Inmates 'gold farming' in Chinese prisons

Posted May 27, 2011 at 4:30PM EST by Carl B

Listed in: News Tags: China, Gamasutra, World of Warcraft

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Prison isn't so bad, at least in China. A recent report on Gamasutra has revealed that inmates in a Chinese prison have been playing MMOs.

Just what were they doing playing the MMOs? Farming gold, and then selling it to the prison guards.

"Prison bosses made more money forcing inmates to play games than they do forcing people to do manual labour," said a prison inmate to UK magazine The Guardian.

The inmate told the magazine that several prisoners, including himself, would become "gold farmers" during the night. They made up to $900 a day for a 12 hour shift.

"There were 300 prisoners forced to play games. We worked 12-hour shifts in the camp. I heard them say they could earn 5,000-6,000rmb ($770.2-$924.3) a day. We didn't see any of the money. The computers were never turned off," he said.

If the prisoners didn't farm enough gold for the day, they would be brutally punished.

"We kept playing until we could barely see things," he said. "Many prisons across the north-east of China also forced inmates to play games. It must still be happening."

via Gamasutra

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Inmates 'gold farming' in Chinese prisons

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