Interview with the Vampire.. ummm... gold farming company!

Gamasutra has had the chance to interview James Clarke, the chief operating officer of IGE, the major organisation behind gold farming.

As for what IGE buys and sells, Clarke commented of IGE's business that: "Currency is the easiest thing to deal with - it's the reason we have currency in the first place". The company also deals in particularly popular in-game items, but is also moving into the 'power leveling' market, which allows players to hand their characters over to third parties in order to have their in-game stats and level rankings rapidly increased.

He indicated that IGE "will act as the distributor" on this business, for which the largest opportunity (though not specifically stated as such by Clarke) is likely to be in Blizzard's torrentially popular World Of Warcraft - the company will contract with third parties who will take care of the leveling for the player. Clarke also noted that, in pure economic terms, paying people to level your character is "a market which tends toward commoditization." Of course, those handing over their character have "a high degree of sensitivity" to what's happening to their virtual avatar - the COO quipped: "It's almost like day care... you'd be amazed how much they check in."

It's quite alarming how blithely IGE's representatives can dismiss matters such as EULA violations and intellectual property rights! However, this interview and article offers a great insight into the view on the other side of the fence. Read the full story here!