Playing video games in exchange for virtual tokens is a business in Venezuela

in #bitcoin6 years ago

In a country where the national currency is rapidly devalued and whose value has fallen below the price of the tokens of some video games, some young Venezuelans prefer to spend hours playing on the web - games that include Runescape, Tibia, LoL- to generate economic income. Without a doubt, they earn much more than a minimum floor.

Venezuela is currently experiencing a severe economic crisis that has led to high inflation, which has resulted in an accelerated devaluation of the national currency, whose price has fallen even below the value of the tokens of some video games.

For this reason, looking for treasures and hunting monsters in the virtual reality of video games has become an option that allows some young Venezuelans to generate higher income than they could get with a traditional job in Venezuela: earnings of between USD $ 20 and 100, monthly, or more, in a country where the current minimum wage is less than one dollar per month.

DiarioBitcoin gathers the story of three young people who exchange virtual tokens and content of exclusive games by bitcoins, ether, paypal dollars, and other currencies through three well-known videogames.

Runescape

Runescape is a well-known computer game of the MMORPG type (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Game, for its acronym in English), which allows its players to earn money through the sale of "gold coins", or gold coins, that can be later commercialized in exchange for bitcoins, or other objects in the internal market of the game, or by other currencies outside of it.

This activity, which is considered against the internal rules of the game and that can lead to the elimination of the user's account, has become popular in Venezuela in recent years, causing the resentment of many other international users of the game.

The rundscapers are engaged in an activity called by the gamers as "farming", which refers to the repeated performance of an action in order to get experience points, money, objects or benefits for the avatar of an online game, through from which they can get around USD $ 2 per hour.

To sell the gold chips of this and other similar games, such as World of Warcraft and Tibia, you must resort to other pages, many with the risk of scams, or to external resellers who are dedicated to the exchange. The price of these tokens varies depending on the fluctuation of the internal market of the game.

Additionally the game allows you to make internal bets that can be remunerated with sums that could reach USD $ 5,000.

Fernando Gutiérrez comments that he plays Old School Runescape since 2004, and remembers that he started selling his gold coins about four years ago. In your case, the sale is made directly through a reseller friend who exchanges them for bitcoins, paypal dollars or bolivars.

Although Gutiérrez has a degree as a graduate in International Studies, killing fantastic creatures by playing on the web is what has allowed him to generate stable income to live in the country. Remember, anecdotally, that her mother worried when she stopped asking for the allowance and that she had to explain why she spent so many hours on the computer:

At first she did not understand, and I was afraid she was doing something illegal. Later I explained to her and, rather, she was the one who told me: go, go kill dragons. "

The 23-year-old youngster says that with the money he has been able to save after "years playing low profile" he has been able to travel abroad. Due to a controversy, which has manifested itself in forums and other websites, about illegal players in Venezuela who participate in order to obtain the economic benefits, Gutierrez preferred to use a pseudonym to avoid being booked.

Tibia

Tibia is a game similar to Runescape: it also enters the category of MMORPG games. In it, players also use their time to "farm" with the aim of developing skills and leveling up their avatars. In the fantastic virtual world, players kill a variety of monsters using different weapons and magical powers, and explore the continent in search of treasure and fortune. Tibia, in addition, allows dialogue between players, make changes of objects, and form "partys" to play as a team.

Nelson Colmenares is 19 years old and has been an enthusiastic player for about four years: "I started playing for recreational purposes, but when the dollar began to shoot I saw in this game an alternative to win in foreign currency," says the young man.

Similar to Runescape, to obtain gains in Tibia you must overcome obstacles and collect tokens to market inside or outside the game market. In the external market of the game, 250 TibiaCoins can be sold in an approximate amount of USD $ 10. Resellers can pay a little less than the price through Paypal, the change in bolivars or there are even services that change the chips in cryptocurrencies.

For Colmenares, a student of Administration in the UCV, playing and negotiating in the internal market of the game allows him to generate up to USD $ 100 per month, or even more; an income that allows you to live "comfortable" in the country and that allows you to have "luxuries, that perhaps some do not have, such as buying new clothes and eating on the street," the student comments.

"On one occasion, I changed my TibiaCoins for bitcoins through a reseller, but that's not what I usually do." Colmenares says that it is more convenient for him to change directly to bolivars or to dollars deposited in a Paypal account, due to the need for liquidity.

League of Legends

League of Legends, known by its acronym, LoL, is an online multiplayer Battlefield type game (MOBA). To generate money there is a practice, illegal within the rules of the game, known as elo-boost, a service that allows more experienced users to place their account available to less experienced players to get level up and collect rewards.

"Elo-boostear basically consists of entering another player's account and playing for him," explains Alejandro Silva, a 19-year-old Venezuelan who has four years of experience in the game and who has done this practice for almost two years. . Silva says that, due to the risks and the investment that merits recourse to this activity, he stopped doing it:

I did elo-boost, however I stopped doing it because I did not have the tools to do it anonymously - through a change of IP, VPN, for example─. In addition, Riot, the company after LOL, became stricter with this issue: there was a high risk of being banned (blocking the account) for carrying out the activity "

The contents of LoL ─skins for the champions, personalized wards, limited editions of characters ... ─ are sold through dollar accounts, which makes it difficult for Venezuelans to access the purchase of downloadable content of the game, which has caused grow a gaming market in cryptocurrencies in the country.

"In Venezuela it is easier to sell this content of the game in cryptocurrencies than in dollars," says Silva and adds: "To sell or buy game contents it is necessary to resort to a market in dollars or cryptocurrencies, because a game market with the fiat currency of Venezuela, it does not exist. "

Silva points out that, in his case, he makes content sales ─skins, RP, and carding, another illegal activity for profit─ through an external service to the game offered by the SolucionesOnline page. However, through the sale of cryptocurrencies, it is sold a little more expensive than in dollars, the young player comments:

"If something was worth more or less USD $ 8 I would sell it to a dollar more expensive in btc or ether".

Additionally, to generate more income, Silva participates in internal tournaments of the game, which can provide him with additional money that, as he explains, serves to "contribute in my house, buy food for my dog, go to the movies and buy my things" .

LoL has become one of the most recognized online games in the world, with tournaments that include representatives from different countries, ranging from Korea to Mexico. These are televised tournaments that have had millions of attendees, filling football stadiums and making known gamers who have become the face of companies like Samsung.

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Someone needs to go up to Maduro, and tell him his country's currency is so worthless a bad MMO's fake money is more valuable. I bet he'd never take a burn so bad ever again.

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