All,
I think the most effective economies I have seen in MMO's is clearly Eve where the players craft everything in the world of value.
There could be an opportunity there to inch towards that model. I think if the basics of life support (entry level food / water) is available from merchants and everything else required to build in the game must be harvested and then refined that is the basis of a very successful crafting system and puts the shape of the economy in the hands of the player base.
If I collect wood, I can sell it on auction house or to a merchant and players can choose to buy from players or pay the extra at a merchant for ease of access etc.
Those raw materials, partially refined materials etc force the players to build their world and demand interaction.
In crafting you will no longer sit at a merchant doing auto combnes but will be involved with the world in a more meaningful way.
My thoughts....
Godzilla
TOTALLY agree Godzilla! A HEALTHY crafting community should be a real desire for a robust economy. I also happen to think that this is an excellant way to create currency sinks. If we do not have a way to remove currency from the game then gross inflation occurs. No one wants that.
Check out my thread on A Crafting Tale.....
The problem with that is that the only reason EVE: Online's player-driven economy works is that EVE: Online is very heavily PVP based. Sure, all those ships are created by players. And the materials to make them mined by players. But there are always people out there looking to kill you. The value of ore and materials fluctuates as the PVP tide fluctuates. Ships have to be continually created specifically because ships are contantly taken out of the economy by PVP, and have to be replaced.
I don't see that working here, without the entire game being based around PVP, with complete item loss on each and every death... and god willing, that's not going to be something that happens.
--Gray
gray808 said:The problem with that is that the only reason EVE: Online's player-driven economy works is that EVE: Online is very heavily PVP based. Sure, all those ships are created by players. And the materials to make them mined by players. But there are always people out there looking to kill you.
This is a good point. For an in game economy to work you need not only gold sinks but item sinks. Most MMOs got around item sinks by using BoE, BoP, and BoA mechanics making valuable items untradable after pickup or first use. An alternate, and to my way of thinking better, way of handling this is to use an item decay mechanic similar to that used by SWG. Consider the following:
This supports a strong and vibrant economy as it drives adventuring to collect crafting components, drives a demand for player crafted items, as well as creates sinks for items, gold, and materials. It also places a cost on dying beyond the standard item repair gold sink.
The down side is that people don't like their favorite "purplz" to ever become unusable which itself allows for content like rare raid drops that reset or increase the repair counter on high level items.
You're talking about a different problem: how to keep players engaged after their first chracter hits level cap. BoA is good for pimping out one's alts but any option that removes gear from general circulation is a detriment to the game economy. Personally, I'm opposed to any form of gear binding although I wouldn't be opposed to having to complete a quest to *use* raid level gear that has been gifted or purchased.