SAMPLE OUTLINE
Chinese Gold Farmers: They Are People Too
I.
Introduction
With the start of the twenty-first century, a new world market has emerged that has
employed hundreds of thousands of people and has earned billions of US dollars annually, all
while remaining hidden from the business, academic, and other professional worlds. This new
economic sector is the industry of gold farming. Gold farming refers to the sale of virtual goods
and services in online games for real world money. The businesses involved in this market are
called gold farms. The majority of these gold farms are situated in China, where cheap Chinese
labor allows these businesses to thrive. Due to China’s overwhelming presence in the gold
farming industry, other gamers have begun linking Chinese gamers with gold farmers. Since
gold farmers are typically viewed as problematic by other players, a new hatred toward gold
farmers has developed in the gaming community, and most of that hate has been directed toward
Chinese gamers, whether they are actual gold farmers or not. Meanwhile, the treatment of actual
Chinese gold farmers has reached an all time low with other gamers venting their frustrations at
them through the use of racial stereotypes. In response, some Chinese gamers have responded
similarly, creating a circular chain of hate. On both sides, negative racial perceptions of gamers
are developing. Although some may see this as virtual war in which both sides are at fault, the
truth is that this entire issue stems from the unjustified responses and attitudes toward Chinese
gold farmers, which have blown this issue out of proportion.
II.
Background on Real World Trading
*This section will draw heavily from the “Scientific American” article, which provides
an excellent background the history of real world trading and how it works.
A. Explain rise of Real World Trading
Gold farming is a business that has recently erupted due to the rise in popularity of
massively multiplayer online roleplaying games.
B. Explain types of Real World Trading
Real world trading not only encompasses the trading of virtual goods, but also virtual
services, such as training character skills or completing certain quests.
C. Explain why gold farming predominantly occurs in China
Christine Alfano 11/3/10 9:01 PM
Comment [1]: He italicizes his thesis statement in this preliminary version of his introduction Christine Alfano 11/2/10 11:51 AM
Comment [2]: The Roman numerals just give topic/titles for the section, but in the subsidiary points (A,B,C etc.) he uses full sentences for clarity and to develop his points. Christine Alfano 11/3/10 9:01 PM
Comment [3]: Notice that even though he isn’t ready to integrate his actual source material yet (though that’s an option if you’re ready to do that!) he’s already thinking about what sources he’s going to use to support the different sections. Be sure, however, that you don’t base a section just on ONE source – it would be best to have several sources integrated into the sections where possible. You are not required to include notations like these in your outline, but if you are at a point where you can do so, it would be helpful to start thinking about where you’re going to fit your different sources into your argument. Due to its cheap and abundant labor, China has become the home of the real world
trading industry.
III.
Chinese Gold Farms
*This section will draw heavily from Ge Jin’s documentaries about the conditions of
Chinese gold farms and also from the “New York Times” article, which adds some neat
statistics to add some Logos to the argument.
A. Describe how gold farming businesses are run
1. Typical Chinese gold farms have a ratio of one computer for every two
Christine Alfano 11/2/10 11:53 AM
Comment [4]: Notice how he’s thinking about what rhetorical appeals he’ll use in his argument to persuade the reader. workers, meaning that the typical working hours of an employee is twelve
hours.
2. Employees are often compensated with either wages averaging $150 USD per
month or with housing and food.
B. Give a detailed description on the typical daily life of a Chinese gold farmer
C. Explain from a Chinese gold farmer’s perspective about the conditions of gold farms
1. Given the work alternatives in China, working at a gold farming business is
not as harsh as Americans make it to be.
IV.
American Gamer Reactions to Gold Farmers
*This section will heavily draw from Nick Yee’s Daedalus Project because his work
incorporates a lot of American gamer responses to Chinese gold farmers.
*Also, I may incorporate some of the topics covered by Chek Yang Foo about Grief Play
and Grief Play Management.
A. Give examples of how American gamers have responded to gold farmers
B. Explain their rationale
a. Gold farming ruins the in-game economy because gold farmers add an
unnatural amount of gold into the market, creating inflation.
b. Real world trading is unfair because it gives certain players unfair advantages.
Why should some players get to reap the benefits of a game just because they are
wealthy in real life?
Christine Alfano 11/2/10 11:53 AM
Comment [5]: His reference to the source also gets at why he’s going to use it – he could also stress HOW he’s going to use it in this section. c. Gold farmers hog the in-game resources, making it impossible for honest
players to obtain the same resources.
V.
Refute the Arguments
A. There is no empirical evidence that proves that gold farmers create an unnatural
amount of inflation to the economy. In any virtual economy with a constant influx of
gold, inflation is natural. How much real world trading contributes to that amount is
entirely dependent on specific in-game economy mechanics and cannot be determined.
B. Real world trading is not the first example of a type of gameplay that benefits those
who are wealthy in real life. Many online MMORPGs incorporate features that are only
available to members that pay money, yet there have been no complaints about those.
C. Unless the gold farmers are using macros, they are playing the game in the same
manner as any other honest players.
VI.
Chinese Gold Farmers Response
A. Most Chinese gold farmers don’t even acknowledge the arguments against real world
trading. To them, the gold farming business is nothing more than a means to earn a
living. They could care less about their work’s effects on other players’ gameplay
experiences.
B. Many Chinese gold farmers see American gamers as insensitive types of people that
carry heavy racial stereotypes.
C. Some Chinese gold farmers see American gamers as lazy with no work ethic because
they are incapable of earning their own virtual goods or training their own virtual
characters.
VII.
American Gamer culture and American Gamer attitudes
A. Americans live busy lifestyles and do not have as much time to play games are they
want, so many turn to real world trading.
B. America is a ‘quick fix’ society and money is always the solution. If American
gamers can’t achieve what they want, the quick solution is to pay for it with money.
Christine Alfano 11/2/10 11:54 AM
Comment [6]: He’s taking into account counterarguments as he’s putting together his paper, thinking about how best to aknowledge them without letting them undermine his own claims. C. American culture tends to incorporate more stereotypes than other cultures. As a
result, American gamers apply these same concepts to generalize gold farmers and
Chinese gamers.
VIII.
Chinese Gamer culture and Chinese Gamer attitudes
*I have not yet worked out the exact details of this subsection, but I have found a great
source called “Gaming Cultures and Place in Asia-Pacific” which I believe will be
helpful in formulating ideas for this part.
A. China, as well as other Asian countries, has a strong gaming community, which helps
explain why the real world industry is so strong there.
B. Chinese gamers spend more time playing video games than American gamers.
1. Some Chinese gold farmers even mentioned that they like to unwind after a
hard day’s work by playing video games, despite the fact that their work is
playing video games.
C. Chinese gamers have a stronger work ethic than American gamers, which helps
explain how Chinese gold farmers manage to ‘grind’ (term for some type of repetitive
gameplay task, such as mining gold or training a skill) so well.
IX.
Differences Create Conflicts
A. Explain how these cultural differences help promote the conflict that exists between
American gamers and Chinese gold farmers
B. Explain how the language barrier also intensifies this conflict
* This section will draw from topics covered in Nick Yee’s Daedelus Project.
1. Some Chinese gold farmers want to befriend American gamers, but with the
presence of the language barrier, they are unable to.
2. American gamers also share the same problem. Their inability to express their
anger toward the Chinese gold farmers only creates further rage.
C. Assumptions
1. Explain what assumptions Americans have made about Chinese gamers
2. Explain what assumptions Chinese have made about American gamers
Christine Alfano 11/2/10 11:55 AM
Comment [7]: While much of his outline only goes to the secondary level (A,B,C), occasionally he refines it to the tertiary level (1., 2., 3…) X.
Conclusion
The emergence of real world trading has created a new conflict between gamers of
different cultures: Chinese gamers and American gamers. On both sides, gamers have created
new stereotypes about gamers of the other culture that reinforce existing racial stereotypes. At
the heart of this conflict, however, are the reactions of American gamers to Chinese gold
farmers. American gamers have responded with a much harsher and crueler reaction to Chinese
gold farmers, and the irony lies in the fact that they are also the ones that fuel the Chinese gold
farming market. Meanwhile, the Chinese gold farmers are left with no choice other than to see
American gamers as lazy and insensitive brutes, thus formulating a circle of racial hatred. All
this time, these stereotypes are not a product of the gaming community, but rather they are
stereotypes that have carried over from the real world into the virtual world.
Christine Alfano 11/2/10 11:56 AM
Comment [8]: Even though he was not required to write out his conclusion, he took a stab at it to help him think through how the whole argument would come together in the end.