[MUD-Dev2] stock market mechanisms in muds

[Matt Chatterley]

[Massive snip of everything, mind the scissors everybody!]

This has lead me down a slightly different path.

When considering "sinks", which I think we all agree are vital in
sufficient quantity and strength for a "healthy" virtual economy ( e.g.
one which will balance out), let us consider for a moment the problem of
having "cash only" sinks.

Lets assume that you run a shop. Your cash sinks are rent, upkeep,
purchase of stock, wages, etc. You make your money by selling
"manufactured goods" (in this example) to end consumers, and turn a tidy
profit. We'll ignore the part of the chain beneath you for now
(obtaining raws materials, refining, etc).

What happens to the manufactured goods?

If there are no sinks at this level (product-sinks?), then eventually,
everybody who wants a flubble will have one, and noone will buy any more
flubbles (or not very many, anyway).

There are a number of directions to go in (to my mind)..

1. Another craftsperson might make Double-Flubbles to sell on by
combining two Flubbles, and another might make Wumbles by combining
Wombles and Flubbles - this is further manufacture or refinement,
whereby an end product is turned into a different end product via a work
chain. While some products will be eligible for this, some won't - E.g.
Swords. Although they could be enhanced by a higher stage craftsperson,
at any rate, the 2nd line manufacturer will have the same problem I
described above.

2. Limited life - for some products (e.g. comestibles), decay is
appropriate - use it or lose it. These aren't really a problem. If your
product is apples, people will always need apples.

3. Wear'n'Tear - For my sword example above, if every time it hits
something hard, it suffers wear and tear, eventually it will need to be
repaired (creating work in a different industry) or will need to be
replaced.

But. Does this cover everything? What if I sell hats - decorative
clothing - do they suffer wear and tear (colour fade, coming apart at
the seams)? Would I (as a merchant) be able to control the quality of
the product so that I could make it decay a bit faster, or a bit slower?


Some food for thought!