[MUD-Dev] Understanding Simulation (was: Point of View)

[Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com]

From: Matthew Dobervich [mailto:matthew.dobervich2 at verizon.net] 

> Why do you want NPCs involved in a player driven economy at all?

We had this debate on the list last year! Some of my reasons are as
follows:

  - Creates a market for goods that a player doesn't consume
  directly. Such as food supplies and luxury goods for
  towns/settlements. This could allow players to be
  importers/exporters taking goods between cities depending on their
  needs/wants.

  - The towns/settlements can react to absence of food
  supplies/luxuries/etc.  Perhaps we have a dynamic orc invasion for
  a week, so weapons demand goes up in the settlement.

  - It adds stability to the economy. By increasing the number of
  participants its harder for people to manipulate the market.

  - They offer a way of injecting items into the economy at fixed
  economic cost even if you don't want it to become a player made
  trade skill good, or something a monster drops (after all that
  encourages camping).

  - Having npcs gives people anchor points in the world. Furthermore
  cities without npcs will most likely feel empty. You could of
  course have npcs that do nothing, but stand there, but if one
  accepts that npcs add flavour, you may as well make them
  interactive.

Dan
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev