- published: 08 Nov 2012
- views: 1697524
For The Win is the second young adult science fiction novel by Canadian author Cory Doctorow. It was released in May 2010. The novel is available free on the author's website as a Creative Commons download, and is also published in traditional paper form by Tor Books.
The book is centered around massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Even though the novel is targeted toward young adults, it takes on significant concepts such as macroeconomics and labor rights. It covers the new and fast evolving concept of virtual economy. It also deals with MMORPG specific topics like gold farming and power-leveling.
Matthew Fong lives in Shenzhen, China. He's very talented at gold-farming and is able to find the optimal way to earn virtual gold in a dungeon in minimal time. Together with a couple of friends he lives on that, after they left Boss Wing, a man employing boys to gold-farm for him but keeping most of the profits. Matthew finds a place in the game of Svartalfaheim Warriors where it is possible to earn a lot in short time, and exploiting this discovery with his team is able to make a month's living in a single night before the administrators of the game discover and block them. However, Boss Wing has Matthew's home raided and him beaten because he wants his most talented gold-farmer back; they agree that Matthew can work on his own but has to surrender 60% of his income to Boss Wing, who handles turning game-gold into real money for him in turn.
I've got a way with words and it's the cause of all my problems
I've got my mind set
And that's the way it is
I never thought it could get this bad
When I had you in my pocket everything was just fine and
You gotta big mouth and the streets are talkin
About the way you walk around like you own the place
You gotta big mouth and you shoulda shut it
Yeah you shoulda shut it in the first place
Just take another look at the risks we took
And all the things I said what were they really worth
You're all talk you can't act like you're callin the shots
Cuz I'm the only thing left you've got
We don't have anywhere to go but up so sit back and watch us fall
Take it back, don't react, don't ever forget we'll make it by
And I can't take another second of the god damn town
It's getting harder to sing
Doo doo doo doo doo do-do doo
These melodies are settling and are starting to sting
And everybody's talkin like they know it all
Conducting social symphonies
You're all talk you can't act like you're callin the shots
Cause I'm the only thing left you've got
We don't have anywhere to go but up so sit back and watch us fall
Take it back don't react, don't ever forget we'll make it by[x2]
This time!
You gotta big mouth and the streets are talkin
About the way you walk around like you own the place
You gotta big mouth and you shoulda shut it
Yeah you shoulda shut it in the first place
Everybody's got me looking in the wrong direction[x2]
We don't have anywhere to go but up so sit back and watch us fall
Take it back, don't react, don't ever forget we'll make it by this time
Take it back, don't react, don't ever forget well make it by
And I can't take another second of the god damn town