Curse

jackie · Apr 15, 2006, 01:05 PM // 13:05

A___a

Well it seems 'read between lines' type of writing is dangerous to use on this forum. I apologize for insulting anyone who felt like that.

This 'generalize' case is close. Period.

Studio Ghibli · Apr 15, 2006, 01:16 PM // 13:16

"For 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, my colleagues and I are killing monsters," said a 23-year-old gamer who works here in this makeshift factory and goes by the online code name Wandering. "I make about $250 a month, which is pretty good compared with the other jobs I've had. And I can play games all day."

I think people fail to take into account the popularity of Lineage II within the Asian market.

- edit -

As an aside, I'm not ignorant of how amusing it is that the person with a "powered by child labor" avatar is the same person to defend videogame "sweatshops."

Eclair · Apr 15, 2006, 06:47 PM // 18:47

I'm pretty sure a lot of Korean students pay for their college tuitions by selling in game items for money.

deathdela · Apr 15, 2006, 07:03 PM // 19:03

These people are making millions a year because people actually buy the ebay cash. Personally i dont see the point of playing a game if you already have the best stuff in it. I would rather make my own money then buy it cause it defeats the object of the game. Lately i have been hearing so much talk of ebay accounts and WTS account in LA what is the point of purchasing an account you have personally not achieved nothing on people have got to start realising this is a game and real life money shouldnt be traded for cyber money.

Studio Ghibli · Apr 15, 2006, 07:49 PM // 19:49

Well, as was explained to me by someone who engages in this stuff on a regular basis..

.. his time is worth money, whether or not that time is spent at work, at home, or playing an MMO. To do what he wants to do, to invest the time necessary to earn the equipment and whatever he wants, it's simply more worth his time for someone else to do it for him and for him to pay them some small fee as opposed to doing it himself.

Mind you, this guy was a personal trainer, so.

His time really was worth a lot of money. No idea as to the rest of these people, though.

XeNoGeArZ · Apr 15, 2006, 10:21 PM // 22:21

That's RIGHT, Studio Ghibli knows what the deal is. Read it again :

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...&postcount=159
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...&postcount=159

Teutonic Paladin · Apr 15, 2006, 10:40 PM // 22:40

I guess I know now why everyone blames the "Chinese" Bot Farmers. Truly disgusting.

EDIT: While I was dying Easter Eggs I was thinking about this and sure, they take advantage of people and pay them close to nothing, but isn't at least worth noting the work that gets done? THey are paid for doing almost nothing! Still...

RuPee · Apr 16, 2006, 03:43 AM // 03:43

omfg! i thought sweatshop farmers were just a joke since all they do is play a game but it seems just as serious as those kids who are dying making shoes for nike or sewing shirts for wal-mart.

Studio Ghibli · Apr 16, 2006, 02:58 PM // 14:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teutonic Paladin

I guess I know now why everyone blames the "Chinese" Bot Farmers. Truly disgusting.

EDIT: While I was dying Easter Eggs I was thinking about this and sure, they take advantage of people and pay them close to nothing, but isn't at least worth noting the work that gets done? THey are paid for doing almost nothing! Still...

Again, the "they take advantage of people and pay them close to nothing" is misleading. With -our- standards, that pay is awful. If someone was paid that much in the States, -that'd- be something worth complaining about.

However, that's not the case.

Haven't you heard the stories about how well off Americans can be in certain parts of the world because of the value of the dollar compared to the value of other currencies? Hell, during my stay in the Phillipines, I felt like a little king 'cause of how much weight my dollar carried.

For us, that fifty cents an hour is bullshit. For them, that fifty cents an hour--as I showed with my math earlier--is pretty damn good money, especially consider (1) the work involved (2) the pay involved, (3) and the work/pay involved with other labors.

As for being taken advantage of, yes, they are, to an extent--but it's no different than what happens here Stateside. Look at any minimum wage laborer. That's shit work. That's dog work. Waitresses don't even make minimum wage. They make their money off of tips. And who profits? These fatcats who realize they're minimizing loss of money and maximizing profits.

And that's exactly what these MMO people are doing, too.

When one tries to understand this, one has to understand the context.

Rupee,

I'm not sure what you're talking about.

Did you read my previous post? Did you see the link I pulled from the New York Times showing how "awful" a videogame sweatshop looked? How awful the workers looked? Notice how awful their clothing is.

Videogame sweatshops are not as serious as -real- sweatshops. People have to understand that and redirect their energies. Real sweatshops ARE sweatshops. Videogame sweatshops are called sweatshops in a misleading way in that people are paid so-called low wages for repetitive work.

Studio Ghibli · Apr 16, 2006, 03:02 PM // 15:02

For those not familiar with how to look back through a thread, here's a link to a picture of a videogame "sweatshop."

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...9game650.2.jpg

The horror.

Cjlr · Apr 16, 2006, 03:14 PM // 15:14

Some nice 'splaining there, Studio Ghibli. I don't know how many of the "omfg sweatshop!" sensationalists you got through to, but congrats for trying.

Shit like this (like anything else, I might add) needs to be taken in context. Fifty cents? The outrage! But then, fifty cents/hour for eight-ten hours is so far above the median income in China it's not even funny.

djfatben · Apr 16, 2006, 04:15 PM // 16:15

Studio Ghibli, you and I have been on the same page even before we started reading the book. The relative conditions are good, and the relative pay is great, especially considering the amount of work it is. Do people realise how many jobs this industry creates and how much more revenue is brought into the county because of it? This is making peoples' lives better. These guys aren't being forced to work, I would wager these jobs go quick. Didn't part of the article say you needed to know someone to get in? Doesn't that mean it's a nice job? Come on people. In the immortal worlds of the Parliment Funkadelic, "Think! Think! It ain't illegal yet!"

stupenduzzman · Apr 16, 2006, 05:02 PM // 17:02

If they make over a million dollars a year, then why don't they just pay someone to hack the system completely, as in, figure out how the "guild wars gold" looks in code. Then figure out how to duplicate it and sell it. I mean, I don't know if its even possible, but hey, with a million dollars you can do a lot

note: I'm not encouraging hacking any game.

x3x3non · Apr 16, 2006, 06:15 PM // 18:15

I find it rediculous how many people are crying about the thought of a "sweatshop." Do you know where my microsoft keyboard was made? China...

flamingmarmo · Apr 16, 2006, 10:22 PM // 22:22

The whole idea of these sweatshops and the concept of cheap labour being bad. Is just wrong they actually can do alot of good for the country and the reason these countries have an economy comparitive advantage etc. How long does it take to farm for say15k armour. Many many hours and to many time is more valuable than 20quid for the gold, personally I'd much rather enjoy the game and see friends or work instead of farming for the gold. Time after all is more important than money.