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Well, I'm new to these forums, but this is an issue that I've pondered on some, so I'll jump in this puddle.
I've speculated a bit on the economic issues of various MUDs, and with a mix of research and thinking have found a few possible solutions towards creating a balanced system (and maybe one really good one), but the basic questions involved come down to one thing:
Are you really willing to go through the effort of making a balanced economic system?
To really make a truely balanced economy (or as close to it as is realistically possible), it will require a lot of work, and might require a fundamental rewrite of your existing system. It might require more time or resources than you really have.
Most MUDs that I've seen rely on black box technology for thier economy. Mobs (black box #1) drop various forms of loot provide input to the economy without any real justification. Shopkeepers (black box #2) keep cranking out an infinite number of the same items at the same prices to pull a trickle of coin out of the economy. But players take more from the mobs than they spend on the shops. It's an unbalanced system from day one.
I think the developers have to be able to get beyond the traditional concepts of MUD design and ask themselves the hard questions. Where does this come from? Why does this do that? Is there a better way to do it? Can we do that in our game?
You might not be willing to go all the way in pursuit of a working economy, but I believe the process of thinking it through will reveal other possible partial solutions that could be implemented without completely gutting your code.
Hmm... I may be babbling. Any thoughts?
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