(no subject)

[congeries]

Видите этого снеговика? На самом деле игрок Скаут Возгрин так переоделся. Но самое забавное - название его гильдии: Chinese Gold Framers. До совсем недавнего времени это был "секрет Полишинеля", но после недавней статьи в New York Times про "Китайских Золотодобытчиков" это зажужжал "весь мир".

"By some estimates, there are more than 100,000 young people working in China as full-time gamers, toiling away in dark Internet cafés, abandoned warehouses, small offices and private homes. Most of the players make less than 25 cents an hour, but they often get room, board and free computer game play in the "virtual sweatshops."

"It's unimaginable how big this is," said Chen Yu, 27, who employs 20 full-time gamers in Fuzhou. "They say that in some of these popular games, 40 or 50 percent of the players are actually Chinese farmers." - Boring game? Hire a player

В статье есть хороший обзор различных точек зрения на монетаризацию онлайн-игр - от полного осуждения:

"We know that such business exists and we are against it," said Guolong Jin, a spokesman for N-Sina, a Chinese joint venture with NC Soft, the Korean creator of "Lineage," one of the most popular online games, "Playing games should be fun and entertaining. It's not a way to trade and make money."

До одобрения и даже "холенья и лелеенья":

Sony Online Entertainment, the creator of EverQuest, the medieval war and fantasy game, recently created Station Exchange, an online market for virtual goods used in its own games. Sony calls the site an alternative to "crooked sellers in unsanctioned auctions."

"I'm selling an account with a level-60 Shaman!" Сколько он может стоить? Не то, чтобы хотелось, а - "чиста интересно".

ЗЫ: Фамилия аффтора заметки - Barboza. Сразу подумалось - "Какой отличный ник для пета!"