FUZHOU, China - One of China's newest factories operates here in the basement of an old warehouse. Posters of World of Warcraft and Magic Land hang above a corps of young people glued to their computer screens, pounding away at their keyboards in the latest hustle for money. The people working at this clandestine locale are "gold farmers." Every day, in 12-hour shifts, they "play" computer games by killing onscreen monsters and winning battles, harvesting artificial gold coins and other virtual goods as rewards that, as it turns out, can be transformed into real cash. That is because, from Seoul to San Francisco, affluent online gamers who lack the time and patience to work their way up to the higher levels of gamedom are willing to pay the young Chinese here to play the early rounds for them. "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." Good? Bad? The devil reincarnate? I can honestly say I have no experience with these type people, only what I've heard from other people. And so far, the consensus is: bad. So what do you think? Ban them? Or just ignore it and hope they don't take your precious e-gold? Do you like to play games? Earn money while doing it!
Happens in the States also. There are whole backstreet warehouses filled with illegal Mexican immigrants playing Ultima Online to acquire goods which the little enterprise then sells on eBay for big bucks... Crazy old world...
I can top that. Remember Jennifer Beals in "Flashdance"? That was not her dancing in the famous audition scene. It was a bloke. No, really. A male dancer had a padded bra fitted and his, well, manhood taped down. The rest was good camera work. That sort of ruined the fantasy for many of us... Ah well, she's still hot in "The L-word".
Hey, if they're making more than usual and enjoying themselves, so much the better. If American greed raises Chinese wages (albeit for a select few), good for them. Of course, still making under a buck an hour (let alone overtime) seems stupidly low. But I'm hardly familiar with the Chinese economy.
