Vietnam turns to power-levelling
MMO players earn more than teachers.
Gold-farming and power-levelling in MMO games is already a big business in China. It now seems that Vietnam is the next Asian economy to explore this lucrative, if rather bizarre, cottage industry.
According to a report in the Viet Nam News, Vietnamese gamers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are earning from 100 to 160 US dollars a month playing games for other people.
PlayNoEvil, which spotted the Viet Nam News story, points out that the average salary of a teacher in Vietnam is 60 to 100 US dollars a month.
However, the grey market in MMO services is not without risk. According to GameRates, a recent spate of World of Warcraft account bans by Blizzard has put many gold-famers out of business and caused massive deflation in the game's currency, with the price of Azerothian gold doubling in the past couple of weeks.