"I gold plantation mostly for the raw benefits of it," a participant who goes by the handle Fhynal explained via DMs. "I do not have to old school runescape accounts venture out. That may sound strange, but we live with a lot of crime.

Fhynal stated he earns around 200,000-250,000 Venezuelan Bolivares, or roughly $US15-$US20 ($19-$26), per week.

For Fhynal, it's only enough to make ends meet for himself and his mother, so long as inflation does not hurl food costs to the stratosphere.

"In fact, there are those who, when they didn't play, they could not eat and would die of hunger," a former Runescape farmer who wished to stay anonymous told me on Facebook. "I have friends who play daily and if they do not play, they don't eat daily."

Increasingly more Venezuelans are growing wise to the benefits of gold farming. Earlier this year, a local newspaper printed an article best place to buy osrs accounts on the process.

This has caused growing tensions, with players doing everything from regularly demanding that programmer Jagex ban all gold farmers to publishing a guide that assists other players more effectively hunt, kill, and breeding farmers. "I have friends who perform daily, and if they do not play, they don't eat daily."