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Gold Farming

Kai K. Kimppa, Andrew Bissett, Gold Farming. In: Mariacarla Calzarossa Ivo de Lotto Simon Rogerson Terrel Ward Bynum (Ed.), Ethicomp 2008: Living, Working and Learning Beyond Technology, 470-479, 2008.

Abstract:

Gold farming consists of playing an online computer game for the purpose of gaining items of value within the internal economy of the game, and selling these to other players for real money. Such items may be in-game money (where the game internal economy allows this), desirable items, or highly developed game characters. The selling is done through web sites or online auctions. This phenomenon is, following the spread of Internet and online computer games, widely practiced in low average income level countries such as China or Mexico that have relatively good access to Internet. Although this phenomenon can be considered as ‘just’ a new form of the sweatshop labour (which it undoubtedly is), there are some differences and even clear benefits for the gold farmer compared to the ‘traditional’ sweatshops.

BibTeX entry:

@INPROCEEDINGS{inpKiBi08a,
  title = {Gold Farming},
  booktitle = {Ethicomp 2008: Living, Working and Learning Beyond Technology},
  author = {Kimppa, Kai K. and Bissett, Andrew},
  editor = {Terrel Ward Bynum, Mariacarla Calzarossa Ivo de Lotto Simon Rogerson},
  pages = {470-479},
  year = {2008},
  keywords = {MMORPG, Internet, Gold farming},
}

Belongs to TUCS Research Unit(s): Laboris Information Systems

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