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chronicpride
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:55 am Post subject: Lineage profiteering in the PC bang |
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I'm sitting at the bang now and look over and see a well-dressed Korean who is operating 2 PCs back and forth, with Lineage 2 on both screens. Anyone ever see these guys? I've heard from a few friends who know some people that are full-time into this and pull some large cash from item-trading, facilitated by ItemBay.
For those that are unfamiliar, here's a link for some background on the black market of the online gaming market in Korea:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6199780/site/newsweek/
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Oct. 18 issue - K. sits in front of his computers for 12 to 15 hours a day, playing games for a living. He is a scavenger in the kind of online games that involve as many as 200,000 players building or battling in elaborate virtual worlds. His specialty is Lineage, a medieval fantasy game, and he plays seven characters simultaneously on four computers, seeking the spoils;magical swords and the like;that allow victors to move up to higher levels. At 27, he says he couldn't find a normal career out of university, so he turned to this gray-market profession, earning some $4,000 a month winning and selling virtual booty to other players.
Even the fanatic universe of game players is divided about trading virtual goods. The buyers are paying to gain an advantage (a magic weapon or whatever), and many consider this cheating, or just stupid. Often, people are paying real money for play money, a deal no sane person ever made on a Monopoly board. "Selling and buying stuff online through games is just a crazy idea," says Kim Min Ho, a university student. "I don't understand why people do it. There are better ways to waste your money." Others say it's just capitalism at work. Says 27-year-old office worker Kim Ki Woon, "It's great to know that you can earn a little on the side while spending time on your hobby." |
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John Henry
Joined: 24 Sep 2004
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:13 am Post subject: |
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You'd think if these guys are pulling 4k a month, they wouldn't have to go to a bang.
But seriously, how do you play seven accounts at the same time? I'll play video games 12 hours a day for 90k a year.  |
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Blind Willie
Joined: 05 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:22 am Post subject: |
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| Now I know what to do after my contract ends |
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Plutocracy
Joined: 01 Feb 2005
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:33 am Post subject: |
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| My friend just purchased 5 million adena (the games currency) for 50$. Whew. He insists it was worth it though, since to get the 5 mil. he would have had to play the game for 40 hours or so, so if time is money, hes actually saving cash. Thats his rationalization anyway. Its pretty fucked up. |
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panthermodern
Joined: 08 Feb 2003
Location: Taxronto
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:43 am Post subject: |
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| I read that ULTIMA online actually has "virtual estate agents" that sell virtual estate online ... selling virtual locations for real monet is one thing .. paying someone to sell it for you is another ... |
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John Henry
Joined: 24 Sep 2004
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:16 am Post subject: |
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I sometimes play City of Heroes. I've considered paying for the games currency. The reason is, if you're going to be spending tons of time playing a game, you don't want to have a suck ass character. If five bucks can buff me up, and make the game a lot more enjoyable, it's worth it to me. Fortunately, I've never needed to do it. Really, people give currency away all the time in those things.
But back to the point. How do I play seven accounts at the same time, and make 90K next year? |
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The King of Kwangju
Joined: 10 Feb 2003
Location: New York City
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| Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 11:45 am Post subject: |
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Wired had a good article on this a while ago:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.01/gaming.html
which points out that some academics pegged the EverQuest hourly wage at $3.42/hr.
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| In other words, assuming roughly proportional numbers for Electronic Arts' 225,000-player Ultima and other major online role-playing games ... the workforce toiling away in these imaginary worlds generates more than $300 million in real wealth each year. |
I'm no expert, but I assume if you had a "team" made up of your own 7 characters, you could have a few guys do the real work and have the rest - who would be standing around for the most part - partake in the spoils. Seven players would mean seven swords (or whatever). |
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