How I missed this, I have no idea. (Actually, I was at SXSW, that’s how I missed it.) Eurogamer, which is always good for a “think piece” or two, is running an exposé on gold farming, a term used to describe the buying and selling of in-game currencies (and items) in games like World of Warcraft. It’s a four-parter, and part two was just published today. Headline there: there are approximately 1 million gold farmers in China alone. Subhead: conservative estimates put the gold farming industry at $2 billion USD. Yes, that’s billion with a “b,” as hard as that is to believe. That’s officially insane.
But it gets even more insane. While conservative estimates put the industry at $2 billion USD, one gentleman quoted in the article puts it at $10 billion USD.
Let me repeat that: TEN BILLION DOLLARS! Holy smokes! Who knew there were that many people buying gold?
In all my days of playing World of Warcraft, though, to be fair, I haven’t played since Christmastime, I never even thought about buying gold; it’s just dumb. You either have a guild that hooks you up with gear, or have a friend who’s 60 levels higher than you who is willing to waste two hours killing mobs and running you though instances. That’s how the game is meant to be played, not by buying success off some kid in Asia who’s half-starving and mining all day. ::shakes head::
If you ever get into a hard-core raiding guild you’ll quickly realize why folks would buy gold.
In 20-25 hours a week of raiding
-you’ll presumably wipe 15+ times(new/old bosses)
-use a ton of consumables
-need to enchant/gem/etc new gear
-class specifics (hunters = 6 stacks of arrows per hour)
-etc
your consumption of gold goes through the roof and unless you feel like farming for 3-5 hours a week you will be in a constant cash-flow deficit.
I like raiding, but I also like to do other (non-WOW) things in my free time , so I have no problem justifying paying someone to do the mindless work for me.
Raiding = playing
Farming = waste of time
Isn’t that starting to get to the point where it is taking a big hit on our economy somehow? I am no economist by any means, but these private sector leaks caused by video games seem like the sort of detriment we need to be working to prevent in these times.. Most especially when the flow is going to someone who could be considered a major threat to our country and who we will be struggling to remain economically competitive with over the next 50 years..
Like I said – completely outside speculation and curiosity. What say you experts?
Raiding = playing
Farming = playing
I have much more important things for my money than playing someone for doing something I can do myself.
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Yeah, the ad in my RSS feed (and also next to the “Leave Comment” box now) is for WoWGold-USA.com. Hooray for contextual ads!
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