(no subject)

[essentialsaltes]

Real 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."

Comments

[aaronjv.livejournal.com]

So RK was a subsistence farmer when he did just that for Everquest, was it?

[dogofthefuture.livejournal.com]

There's an interesting Cory Doctorow story that touches on the gold farming. Um. I guess that was all I had. Heh.