I think this little preview movie might provide a more complex and nuanced perspective on the phenomenon of gold farming in China. It’s interesting to see the presentation of it as little more than another example of globalization:
Earlier I mentioned the ways in which countries are chopping the Internet apart, creating national walled gardens where the perceptions of reality are literally different, thanks to the filtering of information.
I also referenced the increasingly migratory nature of today’s online gamer, moving entire guilds from game to game, often finding new niche titles to occupy their time.
I see both of these as forms of Balkanization, driven by the same imperatives related to trust.
I think that this is probably long overdue.
We as a gaming community cannot rely solely on the industry lobbies to make the case for games to Washington. We need gamers to be making the case.
