[MUD-Dev] Value in the Economy of the MOG

[J C Lawrence]

On Mon, 2 Jul 2001 18:03:05 -0400 
Dave Rickey <daver at mythicentertainment.com> wrote:

> Item degradation and removal, and consumables in general, are
> essential.  And the players adjust to dealing with them pretty
> quickly.  But PD, taxes, insurance, etc., do not strike me as
> being either neccessary or desirable.

Looking at this in an absolutist sense: EQ/XP based GoP games are
inherently inflationary.  They implicitly devalue the currency (of
the game as it is played (advancement).  

Players will play and advance in the game.  If the game does not
have a significant attrition/churn rate among advancing players, by
simple arithmetic the bulk of the player base (in terms of bell
curve of the population) will slowly ascend the advancement scale.
At the point where "everybody" is a level 50, the value of level 50
is significantly devolved.  Further, if that is the last level of
the game the game is essentially over for those players except as a
grandfather game unless it can either add more levels, or evolve a
new advancement scale.

Its the fundamental flaw/problem with GoP games: the goal by must be
attainable and once attained the game (in that definition) is
finished (thus the problem of the new game being to game the game --
your players can be guaranteed to play some game even you don't
provide them with one, whether you like it or not,a nd particularly
if not).

In a sense its akin to the problem of monopolistic tendencies in
economic systems.  By their nature economic entities will tend to
evolve into monopolising their niches.  IRL we attempt to control
that wil things like the monopoly commission, taxes on inherited
wealth (death duties), and the simple fact of a limited human life
span.

Which begs the model:

  What of a game which attempt to guarantee s reasonable but very
  finite character lifespan, and which then provides for partial EQ
  and XP transference across character generations.

It doesn't solve the problem of course, merely delays it by
inserting character lifespans as a halting deflationary force.

Which begs the question:

  Over the longer term must a GoP game be seen to have "winning"
  players as well as players who have "won" the game?

--
J C Lawrence                                             claw at kanga.nu
---------(*)                                http://www.kanga.nu/~claw/
I never claimed to be human.
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