[MUD-Dev] Game Economies

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

Timothy O'Neill Dang wrote:
> Looking at the archives for the heads, I saw currency come up, so I
> figured now was a good time to be pedantic on currency. I've seen
> "currency" used in two ways which make me bristle, referring to Time as
> the currency of the games, and Attention as the currency of the games. I
> have a feeling what is really meant is that Time and/or Attention are
> the economic foundation, or the constraining resource, or something like
> that. neither has features which make it at all a sensible currency.
> 
> Money serves two primary purposes. It is a store of value and a medium
> of exchange. There are other purposes, such as being a unit of value,
> and perhaps a proxy for status, but those two are the main ones.

"Unit of value" is probably a very important aspect, as a game system is
typically designed and balanced to be fun. It is obviously possible to
design the system in ways which makes different aspects more or less
valuable. In RPGs I believe "game time" is very close to being a basic unit
of value which the game system is, at least indirectly, balanced by. It is
possible to have a game economy which isn't driven by demand, but based upon
transactions of objects with their associated "game time investment". At
least in theory.

However, you can find a number of other bases. If we assume success measured
in "opportunities for excitement" then this can be designed to depend upon:

- game time
- amount of dollars you invest in the game
- login regularity
- insight and skill
- membership and political structures

and quite possible many others. The key point is; you can design you system
in a way which makes different bases more or less important. If the game is
largely depending upon a single base, then it will be tempting to think of
that base as the currency... Even if it isn't really a currency, because a
currency is a formalization of it.

Example: The number of levels and useful objects you have obtained in a
purified CRPG is the formalization of "game time", and thus can function as
a currency.  With concepts like e-bay and LEDO it is convertible.  The
metaphor might be more interesting if you think about a game world as a
country, and players as investors who's interest shift from one country to
another... They sell their investments in one world in favour of a more
promising country with a new and rising economy.  Others invest in the older
countries which are more stable and better developed... *grin*

(Dilemma: A game system which focus on one base will obviously be easier to
predict and balance, but miss out on some opportunities. A unified game
system which embrace multiple bases risk inherent imbalance, because some
users focus on one base and view the need to inolve themselves with other
bases as unreasonable. A segmented game system might be able to satisfy
desirable requirements with less pain, but you also risk overly simple and
disconnected activities and segmented groups of users?)
--
Ola




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