EQ1 - "The Life of a Chinese Gold Farmer" : EQ1 EverQuest 1 News

Curious about how gold farming works? Even if you aren't, you shouldn't miss Julian Dibble's article for the New York Times this week, "The Life of a Chinese Gold Farmer."

"...For every 100 gold coins he gathers, Li makes 10 yuan, or about $1.25, earning an effective wage of 30 cents an hour, more or less. The boss, in turn, receives $3 or more when he sells those same coins to an online retailer, who will sell them to the final customer (an American or European player) for as much as $20.

The small commercial space Li and his colleagues work in — two rooms, one for the workers and another for the supervisor — along with a rudimentary workers’ dorm, a half-hour’s bus ride away, are the entire physical plant of this modest $80,000-a-year business.

The polite name for these operations is youxi gongzuoshi, or gaming workshops, but to gamers throughout the world, they are better known as gold farms. "

It is common practice to despise gold farmers, but you may see it from a different perspective after reading this article!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/magaz ... ref=slogin