So I was gonna write about the changing of the guard at Yahoo, but then I realized, I didn't care. Yeah yeah, new CEO gonna make big changes; I've heard it all. Those promises are a dime a dozen these days anyways. But this recent article from The New York Times shows an almost slave like profession of selling virtual gold on a popular online game, World of Warcraft.
"At the end of each shift, Li reports the night’s haul to his supervisor, and at the end of the week, he, like his nine co-workers, will be paid in full. For every 100 gold coins he gathers, Li makes 10 yuan, or about $1.25, earning an effective wage of 30 cents an hour, more or less. The boss, in turn, receives $3 or more when he sells those same coins to an online retailer, who will sell them to the final customer (an American or European player) for as much as $20. The small commercial space Li and his colleagues work in — two rooms, one for the workers and another for the supervisor — along with a rudimentary workers’ dorm, a half-hour’s bus ride away, are the entire physical plant of this modest $80,000-a-year business."
As a "WoW" player myself, I have heard of these services widely advertised in-game; almost the the point of spam. But I feel that to buy online currency with real money defeats the sense of accomplishment that draws those 8 million world wide players in the first place. And then to see how these workers are on 12 hour shifts for 30 cents an hour is almost slavery. I, for one, will never be using these services and I encourage other Wow'ers to do the same.
Full article here.
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