![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Dec. 22nd, 2009
(no subject)
Dec. 22nd, 2009 10:59 amReal Money from Virtual Worlds, a SciAm article on 'gold farming' and particularly how it provides an interesting trade between wealthy and poor countries. I like his analogies, even if they are stretched too far.... or are they?
"Sometimes ... farmers serve as escorts that accompany players through dangerous or difficult tasks -- the equivalent of hiring Sherpas to ascend Himalayan peaks."
"In the scheme of economic development, [pre-1980] MUD players represented the equivalent of subsistence farmers in a pre-industrial society. Players produced and consumed items only for themselves."
"Sometimes ... farmers serve as escorts that accompany players through dangerous or difficult tasks -- the equivalent of hiring Sherpas to ascend Himalayan peaks."
"In the scheme of economic development, [pre-1980] MUD players represented the equivalent of subsistence farmers in a pre-industrial society. Players produced and consumed items only for themselves."