rs gp Gold Rush in Azeroth

Gold rush in Azeroth

Fight the dragon Onyxia: Who wants to come in World of Warcraft to wealth and fame, to play many hours and fight - or cheat blizzard

Search full-time player, the sign says, holding up the Li Yong (name changed by editor). Dozens of school leavers crowd around him, ask for the conditions. He shouts: 800 yuan a month, also room and board. That converts to 80 euros, more than the construction workers and plumbers earn, which are next door wanted in Qingdao, a port city about 600 kilometers southeast of Beijing. And the work itself is also much more attractive: He is in Azeroth, a mythical country that only exists on the Internet, the online role-playing game World of Warcraft. There warriors hunt monsters, magic magician, prince build castles. Six million people worldwide play the game with and against each other - all potential customers for Li Yong. Even in Germany, where gold coins are sold on Ebay.

The play money is because as each state has also Azeroth a currency: gold coins, with which the player can buy swords and armor. Who can perform a task in the game it gets coins, but only those who play a lot, is rich. Li comes into play here: who does not want to get rich quickly or too much sitting at the PC, which can buy virtual gold with him - for real euro and dollar. That's his business model, and that's why the 38-year-old is now with the sign in the Cultural Park of Qingdao: I always find people that will help me to amass the game gold, he says - and that sounds plausible in a country like China, the 26 million people play online every day. He already has 20 employees. You talk with him President Li.

Chinese professional players in their workplace. They do not say their names, their boss does not pay taxes and therefore do not want to be photographed Chien-Min Chung

Stacheldrahtund behind walls, with uniformed guards at the gate, is a typical Chinese residential area. In a bungalow can be seen through the window of young women and men who work on the PC. Nothing special, if it was not would cost twice clock on Sunday morning. My people play in shifts around the clock, says Li, so we have an advantage over the Western players who have daily best a few hours, because they still have to work and sleep.

Phantom FirmaEin signboard does not exist. That would only cause trouble, the president who has ever sat for fraud lecture, then I would have to pay taxes, legally buy software, and the authorities could arrange health checks for my employees. Its employees, all younger than 25, pushing in two small rooms, computer to computer table to table. The white walls are bare, except for a kitschy poster with flowers and cranes. The more colorful it comes to the screens: where fires are burning, fighting warriors, demons threaten the dragon Onyxia spits a fireball.

One of his employee clicks on the monitor a wooden letter box, and type in the name he used in the game the right wing of the dragon Zhang. I send just 173 gold coins, he says. On a monitor, the transaction is recorded in an Excel spreadsheet. Currently, prices are falling while for Deepfury Bracers and other artifacts, converted, there are currently only three to four per cent gold coin. The reason is that in China alone, nearly 100 000 players have their job in World of Warcraft Li appreciates And that leads itself in an artificial state Azeroth inflation. Lis business is still profitable - because of the cheap labor. He sits claims to 1.8 million yuan a year, the equivalent of 180 000 euros.

All the gold that shines: Six million people worldwide play World of Warcraft. They all want to be powerful in the online fable Empire - and show that every Blizzard

Enemy of EhrlichenDie most honest players but see professionals such as Li Yong an enemy. Someone who destroys her game, because now everyone can buy virtual Therefore overflowed status and wealth with money. You scold his people gold farmers and even call for hunting: Kill the Farmer China! The conflict escalated, the Chinese-language site Tales of Warcraft, an indignant about the discrimination of all Chinese players. Not all of the 1.5 million World of Warcraft players from China is a rapacious professional. But there is already collateral damage: I had valuable costumes and weapons, writes one who calls himself Qian, in an Internet forum. When I started my PC, my character was naked. Everything is gone. My heart is broken. A hacker had been using.

Not an isolated case. A survey of Rising Antivirus, the largest anti-virus company in China, has revealed 61 per cent of the amateur players were stolen virtual possessions. 33 percent even lost the game approaches, and thus their identity in Azeroth. What is for many as a doomsday, some see as an opportunity. You have brought back my normal life, one victim thanked an unknown thief in a Chinese forum. I deserve no more gold coins for real money again. Since I no longer abgebe me with fairies, I finally have time for my girlfriend. Instead of armor I wear Armani now.