Learning About Real-World Economies Through Game Economies 178
Reuters has a report about research being done on the in-game economies of MMOs like EverQuest II and World of Warcraft to better understand much larger economic situations in the real world. The games are used as case studies where researchers can do controlled experiments that they couldn't necessarily attempt if real money or goods were involved.
"After studying 314 million transactions within the fantasy world of Norrath in EverQuest II, including trading in-game goods like armor, shields, leather, herbs and food, the researchers were able to calculate the GDP of one of the game servers (the back-end computer that hosts thousands of players in one world). As more people opened accounts and flocked to Norrath, spending money on new items, researchers saw inflation spike more than 50 percent in five months. 'We have seen that kind of volatility during times of war and in developing nations in the real world,' said [Dmitri Williams, assistant professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication]. 'Our own economy has turned out to be less stable than we'd all assumed.'"
I for one... (Score:0, Funny)
wholeheartedly welcome our new nerd overlords.
Re:I for one... (Score:3, Funny)
Right... as if someone with knowledge of real world economics could actually be put in a place of authority.
Central bank of Norrath droppped platinum standard (Score:2, Funny)
And the ridiculous idea that every Orc has a right to a home is what lead to this bubble.
Monopoly (Score:4, Funny)
Re:They picked the wrong games (Score:2, Funny)
***you have entered Dodixie local***
Mr. Economy> I'm doing a study on game economy, would anyone like to participate?
NiNjA_RaTtEr!1> I'll participate in taking your stuff
N0t_a_Scam> WTS FACTION GEAR CHEAPEST AVAILABLE GOING FAST
XxxDoom_PEENxxX> Invite me to your gang and I'll teach you about teh economies
L4_Superman> Go study WoWtard economy, noob
N0t_a_Scam> WTS FACTION GEAR CHEAPEST AVAILABLE GOING FAST
N0t_a_Scam> WTS FACTION GEAR CHEAPEST AVAILABLE GOING FAST
Uber_Allison> Here, there are studies in this can
N0t_a_Scam> WTS FACTION GEAR CHEAPEST AVAILABLE GOING FAST
****Notification: Uber_Allison has begun to warp scramble Mr. Economy****
Mr. Economy> I just want to help! And to study!
Uber_Allison> You'll have plenty of time to study your clone. 200m or you go splodey
Mr. Economy> THIS ISNT FAIR
Uber_Allison> haha, welcome to Eve, noob
L4_Superman> rofl, fair
Daerth_Smader> qq moar
TearsRbest> oh lawl, have fun @ clone bay, nooob
N0t_a_Scam> WTS FACTION GEAR CHEAPEST AVAILABLE GOING FAST