BBC reports on the massive scale of gold farming for WoW. To most Chinese, it’s a full-time job. With a population of over 1.3 billion people, the growth of the gaming population has been incredible. From just around 22.3 million players less than a year ago, this has ballooned to 147 million. A growth of 559%.

Blizzard has began a crackdown on these operations which has been closely monitored by the blogosphere.

An average gold-farmer earns the equivalent of $150 to $250 a month (roughly around P11,250/month) working 8 to 12 hour shifts.

Why do they keep doing it?

Simply put – there is a HUGE demand. With over 8 million players worldwide logged and addicted to the best-selling MMORPG of all time, WoW players simply do not have the time to farm on their own. They’d rather pay for it.

Another article at Joystiq aptly puts it so; “A professional who makes the equivalent of $50 per hour (about $100,000 per year) would be foolish not to spend $10 per hour to skip the boring parts of World of Warcraft. He’s got better things to do with his time.”

It then becomes a conscious decision to keep up with the other players while carefully balancing online and real-life.

Is it then a moral question? Some may argue yes, it IS cheating. But some will say that it’s not YOUR money. Buyers will continue to buy and sellers will continue to keep up with the growing demand. At the end of the day, it does give some unemployed Chinese a job.

Tough call… you be the judge and comment below.

Via Joystiq

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