pouët.net

Rez: Here's an idea: Put out open bounties for assets you require in DEMOSCENEs. The recipient can then use them to 'pay' for any work they need but haven't got group members to create. What comes around goes around.

wysiwtf: Your money is no good here, sir. Post an account address and I'll give you some for free.

i was just trying to introduce a real value ;P

ive been playing around with BTC 2 years ago and it was fun (i even turned 10 euros into 80) but i really fail to see the benefit of having custom crypto currencies.
its pretty obvious they will never have any real value...

wysiwtf: Probably not in monetary terms, no. But considering crypto-tokens only as a currency representation is far too narrow. They can represent anything you want them to:

Making an MMORPG? Make every single item class a token, and they're inherently securely transferable. Of course, that means giving up on centralized economic control, and I doubt most existing games companies (and publishers in particular) have the balls to go that route. But I'd love to see them prove me wrong. I'm sure you can imagine any number of examples of tokenization (hah) along similar lines.

The balls and will to go bankrupt.

Gargaj: If they stuck with existing monetization models at the same time, that would certainly be the inevitable result.

There are other models to choose from though: One way is to consider your in-game economy a kind of stock-market. Issue a fundamental currency and retain a pool - as the economy expands, the value of each token increases. The idea is not unfamiliar. It's used all the time right now. It also only applies if you opt to make your money by skimming the cream of the economic activity of your user-base. A sales-tax is one way to go, but far from the only one.

Rez: Sent you a hundred COMMODORES to commemorate your recent release of Back in the saddle. Kudos.

gaia: So what happens when there's a bust?

Gargaj: The same thing that happens to participants in a 'regular' stock-market. People who haven't diversified gets fucked :)

Gargaj: On that note, I wonder what happened to the finances of CCP when the Icelandic economy collapsed, what with them using ISK as their in-game currency - or to the collective finances of the Eve community in general for that matter. Traditional currencies - while certainly less volatile (in both directions) - offer no special guarantees either.

gaia: More importantly, you get fucked as a developer because people who suddenly got their assets devalued stop playing the game. Take it from someone who has been running an economy-based MMO for 3-4 years: bad idea.

I'm sorry, the only alternative currency @party accepts are payments in serially-numbered Okkies certified by the Royal Bank of Haujobb.

Gargaj: Hmm. I'm not sure I buy that premise. There are no doubt people trying to make a living from playing games, but for recreational players the value of a given item is determined by relative desirability whether utilitarian or aesthetic. I don't see myself (or anybody I know) deciding to stop playing a game based on the absolute monetary value of in-game items -- but if you have some metrics that suggest otherwise, I'd be very interested in seeing them. If anything, it seems that it would only scare off gold-farmers. And who wants those as customers?

It sort of sounds to me like you're talking about relative purchasing power in terms of items. In case of a "selective bust" that would alter how many of Y items a given player could trade for X of one of theirs, yeah sure, I can see how that would breed dissatisfaction and possibly drive a user-exodus if the skew was sufficiently bad. But since in/deflation of the entire economy doesn't change that ratio, I don't see how either of those would lead to your projected outcome. That kind of thing seems more likely to be a result of bad rebalancing. Admittedly I'm no economist, and I certainly haven't run any MMO as my day job either, so I'd be happy for any enlightenment you'd be willing to provide on that score.

metoikos: Then you'd better make some and corner the market :)

gaia: THANK A LOT <3

Rez: My pleasure, you've certainly earned them. First Razor prod for the C64 in what, several decades? If that's not worth a large lump of my newly created pretend-money, man, I don't know what is. :)

The games thing only makes sense if the company isn't counting on monthly subscription charges anymore. Which, I guess, is possible:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/15/kickstarter-coins-2/

rez: How about issuing some RAZOR and distributing it here? I will also take some FARBRAUSCH or CONSPIRACY if anyone has them on hand. ;-)

CP: 136BqVcwZqcmwcuJjs2yNMP9nSJvuGvhhN
DP: DMEs3tFdMbNhdqKTnga1jtGyYhBZ8ohsmU

gaia:
then again, mmo players are strange.
4 years of WoW tought me that theres an awful lot of players who consider what they do in the game work (and it is, because its mostly repetitive grinding), but they do it anyway for the reward they get for it (and be it only decorative).

so many mmo players are not in it for the fun of the actual game but for the feeling of being rewarded for their devotion.

i still remember the whining and bitching going on in wow after every patch that made getting certain skills/items/titles/whatever easier. the players who already got it by the old rules felt cheated for the amount of work they put into it.

wysiwtf: Hah, true enough. Fair point.

gaia: But isn't that your point in a way? The rules, the economic rules at least, would already be set from the beginning. It would be hard to call it unfair in that case.

I'll pull a Kanye on those! ^^

Wendell: Yeah. I have no problem with any playing field, just so long as it's level :)

CP: 1CLVkPTJhdRbWp4xN7mjYbh63GPBYpsqcK
DP: DU2kBCzCg7mwevEXNGUDzFJ8kUS3Kggnyx

I am issuing 5000 TPOLM on Dogeparty!