Thursday, February 28, 2008

Hey mister, have you gotta dime?

This topic in our series of discussing a GTA-like game economy is receiving money as payment for services.

Not being a gangsta myself, I'm definitely imagining this from the stereotypes and media hype that gets fed to the general public, but I think there are reasonable assumptions about what would be in this sort of game based on previous GTA exploits.

In our previous installment, we described the potential ability to fence goods for cash. The player in the role of the fence is in some way receiving money for the service of converting the goods into cash because I expect they would pay less than the "list price" of the item. Likewise for players who act as loan sharks when they receive interest payments.

Another lucrative service could be taking a job as a hit man or trying to collect on a bounty for another player (cop or bad guy). I doubt "snitch" would be a player class but maybe information about rivals would be valued enough that players would be willing to pay others for special information that's useful to their cause.

To tread lightly I'll use the term "companionship" a another form of employment or temporary service that could earn a player some cash. Gangs and police forces could even have specific job roles like collecting protection money from businesses in their territory or subservient gangs.

Given the role that entertainment plays in hip-hop culture, would gang bosses pay DJs and dancers to be at their parties? Maybe if the game supports these functions through streaming audio feeds, graphic assets (audio gear, dance outfits, etc.) and gestures for playing records and executing dance moves.

Get the idea? Okay - next up - the gang giveth and the gang taketh away...

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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Gangstaconomy

Continuing our thought experiment about an economic system fit for a GTA-like MMORPG, I'd like first to explore one of the possible sources of money in the game.

1. Selling Items
Rather than a medieval-like town/store/craftsmen approach to turning in items for cash, I expect pawn shops, fences and players to be involved in the exchange of items for cash.
The pawn shop can mirror the real-world model by giving a claim ticket for the player to use later when they are at more of a cash advantage in order to recover their item. This would be especially useful if the use of some items are skill or level-based so that a newbie can get some working capital until they're ready to use the item. Pawn shops will pay the "street" price for the item which may be higher or lower than it's "listed" value subject to variables like which town you are in or even which game world you are in - tied to the supply and demand of the item in that specific environment.
Fences could be NPCs or maybe even a player class. They would try to give the least possible amount for your item - maybe with some "negotiating" taking place during the sale transaction - and you wouldn't be able to get it back like from the pawn shop. But maybe, as opposed to the pawn shop, selling to the fence makes the item untraceable back to you,which is convenient if you are cashing in a stolen item that is marked with the original owner's ID. Keeping rival gangs off your trail should have some value in this kind of gaming environment.
Player-to-player selling would probably take place through the usual item exchange window. Maybe there are player skills that allow you to remove identification from objects so they don't trace back to you. If you are familiar with Second Life you will recall that in-game objects there have properties related to creator, ownership and the ability to give the item to someone so this would be relevant here as well.

Next topic - Payment for services

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Friday, February 22, 2008

GT-Hey! Who took my money?

Yes - that's right. The GTA-like MMORPG called APB (All Points Bulletin) was presented at this year's Game Developer Conference. Besides imagining all of the interesting gameplay that will take place in this kind of open world, I'm especially interested in what's going to happen economically.

We all know that the in-game currency and important items will be sold for real cash (thank you internet!). So if probably way more than half of the players are going to be criminals as opposed to police, getting your loot jacked in the game *will* translate to real $ losses in the real world. I think the chats and boards are gonna get WAY heated up by angry victims and gloating perps. I can see the "hey I robbed your stuff and just sold it on ebay - take that loser" kinds of posts. This could breed frustration that boost sales of new keyboards and monitors. While the Softpedia article about this game didn't mention anything about a "lawyer" character class, real lawyers could get involved in disputes over player losses.

Tune in next time for a discussion of possible cash flow models for this game that's sure to attract a lot of attention and subscribers.

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Hack Drains Second Life Money

As if Second Life's banking problems last year weren't bad enough, now "researchers" have used a Quicktime flaw to create an object that drains Lindens from anyone who gets near it. Of course, the hack does it in style by freezing the user's avatar and playing "I got hacked!"

At the current Linden rate of $250 per USD I'm not sure how much theft could result from a single box but imagine boxes placed all around SL and draining let's say 100 Lindens from 50 avatars a day - that's $20 a day for doing nothing. It would be like having an extra $600 paycheck every month.

I haven't heard if SL has made any official warnings or recommendations to users, but hack co-author Charlie Miller recommends SL users to disable streaming video in their preferences until Apple plugs the Quicktime hole.

You can read more at Cnet and ZDNet