In the video game world, the news is a bombshell. May 25, shortly before the show at E3, which opens Tuesday in Los Angeles, the Guardian revealed that in addition to forced labor, Chinese prisoners were forced to play World of Warcraft, the famous game of massively multiplayer online role. Dali Liu, a former prisoner, told the British daily's website how his jailers forced him to reap gold, swords and other virtual goods for their own account. These unscrupulous guards then sold the artifacts to other players via the Internet. But against the euro or dollars, them real.
Better known as the "gold farming", the process-illegal because contrary to the licensing of Editors, is not new. It developed in the course of the 2000s with the rise of video games massively multiplayer online.Among the best known: the game is medieval style Everquest, Eve Online Space Simulator … And of course the blockbuster of the moment, World of Warcraft. Published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2004, he assembled to date no less than 11.4 million players worldwide. And as many avatars, virtual alter ego, who jacked, cast spells and traded in a fantasy world of dungeons and dragons. All seek to ramp up. To skip steps, or simply lack of time, some are willing to change. There involved the "gold farmers", organized into groups of players 'professional'. According to a World Bank report published in April, there are about 100,000 to live in this activity, whose main body (80%) is based in China. Despite their efforts, videogame publishers are struggling to fight against this practice.
Because the Web is full of more of these "gold hunters, who conduct their business with impunity. Gamesinfun.com the site, a player can buy World of Warcraft 2000 gold virtual for the modest sum of 2.85 euros. To reassure its customers, the site (which did not respond to initial figaro.fr) ensures having "a great professional team of full-time employees. All are 'the' players 'veterans', with an "experience of at least three years in this position." Leben for Henri, a lawyer specializing in video game and intellectual property, "put an end to the activities of the 'gold farmers' is very complicated.""Most of them are based in China, they are small and have no legal existence." It is almost impossible and too costly to attack them legally, especially in the absence of a real international legislation on the Web.
Hackers looking for easy money
Besides these gold hunters, the rarity of these virtual objects also attracts hackers looking for easy money. Hacking into the accounts of certain players, they can then offload the avatar attacked its artifacts to sell on the Web. If Blizzard did not respond to our questions, the hotline operator of World of Warcraft French confirmed that "more and more players are seeing their accounts hacked." Similarly, Henry Leben, confirms that "the counting of avatars is becoming more common."Recently he has also held the record of a "wise guy" who took advantage of a vulnerability to supply his account rare objects, and reach a high level. Result, "he was stronger than everyone, and many players have complained," he says.
Director General of the French Agency for the video game (AFJV), Emmanuel Forsans is hardly surprised by these developments. "While this may seem a bit absurd to spend sometimes hundreds of dollars for a virtual object, which is nothing but a line of code … But we must understand that players purchase and time Thurs And that, to remain competitive compared with the community.
He added that many fans braved the ban by marketing them directly to their avatars or rare objects, without the publishers on the frontline.In 2007, a player has spent no less than 9500 dollars (7300 euros) to afford the "Double Blade Azzimoth", a unique weapon for World of Warcraft. To justify the tolerance of editors in such cases, Emmanuel Forsans evokes a desire to preserve the "playability" of the title. "In this type of game, players are organized into guilds. So, if one of its most powerful members has to leave, he puts the whole group at risk, "he argues.
An economic model changing
Publishers were they caught in their own trap? This would explain why their policy is based more on educating players to take repressive measures too, which might displease the subscribers. On its website, Blizzard, just to alert the community about the negative consequences of "gold farming" on "performance and stability" of the gameNot really enough to discourage "gold hunters" and their customers …
However, some massively multiplayer games beyond successfully "gold farmers" and their negative impact in terms of image. This is the case of Dofus, the title most in France played in its category (three million fans logged per month), which claims 40 million accounts created in the world. And for good reason: it has still not been translated into Chinese. If Florence C Ruocco, the communications manager of the game developed by Ankama denies any deliberate strategy to avoid the "gold farmers", she concedes that "this is probably why the title suffers less from these problems" .
Still, the economic model of these games tends to evolve, especially because publishers see a dim view this parallel market their escape.Clearly, according to Henry Leben, they want their share, which amounts to $ 3 billion, according to the World Bank. Thus, the game Castle of Heroes, developed by the Chinese Suzhou Snail Electronic offers its players to gain levels or various objects through the purchase of gPotato, the currency of the game at this rate, betting that the price of 'virtual gold could one day face the same bouts of fever that the real yellow metal.
"The leaders of the prison were earning up to 570 pounds per day"
After five years in the camp Jixi in Heilongjiang province in China, Liu Dali, recounted her ordeal at Guardian Digital. "We worked for twelve hours straight. [The guards] Never turn off the computers. If I could not reach my quota, they punished me physically.They forced me to stand with their hands in the air, then hit me when I came back in the dorms. We continued to play until you can barely see the screen. "According to him," the leaders of the jail earned more money by forcing prisoners to play online by requiring them to do manual labor. " In this way, these unscrupulous jailers could pocket "up to 570 pounds per day," said the former prisoner.