Cory Doctorow is the author of “For The Win” and has written about thirteen books all about science fiction, gaming and/or futuristic genres. Part 1 of “For The Win” by Cory Doctorow talks about three main characters Matthew, Leonard, and Mala. Matthew lives in China and is very good at gold-farming in a virtual world and earning virtual gold in dungeons with ease. He used to work for a company that provides people to get virtual gold but decided to leave the company so he could make more money. He is able to earn a month’s living in a few hours before the games can block them. He eventually goes back o his old company not exactly by choice and most of his profits get taken away. Then there is Leonard who lives in Los Angeles. He is really interested in playing games with guildies in China. A guildie is a group of players in a game that work together. He calls himself Wei-Dong which is “strength of the east” in Mandarin. Him and his group help players level up in games for real money when the players can’t do it themselves. He is sent off to a military academy becasue his dad thinks he needs more discipline and less gaming. But he gets into an accident and runs away and lives off of the low income he gets from gaming and being a mechanical turk. Mala, another character, lives in Mumbai. She plays a zombie game in an intenet cafe after school. She is very good at this game and she brings in fans and even a job offering. The offer consists of her attacking other players in the game who are competition to the business she works for. She earns a better living for her family this way.
I thought it was an interesting first part of the book. It was hard to relate and understand some of the things going on in the book since I’m not really into gaming. But I found it fascinating that the characters in the book were earning a living playing games.