Is there anything we won't Outsource?

Posted on by luken7

Well, if you’re an online gamer and don’t have the time to build up your points and credits, outsource it to hte Chinese. For mere pennies on the dollar, you can have the techical equivalent of a sweatshop factory of young Chinese gamers playing for up to 12 hours at a time, on your behalf….jeesh, get a life, or get it back

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.”
Ogre to Slay? Outsource It to Chinese – New York Times

Published by luken7

An avid and passionate sailor, drummer and technologist. My career focuses around computing and storage technologies. My passion is sailing and playing drums. I love music, especially progressive jazz and rock.

One thought on “Is there anything we won't Outsource?”

  1. I think it is hilarious that you are posting something about WoW (World of Warcraft) or MMORPGs. Just cracks me up.

    However, let me attempt to explain. The MMORPG market is huge! WoW has millions of subscribers, that pay $14/month to play, plus the $40 for the game itself. The current character I am playing, total game time spent playing is 7 days. To get good, you have to invest time. Well, some people, with extra cash, would rather not invest the time, and pay the Chinese or whoever to do it for them. Do a google on WoW gold…and see how many are out there. 100 WoW gold pieces runs around $10 (real money). You can pay $300 and have someone take your character from 1 to 40th lvl in 15 days. Of course this is all against the Blizzard (makers of WoW) license agreement and such…but… It is capitalism baby… 😉
    However, to speak as a gamer – this has had a dramatic impact on the game. WoW has its own internal economy and auction house to see things you find, etc. Prices now are ridiculous due to every one buy WoW gold from these guys….
    It is a truly ‘global’ economy – whether real or virtual…

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