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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThere could be up to a million Chinese gold farmers
by Mike Schramm 
May 5th 2009 at 7:00PM
A new report on MMO gold farming claims that there are about 400,000 working in China on gold farming and trading, and that there could be as many as 500,000 to even a full million. Of course there's no way to tell exactly how many people are employed in the business (and the number almost certainly doesn't stay constant for long), but according to interviews and surveys done of business there, that's the number they've come up with. They also claim a $10 billion a year turnover, however, and that number seems way high, though remember that they're talking about all MMOs, not just World of Warcraft. The report has some other interesting information about how China does gold farming: there are a number of brokerages staffed by English speakers in the larger cities that handle the actual transaction, and then the farms themselves are usually outside the cities, where cheaper labor is available. Typical pay in the farms is about $140 a month plus food and board, working in about ten hour shifts, while pay is higher in the city-based brokerages. Most employees are younger guys, who play while drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, and lots of their ingame tasks are automated with custom-made and adapted software.Very intriguing. News of the report actually came from Kevin Werbach, who, as we've reported, is not only a WoW player but acted as the FCC's transition co-chair for the Obama administration. He's doing research for a talk he's giving soon in Philadelphia called "All I really need to know I learned in World of Warcraft." And we also hear he's set to be on an upcoming episode of How I WoW, so stay tuned for that.
As for Chinese gold farmers, no matter what the numbers actually are, it's clearly a huge industry, and one that is almost invisible even in the modern global economy. It's hard to believe that they really are going through $10 billion a year, but there's no question, from what we've seen of the farms and brokerages that have been studied, that there are huge numbers of people supporting the flow of virtual gold.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Making money
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 5)
supersaint May 6th 2009 7:21AM
If I could make enough to live on, that would be my freakin' dream job.
Elry May 6th 2009 7:53AM
Why don't Blizzard just add an option to buy gold from them on the account management pages? We can buy other in-game items from them via trading cards, why not gold? Or they could have some not too uncommon cards with gold value you can redeem in-game... encouraging even more people to buy into the card game too (bear with me guys and gals, these are just ideas I'm throwing out there :-P ) Buying gold from Blizzard would mean people who don't know how to make endless streams of gold, or keep hold of what they do make, or more importantly just don't have the time or inclination to keep some fake finances afloat when they'd rather just play the game they pay for, can get some extra gold easily without going to a 3rd party so they can pay for repairs, buy those stupidly overpriced enchants off the AH etc (and no, the prices on AH are not due to gold sellers messing with the "economy", they are down to all of us being too greedy, and no external standards being set for RRPs etc like there are in RL). Its no use arguing that managing your gold is all part of the game because WoW has moved so far away from having any roleplaying in it anymore (just look at the in-game text when you buy dual specs, and the fact that there are no penalties for just forgetting and relearning spells and abilities on the fly) Also, if Blizzard made it cheap enough to buy from them, then it would put the 3rd party gold farmers out of business while also making them even more coin for their own moneybags.
Irshalthra May 6th 2009 9:57AM
I cannot speak for Blizzard, but I believe they built a game where they expect people to be self-sufficient. The whole idea is to live in a fantasy world where you take care of yourself with help from a guild.
If Blizz sold Gold, yes they would make more money, but it would first ruin the game dynamics as it was built and two change a self-sufficient economy server economy. There would be massive inflation with people doing less work. Also note that people doing more work results in spending more time which results in them making more money.
Now, that is why Blizz does not sell Gold I believe. Then we come to why is Gold selling against the TOC? Besides the points I laid out above, Blizz obviously has an issue with anybody else making a buck off of their software (See addon issues). Some point about all the labor and money they have put into the software - others should not jump in and profit from it - kind of a point.
That leaves the ultimate question. Since Gold selling changes the server economy, then why doesn't Blizz crack down on these guys that are selling? This to me is puzzling. I feel that Gold transferring can be software monitored and have accounts shut down automatically after multiple large transactions until reviewed further by a live person. Seems simple and cheap to me to fix this...
Fidena May 7th 2009 8:25AM
Because that would ruin the game, you lazy fuck.
Tuff May 6th 2009 8:08AM
Account security is a whole different issue from whether or not it is OK to buy gold. Buying gold is not cheating becuase it doesnt give you any sort of advantage over everyone else accept that you dont have to suffer the tedium of grinding it. Its not immoral. If you dont want your account hacked make sure your computer is secure with virus protection software like AVG and a solid firewall. Also they make these really cool blizzard authenticators which garauntee that you cant have your account broken into. Stop being a hater and buy one.
ELECTRO hyena May 6th 2009 8:59AM
lol moron.
David May 6th 2009 9:36AM
My view on the matter is this: I run a 45 million dollar a year company, have 2 kids and a wife. Between RL and work I don't have the time to farm gold. Quest drops are horrible and the only option is to buy gold. If I were 17 and lived in Mommy and Daddys basement then it would be cheating. I love to play but RL comes first.
Magilina May 6th 2009 9:59AM
what a great example you are to your kids David, hey, I am rich and too busy, so lets just buy what we want rather than get the satisfaction of doing it yourself.
Irshalthra May 6th 2009 10:10AM
You have all of that and you still need everything in a game? I am married 2 kids, professional job, 45 years old. I make plenty of money to buy gold and yes, I have been tempted to a couple of times. I wanted things faster then I could collect the funds for. Of course I soon realized that this was impatience and I needed to work longer and smarter to get what I wanted.
The interesting part of the story is that I do collect the Gold I need myself and then purchase what I want with it. I still end up bored between expansions. If I had bought Gold, I would have gotten what I want faster and been bored faster. I am patient enough to get what I need within the TOC and I seem to have plenty of time too...
Honestly I do not like the idea of people buying and selling Gold. If you truly run a 45 million $ company, you can grasp the concept that there is a game economy. This economy was built on being self-sufficient and was not built on characters automatically grabbing Gold out of thin air. When Gold appears out of nowhere it is valued as less and will force inflation. Inflation will cause MANY players to not be able to compete and tada - you have a broken MMO. I am in this for the good of the MMO. As a working adult I dread the thought of starting over elsewhere.
Spark May 6th 2009 3:42PM
Well David, I'm sure you could put in a GM ticket requesting your own copy of Martin Thunder. After all, you don't have the time to raid like everyone else and, due to your RL successes, you're owed success within WoW as well.
Sarabande May 6th 2009 9:53AM
The thing is this - even if gold was farmed legitimately (and for the most part it is not) I'd still be against gold-buying.
When you start the game, you can choose what server to be on (in your region), what class to play, what race to play, what professions you choose, how you spend your time in game. In other words, you start out equal. You don't like a class? Reroll. You don't like being on a pvp server and getting ganked? Pick a PvE server. The only difference there might be is if you have friends who already play and are willing to help you out a bit.
While Blizzard does offer ways to get cosmetic or novelty items (pets, special mounts, toys, etc.) that you can get with real money (through the TCG or by attending Blizzcon, for example) everything that would help you as a player is earned in-game. Whether or not you have a lot of extra money in RL doesn't make any difference once you step inside that world.
Otherwise, you'd have the rich, spoiled, lazy kids with lazy parents who'd rather give the kid what he wants rather than encourage perseverance, hard "work" (even though it's playing), and goal-setting - all strutting around in their shiny BoE purples, riding mammoths or motorcycles, probably being even more obnoxious than they are now. If you can afford the game and subscription, you shouldn't have much advantage or disadvantage over anyone. And if you don't have much time to play (or money for subscription every month) you'll still get whatever gold can buy, just not as fast as those who can.
The economy is set up a certain way in WoW and that's part of the fun. If you hate grinding out dailies, find a profession that's lucrative. If you don't want to switch professions, make an alt. (maybe one that does a lot of gathering). Learn how to play the AH well. Find things that sell. Having to earn the goodies make them so much more rewarding. Maybe I didn't get my epic flying training till well into my lvl 80 but when I did, I was so proud and happy.
If you like gold buying, I hope you'll find a game that allows it and just go play those. I'm with Blizzard on this one, even if it's not enforced as well as I with it was.
Otherwise, this world that we love to spend so much time in could end up more like the world we are trying to get away from for a few hours each day.
Sanchoponzo May 6th 2009 10:51AM
I personally hate the idea of gold farmers. They inflate the economy, compromise player accounts, and create an easy way out for people who do not have the integrity to go out and actually do some dailies or dungeons. IMO gold buyers are worse than gold beggars.
I'm sure there would be a way to catch gold farming businesses via IP location, say there are 400 people logged in from a specific area...gotta put up a red flag...
TUFF May 6th 2009 10:53AM
Seriously guys what advantage does buying gold give you other than the fact that you dont have to waste time grinding it? In the long run it does not make you better at the game than any other player. Ultimately the game comes down to skill right?
Adamanthis May 6th 2009 11:41AM
If you take that gold to the Auction House and outbid someone on an item, you've just gained an advantage over them. A functioning economy is one of the more interesting aspects to the game.
In this economic game, gold is created in proportion to the time a player is willing to invest in his or her character. When real life money becomes a factor, it throws off the whole system. The game does involve some skill, but it also has a time investment-payoff factor. Some people feel it requires too much time, to which I respond: Time is too precious to spend cheating at video games.
Consider playing a game of Monopoly, where one player offers to buy Boardwalk off another for $20 of real money. Most people would consider that cheating, and certainly unsporting.
Fortone May 6th 2009 11:13AM
It would be cool if the next X-pac came with those keychain authenticators. After that then the reports of hacked accounts will be cut in half probably. $6.50 or so it costs/authenticator i think retail. If people doesn't want to use them, then that's really their fault for hacked accounts.
Razz May 6th 2009 2:14PM
Getting pass the game it self why should we spend US Dollars on in game gold to China. Sound like kid labor to me. This is not helping the US because we want to take the easy way out. I never pay for gold and never will.
kc May 7th 2009 11:11AM
I see these hackers in front of guild banks in sw every day,,level 1 warriors, all their names are similar, they are there for hours, trading stuff to other level 1 warriors that then run to ah and mailbox. Its disgusting, if I know what they are doing, doesn't wow have someone there that knows that can shut down that account. I even had one whisper me once, cause i say crap to them, to just shut up, the toon would get their stuff back. Think if blizz shut down some of these accts immediately this would stop.