[MUD-Dev] Game Economies

[Ola Fosheim Grøstad <olag@ifi.uio.no>]

Marian Griffith wrote:
> Unless I am very mistaken Dr.Cat said "Attention is the currency of the
> future".

I thought that was a rhetoric phrase...  Like "suits".  I still don't
understand the exact content. Examples would be nice.

> I think you may in this context, substitute social recognition for attention.

That would narrow it somewhat down.  All interaction requires attention,
even radio controlled cars and computer games.

> In a mud players can ultimately only gain social status
> with the other players of the game

I think what you can ultimately gain is insight, self-esteem or filling your
brain with so much action that you don't have to think about or deal with
your physical life.  (You can ultimately loose your job, girlfriend,
education, self-esteem, money... just to add some balance)

You can also gain a lot more. Empirically: Shy people can experiment with,
and overcome their shyness. Virgins can overcome anxieties and find their
first sex partner. Hippies can get cannabis seeds in the mail. Teenagers can
get motivated to pick up programming. Young people can find people who share
their vision to form groups or companies with. 30-40's that don't feel at
home in clubs can look for romance. Housewife's can burn some time. Thinkers
can get puzzles to figure out, humans to observe etc...

I don't disagree with being recognized by other people is important, but
that is an overarching issue in life, whether it is the past, now or the
future.  Even when you stand in a line in a shop, which is very impersonal,
it will be important for you that the person in front of you acknowledge
your existence and hurry up! If the pretty girl gives me a flirty smile when
I walk through the park I feel flattered, and it could change a bad day to a
nice one.  I wouldn't say that is the ultimate gain of walking through the
park, as I am on my way to somewhere, or maybe I am relaxing in front of my
exams, but I am sure there are people that go there because they are
lonely...  In a MUD, this smile will not have nearly the same value, because
it doesn't exist as a convincing backchannel, thus attention has to be made
_explicit_. From here I would postulate that MUDs are hysterical in
nature...

> It also is a limited commodity and is outside complete player control. 

What is?  Monsters, money or attention?

> While you can not actually trade it
> (which would make it a real currency equivalent)  it does have real im-
> pact in a game and can be made profitable inside and outside of it. You
> can expect,  as mud worlds become larger and more complex,  that a real
> mud economy develops based around it.

Economy assumes transfer I believe?  If there is no transfer then there is
no economy.  Maybe you mean "I trade my assets for being member of your
all-powerful-guild?". People will stay in a guild and don't care too much
about their standing in the rest of the system, only within the group. This
is a in-group/out-group situation. I know there are economy inspired models
for how people change groups, but I don't think that is what you aimed
for...

More interestingly, in a MUD, you can get it all.  You have one main social
character, and a secret antisocial one.  I have found this to be common.  So
even this social "quasi economy" is leaking I think...

Or maybe you are referring to politics?

> Unlike mud-money, which requires
> only perseverance to obtain,  social status must be earned from others,
> and it allows a long lasting impact on the game.

But, everybody needs mud-money.  Not everybody has a great need to be the
most known charitable character.  What do you mean by social status?
(examples are good)  What is the impact? (I think this could be different in
different systems, so assuming a system could be important to your point)

[...]

> Perhaps not,  but that was not the main problem in this case. That was:
> How do we stop the rampant inflation? To that both solutions worked ra-
> ther well (but were hated for their impact on an established game).

I think one solution might be to remove the monetary economy, use naturally
decaying items, and design everything around this paradigm... By naturally
decaying I mean using "realism" as an excuse...
--
Ola



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