NPR sympathetic to goldfarmers
by Amanda Rivera 
May 17th 2007 at 6:31PM
When Friiv tipped us to the recent NPR interview dealing with goldfarming, I was eager to take a listen. Finally, a non-gamer media outlet will hear our frustration. How wrong I was. The interview, which ran on May 14th takes a completely different view of the goldfarming phenomenon.
A lot about what bothers me about goldfarming is imagining the conditions in which the farmers must be working, and indeed the interview did liken the goldfarming companies to Nike sweatshops. Tens of thousands of Chinese workers sit for 12 hours shifts hunched over computer screens, standing in the same spot in game and killing the same monster over and over. The gold they make in a day's work goes for around $13.00 in the , but would only sell for $4.00 in
The interview goes on to talk about how hatred has built toward Chinese gold farmers, to the point where people are committing acts of "virtual murder" against them. She even mentioned a "Farm the Farmers Day" that was organized on one server to slaughter as many goldfarmers as they could find. The term "xenophobia" even came up, as if we as gamers are having a tough time differentiating the Chinese people from the Chinese goldfarmers. I am sure that some people have a tendency to do this, but I honestly don't believe for a second that WoW players are beginning to despise the Chinese as a race simply because of this problem.
It appears as if mainstream media certainly prefers to side with the goldfarmer on this argument. I came away from the interview with the feeling that "these people are just playing the game they love for work." Well, so do I, but I don't break the TOS while doing it.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Economy
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Corrodias May 17th 2007 6:49PM
So they completely missed the point by omitting the fact that we dislike them for cheating, griefing, and increasing the realm population with players who will never party with you or enrich your experience in any way?
El Vega May 17th 2007 6:53PM
"sympathetic"
only funny because you referenced being an english teacher in your last post. ;)
Kyle May 17th 2007 9:04PM
I honestly don't care much for peole that are sympathertic to gold farmers. If they continue to spam whispers to me and fill ym mailbox w/ retarded mail that nobody bothers to read anyway, then they can expect one hell of a rant. Its stupid how they continue to work for roughly a bit more then minimum wage for sitting at thier computer all day farming and tying to seel it to people who couldn't care less. And they still don't quit or do something more productive.
Amanda Rivera May 17th 2007 7:20PM
El Vega,
Thanks for pointing it out. I might also point out that your comment is a sentence fragment. See me after class.
Lucas May 17th 2007 7:46PM
Roffle.
NPR completely doesn't understand video games.
That job would pretty much blow chunks.
Hybrys May 17th 2007 7:41PM
^----Ownt.
michel May 17th 2007 7:56PM
>WoW players are beginning to despise the Chinese as
>a race simply because of this problem.
I can say people are starting to hate chinese and tellings racials insults on Wow where I'm playing and also what I'm reading on the american official wow forum.
and , "races" does not exist. humanity is ONE in its diversity.
and even that, "chinese" can't be blatantly summarized in a "race". you can not discriminate "chinese" as a whole group of same people.
(you need to travel in the whole HUGE China to see the diversity of people there)
maybe I should say the "american race" for you realize the gross term ?
--
well, yes, people are more and more Xenophobic and seems to forget "farming" is not only chinese. EVERYONE see a good Business opportunity ! even if it annoys me without end.
and "race" is just an excuse for hate.
BlueDew May 17th 2007 8:10PM
The only reason they side with the farmers is because they do not understand the whole effects that it has on the game and to its players. They only see a person who has bad working conditions.
Brinstar May 17th 2007 8:16PM
I agree with #6's comment. I have been reading about incidents about racism (racist slurs, in-game abuse towards players they merely suspect as being Chinese) against the Chinese on servers as being fairly common. So whilst people may not be racist, they're apparently throwing around around racist abuse freely and loosely in-game.
TwhiT May 17th 2007 8:18PM
NPR blows donkey doo
Hornface May 17th 2007 8:30PM
Heck, I sympathize with the gold farmers, too. It's the people who employ them who cheese me off.
RogueJedi86 May 17th 2007 8:32PM
Hating on Chinese isn't racist. Chinese is a nationality, not a race. If the Chinese gold-farmers caused the WoW players to hate ALL Asian people(Asian is more approximately a race right?), then it would be racist. Hating denizens of one nation means nothing. Dave Matthews(of the Dave Matthews Band) was born in South Africa. That makes him African-American. Nationality does not equal race.
Afu May 17th 2007 8:42PM
Before we get all huffy, maybe we should remember that NPR actually reports on REAL things. You know, REAL news, dealing with REAL people. Quite frankly, you might be pissed because "farmers, they won't group with me" or "they make my game not fun", but at least YOU aren't being exploited for hours a day by your employer. NPR is a NEWS organization. Neither they, nor the rest of the world really care much who's "in y00r serber, steeling yur goldz". Especially when you have the luxury to pay for the privilege.
Merus May 17th 2007 8:38PM
I get people who nag me via whispers for something to stop bothering me by replying in pseudo-Chinese.
zhou pai ko ni? zhou zang?
Pzychotix May 17th 2007 8:39PM
"1. So they completely missed the point by omitting the fact that we dislike them for cheating, griefing, and increasing the realm population with players who will never party with you or enrich your experience in any way?"
Cheating? Farmers don't exploit. They don't cheat. They do it the old-fashioned way. Constantly. Griefing? What are you talking about? Why would they bother to grief you? The 15 second he supposedly spent to grief you are 15 seconds of farming. They not the one's griefing you.
Increasing the realm population with people who will never party with you is questionable at best to the amount of people it adds. There are only so many spots they can farm.
"7. The only reason they side with the farmers is because they do not understand the whole effects that it has on the game and to its players. They only see a person who has bad working conditions."
They're not taking a side. They're simply showing the working conditions of a class of workers that have been also mistreated as they work. You guys are certainly being rather cold on this issue. These are just a bunch of people who just want to work for some money, and you make it off as if they're the bane of WoW.
Pzychotix May 17th 2007 8:44PM
11. Hating on Chinese isn't racist. Chinese is a nationality, not a race. If the Chinese gold-farmers caused the WoW players to hate ALL Asian people(Asian is more approximately a race right?), then it would be racist. Hating denizens of one nation means nothing. Dave Matthews(of the Dave Matthews Band) was born in South Africa. That makes him African-American. Nationality does not equal race.
Are you kidding me? So hating on Jews isn't racist? So hating all the Japanese people during WW2 isn't racist? You should learn the definitions of race before you make a statement like that.
The term race describes populations or groups of people distinguished by different sets of characteristics, and beliefs about common ancestry. The most widely used human racial categories are based on visible traits (especially skin color, facial features and hair texture), and self-identification.
It's not the definition associated with species that's used in racism. Seriously. Hating the people of a certain nation IS racism.
BlackBlood May 17th 2007 9:42PM
@13 /clap
Am May 17th 2007 9:54PM
The thing is, their situation is not quite that simple. These are NOT people sitting at their own computers, doing this in their free time to make some spare cash. These people are low-skilled, low-income workers trying to make ends meet, and these jobs often sound pretty decent to them given their alternatives. The worst of these jobs are something like jobs in early-industrial America. People are talked into joining with a somewhat decent wage, but when they move to the actual "farm" where the company has set up dozens of computers, they find things quite different. They company puts them in dormitory living, 6-8 people crammed into a tiny room, and deducts their living fee from their wages. In the end, these people end up with little money, and it's not like they can just walk away to find another job. Their lives are often truly pitiable, and I think they deserve our sympathy. I believe our ire should be directed not at the actual farmers, who are just trying to survive, but at the COMPANIES that are exploiting them, and most importantly, the PLAYERS that continue to support this industry.
Does anyone truly think that farmers would exist if they didn't get paid?
Sephiroth May 17th 2007 10:44PM
Umm to all those empathizing with the gold farmers because of their poor working conditions, should we also extend the same sympathy to organized crime syndicates? does the end that is making money justify the means that is both without invitation disrupting others enjoyment of a game and breaking the law by selling another companies intellectual property?
also @6. research has shown that people enjoy life more when in a community that embraces multiculturalism and diversity for obvious reasons, everyone IS different and struggling to conform can be stressful. we are not ONE in humanities diversity, but at the same time those pointing out others differences as a negative is more an indication of their own insecurities.
Sylythn May 17th 2007 11:16PM
" Tens of thousands of Chinese workers sit for 12 hours shifts hunched over computer screens, standing in the same spot in game and killing the same monster over and over. "
And yet, some players spend $15 a month to do this...