Virtual economy is on the up
SWEATSHOPS ARE FAR MORE FUN than they used to be – multiplayer online games have given rise to an ever-growing virtual economy.
China is home to tens of thousands of gaming sweatshops where people are hired to play games such as the infamous WoW for 10-12 hours a day in order to produce virtual assets which are exported all over the world.
These gold-miners aim to get success to the limit of dealing with government officials, brokers, world-wide customers and even a body of employees.
Although this may seem a strange occupation to some, people actually say that their home feels a lot safer with the emergence of gold farms, as there are less unemployed young people wondering around with nothing to do.
There is the other end of the spectrum however - due to the fierce competition emerging from this type of employment some gold mines collapse, leaving employees with next to no money and an uncontrollable addiction to gaming.
These details are widely known, yet the world of virtual gold mining is still a mysterious and controversial business - while some don’t mind buying the gold as a way to maximise their gaming experience, some are completely against this idea as they believe it should be a level playing field.
This, along with the poverty-stricken game addiction is leading games companies to crack down on the practice, although thus far they have been unsuccessful.
Researchers for Manchester University, who conducted a study into this problem, say the industry currently employs around 400,000 young people who earn on average £80 per month.
The report's authors admit that unfortunately an industry which connects “cash-rich time-poor” players with those willing to slog long working hours for next to no reward is likely to keep on growing. µ
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It is all fault of the game designers. A game should not be so focused on the economical aspects and require so much gold to play.
Repairs, consumables and other aspects ask people to "farm" for gold and/or ingredients. Somehow the game companies feel that we are playing more like this and stay more on like this which might be true but most Europe/US subscriptions are bases on per-day not a per-hour method.
I wish some day Blizzard and others will wake up and make a game more content focused and less "farming" oriented.

I think the more interesting thing is 'why' people go and buy this gold or power leveling services. Its very risky (I have a friend who used to work for Blizzard and loved tracking down these 'gangs and breaking them up / shutting them down, they do seem to close down a lot of these organisations but they just keep reappearing) but I guess they are economically viable in poorer countries.

Maybe we need a virtual world with something different in which to 'reward' more casual players for coming back. For instance, I haven't played WOW (World of Warcraft) in a few months now mainly because I refuse to until I get a proper job at least (unless it is with Blizzard, come back to me again you guys :-p ). I'm at the maximum level with two characters and nothing will have changed for them when I go back apart from there being new content to explore. Now if say that all the 'gold' I have deposited into the bank was earning interest or I was given new powers for my time away 'meditating' or something then I might be more inclined to go back and check it out!

There is a system in most games like in 'WOW' where if you spend time away from the game while leveling a character. The character will build up a bonus for when they come back to help them level faster for a while. This is good but there is nothing to replace this at the maximum level.

This would lead to people being less stressed about not getting their goals fast enough and not having the time to commit. Then again you will always have people who want everything for nothing and this is why there will always be some level of 'cheating'. These people are just different types of players, i'm not saying this is a good thing but this is what allows them to enjoy the game in their own personal way.

What I'd really like to know is that if this black market was to disappear over night, would people migrate away from WOW in larger numbers and head to MMO's with faster progression? I think that would make for a very interesting case study! 

I also have some great ideas with big earning potential for MMO's as I don't think they are as vast and in depth as they can be quite yet.