MMORPG Item-Accumulating 'Sweatshops' On Rise?

Thanks to Play Money for its post discussing the rise of the big-business MMORPG trading entrepreneur, with particular reference to Internet Gaming Entertainment, of which weblog author Julian Dibbell says: "In addition to the half dozen executive types working out of IGE's Boca Raton headquarters, the company employs another 65 Chinese citizens at its Hong Kong base of operations, the majority engaged in 24/7 delivery of virtual goods." He continues: "Imagine, furthermore, my wonder at learning that some of IGE's chief suppliers are mainland Chinese subcontractors running EverQuest-playing sweatshops in the hinterlands (at a level of production perhaps only hinted at in the famous but abortive Black Snow sweatshop in Tijuana)."

Comments

MMOG's, value and item trade

[MikShapi]

In order to advance to a stage where a MMOG has an actual economy, it needs some form of export, hence a GDP. More money should come in than goes out.
While each and every game out there is still a closed economy (where for party X to go home with 100$, party Y must lose 100$, and party Company-That-Runs-The-Game must also make ends meet as a prerequisite), item trade is a somewhat unexpected (to me at least) way for this to become an open one. I always imagined they'd think of some way for MMOG lurkers to generate something actually _useful_. Like share their CPU or generate content on their own. Or something.

And yet, once people have applied the meaning of value to items within a game, and others are willing to lay out real hard american green cash in order to own them, this plainly shows that the game world managed to generate something of value to the outside world. That's a very substantial step, and it's completely unsurprising that someone for whom this would make economic sense (who can employ people at 5$/month) would take this up as a very real business opportunity.

I wonder just how much global market there is for Maces of Thwappage +5.

Re:MMOG's, value and item trade

[GodHead]

It's not the items that have the value - it's the time involved in getting the item that has value, or the time to level up the charecter that has value. If there was no time involved in getting the items, they would be worth considerably less if anything at all.

Re:MMOG's, value and item trade

[I am Kobayashi]

Right, the prior poster's point, I believe, was that the value of the items is not intrinsic - it is solely based on the value a person places on their real world time.

1 million SWG credits are only worth the value I place on my time that I believe it would take to acquire those credits.

So for example if I think I can acquire 50k credits an hour in SWG, and I value my hour of time at 1 dollar, then I would probably only be willing to pay 1 dollar for 50k credits. It is not the credits themselves that determine the value I am willing to pay, it is the value I place on my time.

Re:MMOG's, value and item trade

[MikShapi]

You're absolutely right, but only if an assumption (which you or the first poster automatically assume as true) is indeed true.

What you said is true if you're thinking PROFIT.
If you'll eventually take that amount of time you spent and either calculate how much money you'd have earned elsewhere in the same amount of time, or how much cash you need to pay your Hong Kong sweatshop employee.

It's not true when you play for FUN, much like you don't go visit Santorini for profit either.

My point being that people who play for FUN, to whom above poster's statement applies, compose a large chunk of the virtual item acquisition market, and that those people don't connect the value of the Mace of Thwappage to the value of the time spent obtaining it.

Much like you don't compare the value of a trip to Santorini to the value of time you spent working for the money it cost you to travel there. You just enjoy the trip.

Re:MMOG's, value and item trade

[bigbigbison]

so what we are talking about here is use value versus exchange value, right? My $9.99 watch has exactly the same use value as someone's multihundred dollar rolex (or multithousand dollar? I really don't know). They both tell time. Mine even has the date on it.

however, the exchange value of the rolex is much much greater because of the prestige associated with being able to afford one.

so it seems like the same thing with online games. To the guy on the street, a particular item in a game has no use value, but to certain people it has a high exchange value.

Re:MMOG's, value and item trade

[code_nerd]

It seems to me that introducing multiple currencies would add complexity to the economy but would not actually change things that much. Sure, GoblinBucks may devalue if Ub3rGu1ld goes to camp the Goblin Shiznit or whatever, but then they can just go somewhere less camped, like Trollville, and farm Trollbucks and feed those into the economy instead (saving their GoblinBucks for when the economy swings the other way).

Sounds sophisticatd, but all it means is that the farmers would move from place to place like locusts instead of staying in one or two spots. I am not sure what problem that solves. The game economy is still a mess, albeit a tougher one for the devs to try and balance/fix.

Re:Realization..

[shaka999]

Well the companies may get extra accounts but I think the problems it causes far outweigh any gains. MMORPGS are supposed to be an escape from the real world, when people can just buy their way in it ruins some of the appeal. This is the main reason the compaines don't sell items themselves. Customers would leave.

I realize selling has been going on ebay for as long as the games have existed but thats really just a drop in the bucket, not the large scale being produced by these external companies. I think the game makers need to come out forcefully against any buying or selling of items or characters for real money. Enforcement is difficult or impossible but when they find examples the characters involved should be banned as an example to others. Put a little risk in it and people might not want to drop $500 for a different character.

Re:Realization..

[IvoryRing]

And, just what is the impact when the in-game resources gained for sale are gathered via exploiting game bugs? And when the exploit of those bugs causes two problems for 'regular' players: 1.) disruption of service be the exploit itself, 2.) swelling the supply of said resource, hence lowering the price to the point that only players willing to exploit are able to gather enough of the resource to actually make an in-game profit.

My point? Just as Walmart has made 'being the proprietor of a 5-and-dime store' decidedly less fun, these 'big money store' operations make being a crafter/supplier much less fun in-game.

It's a shame.

How long before the Publisher gets in on the act?

[MBraynard]

SOme of these communites, like UO, are being run by companies that are very sensitive to the opportunity to get additional profits. And no matter how cheaply these companies are selling stuff for, the publisher can ALWAYS undercut their prices and drive them out of the market. Question is, when will this happen?

What ever happened to fun?

[PktLoss]

I buy games for entertainment.
I play games for an escape.

My goal when playing Diablo II, or Warcraft III isnt to have the biggest baddest charecter, or to win in the least amount of time. It is to have fun.

Paying hard earned real-world-dollars (RWD) to get virtual euipment, land, whatever just makes no cents.

Gaining the equipment, fighting the monster, challenging whomever is where the fun lies.

Its the journey not the destination.