Ogre to Slay? Outsource It to Chinese (People Pay Other to Play Video Games for Them)

New York Times ^ | December 9, 2005 | DAVID BARBOZA

[nickcarraway]

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

[King Prout]

fun in what?

[knews_hound]

LOL

Great minds....

[King Prout]

the random interlude of indolence is often good :)

[Paul_Denton]

I do not know what that means lol

[tuliptree76]

Can I blame you for other things too? :-)

[King Prout]

your warcraft addicts are exactly correct.
I never played warcraft (or any other massively online whatchamahoozit) but I used to play old-fashioned RPGs, and if some GIT tried to go on vacation and let a pinch-hitter pro-from-Dover player run his character through the rough spots... we'd have confiscated his dice and torched his game-books.

[King Prout]

translation: "kickin' back and relaxin' for a spell is good for ye"

[King Prout]

yeah, reckon so.

[EsmeraldaA]

Paying someone to play and win/lose for you. SHEEESH

[tuliptree76]

Thanks!

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

wat u say? i no chinese farmer kkthxla

[King Prout]

ah. yeah. Gay. Totally gay. Liberace gay.

[EsmeraldaA]

And if you are a female?

*waiting anxiously for the answer*

[Paul_Denton]

Cool :) I mainly play singleplayer here although DFX (Delta Force Xtreme) is fun in online coops (where I usually snipe with an M82)

[knews_hound]

I play First Person Shooters myself so such a service is immaterial.

Sure you could be ranked really high, but if you suck you suck in the real world.

Being pwned in the first 30 seconds all the time would get old quick.

Cheers,

knews hound

[Paul_Denton]

Paying someone to play and win/lose for you. SHEEESH

Me I would never hire somone to do that for me.

As General Greivous said to his droids: "Stand back! I will deal with this Jedi Slime myself!" hehe.

[Nowhere Man]

Made it here too, I'm a Playstation junky myself.

[tuliptree76]

Hi Nowhere Man.

[Paul_Denton]

Good evening :) Yeah before the PC I had n N64

[EsmeraldaA]

But of course not!

Better to not do it at all...