Norrath Economic Report Now Available

Edward Castronova writes "Some months ago, Slashdot posted a note about on a survey I was doing for a report on the economy of EverQuest. The report is done and can be downloaded (Scroll down for the Document Download button). Tidbits: Norrath's GDP per capita is higher than that of China and India; its currency sells for about a penny per platinum piece, which makes it more valuable in $US than the yen; a typical person can make about US$3.50 an hour working there by farming the bots and selling the loot; the deflation rate is almost 30 percent annually. There's also some microeconomic analysis and an overview of the MMORPG market. Comments and reactions appreciated. Thanks, Edward Castronova, Associate Professor of Economics, Cal State Fullerton."

Not That I mind...

[until(0)]

Not that I mind... not at all.

But I must say this is the geekiest thing I have ever read on slashdot over the past 6 years...

You guys can still surprise me.

Re:Not That I mind...

[Anonymous Coward]

I must agree. However, when I see stuff like this, I think:

Slashdot:

News for Nerds. Stuff that... Well, dangit, I guess just Stuff.

-b.a.t.

Let me get this straight...

[Anonymous Coward]

My god, *somebody* has too much time on their hands. Where is that "Get some priorities" troll when we need him. ;-)

Who offers me $3,50 a hour to play EverQuest ?

[Quazion]

I can play around 16-18 hours a day, and i need a base monthly fee of $60 dollars for the Internet and EverQuest accounts, then after that you can pay me for the number of hours i have worked(played) and everything in the game i gathered will be yours ofcourse, too sell or to keep as thee likes.

Quazion.

An Interesting Excuse

[Estimator]

The 30% deflation makes for a very interesting excuse for playing Everquest. You are not playing Everquest, you are researching a hot investment. Out here on Earth, you would find it very hard to locate an investment opportunity that earned 30% a year. Apparently, Everquest paraphernalia does just that. Of course, you might have to do a lot of research so you can determine which are the best items to "invest" in.

Dragon effects on economy? :-)

[MtViewGuy]

Given that dragons do exist on Norrath, you really have to openly wonder how that would effect the economy of that place.

Their greed and the threat of extortion ("Give me all your town's treasury or you will all be eaten") could have some very interesting effects on the economy of any population center in that world. Dragonslayers will be paid handsomely, that's to be sure. ^_^ The closest Earth equivalent is a protection against what amounts to piracy.