Gold farmer

Not to be confused with a regular Farmer, Gold Farmers are players who stay online extremely long hours and farm mobs for the purpose of selling the in-game money they accumulate for real-world money. The description 'Chinese Gold Farmer' is often used, as many of these players are Chinese (though recent magazine articles have placed the majority blame on Indonesia). This was strongly suggested when gold-selling websites ran out of gold during the Chinese New Year, their employees presumably having gone on vacation.

Gold Farmers then take this money and attempt to sell it to other people through several web sites and auctions in exchange for real-world money. This is against Blizzard's rules as Blizzard consider all gold and items in game to be Blizzard's property. Such Gold farmers are frequently banned from the game. However, completely getting rid of them is nearly impossible, because they can just buy a new copy of the game and create a new account. The recent addition of the 'report spam' feature helps player to report farmers who advertise in-game. Some players have also taken on a policy of griefing gold-farmers.

Gold Farmers are commonly considered "greedy", and will frequently be labeled Ninja Looter, or plain antisocial. Often they do not speak the native server language, or have only memorized a select few sentences, thus making it harder to effectively communicate with them in game.

The problem has become so great that some sites which hold user-made interface enhancements have begun listing add-ons specifically designed to catch such whispers, filter them out from being displayed to the player, make a GM ticket and send it automatically.

Gold farming in America

Recent attempts at cost-effective gold farming have begun in America. One US-based gold supplier for the popular World of Warcraft title has formed a vast network of college and professional gamers. In their spare time, these gamers farm gold and power level customer accounts. In turn, they receive such benefits as free time cards, accounts, gold, power leveling services and even cash. These gamers are instructed to follow all in-game rules and refrain from using gold farming techniques such as bots, macros and hacks which are frowned upon in the gaming world.

Gold farming in China

According to estimates, around 100,000 people in China are employed as gold farmers, as of December 2005. [1] This represents about 0.4% of all online gamers in China. Chinese gold farmers typically work twelve hour shifts, and sometimes up to eighteen hour shifts. Wages depend heavily on location and the size of the gold farming company. One gold farming operation in Chongqing in central China with 23 gold farmers was reported to pay its employees the equivalent of about 120 U.S. dollars per month, while workers at a larger gold farm in Fuzhou earn the equivalent of about 250 U.S. dollars per month. The rising prevalence of gold farming has led to the creation of gold farm brokerages.

Because of reports indicating many gold farmers are located in China they are sometimes referred to as "Chinese farmers" or "China farmers".

There are "gold farmers" (sometimes known as Tyrexs) or "gold farms" in other countries as well such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Mexico. However, they do not approach the scope and scale of the Chinese farm industry. China's abundant labor, availability of high-speed Internet connections and cheap computers have made it a powerhouse in collecting virtual assets for online games, fueling the market among the 30 million or so online gamers worldwide.

China is in fact dominant in this industry and Jin Ge, a 30-year-old Shanghai native has done a documentary on "gold farms" in China as part of his doctoral research at the University of California, San Diego.[2]

He is one of the many researchers who has invested his time in investigating how farm owners manage their production and distribution of virtual commodities across the border between the virtual and the real as well as the border between nations. His main aim in his research was also to delve into the background and lives of these workers "I also tried to find out what this job, combining work and play, means to Chinese gold farmers and how it feels like to live at this peculiar intersection of the virtual and the real."

Ge Jin's research is also documented in his periodical online news articles which can be found at Consumer Studies Research Network.

From the Forums:

It has come to our attention that certain individuals are selling Blizzard's in-game property for cash on auction sites such as eBay and on personal websites. The World of Warcraft Terms of Use clearly states that all of the content in World of Warcraft is the property of Blizzard, and Blizzard does not allow "in game" items to be sold for real money. Accordingly, Blizzard Entertainment will take any and all actions necessary to stop this behavior. Not only do we believe that it is illegal, but it also has the potential to damage the game economy and overall experience for the many thousands of others who play World of Warcraft for fun. In order to promote a fun and fair environment for all our customers, we are actively investigating those individuals who engage in this inappropriate activity and reserve the right to take legal action against these individuals to protect World of Warcraft for all those who "play by the rules." If you are found to be selling in-game property (such as coins, items, or characters), for real money, you will lose your characters and accounts, and Blizzard Entertainment reserves its right to pursue legal action against you as well.

We also want to remind potential buyers in the game to please refrain from buying in-game property with real money. We understand the temptation to purchase better items, but Blizzard, and not the seller, does own all in-game property. In addition, we feel that characters can find ample equipment and money within the game through their own adventuring and questing. Please understand that if you do purchase in-game property from sellers on eBay and personal sites, we may temporarily suspend your account, and at the very least, delete the offending items.

Thank you for understanding our position. Blizzard Entertainment is committed to maintaining the atmosphere of fair play and fun in World of Warcraft.

Economic Effects

An issue unrelated to the legal and social issues of the gold farmer is their effect on game economies. Blizzard Entertainment and some players suggest that by introducing new gold into the system, farmers are causing inflation. However, a WoW server is not a closed system, gold farming is not a monopoly industry and farmers make a good deal of their gold off the sale of items. As such, they are competing against players and each other within the economy of a given gameserver, driving prices down and thus inflation is actually staved off -- the Wal*Mart effect, if you will.

Even non-gold buying players quickly come to rely the prices set by the commoditization of items farming helps to create. And gold farmers themselves invest heavily in a game's economy -- buying gear that helps them farm better, such as bags and potions. Recent crackdowns on gold farming accounts have resulted in a 2 to 4x increase in the prices of enchanting materials, boosted the prevalence of premium-priced epics, and stalled the market for other high level trade goods and services, leaving the profitability of tried-and-true schemes in question. This leads some to the conclusion that while gold farming is indeed disreputable, it also has a positive effect -- a stable, competitive in-game market.

An Alternative View

The other view is that in fact, gold farming does cause inflation. It has been seen throughout history, that the decrease in value of a currency, naturally drives up the prices of the goods it is used to purchase. It can be said that gold farming is a self-sustaining industry that fuels it's own corruption. By inflating the economy and driving up the prices of items, more in-game gold is required to purchase them. Rather than farm this gold for themselves, players are as such more likely to purchase it and simply save themselves the trouble. This is a circular problem and does nothing more than feed itself. The perceived 'lower price' of items can be viewed as nothing more than a myth, not backed up by any sound evidence, with basic economics stating that inflation is a real problem in any economy, including that of World of Warcraft.

The fact that an out of game economy drives down inflation is not a "myth;" it's a studied phenomenon (though most heavily around Second Life) that is evident anytime there's a crackdown on gold farmers. Prices go up. Either way, the readiness of gold in BC thanks to daily quests and other game mechanics has largely reduced the gold farming industry while at the same time creating a robust economy. [dasmb]

Gold farming can be viewed as particularly harmful to new players, who, unlike those who began to play on day one, have to deal with the fact that items are far more expensive, sometimes obscenely so, whereas the money received from quests and the vendoring of rewards is a lot lower. The sale of lower level items such as linen cloth and basic ore which are often the basis of a low-level character's economic growth, have bottomed out due to the fact that most players are now Level 60 and have no use for these items, or are playing twink-alts with an artificially high sum of gold which new players do not possess.

Note: Many of these twink-alts will have an artificially high sum of gold, leading to higher prices in AH. That means the new players will be able to sell things for more gold than before, easing them into the system better. However, you must note that this relies often on the sheer luck of the player. Many players may not receive a BoE blue for a very long time, and some may not even see a BoE epic in their life-time of play. Such 'twink' items are therefore not a reliable basis for the economic-growth of a low-level player.

The fact that end-game items are more dependent on how able you are to raid than how much gold you have also eases the problem of gold inflation. There are also plenty of money sinks at 60 (mainly repair costs), and many end-gamers will be using much of their bought gold solely on these money sinks, which also drives down inflation. However, while World of Warcraft is most certainly well-designed in this respect, it still does not completely eliminate the problem. Basic economics dictate that inflation in this situation is guaranteed and while money-sinks do help to limit it somewhat, they do not stop it.