Invisible Labor, Invisible Play: Online Gold Farming and the Boundary Between Jobs and Games

When does work become play and play become work? Court shave considered the question in a variety of economic contexts, from student athletes seeking recognition as employees to professional blackjack players seeking to be treated by casinos just like casual players. Here, this question is applied to a relatively novel context: that of online gold farming, a gray-market industry in which wage-earning workers, largely based in China, are paid to play fantasy massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) that reward them with virtual items that their employers sell for profit to the same games\u27 casual players. Gold farming is clearly a job (and under the terms of service of most MMOs, clearly prohibited), yet as shown, US law itself provides no clear means of distinguishing the efforts of the gold farmer from those of the casual player. Viewed through the lens of US labor and employment law, the unpaid players of a typical MMO can arguably be classified as employees of the company that markets the game. Viewed through case law governing when the work of professional players does and does not constitute game play, gold farmers arguably are players in good standing. As a practical matter, these arguments suggest new ways of approaching the regulation of so-called virtual property and of online gaming in general. More broadly, the very viability of these arguments shows that the line between work and play is not so much an empirical fact as it is a social one, produced by negotiations in which the law has a leading role to play. This insight contributes to an ongoing debate about commodification and play that grows more urgent as digital technologies suffuse the world\u27s economy with gaming and its logic

The Chinese Game Room: Play, Productivity, and Computing at Their Limits

Abstract An essay exploring the border between work and play based on the author's experiences visiting Chinese 'gold farms:' large factories with young gamers harvesting gold, i.e., virtual money and loot, from massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs)

Toxic behaviors in eSports games: player perceptions and coping strategies

Toxicity in online environments is a complex and a systemic issue. Esports communities seem to be particularly suffering from toxic behaviors. Especially in competitive esports games, negative behavior, such as harassment, can create barriers to players achieving high performance and can reduce players’ enjoyment which may cause them to leave the game. The aim of this study is to review design approaches in six major esports games to deal with toxic behaviors and to investigate how players perceive and deal with toxicity in those games. Our preliminary findings from an interview study with 17 participants (3 female) from a university esports club show that players define toxicity as behaviors disrupt their morale and team dynamics, and participants are inclined to normalize negative behaviors and rationalize it as part of the competitive game culture. If they choose to take an action against toxic players, they are likely to ostracize toxic players

50 Years of Earth Day: A Virtual Panel Exploring the Evolution of Sustainability Education since 1970.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Binghamton University Libraries hosted a virtual panel discussion that explored the evolution of sustainability education over the past 50 years. A panel of experts, researchers, and students from Binghamton University answered questions on topics such as shifting pedagogical styles, diverse approaches to sustainability research, changes that the field has experienced to date, and the challenges it may face in the future in the field of sustainability education. Panelists that participated: Miranda Kearney, Julian Shepherd, Elias Miller, and Dylan Horvath

The Price of Bodies: A Hedonic Pricing Model of Avatar Attributes in a Synthetic World

Cet article explore une nouvelle et unique source d'évaluation sociale: un marché pour des corps. Sur internet, on trouve un grand nombre de mondes synthétiques que les utilisateurs visitent en se servant d'un corps virtuel, le soi-disant avatar. Les avatars ont une valeur réelle puisque les utilisateurs passent du temps à améliorer leur habileté; ces valeurs peuvent être observées directement sur des marchés en ligne. Les données des enchères du monde virtuel d'EverQuest sont utilisées ici pour évaluer un nombre de questions relatives aux valeurs de différentes caractéristiques des avatars. L'analyse hédonique des prix aux enchères suggère que le 'niveau', une mesure inhérente au jeu qui indique la fonctionnalité ou le pouvoir d'un avatar, est de loin la caractéristique la plus importante. D'autres attributs qui exercent une influence significative sur le prix sont le sexe et la classe (p.ex. être un magicien plutôt qu'un guerrier). La différence de prix entre les sujets masculins et féminins est intéressante, puisqu'il n'existe pas de différence dépendant du sexe quant à l'habileté des caractères. La différence de prix doit donc dériver d'une autre préférence des acheteurs qui n'est pas en relation avec le pouvoir ou la fonctionnalité des avatars en tant que tels. Copyright WWZ and Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag AG 2004.