Easy Gold Farming - Hacking

So I first learned about gold farming from an interview found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho5Yxe6UVv4.  In it, and even in the articles that were listed for today, gold farmers were depicted as engaging in monotonous actions and working for terrible pay.  For most of the gold farms out there, I assume that this is still the case.  However, in recent years, gold farms (or at least the more efficient ones) have become more streamlined and sophisticated.  The criterion for hire is now is no longer anyone who can click a mouse or navigate a virtual world.  Instead, it has shifted to individuals with in-depth knowledge of computer programming and game design.  Why?  Hacking.

Before you starting imagining some futuristic sci-fi movie scene, what I mean by “hacking” is simply bypassing the game’s security protocol (most popular befing nProtect GameGuard) and manipulating in-game features to allow you to fight more efficiently.  This could involve a range of hacks from invincibility (quite easy) to monster vacuum (moderate) to complex macros that automate the killing, picking up loot, and selling process.  The most difficult hacks completely bypass the kill monsters-earn gold dogma.  Instead, you simply duplicate rare items and sell them (accomplished through packet-editing, if you’re curious).

Individuals with these specific sets of skills are a great asset to gold farms.  They allow automated 24/7 gaming and gold harvesting.  They only required human interactions are selling acquired loot for gold and occasional monitoring.  However, with great payouts, there are also great risks.  For one, anti-hacking programs are constantly updating so hackers must revise their code with each version of the game, which could occur as frequently as once or twice a week.  If they are unable to devise a program that bypasses security measures, it is back to manual play.  Also moderators may ban the hackers if they are caught and then it’s back to a level one avatar.