Gold-farming in a Chinese forced-labor camp

The Guardian reports that prisoners in a Chinese forced-labor camp were required to "gold-farm" in multiplayer games, amassing credits and virtual objects that the guards could sell to other players. Prisoners allege that they were required to gold farm for 12 hours a day and were physically abused if they failed to make their quotas. It's alleged that many Chinese forced-labor prisons make their inmates gold farm.

"Prison bosses made more money forcing inmates to play games than they do forcing people to do manual labour," Liu told the Guardian. "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 [£470-570] a day. We didn't see any of the money. The computers were never turned off."
Memories from his detention at Jixi re-education-through-labour camp in Heilongjiang province from 2004 still haunt Liu. As well as backbreaking mining toil, he carved chopsticks and toothpicks out of planks of wood until his hands were raw and assembled car seat covers that the prison exported to South Korea and Japan. He was also made to memorise communist literature to pay off his debt to society.
But it was the forced online gaming that was the most surreal part of his imprisonment. The hard slog may have been virtual, but the punishment for falling behind was real.
"If I couldn't complete my work quota, they would punish me physically. They would make me stand with my hands raised in the air and after I returned to my dormitory they would beat me with plastic pipes. We kept playing until we could barely see things," he said.

China used prisoners in lucrative internet gaming work

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Ubitigrine

What is this really telling us…

Chinese prison: Mental Labor

US Prison: Manual Labor
- Gulliver
  
  What is this really telling us…
  
  Chinese prison: Mental Labor [and Manual Labor]
  
  US Prison: Manual Labor
  
  Fixed that.
Pirate Jenny

Choosing to farm materials for hours on end is one thing; you get something out of it, albeit nothing real (unless you are in fact a gold seller), and you can stop any time you want. Being forced to do it for 12 hours a day every day is something else entirely, and sounds absolutely wretched, even without being punished for not doing well enough. I enjoy playing WoW, but that’s not playing. No thank you.
- Gulliver
  
  You speak sanity.
  
  Also, according to the article this gold farming is on top of hard labor.
Scleronomous

This story immediately reminded me of of Charles Stross’s “Halting State” plot.
- Gulliver
  
  This story immediately reminded me of of Charles Stross’s “Halting State” plot.
  
  Somehow I doubt these prisoners are Guoanbu agents.
Anonymous

I am curious about the logistics – what exactly are the farmers doing? In Anda’s game, it was massive numbers of low-level characters crafting low-level items and vendoring them. I don’t think that would work for WOW’s economic model. You probably need max-level characters farming high-end herbs and ore for auction. And they’ve got to do the farming on multiple servers, because otherwise transferring a character to the server with your client is going to cut into your profits, and I imagine anyone transferring multiple characters with a few hundred thousand gold on them is going to be flagged for investigation pretty quickly.
cservant

Â£470 a day?

Dag, maybe I should switch jobs in this economy.
Tylith

I’ve done 16+ hours a day for weeks on end, without eating or sleeping for multiple days in a row. Especially back in my Everquest days (Also the days that I didn’t have to go to work…) I also used to make decent money by leveling and selling World of Warcraft characters. I can think of MUCH worse things to have to do for half my way while in prison.

Some people are inclined to this type of work (Working or not, I am likely behind my computer doing one thing or the other majority of the time. Even in the Marine Corps I worked on computers.) Some people would rather do menial physical labor. I am not one of those people. Sign me up for the gold farming branch of prison if I ever have to go. I can make the quotas.

P.S. Anyone want to buy 300,000 gold on Scilla? Heheh jk! No but really…?
- grimc
  
  What part of
  
  If I couldn’t complete my work quota, they would punish me physically. They would make me stand with my hands raised in the air and after I returned to my dormitory they would beat me with plastic pipes.
  
  didn’t you understand?
Anonymous

Jesus. Cory Doctorow, your story came in!
Gulliver

That country’s a ticking time-bomb.

As well as backbreaking mining toil, he carved chopsticks and toothpicks out of planks of wood until his hands were raw and assembled car seat covers that the prison exported to South Korea and Japan. He was also made to memorise communist literature to pay off his debt to society.

Can irony achieve a critical mass?

“If I couldn’t complete my work quota, they would punish me physically. They would make me stand with my hands raised in the air and after I returned to my dormitory they would beat me with plastic pipes. We kept playing until we could barely see things,” he said.

It does put American prisons in perspective. Not sayin’ American prisons are picnics by any stretch, but it does go to show we still have a lot further down we could go.
- jtegnell
  
  China is NOT a ticking time bomb. I’d bet that we won’t see a successful popular uprising in our lifetime.
  
  In addition, I’d also bet the US will allow things to get much much worse before we see a swing against authoritarian power and increasing economic disparity. If at all.
allybeag

So gold-farming is real! Wow. I’ve just finished reading “For The Win” and I thought you’d invented the idea! The same thing happened when I read “Makers”, and then discovered that 3D printers really exist. :-)
fidel_funk

… and yesterday The Guardian claimed that Denmark had banned Marmite which turned out not to be true…
- what of donuts
  
  and yesterday The Guardian claimed that Denmark had banned Marmite which turned out not to be true…
  
  maybe this one’s from The Onion?
yrarbil cilbup

I am sure a mid level manager in Blackwater is licking his lips and trying to think of how to spin privatizing US prisons.
- Gulliver
  
  No more BlackJabbaWater is. Only XeCloneServices there is now. The mercenaries youâ€™re looking for these are not. Move along.
Anonymous

Ah but see Corys’ “Anda’s Game” (google it it’s under the commons) for more prescient gold farming goodness.
Tylith

Actually been in similar situations. And that would be the “I can think of MUCH worse things to have to do for half my way while in prison.” covers that. The physical abuse is one thing I’ll say I’d not sign up for, having to play a video game for hours on end, regardless of how boring, is still not the worst way to spend your time in captivity.
querent

I invite anyone who says this is trivial to try farming for a few consecutive 12 hour periods.

Those who make light of this are fools.

I’m guessing I’ll get as many takers as I did when I suggested to some apologist friends of mine that we water board each other. To see if it feels like torture.
- querent
  
  I meant for 12 hours on a few consecutive days.
Gulliver

China is NOT a ticking time bomb. I’d bet that we won’t see a successful popular uprising in our lifetime.

Time will tell.

In addition, I’d also bet the US will allow things to get much much worse before we see a swing against authoritarian power and increasing economic disparity. If at all.

It’ll happen sooner or later. It always does. But I fear you may be right about the time table; and the longer it takes, the more painful it will be.
Irene Delse

Ticking time bomb? Maybe not a big upraising, but there’s plenty of social discontent, which sometimes erupts violently, as in this case:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13556366

“Three explosions have struck government buildings in eastern China’s Jiangxi province, state media say. Two people were killed and at least six injured in the blasts, in the city of Fuzhou. [...] Xinhua and several other news agencies said a local peasant unhappy about the handling of a legal dispute was thought to be responsible for the attacks, but such reports were later withdrawn by most state media. [...] Multiple bomb attacks in China are extremely rare, especially against government targets. Analysts say the government will be alarmed by such an apparently well co-ordinated attack as it struggles with large numbers of disputes over land and living standards. Earlier this month, more than 40 people were injured in a petrol bomb attack on a bank, carried out by a disgruntled former employee, in north-west Gansu province. He had just been sacked for stealing money. With few avenues of redress for real and supposed wrongs some Chinese people occasionally take out their frustration in attacks like this, says the BBC’s Michael Bristow in Beijing.”
Anonymous

So wait… how is this different then being a Quality Assurance Tester for George Lucas?
Shart Tsung

Video Game Prison >>>>>> U.S. Prison

I always meet my quotas.
Sam

This sounds WAY better than being shackled to a levee and given a shovel.
quori

Chinese prison?!? This story sounds like my days GMing a PvP guild in WoW!!!

Farming mats for pots, elixirs, food, crafted gear, enchants….it takes time and commitment people!!!

Joking aside…prison is not supposed to be fun and games (oops…small joke there). So the notion of enforcing Gold Farming really isn’t any different from back breaking manual labor is it?

The real irony is that the “company” enforcing the farming is technically the account holders for the games. Since farming is against the EULA and TOS of any MMOs out there; the “guards” are actually committing crimes!!!
Alan

In the USA, prisoners make $0.41 an hour for labor. They make tons of money for American prison bosses, no?

http://lpa.igc.org/lpv24/lp3.htm