MIR4 has recently been released on Steam, iOS, and Android, and the major feature of the Korean MMORPG is that you can farm a special blockchain token that is worth real money. But how much grind is needed to earn money in the game? We at MeinMMO took a look at it.
What is MIR4? MIR4 is a Korean MMORPG that has appeared on Steam as well as mobile devices with iOS and Android. The game is based on an Asian fantasy world and draws on Wuxia aesthetics, similar to what you see in games like Blade & Soul or Swords of Legends.
MIR4 also plays on the PC like a mobile game and relies heavily on automated actions that take place through auto-play. So you don’t have to do much, just tweak your hero’s stats from time to time or optimize their inventory. Such games are more like hero managers than active games.
How does real money work? MIR4 sounds like a typical auto-grinder from Korea at first glance, but the game has a significant feature: You can obtain a blockchain token called Dracos in exchange for the resource Darksteel within the game.
This token, in turn, is a type of cryptocurrency and is traded on a developer’s exchange and is worth real money. Such tokens are also used for all sorts of things, including virtual cats or video clips from streamers.
However, there is a limit of a total of 1,000,000,000 Dracos that can exist, and only one million can be produced per day. This is intended to avoid inflation.
In plain language, this means you can convert your playtime into real money. This seems to be the main reason why people play MIR4, as the ratings on Steam are miserable, even though it still has many players.
Hourly wage in MIR4 doesn’t make anyone rich – At least here with us
How long does it take to gather the necessary resources? To earn real money in MIR4, you need to reach level 40 and farm the resource Darksteel in the game. You can then exchange 100,000 of it plus a processing fee for a Draco token. Converting Draco back into Darksteel is also possible.
The Darksteel mining areas are notoriously busy with players, and you often have to rely on the PvP system to push players away from the lucrative spots. However, once you can mine the coveted steel, you will receive about 60 units of Darksteel every 10 seconds.
This means that you will get about 360 Darksteel per minute and around 21,600 in an hour. Since you need 100,000 Darksteel plus a processing fee to obtain the Draco, you earn approximately one-fifth of a Draco per hour. So you need to farm for about five hours to get one Draco.
How much is the Draco worth? The value of the Draco varies based on supply and demand. Currently, it is worth a whopping 2.37 US dollars (as of September 2, 2021, at 11:00 AM). However, the price has also been significantly lower, for example, on August 31, when the price was only 1.78 dollars.
So let’s take the working time from the above example, one would earn around 50 cents per hour with Draco farming in MIR4.
Is it really worth it? For a gamer in Germany or the USA, such an hourly wage is certainly not a reason to grind the game intensively. However, you should keep in mind that 50 cents represents a decent wage in some countries, such as in certain parts of Asia or South America. For example, in Venezuela, there are families where the father supports everyone just through gold farming.
Therefore, the comments under the official explanation video for Dracos are filled with players from countries like Brazil who would love to have the game in their country. Most likely to earn money.
What do you think about the concept of converting playtime into money? Is it a good thing, or should games only be played for fun and not for profit? Let us know in the comments. Games that allow you to earn real money are, by the way, not new. The MMORPG Virtuverse also has such a system that allows you to earn real money.
