How Video Game Economies are Designed
Game Maker's Toolkit・13 minutes read
The Witcher 3 had an economy issue involving a cow-killing exploit, highlighting the impact of video game economies on player behavior, progression, and challenges. Understanding the entities like taps, inventories, converters, and traders in game economies can shape the pace and decisions players make, creating a complex and impactful system.
Insights
- The Witcher 3 faced an economy issue due to a cow-killing exploit, highlighting the impact of player behavior on game economies and the need for developers to balance in-game systems to prevent unintended consequences.
- Understanding video game economies involves recognizing key entities like taps, inventories, converters, and traders, which influence player decisions, progression speed, and overall gameplay experience by shaping the availability and exchange of resources within the game world.
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Recent questions
How can video game economies impact player behavior?
Video game economies can significantly influence player behavior by shaping progression pace, choices, and challenges. For example, in The Witcher 3, a cow-killing exploit allowed players to amass infinite wealth, altering the intended gameplay experience. By understanding the basic entities in a game economy, such as taps, inventory, converters, and traders, developers can create systems that incentivize certain behaviors, create challenging decisions, and impact the overall gameplay experience.
What are the key entities in a video game economy?
The key entities in a video game economy include taps, which generate resources to incentivize player behavior, inventory, where resources are stored with limits to create challenging decisions, converters, which allow players to exchange resources for gear or experience points, and traders, who act like other players with their own inventory and resources. Understanding how these entities interact and influence each other is crucial in designing a balanced and engaging game economy.
How do converters impact player progression in video games?
Converters play a crucial role in player progression in video games by allowing players to exchange resources like money for gear, crafting materials, or experience points to level up. The design of converters can impact the pace of progression and decision-making for players, as different games handle them in various ways. By strategically balancing the exchange rates and availability of resources through converters, developers can control the flow of progression and create engaging gameplay experiences.
What is the significance of traders in a video game economy?
Traders, although less common in video game economies, can add complexity and depth to the system by acting like other players with their own inventory and resources. This creates opportunities for complex trade puzzles and profit-making strategies, enhancing the overall gameplay experience. By interacting with traders, players can engage in dynamic economic interactions, adding a layer of unpredictability and strategic decision-making to the game.
How do game economies impact player progression and gameplay experience?
Game economies play a crucial role in shaping player progression and overall gameplay experience by creating resources, storing them in inventories, exchanging them with converters, and potentially interacting with traders. The design and balance of these systems can impact the pace, challenge, and flow of resources in the game, influencing player decisions and behaviors. Variations in game economy design can lead to different gameplay experiences, from challenging decision-making to engaging trade opportunities, ultimately shaping the player's journey through the game world.
Related videos
Summary
00:00
"The Witcher 3 Economy Exploit Revealed"
- In 2015, CD Projekt Red discovered a major issue with The Witcher 3's economy involving a cow-killing exploit in White Orchard.
- Players could repeatedly kill cows for leather, sell it for cash, meditate to respawn the cows, and amass infinite wealth.
- Video game economies can be complex but impactful, shaping player behavior, progression pace, choices, and challenges.
- A crash course in video game economy design involves understanding the five basic entities in the system and their connections.
- The first entity, taps, generates resources like loot drops, crafting materials, or health points to incentivize player behavior.
- Resources from taps are stored in the inventory, which can have limits to create challenging decisions for players.
- The converter allows players to exchange resources like money for gear, crafting materials, or experience points to level up.
- Different games handle converters differently, impacting the pace of progression and decision-making for players.
- Players exchange resources for power-ups like swords and armor to face challenges, creating a positive feedback loop in some games.
- Traders, a less common economic entity, act like other players with their own inventory and resources, creating complex trade puzzles and opportunities for profit.
13:52
"Turnip trading and game economy dynamics"
- Purchase turnips on a Sunday at a specific cost, then sell them at varying prices throughout the week at the Nook shop, potentially yielding a significant profit or loss based on luck and timing.
- Game economies involve creating resources, storing them in inventories, exchanging them with converters, and potentially interacting with traders, impacting the pace, challenge, and overall gameplay experience, with variations in design and balance affecting resource flow.
