Game economy designers have inadvertently revived the economic traditions of famed economist Irving Fisher. In Fisher’s world, the economy is a hydraulic machine, with refinement or “productive process” occurring as resources flow. The impact of major institutions takes on a literal effect, where a tariff might slow the flow of liquid or capital from one…
MMOs and most web3 titles suffer from a fundamental design flaw: capital depreciation (or lack thereof). The result is a Zimbabwe-style hyperinflation economy so prevalent Redditors plead to find an MMO that hasn’t suffered. Even EVE Online, with its own Head Economist . suffered inflation bouts. It’s a looming threat to the web3 space, only mitigated by…
I have a lot to say about Marvel Snap; it’s a breath of fresh air in a mobile market that’s smelt stale for too long. Snap dedicates itself to taking advantage of mobile rather than treating it as a tax. However, for all its innovations and wins, I wonder if the Snap team outsmarted itself…
Past core loop, three Cs, and KPI breakdowns lie currency animation breakdowns. It’s an animation that may well play hundreds of thousands of times during a player’s lifecycle; benefits compound. And yes, I really think the animation is just satisfying. Economy design maintains a UX component. It’s vital for the designer to draw the cause…
A recent Twitter thread highlighted a popular Gamer™ belief: Nope, they are mostly used to obfuscate real prices and can’t store value — Nicola Visonà (@VisonaNicola) May 25, 2021 Even within gaming studios, I encounter a similar sentiment. Proponents of this position claim “firms use virtual currency pricing as a behavioral trick!” With virtual currency,…
Blockchain gaming companies like Immutable and Mythical use games to “prove out the tech”. This strategy places games as a means rather than an end. But what exactly is the technology to prove and what are the gains to proving it?
Monetization’s modern paradigm is defined by a direct store and battle pass (BP). After years (and ongoing) criticism of loot boxes, Fortnite re-wrote the rulebook in a way that seems to make both developers and players happy. However, it’s important to consider that at sufficient scale any monetization scheme looks like a winner. It’s unclear…
In hindsight, one of Friedman’s great predictions is the Eurozone crisis. Despite being a massive champion for flexible exchange rates, Friedman never advocated for a common European currency. Europe exemplifies a situation unfavourable to a common currency. It is composed of separate nations, speaking different languages, with different customs, and having citizens feeling far greater…