Eurogamer Explores The Gold Trading Market

Eurogamer is doing a four-part editorial on the existence of gold farming, gold trading and the mechanics surrounding them. The first two parts are available: an introduction that talks about the perception of gold farmers and how it is supported by users while condemned by them publicly, and a profile of the seller.

Benjamin goes into further detail about the core workers. “Most of the [gold] farmers themselves are young people from rural areas … they have no opportunity to receive university education or professional training. Currently, they can get a relatively decent salary compared to those who work in factories or construction sites. This salary consists of basic payment, plus bonus for each gold they farm. So the skillful farmers can get more money, ranging from USD 250 to USD 400 per month.”

He estimates that there are over one million gold farmers in China today, all farming on North American and European online game servers. There are over 60,000 registered suppliers in what he calls “Chinese Purchase Platforms” [the brokers selling you the gold].

“The smaller farming workshops maybe only have five to ten staff, while the large ones employ more than 1,000 farmers. They work in shifts, 12 hours per day. Frankly, it’s very tiring and boring to sit down before the computer to kill the monsters and grind gold day after day. But anyway, gold farming allows young people a job and able to afford the basic expenses for their family. Many farmers start their own farming workshop,” he adds, “after accumulating a certain amount of funds and experience.”