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Sergeytov · 07-19-2008, 11:10 AM

The primary question I have is thus: How do I promote commercial actions between PCs, rather than simply relying on vendors and automated outputs?

Right now the MU* I'm working on has an 'active' (less than two weeks idle) characterbase of about 40 PCs. We have a system of item creation (crafting) that allows one to begin with a mine/farm/whathave you and make the components all the way up to a variety of finished products.

The ability to make these products (and the cost of 'living expenses') are based on time spent on the game grid. So those who spend more time on the grid are able to make more/do more things.

So we have a variety of programmers, engineers, even gunsmiths hard at work producing items. The problem being most of the time these items are simply sold right back to vendors. I've balanced the vendor rates out so the profits aren't obscene, but I am still curious about how to encourage further PC to PC transactions (and thus RP opportunities).

Steps I have already taken:
1) Priced vendors in such a way that PCs can easily undercut their prices and provide superior products
2) Players are able to own shops that buy/sell items even when they are not online
3) Players (but not vendors) are able to improve/augment/repair products
4) Introduced one-shot disposable items, and more powerful items require disposable 'battery' like items to power up, like that really shiny combat armor a PC might have.

Potential troubles I may have:
1) A lack of 'base item' crafters, like miners for ore and farmers for food, thus forcing cooks and such to buy food from the vendors.
2) Items degrade only when they are used in RP. As I am on a MUSH, and we hit the storytelling angle hard, this was perceived as the best compromise between something like 'item rot' code and 'no degrading, ever'

I am simply curious as to if anyone has ideas on how to improve the amount of money being transferred and how often it is being transferred between PCs (I believe in economics this is called the 'velocity of money'), as this likely indicates Roleplay is taking place and the econ system is being used as a tool to assist in roleplay, rather than simply an annoyance that is dealt with, it also is meant to serve to make money a meaningful measurement within the game.

07-19-2008, 11:10 AM	#1
Sergeytov Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 50	Encouraging Money Velocity The primary question I have is thus: How do I promote commercial actions between PCs, rather than simply relying on vendors and automated outputs? Right now the MU* I'm working on has an 'active' (less than two weeks idle) characterbase of about 40 PCs. We have a system of item creation (crafting) that allows one to begin with a mine/farm/whathave you and make the components all the way up to a variety of finished products. The ability to make these products (and the cost of 'living expenses') are based on time spent on the game grid. So those who spend more time on the grid are able to make more/do more things. So we have a variety of programmers, engineers, even gunsmiths hard at work producing items. The problem being most of the time these items are simply sold right back to vendors. I've balanced the vendor rates out so the profits aren't obscene, but I am still curious about how to encourage further PC to PC transactions (and thus RP opportunities). Steps I have already taken: 1) Priced vendors in such a way that PCs can easily undercut their prices and provide superior products 2) Players are able to own shops that buy/sell items even when they are not online 3) Players (but not vendors) are able to improve/augment/repair products 4) Introduced one-shot disposable items, and more powerful items require disposable 'battery' like items to power up, like that really shiny combat armor a PC might have. Potential troubles I may have: 1) A lack of 'base item' crafters, like miners for ore and farmers for food, thus forcing cooks and such to buy food from the vendors. 2) Items degrade only when they are used in RP. As I am on a MUSH, and we hit the storytelling angle hard, this was perceived as the best compromise between something like 'item rot' code and 'no degrading, ever' I am simply curious as to if anyone has ideas on how to improve the amount of money being transferred and how often it is being transferred between PCs (I believe in economics this is called the 'velocity of money'), as this likely indicates Roleplay is taking place and the econ system is being used as a tool to assist in roleplay, rather than simply an annoyance that is dealt with, it also is meant to serve to make money a meaningful measurement within the game.