[lit-ideas] Another American job, lost to Chinese...
- From: "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Lit-Ideas" <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2005 23:35:55 -0800
Ogre to Slay? Outsource It to Chinese
By DAVID BARBOZA
Published: December 9, 2005
FUZHOU, China - One of China's newest factories operates here in the
basement of an old warehouse. Posters of World of Warcraft and Magic
Land hang above a corps of young people glued to their computer
screens, pounding away at their keyboards in the latest hustle for
money.
Every day, in 12-hour shifts, they "play" computer games by killing
onscreen monsters and winning battles, harvesting artificial gold
coins and other virtual goods as rewards that, as it turns out, can be
transformed into real cash.
That is because, from Seoul to San Francisco, affluent online gamers
who lack the time and patience to work their way up to the higher
levels of gamedom are willing to pay the young Chinese here to play
the early rounds for them.
"For 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, my colleagues and I are killing
monsters," said a 23-year-old gamer who works here in this makeshift
factory and goes by the online code name Wandering. "I make about $250
a month, which is pretty good compared with the other jobs I've had.
And I can play games all day."
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