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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)."
How long will it be before these are moved to India. :P /joking
"I am a kernel in the linux army"
So these poor people are forced to play EQ all day and only given enough money for food? This leaves but one question, where do I sign up?
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.
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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.
One should not theorize before one has data. -Sherlock Holmes-
The combination of time and resources that goes into developing virtual goods to produce an assumed 'worth' is comparable, at least on a base level, to the developing of real world goods. So if players spend 60 hours a week trying to achieve goals, attain resources, etc, do they have nothing for their time(or 'work'?)
I've got no problem with a game saying that people can/cannot sell virtual content. So long as they are completely upfront with the player before they have to buy the game, I think each developer has the right to decide if they want to allow this or not.
Those that do not simply adhere to the current system, with perhaps some better ways to insure that people don't sell characters (the larger issue, as I see it.) Ways such as refusing to transfer a character until after a certain time after it's creation, or refusing to transfer to a person with a different name or address.
Others should allow an in-game way of selling items for real world money, only with a small 'tax' for things over a certain amount. Say, for anything over $20, the seller is docked 10% (or some amount, whatever) as a tax for living in the 'land'. Wouldn't it be great to see a note on the bank wall reading "The kingdom is doing wonderful! Everyone will be expected to pay $5 less of their monthly contributions for the month of January! -signed, the King"? It's not an insane idea given the business model. Developers could reduce the users' monthly fees if things went well. This would be especially helpful to early adopters, as that's when you'd probably see the largest influx of people, fawning of the cool new scheme. As long as they don't "over" charge when the economy sucks.....
Jeffool
Just some guy.
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.
That idea has been proven false in practice. Simutronics (numerous times) and Sony (less directly with their platinum EQ servers) have done this effectively, along with others (mostly for-pay MUDs).
What customers want, is consistancy. Companies that create a seperate server with purchase-able items and content have not received any such backlash. Indeed the only malcontent from players over the practice at large, is the mixing of people who 'bought' their character/gear and the people who 'earned' it.
Massmog companies need to realize that this 'black' market for items only exists because the demand is great. If they simply legitimized the tactic on specific servers (more likely provide isolated servers for the minority of 'purists'), the black market would die, and their own revenues would increase.
granted, administrating such a market is difficult, as each Mace of Thwacking Sony sells in EQ would decrease its own value. but the black market shops have figured that out, as have the makers of Magic The Gathering Online.
When the rules force a pent-up demand to be filled only by illegal means, then it will invariably wind up supporting other illegal activities. First Prohibition, then the War on Drugs, and now (to a lesser extent) 'illegal' massmog character/item sales.
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
It's one thing to invest your time doing something you enjoy and get something back. Arts and crafts shows thrive on this idea. But to farm items in a game strictly for monetary gain seems like a waste. I haven't seen any quantifiable data on this. What is the actual return on time investment?
Consider the days it takes to get a character to a decent level with decent enough equipment and keys to access the choice areas, and the camping time for the rare spawns. How could that possibly earn one a decent wage? I suppose it's better than working in an actual sweat shop if that's your only alternative. But I'd think people savvy enough to max EQ could find respectable employment elsewhere.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
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?
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.
paul reinheimer