I know more than one american who are doing this kind of stuff for themselves to help put them through school. Definitely not a pure outsourcing phenomenon.

Note that gold farming is against the terms-of-service of just about every MMORPG, so this is outsourced already-illegal economy.

Surely there has to be some way this undermines the US in its war on terrorism. How about this: how do we know these gamers are working out of a basement in Shanghai and not a cave in Afghanistan? Obviously this is just some covert scheme to finance al-Qaeda.

Remember: every time an orc dies, the terrorists win.

Hmmm ... violating the terms of service of an MMPORG isn't "illegal," is it?

Please go read the story in the Dec. 12 Time about the Air Force jocks piloting arned Predator unmanned planes over Iraq from comfy armchairs at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, then think about "Ender's Game," then consider the possibilities for future techno-mercenaries.

I'm a social and fiscal conservative. Let me check my "Outsourcing Outrage-O-Meter".

Nope. Nothing. Not a blip.

Of course, I may be an exception in that I have no problem with outsourcing, nor video games, nor sloth in general.

You forgot:

6) Bitter ex-gamer designers will be ticked off that they still put boring, repetitive, outsourcable time-sinks in on-line games.

Also:

"Note that gold farming is against the terms-of-service of just about every MMORPG, so this is outsourced already-illegal economy."

Not exactly. It's the sale of in-game goods for out-of-game resources (called RMT or Real Money Trades) that is prohibited. The EULAs and ToS for games range from vague to bizarre, so it's hard to say. Farming itself is not illegal in most MMOGs, unless you farm in a way that is also griefing or harrasment (i.e. if you "monopolize" a hunting spot or "steal" kills from another player--that can be illegal, even though farming itself is allowed).

I suspect most of the RMT market (both buyers and sellers) is American. That may change in the future, but interviews with IGE and other big sellers suggest that they get only a portion of their gold and items from other countries.

The effects of professional farmers on in-game economies are mixed and hotly debated. For instance, they add more money to the game that the typical player (and certainly more than the game designers expected). But because of their work schedule and conditions, they often sell items for much lower than the market price (to sell it before the end of thier shift, so the next person who uses their account/computer doesn't get it) and can actually help keep prices down.

But is it a violation to have someone else play your character for money which is what this seems to describe. I know someone who lived well for a few years off of Diablo 2 doing this kind of stuff, of course he's now the manager of a coffee shop, so it doesn't top the list of career moves.

This is so not outsourcing..

I hope to outsource my blog writing and blog reading. My blog writing I will outsource to those who use ideographs, though not compound ideographs. My blog reading I will outsource to those who do not use ideographs, but who do use compound verbs.

That covers the FOX demographic, yes?

As a semi-affluent gamer who buys gold instead of "farming" it, I say god-bless the Chinese gold farmers.

Seriously, until you've played some of these games, you have no idea how much an ostensibly fun activity can be made to feel like work.

Happily the other portions of the game (World of Warcraft in this case) are fun enough that it's worth paying some Chinese kids $30 for what could quite possibly amount to 100 hours of my time.

Anyway, I'm happy to outsource this, and I'm sure that the people to whom I've outsourced it prefer playing a computer game to putting together sneakers.

...and as far as "buying" in-game goods for RL cash, the common "work-armound" that I see on sites is that you're not paying for the item itself, you're paying for the farmer's time and effort in acquiring the item. I leave the supportability of that loophole to lawyers.

Isn't it possible that the "gold farmers" are the very people who programmed the game? I love it.