[MUD-Dev] On socialization and convenience

[Freeman]

> From: Koster, Raph [mailto:rkoster at verant.com]

> It would be interesting to see a concrete analysis of the loss of
> socialization versus the increase in economic robustness. Does
> anyone have a sense as to which is more robust, the UO economy
> pre-vendors or the UO economy after vendors? Or, for example, the
> in-game economy in UO versus the in-game economy in EQ?

I don't think a game-to-game comparison would be meaningful.  Too
many other factors to muddle-up the comparison.

I didn't play UO post-vendors.

I know I personally have met more people in UO via vendors than I
have met in EQ via shopping (to the point of even "going into
business" with people and sharing a house so that we could all put
vendors in it, etc. - some of those people I still know and play
with, years later).

In EQ I either already know the person (they are in my guild, which
means I probably met them in UO, incidentally), or I never see them
again after buying SoW potions from them.  And don't recall what
their name was anyway, so even if I do see them again sometime, I
won't remember them.

But that's just my experience.  It seems to me that the vendors
allowed another manner of establishing meaningful relationships.  A
Quality vs.  Quantity thing.
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