Nameless Films is producing a new documentary which investigates the Real Money Trade (RMT) industry. Here is an excerpt from the documentary website.
Gamers spend vast amounts of time inside these online playgrounds, developing their characters by acquiring weapons, armor, trinkets, and gold. These virtual goods are used to make their characters more powerful and ultimately more competitive in the virtual world they inhabit. But some gamers don’t have the months and years it takes to obtain these goods. Fortunately for them, it is now possible to spend hard-earned cash on the virtual gold and goods that help them obtain the power and status they seek.
The real-world economic opportunities these virtual worlds offer can translate into salaries that many can only dream of making. With a team of workers playing MMO’s (Massively Multiplayer Online Game)around the clock, individuals and companies can rapidly earn the coveted virtual items, in turn selling them online to gamers who don’t have enough time to acquire them.
So who is being featured in this film? Surprisingly some big names in RMT.
The Characters:
Marcus (aka Markee Dragon)
Marcus is one of the original founders of Real Money Trade. From Ultima Online to World of Warcraft, Marcus has seen it all when trading real money for virtual goods. An “empire” builder and entrepreneur, Marcus hopes to create a whole new business model based in a place that most people call a “game.”
Mike (aka Mercury)
Mike is the father of MMO Glider, the worlds top “bot” for World of Warcraft. He is currently in an epic battle with Blizzard over his automation software, but stands tall and is ready for whatever may happen.
Eva and Yilan: Virtual Gold Brokers
These two young girls from China spend their days as customer service operators selling World of Warcraft gold to players around the world. Although their sales remain completely in a virtual world, the salaries they earn allow them to support their families while gaining experience dealing in international trade.
Ma Liang
Ma was the first in his family to think “outside-the-box.” He runs a small powerleveling workshop just outside of Beijing. His employees sleep, eat, and work on his family’s farm–a real farm with sheep, chickens, and crops. But this traditional Chinese farm has one unexpected amenity: the only high-speed internet connection in the entire village. Ma loves his job, but hates when Blizzard bans the accounts he is responsible for. Ultimately, Ma lives to serve his customers.
Jared Psigoda
On the surface, Jared doesn’t seem much different than the average American boy-next-door. He has a black belt in taekwondo and was a member of a marching band. But dig deeper, and you find that Jared was a small business owner at the age of 13, a Dance Dance Revolution champion, and is now a virtual goods dealer. Since his first Nintendo, Jared has been playing games. When he sold his first game character for $400, he realized that he wanted to work in the RMT industry. Jared is the most networked American working in the Chinese RMT industry.
Ash Lee
Ash is a manager at one of the largest RMT companies in China. His company has over 400 employees who conduct game research, power-level characters, and sell virtual currency. His company sells over 60,000 USD in gold per day in World of Warcraft alone. But Ash claims that he is not really concerned with money. He just wants to help gamers get what they want. in his mind, if the customer needs it, then he will provide.
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