dshowgirl
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Inside World of Warcraft Gold Farm, Future of Work
If you want a glimpse of the future of work in the broadband age, you can find it, of all places, on MTV’s website. To my knowledge, their recent gaming news segment, “-link deleted-” features the first video footage shot inside Chinese -link deleted- farms, those gray market companies which collect and sell virtual gold (primarily from World of Warcraft) to wealthier gamers in the developed world. (The New York Times -link deleted-, but company managers were considerably more leery to speak on record with that reporter.)
Drawing from -link deleted- by UC San Diego grad student Ge Jin (YouTube clip from his film( -link deleted-), the MTV segment features interviews with workers and managers of several gold farms, which resemble a cross between a 24 hour LAN party and a very shabby college dorm. By the segment’s estimate, an astounding half million Chinese now make a living - about $100 a month - from the acquisition and sale of -link deleted- to US and EU gamers. Why is this future of work online? Consider the numbers, youth, and low wages of the gold farmers, and the growing interest in outsourcing tasks online. Amazon recently launched a non-game application for this, known as -link deleted-.
In Second Life, a Hollywood production company is [-link deleted-, where highly-skilled workers can create professional 3D environments for a fraction of the cost, were it done here. It’s easy to see how the Chinese farmers of -link deleted- might evolve into the blue collar workers of the 3D Internet.
MTV producer Matt Sunbulli put us in touch with Ge Jin, and we asked him about this phenomenon, and sought his own thoughts on its relation to the future of work online.
How did you locate these gold farms?
Ge Jin: I have a friend who had been operating a -link deleted-farms in Shanghai since 2003. So his gold farm is the first one I visited. My friend’s gold farm closed in 2005, so did most gold farms in Shanghai. Many of them migrated to smaller cities with lower housing and human resource costs.
So I contacted other gold farms through my friend’s old network… I was lucky enough to find several -link deleted- farms that were open to me in Jinhua, Nanjin, Lishui and Hangzhou. Again I was lucky to win their trust. It’s probably because I’m from the same background as many gaming workers (many gold farm owners were former gaming workers.)
Were gold farmers afraid the Chinese government would shut them down?
GJ: The ones that allowed me to film there were not afraid because they are located in cities where local goverments are tolerant of this industry. There is no national policy regulating this new industry yet, so it’s up to the local governments to judge.
Most local governments have no motive to shut down these gold farms, as they reduce unemployment and even reduce the crime rate by reducing unemployed male youth on the street. Some gold farms refused my visit because they don’t want to pay tax and choose to operate underground, or they are worried that their labor practice is problematic…
What does-link deleted- farming suggest about the future of work?
GJ: I think these gold farms indicate that the game platform has the potential to engage more people in Internet-driven economy. The gaming workers in China don’t have skills like English, software or graphic design to participate in other forms of Internet-driven work, but they can communicate and navigate in a 3D game world whose tools and routines they are familiar with… So if more social and economic activities happen in an accessible 3D game world, people who don’t have access to other culture capital but gaming knowledge will be more likely to be included in global interaction.
Last edited by The PhoenixRising, 2/26/2008, 2:57 am
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2/26/2008, 2:52 am
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The PhoenixRising
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Re: Inside World of Warcraft Gold Farm, Future of Work
Err.. 1 this is a Support board, for boards hosted by Runboard, 2 we don't allow spam here. Moving to the can.
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2/26/2008, 2:58 am
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Lesigner Girl
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Re: Inside World of Warcraft Gold Farm, Future of Work
Maybe she got lost trying to find her board? I see she hasn't posted there since the 19th. 
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2/27/2008, 3:18 am
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