COMPUTER gaming enthusiasts are making real money off virtual currencies in massively multi-player online (MMO) games - with the shadow industry worth an estimated US$500 million (S$740.8 million) globally a year, more than the GDP of Timor Leste or Samoa.
These gold farmers, as they are commonly known, carry out the transactions like a business operation.
Many own glossy websites, advertise their services in the games they cater to and have a front-end of sales representatives and a back-end comprising scores of gamers playing the game round the clock.
The back-end group accumulates virtual gold or equipment and gear online, which the front-end resells for cold hard cash. Other gold farmers, however, turn to criminal means - hacking into accounts to steal valuable virtual gold and equipment to sell.
The shady world of gold farming was brought up recently at a security conference, when Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee noted how some gold farmers have turned to hacking into game accounts to get the virtual gold and equipment they trade for real-life cash.
'Many criminals have found efficient ways of profiting from cyberspace. For example, black-market economies have already been formed in many MMO games where hackers sell their virtual gold and items for real-life cash,' he said.
Between 2003 and 2005, the police received at least 25 reports about gaming accounts being hacked. Contacted last week, a police spokesman said since then, there has been a rising trend, but declined to reveal the exact number of reports.
While hacking is clearly a crime, gold farming as a practice is not, although academics and lawyers think it could lead to further complications which the real- world authorities would have to confront.
National University of Singapore lecturer Kevin McGee said: 'When such practices are not regulated, it creates opportunities for crime syndicates to launder their ill-gotten money - they can say they earned it through farming and selling gold online.'
The associate professor in communications and new media also noted that gold-farming earnings are not taxed.
Dr McGee said that this was worrying, as the real economy and the concept of money could get affected. 'Imagine someone setting up a fake money printing machine in the real world, and selling a fake $10 note for $1, for example.'
Game developers have terms and conditions prohibiting those who play their games to farm gold - but to no avail.
An AsiaSoft spokesman said accounts of gold farmers will be suspended or banned. Those who want to revive their accounts will have to pay a fee of between $2 and more than $100.
'The concept of our virtual currency - Mesos - belongs to us. It is our intellectual property and gamers shouldn't make money out of it. Besides, prices of virtual items are being inflated due to gold farming - spoiling the game for everyone,' said the AsiaSoft spokesman.
In Warhammer Online, the game's creator - Mythic Entertainment - banned 4,000 accounts believed to belong to gold farms within weeks of its launch last month. To date, close to 10,000 accounts worldwide have been shut down.
A check on the Internet showed that gold farmers are flourishing, with different companies offering competitive rates for their services.
For example, Moogold, an online virtual gold trader, touts its services for over 20 games, including Warhammer Online and World Of Warcraft, with 100 units of gold going for US$75.
The Straits Times posed as a customer buying gold from Singapore site Mono Gaming, which started in May. Two Singapore mobile numbers were listed on the site, with the option of interbank transfers to DBS Bank or OCBC Bank accounts or even a face-to-face service.
The seller was a recent graduate who revealed she earns more than $1,000 a month being part of the gold-farming operation. The site offers services for six games. According to the seller, each game has a three- or four-man team doing advertising and administrative work to facilitate the virtual gold transactions.
There is even a live online chat open for interested customers who wish to talk to sellers, from noon to 2am daily.
When contacted by The Straits Times, another seller on Mono Gaming said his boss told them never to talk about the business with others, but he was not sure why. 'I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, just helping others,' he said.
Gold farming can certainly be lucrative - a recent study by the University of Manchester estimated the shadow industry to be worth at least US$500 million annually on the back of popular MMO games.
Professor Richard Heeks, who conducted the study, found that the industry employs about 400,000 - 80 per cent of whom are in China.
Local gamers are split on whether gold farmers provide a service.
Gamer Terence Teo, 25, who has spent $100 on virtual gold, said: 'To be the best player, you need to be at the highest level, togged in the best possible equipment. That takes a lot of time to acquire and on top of that, it is very repetitive and boring... so why not get someone to get that for you? It's more efficient.'
Polytechnic lecturer Leroy Lam, 35, who has been playing online games for five years, said he would 'never buy anything' from gold farmers.
'It's a waste of money, and what bragging rights do you have when you get other people to play the game and you do not work to get the gear you receive?'
How it works
STEP 1: The player creates a character in a multi-player online game like Maple Story or Warhammer Online. The character has to slay monsters to gather equipment and gold.
Hundred of hours of gameplay are required before the character is ready to face the toughest beasts, which will give the best rewards. To avoid the monotony, players turn to gold farmers, who can improve the skills of a character and virtual currency transactions in the fastest way possible.
For example, the gold farmer may play the game on behalf of the game account owner, or players can buy virtual gold from them to purchase the most desirable equipment.
STEP 2: Gold farmers can be contacted via numerous websites. Fees are also advertised. For example, on one such site, 100 units of virtual gold in Warhammer Online - which would take more that 150 hours of gameplay to accumulate - go for US$75 (S$111). Bringing a character to the maximum 40th level would set a player back by US$300.
When a player contacts a gold farmer, he lets the farmer know his character's location in the virtual world and the server he is on.
Virtual currency usually cannot be transferred across different servers that host the game. Multi-player online games can have more than 20 servers, with each server hosting a similar virtual world.
The player pays via PayPal or credit card and receives an e-mail with information on where the virtual transaction will take place.
STEP 3: Depending on the game, the virtual transaction can be completed via a meeting between the gold farmer's game character and the player's character.
If the game has a mail system in the virtual world such as Lord Of The Rings Online, the virtual money can be mailed to the player.
