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<H1>RE: [MUD-Dev] MUD Economy</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: "'<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A>'" <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: RE: [MUD-Dev] MUD Economy </LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: "Koster, Raph" <<A HREF="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 19:03:01 -0600</LI>
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<PRE>
On Friday, January 09, 1998 10:43 AM, JC
Lawrence[SMTP:claw#under,Eng.Sun.COM] wrote:
> NPC's are simple -- [snip]
> Players are more difficult.
I gotta tell you all, NOTHING is simple about this. :)
In UO we actually had to take OUT realistic economy sim aspects
because they weren't fun. :P Shops being overstocked and not paying
for player goods, shops going bankrupt from failure to compete with
players, players going bankrupt from failure to compete with shops...
and on and on and on. Every tiny change sent massive tremors though
the entire game. We're at the point now where it's a lot less
realistic, but kinda works, and sort of moves along.
If you expect a player to be able to make money occasionally from
selling items they make, you will find that players will expect to be
able to sell those items reliably for a reliable price. And telling
them that there's a glut of bagpipes in the area doesn't mollify them
much.
Some of the things we tracked and did:
- track local availability of raw materials for goods fabrication
- track amount of materials on hand for the shop
- track sales rate for individual good types both in the shop and in
the local area
- shops able to recycle goods into materials, with wastage
- determine target stock levels for goods based on turnaround,
materials, demand locally and in this shop, etc
- variable pricing dependent upon all the rest
- "overstock" purchases on the part of the shop, based on shopkeeper
expectation of selling either the goods, or the materials implicit in
the goods
There was more, but it boils down to this:
In the real world, you can spend $5 for a block of wood and turn it
into a great wooden foozle. And the market in foozles can be so bad
you lose your shirt. But in a game, players will say, "labor implies
profit! I MUST make money at this!" and they will report that as a
bug.
So now we have a less accurate economy, but one that satisfies
players. And we learned (again) the lesson to never lose sight of the
enjoyment of those who aren't as cutting edge as you are. ;)
-Raph
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<li><strong><A NAME="00201" HREF="msg00201.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] MUD Economy</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> JC Lawrence <claw#under,Eng.Sun.COM></li></ul>
<li><strong><A NAME="00190" HREF="msg00190.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] MUD Economy</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Matt Chatterley <root#mpc,dyn.ml.org></li></ul>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00172" HREF="msg00172.html">Delivery Notification: Delivery has failed</A></strong>,
PMDF e-Mail Interconnect <a href="mailto:postmaster#nova,wright.edu">postmaster#nova,wright.edu</a>, Sat 10 Jan 1998, 04:36 GMT
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<li><Possible follow-up(s)><br>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00174" HREF="msg00174.html">Delivery Notification: Delivery has failed</A></strong>,
PMDF e-Mail Interconnect <a href="mailto:postmaster#nova,wright.edu">postmaster#nova,wright.edu</a>, Sat 10 Jan 1998, 06:55 GMT
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00176" HREF="msg00176.html">Delivery Notification: Delivery has failed</A></strong>,
PMDF e-Mail Interconnect <a href="mailto:postmaster#nova,wright.edu">postmaster#nova,wright.edu</a>, Sat 10 Jan 1998, 08:33 GMT
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00178" HREF="msg00178.html">Delivery Notification: Delivery has failed</A></strong>,
PMDF e-Mail Interconnect <a href="mailto:postmaster#nova,wright.edu">postmaster#nova,wright.edu</a>, Sat 10 Jan 1998, 15:46 GMT
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</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00159" HREF="msg00159.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] MUD Economy</A></strong>,
Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Sat 10 Jan 1998, 01:03 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00190" HREF="msg00190.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] MUD Economy</A></strong>,
Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Sun 11 Jan 1998, 14:07 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00201" HREF="msg00201.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] MUD Economy</A></strong>,
JC Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,Eng.Sun.COM">claw#under,Eng.Sun.COM</a>, Sun 11 Jan 1998, 22:10 GMT
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</UL>
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<LI><strong><A NAME="00154" HREF="msg00154.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Unique items (was: Graphic MUDS/Ultima Online)</A></strong>,
Vadim Tkachenko <a href="mailto:vadimt#4cs,com">vadimt#4cs,com</a>, Fri 09 Jan 1998, 22:15 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00156" HREF="msg00156.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Unique items</A></strong>,
Richard Woolcock <a href="mailto:KaVir#dial,pipex.com">KaVir#dial,pipex.com</a>, Fri 09 Jan 1998, 23:39 GMT
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</UL></BLOCKQUOTE>
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