[MUD-Dev] [STORY] Story and population size

[Dave Rickey]

-----Original Message-----
From: Derek Licciardi <kressilac at home.com>


> I was merely speaking of an improved economy as an improvement
> because of scale.  The statistical possibility of a transaction
> occuring in a larger world is a simple function of some player
> activity rate * number of players(buyers or sellers).  The fact
> remains that in a larger system, you as a seller have a larger
> chance to find a buyer and vice versa assuming the game mechanics
> allow for easily finding that seller/buyer.  This results in a
> more steady transactional flow of goods through your economy.

About 5% of players are what I refer to as "True Crafters", people
who really want to play the part of a merchant.  Building their
market, managing inventory, actually *being* a tradesman instead of
just working the money-pump.

With a population that varies from 500 to 3000, divided into three
realms, and further divided between 4 trades, that works out to 8-48
people online at a time you might do business with.  However, the
chances of someone wanting to buy something, and being unable to
find *anyone* prepared to sell it to him, is extremely high,
especially off-peak.

Which creates a nasty Catch-22: I have to reduce the barriers
between buyer and seller, up to and including offline trading.  But
if I lower them *too* far, the market is too efficient, and no-one
actually makes any money.

--Dave

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