Monthly Moments in MMO History #2

It has been more than a month, and for that, I apologize. I could go on and on about how I was captured by a band of marauding orcs, fought my way out of their cave and saved the princess, but nobody likes a liar. At any rate, that’s neither here, nor there. Let’s get down to business. Literally.

To those who are unacquainted with MMORPGs, the idea of an in-game economy will most likely come across as an absurd idea. Heck, even some gamers are unfamiliar with the concept. This is just a videogame that we’re talking about, after all. Yet after taking a closer look at what actually creates an economic system, it is rather obvious that most MMOs are guaranteed to have some sort of in-game economy.

It all starts with currency. Without some standard medium of exchange, economies cannot exist. Fortunately, very few games lack this element, be it in the form of gold, platinum, credits, influence, or SoJs. As long as there is in-game money, there is the potential for an in-game economy. Two critical factors are all that remain.

First and foremost is exclusivity. Rare items, if you will. People want what others don’t have; it is a fact of life. In an item-driven game, which most MMORPGs are, he who has the best gear tends to be top-dog, and the best gear is almost always a rare commodity.

Going hand-in-hand with rarity is production cost. You can’t make something from nothing, and even when talking about virtual items, there is a price. In most cases, time is the fee for obtaining goods, be they crafted or looted. The goods that that have the highest cost will generally be the more exclusive items, which are able to be sold at a higher price. Since time is not tradable, the in-game currency becomes the main means of exchange.

So, in short, the desire for uncommon goods, when the time needed to obtain said goods is taken into consideration, forms the backbone of any economy, let alone a virtual one. There. We got through that explanation. History is fun; economics can be boring.

Despite having originated from this straightforward concept, in-game economies have changed drastically over the years. A lot of this has had to do with advancements in crafting. As crafting becomes more and more detailed, there is quite a noticeable change in how in-game economies are structured.

Up first is our good ol’friend from last month, EverQuest. Indeed, crafting was a part of the game, but its economy was loot-driven. This is mostly due to the fact that crafting in EQ was about as fun as a trip to the dentist—Hey, crafting had to start somewhere. Does “WTS SSoY, 3kpp. PST” sound familiar? If you’ve ever been to the East Commons, it should. EverQuest’s economy, as mentioned, was centered around items that one could obtain by killing NPCs instead of products created from raw materials. The quality of item would vary depending on the rarity and toughness of the NPC. Higher quality loot could be sold to players at a higher price. EverQuest had a simple economy based around this simple concept: the bigger they are, the more valuable the drops.

As MMOs became more prevalent, in-game economies became more complex; progressively approaching an entirely player-driven economic system. A great example of this is Star Wars Galaxies. Allow me to clarify, the old Star Wars Galaxies. I have no idea (nor would I like one) how that game is after the various “improvements” that have been made. Anyhow, SWG featured a crafting system that was robust enough to allow players to choose “artisan” as a class. With enough practice, a crafter would be able to specialize and produce specific goods better than generic artisans. These items had higher production costs, because of the time it took to learn how to create them, as well as the time it took to gather the materials, and were more expensive as a result. This system was enough to cement the role of the artisan as an essential figure in Star Wars Galaxies. In a game where player-made items were so prevalent, there was little need for actual NPC drops. The result was an in-game economy that was based strictly around players and the goods they produced.

On the other side of the spectrum is the superhero MMO, City of Heroes. By forgoing the whole idea of having equipment, or any items outside of inspirations and enhancements for that matter, CoH’s economy was nearly nonexistent. In this world of capes, mutants and spandex, there is no crafting, no gear and very little use for currency. There isn’t much to be learned from this example, other than the fact that it can be done.

And this brings us to Vanguard. Surprisingly enough, the game appears to be intent on pushing the envelope, once again. Crafting is one of the three spheres of which players may choose to focus on. One can expect that crafting in Vanguard will have a more important role than it has in any other game to date. Sigil has stated that they are after an entirely player-driven community (let alone economy), and their current crafting plans support this goal.

Where Vanguard stands to set itself apart from its predecessors is in the level of complexity that crafters will be working with. They will be the backbone of the game. NPC-dropped loot will rarely be in the form of gear that is ready to equip, but rather it will serve as raw materials that can be used towards useful items. More importantly, the list of goods that can be made transcends the standard list of weapons, bags and armor. Player-made vehicles and housing are features that are rarely thought of, let alone implemented, in a MMORPG. These developments will inevitably lead to a more intricate in-game economy.

Additionally, how players interact with each other may change due to crafting being separated into its own sphere. It has been established that while we may dabble in crafting, adventuring and diplomacy simultaneously if we choose to, it will be much more beneficial to stick within a single sphere. Crafters will have to keep in mind that they may not be able to obtain the raw materials needed for a particular item on their own, or even alongside a group of fellow crafters. This presents an interdependent relationship shared by adventurers and crafters that hasn’t been seen before: crafters can only provide the gear that is necessary for adventurers to fight if the adventurers are able to protect them while obtaining the materials needed to craft the items. Since crafting skills were easily leveled alongside adventuring ranks, this was less of an issue in other games.

Well, I’m spent. If this isn’t enough economics for one day, feel free to check out Edward Castronova’s “Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier,” available for download here. It is a great read.

In next month’s Moment, expect a crash-course on group dynamics. Oh, and a pop quiz on MMORPG Economics, of course.