who aren’t about to pay for a Korean online newspaper, Raph Koster summed this little parable up well in his blog. [...]
[...] Link [...]
I remember that in SWG we even had slave auctions. Players willingly became slaves for a set amount of time and got a cut of the sales while the organisers used the money to finance their city.
[...] http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22/gold-farmers-form-trade-association/_________________Camalus: “I like to call myself the Honky Crusader” [...]
[...] All the news is bad these days See what I mean? __________________ To [asomadus]: Arrr! It be him what scuttles ye postcount! [Asomadus]: Yarrr! I pilage and plunder ye postcount to the bottom of Davy Jones’ Locker. Congratulations! You just improved your faction standing with The Benign Conservers to a whole new degree! They now see you as Enemy to them Are you looking for an organization? Make sure you pick the right one. 2b or !2b, that is teh question–Hamleet [...]
[...] Cory Doctorow: Korean “gold-farmers” (people who accumulate and sell in-game wealth) have formed a trade-association in order to lobby the government for better treatment. Gold-farmers sometimes just play a lot of games to get their items, but many use “cheats” like scripts that exploit bugs to accumulate wealth, or even hire sweatshops full of people to do the repetitive busy-work for them (something I explore in my story Anda’s Game, which appears in Overclocked, my new collection). This is embarrassing — the gold farmer and RMT companies in Korea, such as ItemBay and Item PlayForum, have formed an industry association in order to have more leverage with the Korean government, given its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to it. It’s called the “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association,” and the CEO of ItemBay will be its first head. Link [...]
[...] We hebben inmiddels genoeg gelezen en gehoord over de Chinese en Koreaanse bedrijven waar hard gewerkt wordt om geld te verdienen in virtuele werelden door het verzamelen van waardevolle objecten (farming). Prostitutie blijkt voor sommigen echter lucratiever…;-) [...]
[...] [Raph Koster’s Website] [...]
funny thing is you can only rape opposite faction
“I was earning zilch when I played legitimately, but cyber-whoring paid off in virtual dividends. Instantly I earned the equivalent of 80 cents and boosted my wage to a near real-life $4 an hour wage. That’s way better than those Chinese gold farmers, assuming I could maintain a rate of 12 clients an hour.”
That’s not a better way to earn money than Chinese gold farmers! As a cyber-whore you’d need some writing skills to provide adequate service to your clients, which is a lot more taxing to your brain than repetitive button-mashing. Anything that requires brainwork should pay more than manual labour.
Also, gold farmers who work in organised sweatshops probably have more efficient ways to farm money than an average player who just wants to have a go at it.
Plus, Conzelman could earn that only if he maintained a rate of 12 clients an hour. Unless he programmed a chatterbot to do his bidding, I don’t see how cyber-whoring is a more efficient way of earning money than gold farming where online games are concerned.
[...] Gold Farmers Fighting Back Against S. Korea Law Banning Gold Farming http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/01/22…e-association/ The battle over gold farming is heating up. I wish the US would pass a law against gold farming like South Korea is about to do. Then those annoying in-game spams would be illegal here, as well. South Korea is way ahead of us in gaming culture. Why must I live in such a backwards country? ‘This is embarrassing — the gold farmer and RMT companies in Korea, such as ItemBay and Item PlayForum, have formed an industry association in order to have more leverage with the Korean government, given its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to it. It’s called the “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association,” and the CEO of ItemBay will be its first head. Of course, it’s not hard to see why they might need this sort of legitimacy, when articles are coming out with titles like “Online Gamers Turn Tricks for Cash: The profitable world of Korean gold farming.” Never mind that the guy in the article who actually did this for cash was based in Philadelphia…’I recommend you keep reading the article to get to the part about the stupid WoW player who decided that prostitution was a more effective way for him to farm gold. Pathetic, but I guess the upside is no virtual STDs to catch… I’d love to post the rest of the article here, but I’m not sure that some of the language is suitable for the British school children who play this game and read these forums. Go to the link to read about it. It’s very short. (eek, wotta geek) If you are intersted in this phenomenon, which has rapidly grown to a BILLION dollar a year industry, you could read this article: http://english.ohmynews.com/articlev…41329&rel_no=1 <…> What is gold farming? Gold farmers are players who sell online — usually on one of the auction sites like ebay and itembay — the magical items and treasures that they find in the online games such as Lineage or World of Warcraft. Sometimes they even sell their characters. It is surprising just how much people will pay for these items and characters. Of course gold farming is not unique to Korea; in fact the Chinese players are often despised by Korean players for their craftiness and zealousness in the pursuit of the most valuable items, and are believed to have the largest number of gold farmers in the world — up to a half million players at one time. "If you search online, you find most gold farmers are from China. China is really pretty dominant in this industry right now," said Jin Ge who is doing his doctoral research on gold farming.[1] <…> Ok, now you can watch this YouTube video of a typical Chinese apartment housing "gold farmers" who are hired to play games like Lineage and WoW day and night. http://youtube.com/watch?v=ho5Yxe6UVv4 When you consider how much people are paid in China compared to the US, this video may provide a more complex and nuanced perspective on the phenomenon of gold farming there. It is interesting to see the presentation of it as little more than another example of globalization: When I was in America, I found a meal, a haircut, and many other things are 8 times more expensive than in China just as one American dollar equals eight Chinese yuan. But currently it’s impossible to transmit a meal made in China or Chinese labor to America, otherwise it would be easy to make money. But I suddenly realized that exporting virtual items thorugh the Internet is the same as transmitting Chinese labor to America. Clearly, one person’s labor is another person’s hobby; we see this in gardening, in woodworking, and many other areas. If virtual worlds can serve as a channel for moving labor transparently in a manner akin to outsourcing, what other opportunities for labor transmission will virtual worlds provide? Hmm, food for thought. The web is being used as a tool for global wealth redistribution. Maybe Marx will be proven right after all, and by Mao’s children. SR "The reward for a thing well done is to have done it." – Ralph Waldo Emerson Member of The Sublime permadeath guild on Thelanis. http://www.thesublimeguild.com How to locate us in DDO to join the guild: http://www.thesublimeguild.com/viewtopic.php?t=294 My Characters: Strictly Rockers III – 9th level dual-wield Dwarf Fighter Rockette – 6th level Drow Elf Ranger Havatar da Great – 5th level Dwarf Wizard Oldtoby – 3rd level Dwarf Cleric [...]
[...] digg it Korean Gold Farmers Form Trade Association [...]
[...] Bloggers January 23, 2007 01:57 Gold farmers form trade association This is embarrassing — the gold farmer and RMT companies in Korea, such as ItemBay and Item PlayForum, have formed an industry association in order to have more leverage with the Korean government, given its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to [...] Source: Raph's Koster Website Categories: Bloggers 01:17 Do you find the concepts "web2.0," "user-generated content" and "social networking" confusing? Obtuse? Let me make it clear. Meet Maria Antonia Sampaio Rosa, otherwise known as Mia Rose. I found her in two quick clicks. I was on YouTube watching something LAME sent to me by a friend (how unusual)… Source: SunSword Categories: Bloggers [...]
The very first player-run business in UO was a hooker.
I’ve seen cyber-prostitution before, but this reinforces my claims that those who did it were actually guys. Thanks Raph.
mean time to cyborz, anyone?
How is cyber-whoring (for virtual payment) an illegitimate activity? That’s emergent gameplay.
raph, along with the strange weather i can safely agree
we broke it.
Un compañero de trabajo dijo una vez: La realidad, a veces, supera a la ficciĂłn. Los juegos online superan a la realidad y la ficciĂłn. – Un jirou anĂłnimo Y nunca he creĂdo más cierta esa frase hasta que me entero, por el blog de Raph Koster
boycotts and advertising bans, the market for illicit in-game currency continues to thrive. Can we really blame the gold farmers for filling a need that the market obviously demands? [Via Boing Boing] Read — Commentary from Raph Koster Read — Korean ET News story (paid. reg. required) Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments [IMG]
boycotts and advertising bans, the market for illicit in-game currency continues to thrive. Can we really blame the gold farmers for filling a need that the market obviously demands? [Via Boing Boing] Read — Commentary from Raph Koster Read — Korean ET News story (paid. reg. required) Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments [IMG]
its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to it. It’s called the “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association,” and the CEO of ItemBay will be its first head. Link posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:07:41 PM permalink | blogs’ comments
its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to it. It’s called the “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association,” and the CEO of ItemBay will be its first head. Link [IMG]
its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to it. It’s called the “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association,” and the CEO of ItemBay will be its first head. Link [IMG]
Gold farmers form trade association. Thanks Ant and Boing Boing… Stratics Central’s next Everquest “House of Commons” community IRC chat is scheduled for January 24 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time… Infogrames Entertainment: Successful Public Offering
its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to it. It’s called the “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association,” and the CEO of ItemBay will be its first head. Link [IMG]