China bans gold farming
by Michael Sacco 
Jun 29th 2009 at 7:40PM
Gold farmers! They're everywhere, right? We get spammed by them, we run into them farming Dire Maul, we put them on ignore. Lazy people with too much disposable income buy gold from them in a show of crass consumerism. Blizzard has done their best to stamp out gold-farming services, but litigation is difficult due to the fact that most of the major gold-farming companies are based in China or other parts of Asia. They've instead opted to try to control and stop gold farmers from being able to complete transactions via other methods.
This time, though, it looks like Blizzard may have an unlikely ally in, of all things, the Chinese government. They announced today that the trading of virtual goods for real money is now illegal in China. This ruling reaches farther than just gold farming, though. It also bans the sale of prepaid time cards for MMOs or other online games, as well as numerous technicalities we're sure to hear about in the weeks to come.
To give you an idea of how much an economic impact this will have on China, gold farming alone generates nearly one billion dollars a year worldwide, with China's specific numbers growing at a reported rate of 20% per year. It's estimated that 80 to 85 percent of gold farmers reside in China, so this ruling is massive and, to be frank, pretty troubling.
From a gamer's perspective, yes, it'll be nice to worry about this kind of service a little less, but from a human perspective this places hundreds of thousands of Chinese people in one of two kinds of serious trouble: the first is financial hardship from the "honest" gold-farming companies that will close down after this ban, and the second is legal issues from the companies who don't close down because they can't afford not to do what they've been doing.
It's not my intention to defend gold farming as an industry, because I used to have to deal with its more nefarious effects every day -- compromised accounts stripped of gold and gear, keyloggers, disruptive spam, all of that. But life isn't easy for many Chinese people working jobs like this. Many gold farming centers are much cleaner and safer, in relative terms, than other places in China where one on the bottom rung of the financial ladder might seek work, so while I appreciate the change as only a white first-world male can, I worry about what will happen to the underprivileged working-class Chinese people behind the spam ads and dead gnomes when this law starts getting enforced.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Gel Jun 29th 2009 7:49PM
I wonder if we will see the reports of cancellations of active subscriptions for WoW and other MMORPGs as a consequence of the gold farmers going away?
What would that signal to the MMORPG developers about their underlying game mechanics? Mmm..probably nothing. ;-)
CallMeIrd Jun 29th 2009 7:49PM
Thank you, Michael. I know a lot of obnoxious Westerners won't even bother looking at it this way, so I'm pleased to see this article from you.
devilsei Jun 29th 2009 8:00PM
Tent, because its true.
You know how many people I've heard complain about gold-sellers and botters and associate chinese with it? You know how many of those people are "westerners", which isn't a slur but a generalization of the area we live in, IE the western half of the world. A lot. And most, if not all of them, would be cheering right now just from the topic's name, but would be all up in arms as they read the post.
Adam Holisky Jun 29th 2009 8:00PM
Because I don't see it as a offensive attack on a group of people. Continued QQ about moderation will also result in a ban.
Pandalicious Jun 29th 2009 11:47PM
Agreed. I'm not a big fan of gold sellers in /trade, but I'm even less of a fan of someone on the other side of the world having to go back to what amounts to slave labor. "Report spam" works well enough for me, especially if it means someone else is able to put food on their table.
Thanks for the fair-minded article.
Zinx Jun 29th 2009 9:12PM
I think this will have a BIG impact on Asian Free-2-Play MMOs where they make money by selling virtual goods.
Blasterion Jun 29th 2009 7:52PM
well it has been a problem when I play WoWChina (I do so because I sometimes travel between US and China) it is a big thing let's see first I sold WoW cards for about 500g(hour cards) and I don't deny it but I sold gold on a private level. However when it becomes a corporate level it could be a problem also is a interference to other player's experience.
thebvp Jun 29th 2009 7:54PM
Selling gold is essentially a "black market" activity and a lot like selling drugs. The demand will always be there. The best thing you can do is just turn a blind eye and discourage it as much as you can, but the market will ALWAYS find a way around whatever road blocks you put in place.
Expect non-Chinese gold farming companies to step up their game and expect the gold farming industry in general to get a lot more ruthless.
Stanrule1 Jun 29th 2009 7:58PM
What I would like to know, is if those games that make money by selling micro-transactions will be effected. Can't think of any great examples right now but doesn't Maple Story use a Micro-transaction method? Is it now illegal for the game developer to sell items to it's own playerbase?
Phillegard Jun 29th 2009 8:10PM
i'm thinking of games like Second Life where the whole point is to buy vitual things with real money. will that be ban?
and also all the games that have downloadable content like guitar hero, spore, the sims, etc. that all falls under being illegal from what it sounds like
Extrox Jun 29th 2009 8:11PM
I was actually about to write something similar, I'm curious as to how this will impact all the "Free to play" games that live off microtransactions.
I figure a Gamer is a Gamer regardless of where you're from.
t0ddd Jun 29th 2009 7:59PM
I feel the same way you do Michael. While on one hand we will see less spamming in chat, less level 1 orcs running up to us asking for "just 12s for bag", many Chinese are going to lose their jobs. The oppressive Chinese government; love to hate, hate to love.
Ted Jun 29th 2009 8:07PM
This is completely ridiculous; these people chose to work as Gold Farmers which is now outlawed. Yes it sucks for them, it sucks for them to be out of a job as much as it sucks for a low level drug dealer, a brothel worker, or anyone else doing an illegal job. That's the risk they take, good pay for relatively easy work and no guarantee to the future.
Pardon my poor prose but it really is a crock that they get any more mention than blah blah estimated X workers now out of work.
Malkia Jun 29th 2009 10:40PM
What exactly makes you think there's a choice? You're one of those people that look down on desperate to feed their family people who take a job at mcdonalds and treat them horribly, because if they didn't want to be treated horribly they'd find a better job huh?
I worry what will happen to the areas of china where this is one of the very few viable means of staying ALIVE.
Shryndael Jun 30th 2009 12:12AM
If I crane my head back far enough, Ted, I might be able to see you atop your high horse there!
There WAS no law against the selling of virtual items for real money. And yes, these people chose to work as gold farmers. Many gold farmers get free lodging, free meals, and on top of that they get paid. They work ridiculous hours and the quartering is horrible, but it's fairly clean and safe. AND IT WAS LEGAL.
Are you in fear that your job is suddenly going to become illegal? I expect these people never thought it would be something they would be facing.
Comparing these people to drug dealers and brothel workers is an insult. Compare them to telemarketers if you like. It wasn't an illegal job when they started doing this. It is becoming one, and that really sucks for them. What skills do these people have? Is the government going to spend money helping these people retrain? They lose lodging, income, food.
Have you ever been homeless?
I have. I've slept under overpasses and even have a scar from where someone stabbed me to steal my blanket.
Have you ever had to eat out of a soup kitchen?
I have. Do you know how hard that is, especially if you have food allergies?
It's not pleasant. And I had marketable skills, and simply worked in an area where there was no work. I have two diplomas and a degree, for God's sake. I eventually HITCHHIKED across Canada to a place where I had a friend and could wash and clean myself up and borrow some money for new clothes, and got a job.
As a telemarketer.
You know what? IT SUCKED. But it fed me. It gave me a home. And right now, I feel sorry for those people in China who suddenly don't have one. I CAN FEEL SORROW for the person, no matter how much I dislike gold selling.
This is a game.
For them, it was their life.
It isn't a crock, it's reality. These people in China are suffering just as much as anyone who's suddenly lost their job in the USA or Canada or elsewhere in the world due to the depressed economy.
Grow a fuckin' heart. And you won't see me asking to 'pardon my prose' or my language, because I'm not going to try to lame-out excuse myself or my opinion.
And my kudos to the author for seeing beyond the knee jerk "YAY NO MORE GOLD SELLERS FROM CHINA" benefit to the harsh reality people will be facing overseas.
Kevin Jun 30th 2009 1:08AM
@Shryndael
Sir, i salute you.
Ted Jun 30th 2009 1:51AM
I think you all are missing the point here; this isn't all rainbows and puppy dogs. Have you all read up what the bulk of these guys (and I do mean guys) are doing? It tends to be young, single men, part of the growing and changing young lower/"middle" class of urban China. They aren't supporting families, they're supporting themselves. It's not a matter of life and death, these are subsistence farmers . They aren't boldly and bravely facing the world of Azeroth to make it a better place, no they're carving out their own little spot in the world, which is cool, it's fine. But they're doing it against the rules of at least one game they're profiting from.
For the guys selling virtual goods in games that were cool with it, hey no problem, it really does suck for them (I'm assuming they're all legit). But lest you forget what a lot of these companies and workers really do: hack, scam, steal, delete. Un-sanctioned gold sellers were hacking and pillaging accounts at such a high rate that a video game company (let that sink in) had to get Security tokens on a level with securing corporate finance accounts. Sunshine and rainbows it isn't. So it wasn't illegal, but it was both immoral (in the case of the worse companies) and exploitative for those companies that only farmed and sold.
Now onto the "hard work" issue; I don't have any claim on being the hardest working person in the world, or the one that went through the most hardships, nor the one that was born into the worst situations. But I've had to work crappy jobs cleaning toilets, scrubbing dishes, all that, then on to oppressive retail jobs, then to studying until 2 or 3 in the morning so I understand the value of hard work. Hell, I've worked two jobs more than once. I don't talk down to the guys at McDonalds (more likely Carl's/Hardy's for me), I tip well, I'm not an ass. This "solidarity of the downtrodden global worker" is a crock. These guys aren't downtrodden, they aren't indentured servants of an oppressive slave driver. They worked in a low-rent warehouse, essentially a call center.
My entire point here is that how do people that ruin the game experience for at least hundreds of thousands of players, who at the least spam, at the worst hack and steal, how do they deserve any sympathy or any mention other than "they're out of a job"? Times are tough, jobs are lost, you do your best to keep your job, and in the case of Chinese gold farmers, you a) work in a game that allows this stuff and b) pray the powers-that-be don't create laws like this. What else can you do? I personally say good-riddance. I hope you get a job in a field with a more legal underpinning.
Ted Jun 30th 2009 2:03AM
Oh my God, I've done it, I've written a wall of text in what amounts to an internet mini-flame war.
Why? WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHY?
Keiyoko Jun 29th 2009 8:11PM
I haven't been to China in a while but when I was there a few years ago, there was a huge push to stop CD and DVD piracy as they were preparing to enter the WTO. The government announced there would be a crackdown. All of the street vendors marked down their stock to around $0.10 a disc to try and sell out before the deadline date. Two weeks later the street vendors had stocked back up, prices were back to normal, and there was a different big story on the news. The farmers might have to take a bit of a vacation but I'll be very surprised if this law actually affects the industry very much.
Maus Jun 29th 2009 8:13PM
"Lazy people with too much disposable income"
That is a kind of self-contradictory statement, is it not? Most people with large amounts of cash earn it by working, with the exception of those who are born rich or spoilt.