MISHMASH

多棱镜

Grinding your way up to that powerful magic sword is a tough task in most online games, requiring hours of effort hacking away. China has seen controversies over “gold mining” by real-life prisoners engaged in 9-to-5 jobs in virtual worlds, resulting in virtual credits being sold for real cash, but recently one gaming addict swapped gold for lumber when he started stealing trees to pay for his virtual gaming habit. No, they weren’t virtual trees. According to the China Business View, a 24-year-old Shaanxi man surnamed Fan made about 10,000 RMB (1,440 USD) by stealing 686 trees from neighbors and selling them, all to buy items in online games. Apparently his virtual magical items didn’t grant him a stealth bonus, because he was caught while trying to flee at a Xi’an train station.