Topic: Virtual Gold

[Xessive]

Chinese prisoners forced to produce virtual gold, real profits for their guards

A former detainee at a prison in Heilongjiang province, China, has told the Guardian about how he was habitually forced into playing MMOs like World of Warcraft for the collection of loot, which the prison guards would then resell online for as much as ¥6,000 ($924) per day.

Wasn't sure if this would go into the Gaming thread. I thought it was an interesting story of how exploitation can come in so many forms. Also, I rather enjoyed the implication that "grinding" in MMO's is basically torture.

[Cobra951]

I suppose that beats most forms of physical exploitation.

[Xessive]

True, but psychological domination can be pretty bad too.

I enjoy games but I can't imagine how bad it would be to be forced to play a game (a game I don't even like) for an inordinate amount of consecutive hours! Even then it wouldn't be "playing" it would be slavery.

On the other hand, these are criminals serving their sentences in a prison, so it could be part of the punishment. As long as their human rights are not violated I don't see a problem with tasking a convict, however when it comes at the financial benefit of the warden/guards questions will be raised about the ethical validity of what their doing.