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Burr · 02-12-2003, 04:33 PM

Rather than going through all the trouble of planning the design and management of an uber-realistic economic system, I've thought about possibly using the dutch auction method to sell objects at market prices in stores.

Basically, what I'm thinking is that, rather than actually selling objects to NPCs, you can rent store space from them for a small fee based on the object's weight and size. The player sets the beginning selling price (which must be greater than the storeowner's fee). If no one buys the object at that price, then after a certain period of time, the storeowner sells all such objects to the goblin market, the center of economic activity in the mud. This basically gets the objects out of the boondocks. The price of the object increases by the percentage kept by the goblin merchants and possibly the storeowner's traveling cost. The travelin cost would be determined by the levels and sizes of the areas the storeowner has to pass through to reach the goblin market.

If there are other objects exactly the same as that one at the market, then the prices of the two will be averaged. That way we could keep track of types of objects, like players are used to, rather than individual objects.

At the goblin market, prices gradually fall for each object to a minimum value equaling the percentage kept by the goblin market. (Maybe if a craft system is implemented, the objects would eventually be sold off as raw material). If you wait too long to buy the object you want, someone may buy it before you do. In a mud where equipment is competitive, and where the goblin market truly is a center of economic activity, this will mean that individual objects will (I hope) sell for their true value at any given moment in time.

Now I've got to decide whether to make merchants actually travel to the market. That would make it much easier to determine their traveling costs, because it would be equal to the average amount they could have sold had they been in the store during that time plus the average amount they lose to theivery and such along the way.

Eventually, it all comes back to the player. The goblin market handles all such accounts; the player goes there and requests he or she be paid. The player gets whatever is left after the storeowner and the market get their cuts. The original gross is determined by whatever amount was left after the most recent sale of that type of object. Thus, the player can get paid almost immediately after selling the object, though there is an associated risk. This allows for some limited profiteering.

Also, the player could forego selling to the storeowner and sell immediately to the goblin market instead, if they don't mind the inconvenience of traveling there with their load. It would often be more worthwhile to storeowners because they would be carrying more at a time than most players.

02-12-2003, 04:33 PM	#1
Burr Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 123	Rather than going through all the trouble of planning the design and management of an uber-realistic economic system, I've thought about possibly using the dutch auction method to sell objects at market prices in stores. Basically, what I'm thinking is that, rather than actually selling objects to NPCs, you can rent store space from them for a small fee based on the object's weight and size. The player sets the beginning selling price (which must be greater than the storeowner's fee). If no one buys the object at that price, then after a certain period of time, the storeowner sells all such objects to the goblin market, the center of economic activity in the mud. This basically gets the objects out of the boondocks. The price of the object increases by the percentage kept by the goblin merchants and possibly the storeowner's traveling cost. The travelin cost would be determined by the levels and sizes of the areas the storeowner has to pass through to reach the goblin market. If there are other objects exactly the same as that one at the market, then the prices of the two will be averaged. That way we could keep track of types of objects, like players are used to, rather than individual objects. At the goblin market, prices gradually fall for each object to a minimum value equaling the percentage kept by the goblin market. (Maybe if a craft system is implemented, the objects would eventually be sold off as raw material). If you wait too long to buy the object you want, someone may buy it before you do. In a mud where equipment is competitive, and where the goblin market truly is a center of economic activity, this will mean that individual objects will (I hope) sell for their true value at any given moment in time. Now I've got to decide whether to make merchants actually travel to the market. That would make it much easier to determine their traveling costs, because it would be equal to the average amount they could have sold had they been in the store during that time plus the average amount they lose to theivery and such along the way. Eventually, it all comes back to the player. The goblin market handles all such accounts; the player goes there and requests he or she be paid. The player gets whatever is left after the storeowner and the market get their cuts. The original gross is determined by whatever amount was left after the most recent sale of that type of object. Thus, the player can get paid almost immediately after selling the object, though there is an associated risk. This allows for some limited profiteering. Also, the player could forego selling to the storeowner and sell immediately to the goblin market instead, if they don't mind the inconvenience of traveling there with their load. It would often be more worthwhile to storeowners because they would be carrying more at a time than most players.