[MUD-Dev] Re: Character maintinence - expenditure of resources

[J C Lawrence]

On Mon, 4 May 1998 14:41:39 -0700 (PDT) 
Adam Wiggins<adam at angel.com> wrote:

> On Mon, 4 May 1998, Koster, Raph wrote:

> Although we've chatted about this before over the years, I'd like to
> take this moment to start an official Thread(tm).  Generally we talk
> about what the "best" way to try to keep player resources (for
> purposes of general discussion, resources == money) in balance. 

ie: economic models.

The classic case is the faucet->drain model where various points in
the game introduce resources, various other consume them, and players
can do arbitrage in the middle.

Problem:  such systems are not real currencies (if that's what you
want).  Additionally players are restricted to being middle-men, and
can neither produce or consume value in the process.

> - Rent...
> - Object wear and tear ...

Drains.

> - Resources required for specific actions ...

(Variation on the above)  Drain.

> - Taxes ...
> - Thieves ...

Drains.

> - Maintaining resource lists

Limited flow faucets.

This is not to dismiss faucet/drain models -- its just that they don't 
allow player-based economies, and can't really be used to create
currencies as the method of production is external to the players.

In the aid of player currencies (yes, I'm talking all the way down to
localised player societies within a MUD minting their own script or
other tokens). I'm a big advocate of LET Systems.

<URL:http://www.kanga.nu/~petidomo/lists/mud-dev/1998Q1/msg00157.html>

--<cut>--

Money is a great simplifier -- it need not be global (compare the
company scripts from the latter half of last century as in the song
with the refrain "Another day older and deeper in debt").  I'd
strongly suggest also looking at implementing something like a LET
system for currency:

  http://www.gmlets.u-net.com/
  http://www.ic.org/market/money/
  http://titsoc.soc.titech.ac.jp/titsoc/higuchi-lab/icm/
  http://espc22.murdoch.edu.au/~armlets/

Fascinating stuff.  

You might also want to look into the extremely interesting and very
wide-spread use of "trade dollars" as an alternative currency in
Australia.  In quite a few industries in Australia more trade is done
per day in trade-dollars than in Australian currency.  (Sorry, don't
have time to dig up much of a URL list:

  http://www.tradebanc.com/
  http://kite.ois.net.au/~btrcard/main001.htm?
  http://kite.ois.net.au/~btrcard/bart001.htm
  
There is some suspicion that the total volume of transactions in trade
dollars and similar alternative currencies/barter systems in Australia
will exceed the total volume of transactions done in the natonal
currency before the year 2010.  I wouldn't be at all surprised.

--<cut>--

Raph:  I'd be extremely interested in any of your wife's takes on this 
area given here background.  My interest in these alternate currency
areas has been primarily intellectual/libertarian, altho the
Australian segment of my family ia heavily into Trade Dollars on a
corporate scale (yes, major businesses in Oz deal in Trade Dollars).

--
J C Lawrence                               Internet: claw at null.net
(Contractor)                               Internet: coder at ibm.net
---------(*)                     Internet: claw at under.engr.sgi.com
...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...

--
MUD-Dev: Advancing an unrealised future.