Usdk wrote:
he makes irl money off it. he doesn't play the game seriously.
Bullshit. He buys BoEs off the AH for insane prices all the time. There's a reason that botting is a profession typically undertaken by Chinese peasants and that is that the profit margin is incredibly marginal.
On a pure time basis, as well as cost of infrastructure (PCs, programs, and expansions) and other marginal expenses such as account subs, buying occasional launder accounts, cooling and electricity, I doubt it's even profitable, and to the extent that it is, running half a dozen PCs isn't even remotely competitive with the minimum wage. A thousand gold goes for about $3. A half dozen bots might produce that in an hour, so you're looking at a gross that's about a
quarter the minimum wage before expenses. Nor does this include the time required to set up and manage the bots.
And China farmers aren't too proud nor take the game too seriously to reject their status as parasites and criminals.
