How do you control inflation in a MMOG economy so that new players feel they've got a chance to catch up to rich, long-time players? How do you enable a healthy secondary market for objects? How do you encourage user-generated crafting and content creation?
Sam Lewis, lead designer of the Cartoon Network MMOG, presented his views on the topic this week at the Austin Games Conference. His goal: educate the audience on the ways in which basic economic theories can help designers create better, healthier MMOGs.
So, out of the bajillion MMOs we saw unveiled at E3 this year, how many do ya reckon were created by designers who paid any attention to basic economic design principles? This is why really good game designers are so rare: they need to be true renaissance (wo)men.
