[MUD-Dev] On socialization and convenience

[Brian Hook]

At 10:25 AM 6/15/01 +0100, Dan wrote:

> For me, thats seems a very odd stance. I don't have meaningful
> interactions whilst sat in GFay trying to auction off my rapidly
> depreciating items. Just like everyone else, I sit there spamming
> my hotkey for hours if I want to shift anything, listening to a
> load of bickering level 1-10s.

> I hope you don't think thats social interaction?

What you're describing is the economic "model" that exists in EQ
today, long after its first release.  For a lot of former EQ
players, they remember what it was like during the first 3 months,
and back then you DID interact socially -- at length -- with
vendors.  You had people running sharpening stones between Highpass
and Qeynos; you had people shuttling ore between Kelethin and the
gnome city; you had people that got reputations for having fair
prices on finished goods; etc.

As time elapsed, that entire economic model broke down to the point
that it's meaningless.  Efficient economies have dictated what a
fair price is for something, item and plat inflation is rampant, and
the amount of people buying/selling has risen to a degree that you
don't ever get to know people.

So the economy in EQ now is very, very different than the one it
started with.  The early EQ Nortath was a really interesting time
for social interaction.  800 players on a server was a nice thing.

Brian Hook

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