Next on the Outsourcing Bandwagon: Video Game Playing

Cost per level has been lowered by 57.32%!

http://news.com.com/Outsourcing+your+Warcraft+skills/2100-1043_3-6156479.html?tag=nefd.lede
from WinCustomize Forums

Outsourcing work to cheaper locations and companies has been a cost-savings tactic of larger corporations for several years now, especially in the IT industry.  Why have an American support call center when you can get one for a fraction of the cost in India?  In a world of time and cost-conscious consumers, a lot of work seems to be outsourced to others.  Now, however, we're crossing into a new realm; Outsource video game playing.

If you've played games like EverQuest or World of Warcraft, you're familiar with the long grind from level 1 to the cap, or highest level in the game.  Hours spent slaying vicious knids, vorpal bunnies, and various forms of dragon and demon, all to reach the highest point in the game, to be the most powerful.  In the past, it's been common for people to purchase gold or in-game items on sites like eBay to make leveling easier, but recently that avenue has been closed to players as eBay has decided to ban all online game asset sales.

So what are you to do if you want that level 70 undead warlock with the epic netherdrake mount and tier-5 epic loot?  Why, you pay someone else to play your character!

CNet News has a piece looking into services that, in defiance of every rule game developers place on MMOs, will level up a character for you... for a fee.  For example, it would cost you $556 to level a character in World of Warcraft from Level 1 to Level 70.

Read more at CNet.

5,887 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
omg!  
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Holy clones, what's next? Surrogate players?! Where's my sensory-deprivation chamber?  
CursorFX - Customize your Windows cursor
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
After the birth of my last daughter (fourth out of four kids) I asked my wife if we could try again for a son.

In no uncertain terms she enumerated the reasons why we were not and that if I ever wanted to touch her again the subject would not be brought up again.  The gist of the message was "Not *this* body!"

So I made what I thought was a reasonable suggestion based on current world market trends.  I asked if I could outsource the work to some hot chick in a developing country.

The surprising thing . . .?  The couch isn't *THAT* uncomfortable.

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
LOL nice one Aaron, perhaps you should read Po's article again.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
They have comfy couches over in Hungary I take it? 
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
As a gamer myself I don't see the point of bypassing levels or tasks. A major part of a game is in the creation and evolution of your character. It's like going on a trip. The best part of the time is usually in the journey itself with the destination often being anticlimatical.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
While I'm not endorsing this trend, which seems a bit silly, $556 sounds pretty reasonable when you consider how many man-hours would have to go into raising a character from 1 to 70 in World of Warcraft.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
To compare that to 3-month subscription price for WoW, this comes down to the price of about 13 months. For some people it would actually be cheaper to pay that instead of spending the time to do it themselves. Of course if you were to play it yourself, you'd have 12 months to realize what a waste of time and money it is, while this way you'd fork over half a G for a top level character in a game you don't really know how to play and would probably get bored of in a week.
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Might as well just die


      
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
556$ !? Just go to Amsterdam they have real magical healing plants there.
With enough money you can meet a skillful mage or two at the same time.