Revision/fusion of script 1 and 2. Without any doubt this will be the last revision on the script. Recording pending; also will need to have revised storyboards. Only a fraction of the existing animations can be used.
My eyes burn. I’ve lost all sense of time amidst the lifeless glow of the computer screen. A quick glance to the clock shows that I’ve been playing for the past twelve hours. It’s grueling and repetitive, but I do this to put food on my family’s table. This isn’t my choice.
I had other ideas of what this would be like when I found out a living could be made from professional gaming. “Gold farming”, people call it. How hard could it be? I log on, kill monsters, and pick up the virtual gold that they drop. Then I sell it to other users for real money. Simple.
They want this fool’s gold to gain virtual respect and status. They also want to gain this status the fast way. So I spend the time collecting the gold, and they just buy it off of me. I play, they pay. It’s a dream come true.
…Except it’s not. Sitting and staring at the screen for twelve hours a day, seven days a week, is not my idea of perfect. I’m earning 30 cents an hour. The computer room is completely packed, as with the floor above, where we sleep on the ground. We’re provided a place to eat and sleep for a few pennies every day. And as much as I love gaming, I’m repeating the same actions over and over again for 12 hours. This is not perfect – it’s far from it.
People born into a life of luxury play the game for enjoyment, but it’s a serious business for me. My boss gives me a certain quota of gold I need to collect per day, and there is no excuse for not reaching it. If my character dies too often, I’ll lose my job. Then what will my family eat?
Maybe I should have painted toys or woven cloth. I’m sure it couldn’t be much worse than working here. But I have no regrets. There isn’t much to consider when the only option in my life is working in two types of sweatshops. It seems human inequality in the virtual world has finally caught up to reality.
