Macro Economics of an MMORPG

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Alright.... Let's say there is someone working on an MMORPG set in a medieval-fantasy era.... What exactly are the policies that someone can use to regulate the economy, money market, and transfer rate of players? I've been doing a lot of research and most staff that run MMO's don't really care about the economy yet it's really what ruins many online games. I can't tell you the number of MMORPG's that are ruined by hyperinflation or a lack of money in circulation.
I decided to sit down and think about ways people who run MMO's can manage the economy without giving each item a specific price. (This is what ruined Runescape for a lot of people.)

• Raise or lower the price of items at store
Raising the price for certain goods (especially items required for skills or quests) will remove more money from the money market. Lowering the price will provoke more spending for the goods and people will have more money in general terms. If items are 10 coins in the stores and the prices of them are lowered to 9 coins, people will not rush to buy the item but in the long term, people will have more money in circulation.

• Change drops for certain creatures
This changes the rarity of items and changes the amount of money that can be obtained from killing certain creatures. If creatures tend to drop less of an item (especially an already rare item) the price of the item will increase. If an item is a necessity for a quest or skill and it is rare, it will be very expensive. Lowering the rarity will allow people to finish their skill or quest or whatever while spending less money. This will encourage player trading and a more balance of wealth.

• Giving an item a new purpose
Including an item as a requirement to a quest or a skill will increase its price and encourage more trading. If the item is obtainable at a store controlled by the game, it will take money out of the money market and cause disinflation.

• Change the amount of money people start out with in the game
This will add money to the money market.

• Give money away for nothing or in contests
Very little cost that will add to the money that is in circulation. It will encourage spending and a more balanced wealth as it trickles down.

There are also banks in many MMO's where players can store money. Let's also talk about including some kind of method where the player can accumulate interest if they have less than a certain amount of money. They'd be able to change how much money is in the game by increasing or decreasing the rate or the cap for how much money is required.


Yes... I did just type all that up. Ugh... Haha. What kinds of policies do you guys know of or think could be included?

Talked this over with crait before I posted and changed it up a bit.

Here is an idea about the whole bank stuff. Think about Neopets for a second, you can buy different ranks in the bank system, by ranks I mean different accounts. I still don't know how to word this if you still don't get it but say you go to your own (real life) bank. If you want to get more interest in the long run you either have to upgrade your account which can cost you money, or if you have enough money in the bank that hits their requirements they can give you a premium account with more interest.

So if I have $1 I could get 0.001 % interest.
If I have $1000 I could get 1% Interest
If I had $100,000,000 I could get 100,000% interest.

"If I had" means that is how much money is in my account. I am not sure how this would fluctuate the economy but just an idea.

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You would have a theoretical exponential banking system which is basically the opposite of what I was saying by having a cap on the when you would be able to get money. Whenever an MMO goes into a state where they need more money in the money market and there is nearly no gap between the rich and the poor, something like that, .Yunoko, would be extremely helpful. A text-based MMO that I used to play had something like there. There were also level requirements, too.

Anyone else know a thang or two about economics?

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Anyone else know a thang or two about economics?

Buy low and sell high.

Supply and demand!

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Haha, oh my gosh. That is not economics. XD

Anyone else know a thang or two about economics?

I'm taking it (along with 6-7 other subjects) for my IGs next year, maybe we can talk on some topic at that time....

Auction House. I don't really have to explain it but in World of Warcraft it is one of the biggest influences to the economy.

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You've mentioned that before, .Yunoko... I don't fully understand it. Puncharger??? Where are you??? Haha.
@The SZK: I'll sure love to talk to you then about it, too! I think this will be a topic that I'd like to discuss even after this thread is dead.

I don't know anything about Economics! lol

Wow uses an Aution House and it takes a cut out of it depending how much you spent.

But I believe the seller takes the cut.

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The auction house in WoW uses like a tax system based on I think item level, either that or percentage and item level or something like that. It's been quite a while since last I played :p But in WoW I'd say the biggest influence in the economy is the auction house next to how useful professions are and then the trade channel as well where you can directly sell stuff on the trade chat channel to also keep competition in the auction house. The cut that the auction house gets from sells isn't that significant at all though, but the usefulness of professions and how they intermingle is probably the biggest influence in the game.

Yeah,

Tailors, Leatherworkers, Jewelcrafters, ETC.

My priest was a max level tailor, and I never really get alot of money from it.

I think a HUGE impact on it are BOE epics, Theres level 80 Items that are Bind-On-Equip so you can sell them for tons of gold to people that need better gear to get into better raids, but fining them is rare as hell.. In the whole time I played wow.. I found 2.