In GW1, when they had there big million dollar play offs with HoH and GvG championships, one of the guilds that was top dog, was selling places in the guild for 10-25K each spot. People were actually paying to be in that guild. I guess these gents could live on that. It was a Korean guild BTW.

Originally posted by steelheartx

I think it just comes down to what their priorities are.  If something is important to you. you'll always find the time to do it.

Years ago i used to work four jobs so my wife could be a stay at home mom to our two boys, and still found time to game 40+ hours a week.  Bit older and wiser now, but still on 40+ a week :)

Well done - I'm quite impressed by that.

Originally posted by Omnifish

One guy I knew, in WoW, used to do all the encoding for one of those text message advertsing services. Bascially he'd get the advert details put it all together and send it to the server for sending out to everyone elses phones on a database. It pretty much meant he worked from home and had a lot of time on he's hands.

Incidently he met he's wife at a depression clinc, they had two kids and it'd need a scotch before I told you how that story ended....

That's really interesting. I'll bite - I'm interested to know - how did that story end?

Originally posted by Iselin

Leaving aside the small minority suffering from an obsessive compulsive disorder, who are they? They are the under-challenged.

You know? The people who have jobs that are so mind-numbing, boring and/or degrading or have such an easy time with their studies that they use their games as THE place where they really apply themselves and show their stuff. If you think this is a small minority, think again and take a good look around you at the people you know in real life who could be doing so much more...

To many of us casual players they just seem like hyper OCD aliens. Get to know some and you'll see they are typically far above the norm in intelligence and ability.

I neither can nor want to do what they do, but unlike many of you, I have no contempt for them: just a lot of respect for their ability to play the games we all play but at another, elite level.

PS. This is just my opinion. I might be totally wrong and they could really be aliens.

I think you're absolutely right - This could be true for a large proportion of them.

It's a pity the effort can't (or won't) be channeled into a career to advance the career.

Originally posted by Bossalinie

"One of my guildees was a millionaire business man, responsible, good decision maker, blahhhhh"

I like how some toss this around and expect a 'nuff said' return. We've all had that one, or even two in our guild, but it BY FAR, did not come close to representing the rest of the freeloaders in the guild...

I agree with you. 

I knew one person who had agrophobia (fear of large outside spaces) so they were homebound.

People like this are so unusual that they stick in the mind.

Mind you, everyone is different and unusual in a way.

Originally posted by Epicent
Most of them live in there mother's basement................sad thing is...........I'm not even trolling when I say that.......

 sad thing is, im not trolling with this response either.

Most of you have no idea just how many people make a living PLAYING games. There are dozens of guilds that are sponsored and make a lot of money being the best in their games...even their rigs are supplied. And that doesnt even include the people gold selling which BTW are not all from China. The third largest gold seller is still based in America. Now throw in the few hundred making money off of exploit websites that require membership to get the information or access to their software/macros.

it adds up to tens of thousands of people, making a living off of gaming.

There's people making money playing games with large championships and team sponsorships, like LoL, Starcraft, and of course a lot of FPS games.

Those are e-sports, and just like real sports, a very small number of people at the very top are making a living playing them.

Encouragingly however, this number is definitely increasing, and interest in e-sports is growing, a lot. And that's good for gamers.

There's no one making a living playing MMOs though. You're talking games like WoW, SWTOR, Tera, POTBS or whatever.

There are no raiding guilds with players making a living from gaming, not paragon, not method, nobody. Raiding PVE dungeons is not an e-sport, and no one gives a crap about raiders.

MMO games have exactly zero people making a living playing the game. And no, $1 twitch donations don't count, no one is paying their rent from twitch donations.

Originally posted by Panther2103
A lot of the top players get sponsorships from companies to run things and be the best at what they do. If they clear something first, and stream it, or make videos of it, the more views they get the more ad revenue the companies provide to them. Some top gaming clans and top MMO clan players can make more than enough to live off of just playing their favorite game(s).

You're proably right - but I suspect there is a bit more to this than meets the eye.

For example, imagine you were on the road to becoming a professional MMORPG games player - what circumstances must you be in to have the time? You would prpbably spend a lot of time on the metagame and on the game itself.

I imagine it would be an extremely unusual circumstance.

Originally posted by Mors.Magne

 

But how do these people find the time? What do they do for a living?

 

 

Clean their parents' basement. 

Originally posted by Mors.Magne

Originally posted by Panther2103
A lot of the top players get sponsorships from companies to run things and be the best at what they do. If they clear something first, and stream it, or make videos of it, the more views they get the more ad revenue the companies provide to them. Some top gaming clans and top MMO clan players can make more than enough to live off of just playing their favorite game(s).

You're proably right - but I suspect there is a bit more to this than meets the eye.

 

For example, imagine you were on the road to becoming a professional MMORPG games player - what circumstances must you be in to have the time? You would prpbably spend a lot of time on the metagame and on the game itself.

 

I imagine it would be an extremely unusual circumstance.

Panther is wrong. There are no MMO players who make a living playing MMO.

This is something that comes as a surprise to people who thought paragon were millionaires living off Asus sponsorship or whatever.

Most top MMO guilds actually don't even play as many hours as you'd think. Most of their players have jobs, and I know casual guilds that spend more time in-game than a lot of top MMO guilds.

It's just a matter of efficiency. Just like productivity of modern mechanised farmers vs ancient egyptian farmers who needed 10x the hours and manpower for the same yield of crops.

This is a great post as we've all come across these types of gamers.    

One of my RL buddies falls into this category. You'd think he was some unemployed loser in his mom's basement but he actually works at his family's business and keeps a gaming rig in his office to play during the day.   He doesn't go crazy during work hours, mostly just does dailies or farming but he is online most of the day.

[quote]Originally posted by MurlockDance[b][quote]

Anyway, getting back to the subject on hand, I know one heck of a lot of MMORPG players who are chronically ill and the internet/social gaming is an outlet for them to have a more normal life. Quite a few of them become major achievers in MMORPGs and cornerstones of important guilds and raid groups. They might be on social benefits, for whatever reason, but they always tell me about how important the internet has been for them, especially to avoid complete social isolation.

Very few of the gamers that spend long periods of time in game that I know are basement dwellers or unemployed scroungers or whatever. In fact, most people I have met, raiders and non-raiders both, are people with jobs, sometimes kids, and other things ongoing.

Probably some of the jobholders are lucky and are close to their jobs so they do not waste a lot of time everyday in traffic. That will certainly wear away what kind of free time you have to spend on games ![/b][/quote]

In my experience, mostly this. The folks I've known over the years who are in game for 12-20 hours a day are retired, disabled, unemployed, working from home or students on break. For folks at home, mmos provide social interaction and are a great way to feel engaged with the world, even if it is only virtual.

I used to spend 16 hour days in game on the weekends when I raided and was busy with guild duties. Easy enough to do.

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Originally posted by Greyhooff

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Originally posted by Mors.Magne

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Originally posted by Panther2103 A lot of the top players get sponsorships from companies to run things and be the best at what they do. If they clear something first, and stream it, or make videos of it, the more views they get the more ad revenue the companies provide to them. Some top gaming clans and top MMO clan players can make more than enough to live off of just playing their favorite game(s).

---

You're proably right - but I suspect there is a bit more to this than meets the eye.   For example, imagine you were on the road to becoming a professional MMORPG games player - what circumstances must you be in to have the time? You would prpbably spend a lot of time on the metagame and on the game itself.   I imagine it would be an extremely unusual circumstance.

---

Panther is wrong. There are no MMO players who make a living playing MMO.

This is something that comes as a surprise to people who thought paragon were millionaires living off Asus sponsorship or whatever.

Most top MMO guilds actually don't even play as many hours as you'd think. Most of their players have jobs, and I know casual guilds that spend more time in-game than a lot of top MMO guilds.

It's just a matter of efficiency. Just like productivity of modern mechanised farmers vs ancient egyptian farmers who needed 10x the hours and manpower for the same yield of crops.

---

Paragon teamed with the Chinese guild Dream and Dream is a well known e-sports sponsor in Asia.

So, yes, there are WoW guilds that are paid to raid.

Originally posted by Xiaoki

 

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Originally posted by Greyhooff

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Originally posted by Mors.Magne

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Originally posted by Panther2103 A lot of the top players get sponsorships from companies to run things and be the best at what they do. If they clear something first, and stream it, or make videos of it, the more views they get the more ad revenue the companies provide to them. Some top gaming clans and top MMO clan players can make more than enough to live off of just playing their favorite game(s).

---

You're proably right - but I suspect there is a bit more to this than meets the eye.   For example, imagine you were on the road to becoming a professional MMORPG games player - what circumstances must you be in to have the time? You would prpbably spend a lot of time on the metagame and on the game itself.   I imagine it would be an extremely unusual circumstance.

---

Panther is wrong. There are no MMO players who make a living playing MMO.

 

This is something that comes as a surprise to people who thought paragon were millionaires living off Asus sponsorship or whatever.

Most top MMO guilds actually don't even play as many hours as you'd think. Most of their players have jobs, and I know casual guilds that spend more time in-game than a lot of top MMO guilds.

It's just a matter of efficiency. Just like productivity of modern mechanised farmers vs ancient egyptian farmers who needed 10x the hours and manpower for the same yield of crops.

---

Its funny that you mention NO guilds are sponsored then use Paragon as an example because Paragon is indeed sponsored.

 

Paragon teamed with the Chinese guild Dream and Dream is a well known e-sports sponsor in Asia.

So, yes, there are WoW guilds that are paid to raid.

And some gaming guilds such as Goons pay their senior officers to run their operations in various games.

I actually met a guy who was (allegedly) paid $600/mo to tank for his guild in WOW.  Used to play EVE with us during his free time.

I remember back when Lineage 2 first launched, there were clans advertising for members, and they required people to play at least 10 or even 12 hours a day (minimum).

Always wondered who those folks were, because they had no shortage of members and their alliance held all the castles at that time.

Originally posted by Kyleran

 

And some gaming guilds such as Goons pay their senior officers to run their operations in various games.

I actually met a guy who was (allegedly) paid $600/mo to tank for his guild in WOW.  Used to play EVE with us during his free time.

I remember back when Lineage 2 first launched, there were clans advertising for members, and they required people to play at least 10 or even 12 hours a day (minimum).

Always wondered who those folks were, because they had no shortage of members and their alliance held all the castles at that time.

 

Really? i guess pay to win (or pay to be carried) is alive and well even in P2P games.

Originally posted by nariusseldon

Originally posted by Kyleran

 

And some gaming guilds such as Goons pay their senior officers to run their operations in various games.

I actually met a guy who was (allegedly) paid $600/mo to tank for his guild in WOW.  Used to play EVE with us during his free time.

I remember back when Lineage 2 first launched, there were clans advertising for members, and they required people to play at least 10 or even 12 hours a day (minimum).

Always wondered who those folks were, because they had no shortage of members and their alliance held all the castles at that time.

 

Really? i guess pay to win (or pay to be carried) is alive and well even in P2P games.

Yeah, I guess so, but I said allegedly because I have a hard time believing anyone could get paid for such an activity, but then again I'm really out of touch from the mainstream gaming world, so perhaps it was true.