Do You Suck At Modern Warfare 3? Hire A Virtual Bodyguard

The multiplayer components of popular shooters like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 are fierce. New players are often mercilessly slaughtered by veterans, and moving from the single-player campaigns to the online arena can be a traumatizing experience. So, what's a dedicated player with low self-esteem and some spare Great British Pounds to do? Hire a virtual bodyguard to cover your back.

One enterprising person has offered his services as a first-person shooter bodyguard, allowing Xbox 360 players of Modern Warfare, Black Ops, Battlefield 3, Halo Reach and Bad Company 2 to employ him for just £5. Toby Smith says he'll watch your six, point out enemy threats, and even take bullets to make sure you stay at your killing best. It's an innovative way to make some quick money, I'll grant – he's charging £5 for 30 minutes of game time. Getting paid £10 an hour to play online video games is a mean feat in this economy.

That said, there are sure to be those who won't appreciate Toby's efforts. After all, most modern shooters are supposed to be team-based, not individual affairs – not that that matters to some gamers, to whom a kill-to-death ratio is everything. But the idea of a virtual bodyguard isn't that far out from gold farming, where players (often in third-world countries) grind for hours to sell in-game loot on MMORPGs. And if you can sell virtual items or currency online, as many game developers do via downloadable content or in-game markets, why not employ an actual human being?

Mr. Smith doesn't offer up any indication of his gaming skills, l33t or otherwise. Let the buyer beware.

[via Game Rant]