Julian Dibbell’s “The Life
of the Chinese Gold Farmer,” Ge Jin’s “Chinese Gold Farmers in the Game World” and
Jin’s YouTube video, “Chinese Gold Farmers Preview” provide interesting details
on Chinese gold farmers. In Donghua Gaming Workshop in Jinhua, China, the
slogan on the wall reads, “Unity” and “Collaboration.” I find it very
surprising that a workshop owner is a proponent of these slogans since the
owner employs ‘farmers’ who develop their own characters. I understand that the
farmers can be supportive of each other and can help one another with parts of
the game. However, unity and collaboration are not at all the main goals of
these companies. They are to act as sweatshops for cheap labor, so that an
online retailer can make money off of formerly homeless Chinese people.
While I may seem to be
against these Chinese gaming workshops, I really am not because it seems that
the young farmers are happy to be a part of these workshops. They say that they
are being paid for their hobby, so they enjoy their job even though it is a
12-hour shift for very little money. Still, it is a step up from their previous
occupation, if they even had one. What I find intriguing is the future of the
competition among gaming workshops. As the supply of the farmers’ products increase,
the prices drop. The articles we read are from 2006 and 2007, so I think it
would be important to see the development of these workshops today. Are they
not performing as well because the number of workers has increased by a large
amount over the last five years? Are the companies like ‘NoGold organization’
doing anything more today to prevent the farmers from selling their products?
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