The sun shone its glorious rays one afternoon, bringing happiness and laughter to Versailles and Velizy. People danced in green meadows singing songs of joy while others looked on with beaming smiles and a picnic basket of delicious goodies. Everyone was happy.

Sadly, I was sitting in a badly ventilated office surrounded by geeks. Fortunately I'd opted for a seat in the corner, as I usually do, with a window next to me to offer some respite from the oppressive heat and strange odours.

I'd been a GM for a couple of months by this point so the job was not as tough as on the first day, and I was able to multi-task several tickets at once. Just as well, because one that I picked up on this day would prove to consume a lot of my time and energy. I have changed the name of this player for anonymity, and changed some of the grammar so that it can be easily understood.

"Dear sudden snow storm,
I please need help. I may speak with you please.
Love Remraf"

As you can see this ticket gives no indication of the issues that our friend is having and the 'Sudden snow storm' part indicated one of two things; this fellow was having a bit of a laugh, or he was using an online translator. I prayed to the 'powers that be' for it to be the first option. The 'powers' had it in for me, apparently.

GM Wint: Greetings Remraf, I am Game Master Wint. Sorry to disturb you, but could I have a quick chat to you about your ticket asking for help?
Remraf: wait
[slight pause]
Remraf: yes pls help
GM Wint: Alright, how can I help you?
Remraf: i need lvl60
GM Wint: I'm sorry, Remraf, but I cannot give or take away any levels for you. Game Masters cannot do such things.
[another pause] Remraf: pls, i need. pls make me lvl60
GM Wint: Sadly this is not something that we can help you with.

My initial thought at this stage was to be firm but kind with the player and cut the conversation short to stop him asking again.

GM Wint: Was there anything else you required some help with today, before I go?
Remraf: yes.
Remraf: i need help. boss say if i dont got lvl60 i dont get food
GM Wint: That's sad to hear, Remraf.
Why will you not get food?
Remraf: boss wants to sell lvl60
GM Wint: Are you saying you're powerleveling to sell the character?
Remraf: if i dont have lvl60 boss not pay
GM Wint: I'm sorry to hear that but we really cannot help. Selling characters is against our rules and policies.
Remraf: talk on normal char? i not want boss know i talk to gm

At this point I was intrigued, so I logged onto my GM account and removed my 'flags' so that I can talk to this powerleveler further without GM tags in my name. By this point I'd already done a large portion of my daily quota and was well ahead of target, so I took my time with Remraf.

Wint: Okay, we can talk now.
Remraf: thx
Remraf: my boss will be angry if i talk to gm
Remraf: i give u names and u ban farmer?
Wint: I will forward it to one of my superiors to look at, but yes we can take action if you give us the names of gold and level farmers.
Remraf: ok

And so he spouted off a load of names, some of which were already on our hit list of farmers and powerlevelers, others we didn't know of so they had to investigate. A strange way to cry for help, but the conversation went on for a lot further and often he would talk about the ill treatment he received at the hand of his boss. Non-payment, cutting his payment and the like. It was a cruel life to lead, and I was starting to sympathise for the chap.

While the conversation took a more casual pace, I took the liberty to check out the player's IP and connection info. Remraf was genuinely someone from Asia who was crying for help and thus my sympathy toward his ill treatment grew.

After a long conversation which led almost nowhere past the point of the above excerpts, I submitted the names of the reported farmers along with Remraf's character name to a senior member of staff - which he had requested to allay any suspicion that he'd tipped us of.

Wint: Was that everything you needed help with today, Remraf?
Remraf: i need new job soon
Wint: Yes, I think that it would be best if you looked for a new job. :)
Wint: As there seems to be nothing else you need, I shall say good bye.
Wint: Take care, Remraf.
Remraf: bye gm =]

Job done, I thought to myself. It wasn't until I was relaying my story to a colleague that he said to me: "So he's not going to get paid now he doesn't have a level 60?"

Oh crap! I'd destroyed Remraf's life. How, then, was he going to feed himself and his wife, and probably the five kids that he may or may not have. I'd killed a small Korean family for the names of a few gold farmers and powerlevelers. It made me realise what a ruthless and unforgiving GM I really was, which galled me. I was heavy of heart as I returned to my desk and found that Remraf was offline, and the account ready to be closed.

To this day I don't know what happened to dear old Remraf, but I hope he and his kids are all okay and that he managed to find work elsewhere.

I'm contactable through This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . You can also follow my updates, simply follow @gm_wint on Twitter or my blog at For.TheHorde.

Hey you! Sign up for the RollZero weekly email (top of this page). It's lo-fi and cosy, plus we promise your details won't be sold to evil Nigerian scammers. Unlike your kidneys.