Korean gold farmers organize
by Kyle Orland 
{ Jan 23rd 2007 at 3:45PM }
Maybe it's to more effectively protest anti-gold-farming legislation. Maybe it's to form a stronger front against Chinese competition. Maybe it's to combat their association with "cyber whores" in the popular press. Whatever the reason, it seems that some of Korea's most powerful gold-farming and in-game item reselling businesses are banding together to form a "Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association" according to Korea's ETNews.
Gold farming is reviled by many gamers and gaming companies for unfairly skewing the playing field and ruining in-game economies. Still, despite calls for boycotts and advertising bans, the market for illicit in-game currency continues to thrive. Can we really blame the gold farmers for filling a need that the market obviously demands?
[Via Boing Boing]
Read -- Commentary from Raph Koster
Read -- Korean ET News story (paid. reg. required)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Darkness @ Jan 23rd 2007 3:54PM
As long as gamers charge ridiculous amounts of money for game items and mounts start costing in upwards of 5000g (looking at you WoW), then people will simply buy gold to get what they want. I know that games kinda need some type of economy, but it's something that drives people to pay for in-game currency.
Most of us MMO players don't like it, but at the end of the day, it's all about convenience and gamers are just weak. :(
Shmil @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:03PM
There are millions of boring and dirty jobs out there in the big old open world, if people wanna play a game to sell their stuff for a profit then more power to them
HaloBreaker @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:06PM
So the players in the capitalist country are angry there's an open market where you don't have to work as hard to buy items?
But the players in the communist country are happy that there's an open market so they work harder to get good items to sell..
WTF?
Todd @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:30PM
Y'know, Blizzard would make a ton more money if they opened up their own Gold Farming/Selling department filling the need to players. If people are willing to buy in-game gold, why not the parent company do the selling and make even more money?
insight @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:37PM
This line here "Can we really blame the gold farmers for filling a need that the market obviously demands?" made me do a double take.
If you want to use that sort of logic you can say "Can we really blame the child pornographers/sex workers/drug dealers/gun runners for filling a need that the market obviously demands?"
Most MMORPG companies have all rights to the items in their game. It's in the ToS, don't like it, don't play. Don't try to say it's OK just because people want it.
ackmondual @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:41PM
The Gold Farmers union emerges!! Way to take a cue off the western hemisphere Korea!!
Frankie @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:43PM
If people stop buying gold then farmers would not be around. I'm tired of people whining and complaining at things that will become inevitable.
#4's idea probably would work best. Sell the gold at a premium or put a limit to how much gold a user could mail or give in a 24 hour period.
problem solved.
James K. @ Jan 23rd 2007 4:52PM
To #5: ""Can we really blame the child pornographers/sex workers/drug dealers/gun runners for filling a need that the market obviously demands?"
No, but harvesting gold is hardly on the same scale as child pornography, prostitution, drug dealing and gun running. It isn't illegal (being against TOS does not equal being against the law). It's harvesting a bunch of pixels in an online game. I don't see how you can equate it to any of the crimes you've listed.
k9
FSK405K @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:52PM
HaloBreaker, Excellent!
Victor @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:42PM
#5 You are comparing pedophilia with gold farming, they completely different.
The first one is wrong and should be punishable by death. Gold farming is simply fulfilling a market just like selling clothes.
Buckshot @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:41PM
Gold farmers are A necessary evil. Like the United Nations...
monkey3 @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:56PM
@ #9
wait.... the UN is nessecary?
monkey3 @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:57PM
opps! i meant "necessary"
monkey3 @ Jan 23rd 2007 5:58PM
doh!! i meant "oops!"
ChrisL @ Jan 23rd 2007 11:27PM
I bought 1m gold on ebay for guild wars. Was it so I could have an unfair advantage? No. It was so I could afford to buy as many skills as I needed for my 10 pve characters which I like to use in pvp :|
Mossflower @ Jan 23rd 2007 10:36PM
Gold farmers just make life for some people easier...
say @ Jan 23rd 2007 10:48PM
Those look like chocolates covered in gold foil.... i'm hungry now
daddd @ Jan 23rd 2007 11:18PM
Bah, only game elitists are against gold farmers. Most people can't play games 8 hours a day to get the elite gears. Time is more important to certain people than others. Why shouldn't those who have meaningful jobs (or not) in real life be able to buy online assets simply to compete with those who play games all day? Isn't this what Capitalism is really about?
NoHitHair @ Jan 24th 2007 5:41AM
"Can we really blame the gold farmers for filling a need that the market obviously demands?"
The "market" also demands child labor, 80-hour standard work weeks, massive deforestation and leaded gasoline. Strangely enough, Americans have chosen to do something called "regulation", in which these things called "laws" are passed to inhibit an entirely free flowing economy.
These same "regulations" could also be applied in real life in the perpetrator's countries of origin so as to stem the tide of those who would wish to buy/sell gold.
It's really not that new of a concept.
James K. @ Jan 24th 2007 7:20AM
Again, the comparison to illegal activities fall flat when gold harvesting is hardly illegal.
If you really believe that it is, all I can suggest is that you turn off your computer and get away from WoW or whatever for some time. It's a game. It's not life and you can't equate cold harvesting to child labor, 80 hour work weeks, deforestation or unleaded gas.
I mean in the same sense, if we really wanted to we could blame the girls in hooters ignoring gamers to talk sports with the local sports anchor, the lack of parmesan garlic pringles at my local 7/11, someone flubbing a move in Dance Dance Revolution and losing a dance off and (insert any random insane thing here) on the gold farmers.
So again, my advice: turn off the computer, go outside, get over it.
:)
k9
Mike @ Jan 24th 2007 12:32PM
Number 20, the point you are missing is that there was a point when Child Labor, 80 hour work weeks, massive deforestation, and leaded gasoline where not only legal, but were considered perfectly ethical. You are getting lost in the semantics of the metaphor and failing to see the point that previous posters are trying to make. Just because there is a market demand for an item or service does not justify an individual or group of individuals satisfying that demand, especially when specific regulations have been made against it. That is why I and other posters disagree with the faulty logic of this article.
NoHitHair @ Jan 26th 2007 11:45PM
James K.:
Perhaps a bit of remedial language and reading comprehension would do you well - your inability to even slightly grasp what I posted is appalling. I specifically advocated FOR buying/selling gold regulation, something which currently does not exist. Obviously, if I am pushing an agenda in which to make something illegal, it MUST be legal in the first place.
Mike:
I completely agree. A market demand does not necessarily justify satisfaction of that demand, which is exactly what I was saying. Secondly, I am arguing that buying and selling gold is something that I would consider unethical as it inhibits the foundation of an MMO, thus I see no reason to not apply similar real life economic regulations.