Venezuela is experiencing an economic crisis, causing a large part of the population to suffer from hunger. To avoid starvation, some residents specifically farm gold in Oldschool-Runescape. Other players see this as a problem and wish death upon the gold farmers.
With an inflation rate of over 700 percent, Venezuela is currently undergoing the worst economic crisis it has ever seen. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world and was once able to become the richest area in Latin America through oil production.
However, Venezuela’s economy went downhill when oil prices collapsed on the global market. Almost 96 percent of the country’s state revenues come from oil production. Now, hunger and economic crisis prevail in Venezuela. Almost 75 percent of the population lost an average of 8.7 kilos in body weight last year.
An MMORPG, which is already 16 years old, is helping some residents of the crisis area avoid hunger. With the economic crisis, the crime rate in Venezuela has risen, leading to increased robberies and murders. Players do not have to leave their homes to farm gold and can thus earn money in a safe environment.
Gold farming in Oldschool-Runescape puts food on the table for families
In 2001, the British studio Jagex released the fantasy classic Runescape as a browser game. This old and pixelated game is still played worldwide today under the name Oldschool-Runescape.
One does not need a modern PC to play Oldschool-Runescape fluidly. Additionally, the base game is free. It is financed through microtransactions and paid memberships. Thus, Oldschool-Runescape is accessible to the impoverished residents of Venezuela, even with extremely tight budgets.
As the US site Kotaku reported in a report: Some of these players have become “professional” gold farmers in Oldschool-Runescape.
A gold farmer is a player who specifically generates large amounts of in-game currency or items – the in-game currency is then sold to other players for a low price in exchange for real money.
Gold farming in Runescape is officially banned and harms the game economy
The gold farmers are putting Oldschool-Runescape and Jagex in a tricky situation. Officially, the targeted farming of gold is prohibited. However, farming the in-game currency itself is not problematic and is allowed. The issue arises from selling for real money. This harms the game’s economy.
Through the cheap sale of in-game currency or items, buyers can afford items in Oldschool-Runescape more quickly and disrupt the game’s balance.
According to Jagex, it is difficult to determine the exact impact of Venezuelan gold farmers. However, since the crisis in South America, changes in the prices of items targeted by the farmers have been noticed.
In Oldschool-Runescape, there is an item called “Wine of Zamorak,” which allows players to gain experience points faster.
The average price fell from almost 3,000 gold to 1,500 gold last year. The Wine of Zamorak has suddenly become much more accessible, making the game significantly easier. This is a problem for Jagex: Oldschool-Runescape is meant to be challenging. The gold farmers disrupt the balance.
Players are holding a witch hunt against the gold farmers from Venezuela – wishing them death
This very conflict is currently leading to a morbid and bizarre situation. In public Runescape forums like on Reddit, some players are calling for tracking down the gold farmers from Venezuela and ruining their farming.
Because more and more Venezuelans are discovering gold farming for themselves, which leads to frustration among other players. Runescape players are increasingly reporting how they observe dozens of farmers clogging important key areas like the “Blast Mine” – a mini-game that is well-suited for farming.
This creates tension among players; they feel annoyed by the gold farmers. They demand that Jagex ban the gold farmers and suspend their accounts.
However, it does not stop at these verbal calls. A guide has already been published on how to effectively track, kill, and insult Venezuelan gold farmers. This guide received significant attention with 1615 upvotes in the relatively small Runescape subreddit.
The reactions to this guide were primarily divided into three camps:
- Sympathy for the gold farmers from Venezuela: This part of the community cannot understand how someone could come up with the idea to write and publish such a guide. They do not understand how one can kill the gold farmers and even insult them in their own language while they stand on the brink of starvation. That would be “asshole behavior.”
- The gold farmers deserve the witch hunt: Others believed that the gold farmers break the rules of the game and therefore deserve their fate. This would destroy the game’s economy. They understand that the situation in Venezuela is currently terrible, but there are better alternatives than farming gold in a game. Things like learning something new to somehow help the country. There was little sympathy for the gold farmers from this faction.
- Players who followed the guide: Then there were players reporting that they followed the guide. They took pleasure in repeatedly killing the gold farmers and insulting them in Spanish. They claimed to have done this for a few hours – free loot and fun.
“When you have no perspective, you no longer care about others’ opinions”
The English online magazine Kotaku contacted some of the Venezuelan Runescape gold farmers and asked for insights into their situation.
Most players are aware that they have taken on a sensitive job with gold farming. However, they would never work with bots or large corporations that specialize in gold farming.
They farm manually in Runescape and put in work like on an assembly line. They do not blame Jagex if they get banned for their “work” as gold farmers. They know that the studio must act in the interest of its game.
The player Yassar was a Venezuelan gold farmer but now lives in the United States. His reaction to the community’s witch hunt:
“I would have expected others to show more understanding and realize that games can change a life. All of this just makes me so angry. Not the normal anger one feels in a political debate, but a very personal anger.
Especially since my family still lives in Venezuela and I know what it feels like to starve. Seeing people who were fortunate enough to be born on the right ground dehumanize Venezuelans, man, that has destroyed me.”
Gold farmer Fhynal also gave a statement about his situation:
“I know I am wronging the people at Jagex who work hard for their game. But when you don’t know what the future holds for you and you have to fear for your life and your loved ones’ lives, you simply stop caring about the opinions of others.”
