Sunday, November 23, 2008
Virtual Worlds of Warcraft
When it comes to living in a virtual world, there is one game that comes to mind for me: World of Warcraft. It holds the record for highest subscriber base of any MMORPG (11 million players), and just recently its expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, broke the record for fastest selling computer game, selling 2.8 million copies in 24 hours. Needless to say, the game is pretty popular. In fact, the game is so popular that people are able to make real money using the game's economy. There are hundreds of companies in China that hire young people to do what is called "gold farming". They put time into procuring valuable items which they sell at "auction houses" in the game for gold, the in-game currency. This gold can then be sold to players for real currency. In some cases, people can make more money by "gold farming" than they would be able to make otherwise. Even though they are not doing "real" work in the "real" world, they are paid for their efforts. They are, in a way, breaking down the barriers between the virtual and real world. Not only can you spend most of your time having fun in a virtual world, you can actually make a living there as well. As the information age progresses and more and more people become connected through virtual worlds like World of Warcraft, I believe that these "virtual jobs with real pay" can only increase in number. Is it that odd for people to be able to make money playing games? According to modern times, no: athletes are able to make almost obscene amounts of money by just "playing a game". There are even people out there that compete in competitive video game tournaments with real money as prizes. Slowly but surely, virtual worlds are becoming more prominent in our society. Is it that strange for people to make money in these virtual worlds like they would in the real world?
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One I would like to say that it is weird for people to be making real money in these virtual worlds. Maybe I just think this because I have not participated in any of these virtual games because I am too busy trying to live my real life but this is just how I feel. I will admit I do live video games and I would love to get paid for doing so. But when I read about this gold farming I think it is absurd that people will spend their real money on fake money that you use in the game. I mean come on is the game so serious that you value the virtual money over your own? I also think it is quite absurd that Eric compared athletes to these people getting paid to play video games. The amount of time, energy and money that is put into the professional sports we all watch and love is so great that it has become a business that we never have to worry about losing. Those athletes deserve the money they make and even though they are just “playing a game”, they are playing a game that does a lot for this country.
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