The Gold Farmers

Julian Dibbell has written a very interesting book about the world of online gaming. Specifically MMORPG's and his ability to make money out of playing them. I had encountered people selling "virtual goods" online in high school. A student in one of my classes told me about how he was selling stuff on Ebay for the game Diablo II. It interested me because I couldn't believe someone would pay real money for a sheild or sword for their video game character.

Now I get to learn about the ins and outs of the business. Dibbell starts off by selling maps that show where to mine gold in a game he begins to play. He says he starts the game to do more research into the mind of gamers....but then he quickly gets addicted. He wants the pride and the honor of being looked up to in a video game. So when he starts talking to Bob Kiblinger....a pro at the game.....his luck starts to change.

I liked how friendly some people were to him. They weren't mean and were able to help him learn the game and what sells and what doesn't. The thing that gets me though.....is the fact that Bob was using programs to run the game as many different characters. He wasn't controlling some of these characters and was essentially cheating in the game.

Should he really be able to make money like that? I disagree with it......but we'll see what happens in the future.