“Gold Farming” is the pejorative that American gamers use for players in less developed nations who are paid to sit and play games all day:
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Ge Jin, a PhD student from UCSD, is making a video documentary of the gold farming phenomenon (preview here). The documentary preview shows some of his interviews with Chinese workers in various gold farming workshops. In our conversations over email, he has brought up some interesting points based on his observations. He’s also looking for feedback and suggestions for important research questions and different points of view.

This is an interesting phenomenon: In less developed nations, people tend to live cash-poor but time-rich lives. Which they then exchange with people in developed nations who have the opposite situation. There are Americans who are willing to exchange cash for these goldfarmed characters TO SAVE TIME. That is the whacky world we live in.

This is so sad and yet fascinating like watching a car wreck. [via Terra Nova]