Gold farming

{{Short description|Practice of professional video game players}} {{distinguish|gold mining}}

'''Gold farming''' is the practice of playing a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) to acquire in-game currency, later selling it for real-world money.<ref name=beeb2>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6592335.stm The business end of playing games] bbc.com, Wednesday, 25 April 2007, 14:55 GMT</ref><ref>Heeks (2008). p. 2.</ref><ref>For Chinese gold farmers, see {{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/mar/05/virtual-world-china | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Welcome to the new gold mines | first=Rowenna | last=Davis | date=March 5, 2009 | access-date=May 3, 2010 }}

*For non-Chinese gold farmers, see [http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2006/07/589687/ Gamers load for virtual asset swap] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715143758/http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2006/07/589687/ |date=2009-07-15 }} vietnamnet.vn, 12:30' 10/07/2006 (GMT+7)</ref>

Gold farming is distinct from other practices in online multiplayer games, such as power leveling, as gold farming refers specifically to harvesting in-game currency, not rank or experience points. The actual labor mechanics of these practices may be similar, and those who hold employment as gold farmers may also work as power levelers.

While most game operators ban the practice of selling in-game currency for real-world cash,<ref name=beeb2/> gold farming is lucrative because it takes advantage of economic inequality and the fact much time is needed to earn in-game currency.<ref name=beeb1>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5151916.stm China's full-time computer gamers] bbc.com, Friday, 13 October 2006, 19:20 GMT</ref> Rich players from developed countries, wishing to save many hours of playing time, are willing to pay substantial sums to gold farmers from developing countries.<ref name=NYT>[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/technology/09gaming.html?ex=1291784400&en=48a72408592dffe6&ei=5088 Ogre to Slay? Outsource It to Chinese] nytimes.com, December 9, 2005</ref> Gold farming has also been linked to credit card fraud, with game accounts used for gold farming being paid for with stolen credit cards.<ref name="eurogamer-exposed"/><ref name="eurogamer-wowtoken"/>

The term has also been used to describe the wait times and chore-like activities players may perform in some freemium mobile phone games, allowing them to play without paying fees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/07/gold-farming-in-heroes-of-the-storm-is-my-new-part.html|title=Gold-farming in Heroes of the Storm is My New Part-Time Job|author=Myers, Maddy|date=9 July 2015|work=pastemagazine.com|access-date=13 April 2016}}</ref> {{Video Games}}

==History== What began as a cottage industry in the late 1990s became increasingly more commercialized in the 2000s with the growing popularity of massively multiplayer online games.<ref name=eurogamer1>[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gold-trading-exposed-the-sellers-article Gold Trading Exposed: Introduction] eurogamer.net, 19 March 2009</ref>

While in the past players used eBay and PayPal to sell each other items and gold from games like Ultima Online<ref name="Heeksp 2008 p4">Heeks (2008). p. 4.</ref> and Lineage,<ref name="Heeks 2008 p5">Heeks (2008). p. 5.</ref> contemporary, commercialized gold farming may have its origins in South Korea. 2001 reports describe Korean cybercafes being converted into gold farming operations to serve domestic demand.<ref name="Heeks 2008 p5"/> This model, with full-time gold farmers working long hours in cybercafes, was outsourced to China and initially served demand from Korean players.<ref name=NYT/> Gold farming in China was experiencing swift growth c. 2004.<ref name="Heeks 2008 p5"/> Cheap labor from inland provinces had washed into more cosmopolitan cities, and these real-life farmers were promptly pressed into service farming gold.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Games of Empire: Global Capitalism and Video Games|last=Dyer-Witheford|first=Nick|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|year=2009|pages=133}}</ref> In 2011, ''The Guardian'' reported that prisoners in some Chinese re-education camps were forced to engage in gold farming for the benefit of prison authorities.<ref>{{cite news|last=Vincent|first=Danny|title=China used prisoners in lucrative internet gaming work|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/25/china-prisoners-internet-gaming-scam|access-date=25 May 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 May 2011}}</ref>

Gold farming has also been linked to credit card fraud. According to the developers of World of Warcraft and Runescape, most gold-farming and botting accounts in those games were paid for using stolen credit card numbers. Dealing with these fraudulent accounts incurs costs for the game companies not only in terms of employee time, but also monetarily in the form of chargeback fees from credit card companies.<ref name="eurogamer-exposed">{{cite web |last1=Ryan |first1=Nick |title=Gold Trading Exposed: The Developers |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/gold-trading-exposed-the-developers-article?page=2 |website=Eurogamer |access-date=19 October 2023 |date=April 9, 2009}}</ref><ref name="eurogamer-wowtoken">{{cite web |last1=Purchese |first1=Robert |title=World of Warcraft and the battle against black market gold |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/world-of-warcraft-and-the-battle-against-black-market-gold |website=Eurogamer |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003103111/https://www.eurogamer.net/world-of-warcraft-and-the-battle-against-black-market-gold |archive-date=3 October 2022 |date=29 April 2015}}</ref> In addition, this large-scale fraud can risk a developer's transactions being refused by credit card companies and banks, posing an existential risk to game studios.<ref name="runescape-documentary">{{cite web |title=The RuneScape Documentary - 15 Years of Adventure |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RNK0YBdwko&t=49m23s |website=YouTube |publisher=Jagex |access-date=19 October 2023 |date=9 April 2017 |quote=It was getting to the stage where the credit card companies themselves were saying "We're not gonna accept your credit cards 'cause you're getting so many people charging back 'cause of stolen credit cards}}</ref><ref name="eurogamer-exposed"/><ref name="theregister-wowban">{{cite news |last1=Leyden |first1=John |title=UK bank blames fraudsters for World of Warcraft ban |url=https://www.theregister.com/2008/02/15/halifax_blizzard_block/ |website=The Register |publisher=Situation Publishing |access-date=19 October 2023 |date=15 February 2008}}</ref>

Academic studies of gold farming have revealed that the social networks of gold farmers are similar to those of drug dealers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://kotaku.com/gold-farming-research-digs-up-similarities-with-drug-de-5594424|title=Gold Farming Research Digs Up Similarities With Drug Dealers|work=Kotaku Daily|access-date=July 23, 2010}}</ref>

Similar to gold farming, people may be hired to ''level up'' in-game avatars by harvesting experience points. The term ''elo boosting'' may refer to a similar activity in games that feature the Elo rating system or some other competitive ladder system.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/league-of-legends-pro-suspended-for-allegedly-leveling-1719653415|title= League Of Legends Pro Suspended For Allegedly Leveling Accounts For Cash|first=Yannick|last= LeJacq|website=Kotaku|date=July 22, 2015|access-date=October 29, 2015}}</ref>

==Figures== While reliable figures for gold farming are hard to come by,<ref name=beeb>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7575902.stm Poor earning virtual gaming gold] bbc.com, 22 August 2008</ref> there are some estimates of the market for in-game currency.<ref name="wired.com">{{cite magazine| last=Dibbell|first=Julian|url=https://www.wired.com/2008/11/ff-ige/ | magazine=Wired | title=The Decline and Fall of an Ultra Rich Online Gaming Empire | date=24 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201054738/https://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/16-12/ff_ige?currentPage=all|archive-date=1 February 2009|url-status=live|url-access=limited|access-date=21 April 2024}}</ref>

In 2005, The New York Times estimated that there were over 100,000 full-time gold farmers in China alone, and by 2009, the number had increased to one million.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Games of Empire: Global Capitalism and Video Games|last=Dyer-Witheford|first=Nick|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|year=2009|isbn=9780816666102|location=Minneapolis|pages=142}}</ref><ref name=NYT/> And in 2006–2007, the market for such virtual goods was thought to amount to somewhere between US$300 million<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7007026.stm The high cost of playing Warcraft] bbc.com, 24 September 2007</ref> and US$900 million.<ref name=beeb1/>

Another estimate, drawn from 2005/2006 data, valued the market at not less than US$200 million per year<ref name="Heeks 2008 p10">Heeks (2008), p. 10.</ref> and suggested that over 150,000 people were employed as gold farmers with average monthly earnings of US$145.<ref name="Heeks 2008 p10"/> This same report estimated that 80-85% of all gold farmers were from China,<ref name=beeb/> a fact which has led to prejudice towards Chinese players.<ref>[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/news170106wowracism Chinese WOW players speak out] eurogamer.net, 17 January 2006</ref> 2008 figures from China valued the Chinese trade in virtual currency at over several billion yuan, nearly US$300 million.<ref>[http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/ebusiness/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218101859 China Limits Use Of Virtual Currency] informationweek.com, June 29, 2009</ref>

==Rules and enforcement== Many game developers expressly ban gold farming in their game's EULA or terms of service.<ref name=eurogamer2>[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gold-trading-exposed-the-developers-article Gold Trading Exposed: The Developers] eurogamer.net, 9 April 2009</ref> In order to combat this, game developers such as Blizzard and ArenaNet are attempting to discourage third-party gold farming by implementing official real-money transaction systems within their games.<ref name=Blizzard>[http://us.battle.net/d3/en/services/auction-house/ Auction House Services Diablo III] us.battle.net 12 June 2012</ref><ref name=ArenaNet>[http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-obrien-on-microtransactions-in-guild-wars-2 Mike O'Brien on Microtransactions in Guild Wars 2] arena.net, 3 March 2012</ref> For example, in 2015, Blizzard implemented in-game items and tokens that cost players real money to purchase. These can then be auctioned off to other players for in-game currencies.<ref name=WoWToken>[http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/18141101/introducing-the-wow-token-3-2-2015 WoW Token] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413095121/http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/18141101/introducing-the-wow-token-3-2-2015 |date=April 13, 2016 }} us.battle.net 12 April 2016</ref>

==Secondary effects on in-game economy== Gold farming and power leveling can affect a game's economy by causing inflation.<ref name=uiuc/> They may degrade the game experience for users as was noted in a legal case against IGE.<ref>{{cite news | last =Chalk | first =Andy | title =IGE Sued By World Of Warcraft Player | newspaper =The Escapis | publisher =Themis Media | date =1 June 2007 | url =http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/72346-IGE-Sued-By-World-Of-Warcraft-Player | access-date =March 10, 2012 | archive-date =9 December 2019 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20191209233901/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/72346-IGE-Sued-By-World-Of-Warcraft-Player | url-status =dead }}</ref> It is often a source of annoyance for players who can find themselves being "spammed" by sellers via the game's messaging system.

These ill effects can occur whether or not such practices are sanctioned by the game operator. Citing such concerns, Activision Blizzard shut down their real-money transaction system for Diablo III in 2014.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24152225 | title=Diablo 3 auction houses are doomed by developer Blizzard | publisher=BBC | work=BBC News | date=18 September 2013 | access-date=21 September 2013 | author=Kelion, Leo}}</ref>

During the crisis in Venezuela, Venezuelans became gold-farmers and could be seen playing online video games such as ''RuneScape'' to sell in-game currency or characters for real currency. In many cases, these gamers made more money than salaried workers in Venezuela even though they were earning just a few dollars per day. So many Venezuelans began this practice that it increased inflation with multiple game currencies.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rosati|first1=Andrew|title=Desperate Venezuelans Turn to Video Games to Survive|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-05/desperate-venezuelans-turn-to-video-games-to-survive|access-date=6 December 2017|work=Bloomberg|date=5 December 2017}}</ref>

==Law, regulation and taxation== Some governments, perhaps recognizing that current regulatory systems may be ill-suited to address activities such as gold farming, have made statements concerning the sale of virtual goods.

===Australia=== In 2006, a spokesperson for the Australian Government stated normal earned income rules also apply to income from the sale of virtual goods.<ref>[http://www.theage.com.au/news/biztech/virtual-world-tax-man-cometh/2006/10/30/1162056925483.html Virtual world: tax man cometh] theage.com.au, October 31, 2006</ref>

===China=== Gold farming in China is more pervasive than in any other country, as 80% of all gold farmers are in mainland China as of 2011,<ref name="used prisoners" /> with a total of 100,000 full-time gold farmers in the country as of 2005.<ref name="DAVID BARBOZA">{{cite news | last= BARBOZA | first= DAVID | url= https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2005/12/09/technology/09gaming.html| title= Ogre to Slay? Outsource It to Chinese| work= The New York Times| date= 9 December 2005| access-date= 21 April 2024 }}</ref> Gold farming in China is done in Internet cafes, abandoned warehouses, small offices, private homes and even "re-education through labor" camps.<ref name="DAVID BARBOZA" /> When organized as an actual informal business, they are known as "gaming workshops" (Simplified Chinese: {{linktext|游戏|工作室}}; Pinyin: Yóuxì gōngzuòshì)<ref name="JULIAN DIBBELL" /> or "play-money workshops" (打钱工作室 Dǎqián gōngzuò shì). The abbreviation is 打G, where the G stands for "gold". Prisoners in Laogai camps have been forced to engage in gold farming for the financial benefit of prison authorities.<ref name="used prisoners">{{cite news |last=Vincent|first=Danny |title=China used prisoners in lucrative internet gaming work |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/25/china-prisoners-internet-gaming-scam |access-date=25 May 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 May 2011}}</ref> A popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game subject to gold farming in China is ''World of Warcraft''.<ref name="JULIAN DIBBELL">{{cite news | last= Dibbell | first= Julian | url= https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/magazine/17lootfarmers-t.html | title= The Life of the Chinese Gold Farmer| work= The New York Times | date= 17 June 2007| access-date= 21 April 2024}}</ref> The Chinese government banned using virtual currency to buy real-world items in 2009 but not the reverse.<ref>[http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/newsrelease/commonnews/200906/20090606364208.html China bars use of virtual money for trading in real goods] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131129184312/http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/newsrelease/commonnews/200906/20090606364208.html |date=2013-11-29 }} PRC Ministry of Commerce, Monday, June 29, 2009 2100 GMT</ref>

===Japan=== In response to increases in gold farming, in 2006, the Japanese Government urged the computer game industry to self-regulate as well as vowing to investigate this species of fraud.<ref>[http://au.gamespot.com/news/6154249.html Japanese gov't looks into gold farming] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103326/http://au.gamespot.com/news/6154249.html |date=2007-09-29 }} gamespot.com, Jul 19, 2006 5:48 am AEST</ref>

===South Korea=== A Korean high court's 2010 ruling meant that exchanging virtual currency for real money was legal in this country although subject to taxation.<ref name=cnn>[http://moremoney.blogs.money.cnn.com/2010/01/22/play-money-is-real-money-says-high-court/ Play money is real money, says high court] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121216064952/http://moremoney.blogs.money.cnn.com/2010/01/22/play-money-is-real-money-says-high-court/ |date=2012-12-16 }} moremoney.blogs.money.cnn.com, January 22, 2010</ref> However, in 2012, this practice was set to be banned alongside a raft of other means to cheat in games, and gold farmers could face stiff penalties—up to $45,000 in fines and five years in jail.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/virtual-item-trading-to-be-banned-in-south-korea | title=Virtual item trading to be banned in South Korea | publisher=UBM | work=gamasutra.com | date=15 June 2012 | access-date=13 April 2016 | author=Rose, Mike}}</ref>

===United States=== A United States Congressional committee investigated taxation of virtual assets and incomes derived from them in 2006,<ref> *[http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2006/10/15/us-congress-launchs-probe-into-virtual-economies/ US Congress launches probe into virtual economies] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104090620/http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2006/10/15/us-congress-launchs-probe-into-virtual-economies/ |date=2010-11-04 }} secondlife.reuters.com, Sun Oct 15, 2006 10:43pm PDT *[http://news.cnet.com/IRS+taxation+of+online+game+virtual+assets+inevitable/2100-1043_3-6140298.html?tag=item IRS taxation of online game virtual assets inevitable] news.com.com, December 3, 2006 9:45 AM PST</ref> and the IRS has, in its National Taxpayer Advocate's 2008 Annual Report to Congress, expressed concern that virtual worlds are a growing source of tax noncompliance.<ref>[http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2009/01/20/irs-getting-closer-to-a-virtual-goods-tax/ IRS Getting Closer to a Virtual Goods Tax] insidesocialgames.com, January 20th, 2009</ref>

===Venezuela=== Due to hyperinflation in Venezuela and the devalued Venezuelan currency, popular MMOs like Runescape and Tibia have been subject to mass gold mining. In Reddit, a user published a racially abusive guide on how to kill Venezuelans in the “player-v-player” places where the gold farming takes place; the guide was followed by intemperate comments. The moderators removed the post and the comments afterwards.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2019/11/21/venezuelas-paper-currency-is-worthless-so-its-people-seek-virtual-gold|title=Venezuela's paper currency is worthless, so its people seek virtual gold|date=21 November 2019|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=2019-11-26|issn=0013-0613}}</ref> Considering many gold farmers utilize Bitcoin as an intermediate currency,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://bitcoinmxn.com/2018/09/01/una-entrevista-con-un-anonimo-venezolano-utilizando-runescape-y-bitcoin-para-alimentar-a-su-familia |title=Una Entrevista Con Un anónimo Venezolano Utilizando Runescape y Bitcoin Para Alimentar a Su Familia |access-date=2019-04-11 |archive-date=2019-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411011302/http://bitcoinmxn.com/2018/09/01/una-entrevista-con-un-anonimo-venezolano-utilizando-runescape-y-bitcoin-para-alimentar-a-su-familia/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> regulation or taxation isn't feasible at the moment.{{when|date=April 2020}} During the 2019 Venezuelan blackouts, RuneScape's trading market suffered an "economic crisis" due to the reduced number of goods, as Venezuelans could not access the game.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamebyte.com/power-outage-in-venezuela-causes-economic-crisis-in-runescape/|title=Power Outage In Venezuela Causes Economic Crisis In RuneScape|date=2019-03-11|website=Gamebyte|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-11-26}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

===Lawsuits by game companies===

Zynga, the makers of FarmVille, filed a lawsuit to stop online sales of its in-game currency. The lawsuit never went to trial.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/cacdce/2:2010cv02576/469538/|title=Zynga Inc. v. Playerauctions.com 2:2010cv02576 | U.S. District Court for the Central District of California | Justia|access-date=Feb 23, 2025}}</ref>

Jagex, the makers of RuneScape, have engaged in legal actions against several gold farmers and bot programmers.<ref>[http://services.runescape.com/m=news/bot-busting-update-legal-proceedings Bot-Busting Update: Legal Proceedings] Runescape.com, November 9, 2011</ref>

On February 1, 2008, Blizzard Entertainment, the makers of World of Warcraft, won a lawsuit against In Game Dollar, trading under the name Peons4Hire. The court ordered an injunction that immediately halted all business operations within said game.<ref>http://virtuallyblind.com/2008/02/01/peons4hire-blizzard-injunction/ Virtuallyblind.com, February 1, 2008</ref>

==Game sweatshop== A business producing avatars and in-game currency in MMORPGs is sometimes labelled a game sweatshop.<ref name=observer>{{cite news | last = Thompson | first = Tony | title = They play games for 10 hours - and earn £2.80 in a 'virtual sweatshop' | publisher = The Observer | date = 2005-03-13 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2005/mar/13/games.theobserver | access-date = 2007-06-29 }}</ref> Workers employed by these companies either collect in-game currency (known as gold farming) or generate high-level avatars (known as power leveling).<ref name=observer/> Such organizations are referred to as sweatshops because the gold farmers are usually paid very low wages.<ref name=uiuc>{{cite journal | last =Jin | first =Ge | title =Chinese Gold Farmers in the Game World | journal =Consumers, Commodities & Consumption | volume =7 | issue =2 | publisher =Consumers Studies Research Network | date =May 2006 | url =http://csrn.camden.rutgers.edu/newsletters/7-2/jin.htm | access-date = March 10, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Dibbell|first1=Julian|title=Video Games - China - Money - Online Games|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/magazine/17lootfarmers-t.html?_r=0|website=The New York Times|date=17 June 2007}}</ref>

==Development potential== Gold farming has been discussed as a tool for socioeconomic development by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.infodev.org/articles/converting-virtual-economy-development-potential-1 | title=Converting the Virtual Economy into Development Potential | publisher=infoDev | work=infodev.org | date=7 April 2011 | access-date=13 April 2016}}</ref> and University of Manchester professor Richard Heeks.<ref>Heeks (2008).</ref> The money involved is small enough to flow easily from many first-world players but large enough to make a difference to the people doing the work. Gold farmers receive a higher percentage of sale revenue from their work than do farmers of fair trade coffee.<ref name=ars>[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/04/wow-players-could-one-day-buy-fair-trade-gold-from-chinese-farms.ars Fair Trade Gold] arstechnica.com</ref>

==In the media== Neal Stephenson's 2011 novel ''Reamde'' has a plot centered on an online game that encourages gold farming.

Cory Doctorow's 2004 short story "Anda's Game",<ref>{{cite news | last=Doctorow | first=Cory | author-link=Cory Doctorow | url=http://www.salon.com/2004/11/15/andas_game/ | title=Anda's Game | work=Salon | date=2004-11-16 | access-date=2014-04-01 }}</ref> 2010 novel ''For The Win'',<ref>[https://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/21996 "Cory Doctorow's 'For the Win{{'"}}]. creativecommons.org, May 11, 2010</ref> and 2014 graphic novel ''In Real Life''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.polygon.com/2014/11/5/7157947/in-real-life-cory-doctorow-comic|title=A comic that explores the dark side of gold farming|first=Danielle|last=Riendeau|website=Polygon |date=Nov 5, 2014|access-date=Feb 23, 2025}}</ref> (based on his short story, "Anda's Game", and illustrated by Jen Wang) include references to gold farming.

Alan Harris's radio play ''The Gold Farmer'' was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of The Wire series on February 6, 2010.<ref name=play>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qf7lb "The Gold Farmer"]. bbc.co.uk</ref> It features a man who plays an online role-playing game and whose next door neighbour is a gold farmer.

A 2006 art project by UBERMORGEN.COM, ''Chinese Gold'', used found video and machinima to document and explore the Chinese gold farming phenomenon.<ref name=nmai>[http://nimk.nl/eng/space-invaders-artists-and-works Space Invaders artists and works] Netherlands Media Art Institute</ref>

Julian Dibbell's 2006 book ''Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot'' chronicles the author's efforts to earn so much virtual money playing online games that he could quit his day job.

== Discourse == In the game ''World of Warcraft'', friction resulted from U.S. players of the 2004 release finding themselves competing with Chinese-based players who were employed to generate in-game resources to be sold on trading sites.<ref name="Eyman">{{Cite book |last=Eyman |first=Douglas |title=Games & Play in Chinese & Sinophone Cultures |date=2024 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=9780295752402 |editor-last=Guo |editor-first=Li |location=Seattle, WA |chapter=Translation and Chinese Culture in Video Games |editor-last2=Eyman |editor-first2=Douglas |editor-last3=Sun |editor-first3=Hongmei}}</ref>{{Rp|page=253}} In addition to these differences in play style, the game had no translation features for in-game chat and therefore there was little communication between English-speaking and non-English speaking players.<ref name="Eyman" />{{Rp|page=254}} In her analysis of gold farming, media scholar Lisa Nakamura wrote that although "players cannot see each other's body while playing, specific forms of game labor, such as gold farming and selling, as well as specific styles of play, have become racialized as Chinese, producing new forms of networked racism that are particularly easy for players to disavow."<ref name="Eyman" />{{Rp|page=255}}

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

=== General === * {{cite journal | url=http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/institutes/gdi/publications/workingpapers/di/di_wp32.pdf | title=Current Analysis and Future Research Agenda on "Gold Farming": Real-World Production in Developing Countries for the Virtual Economies of Online Games | last=Heeks |first=Richard | journal=Development Informatics--Working Paper Series | year=2008 | volume=28 |publisher=University of Manchester |location=United Kingdom}}

Category:Massively multiplayer online role-playing games Category:Virtual economies