Core System
Economy & Markets
Two economies run side by side: yours (the operator's bank, funded by subscriptions and spent on construction) and the adventurers', where gold and loot circulate through kills, vendors, and the auction house. Reading both is how you spot trouble before it costs you subscribers.
- Your bank
- Subscriptions vs building
- Markets
- Vendors + auction house
- Watch for
- Inflation
Faucets & sinks
Gold flows into the world through some activities and drains out through others: faucets and sinks. Keep them roughly in balance and prices stay healthy; let the faucets run away and inflation creeps in until gold means nothing. The economy panel charts both sides over time so you can catch it early.
| Activity | Effect on gold |
|---|---|
| Killing monsters | faucet: gold flows in |
| Selling loot to vendors | faucet: gold flows in |
| Buying from vendors | sink: gold drains out |
| Repairs, fees & travel | sink: gold drains out |
Your own bank is separate: funded by subscriptions and spent on building the world. The two are linked, since a healthy player economy keeps players subscribed, which keeps you in business.
Loot & items
Everything an adventurer can carry falls into a few kinds:
| Kind | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Materials | raw goods sold to vendors for gold |
| Gatherables | resources harvested from nodes out in the world |
| Consumables | one-use items, like healing potions |
| Gear | equipment worn to make a character stronger |
Bags are limited, so an adventurer that hoards without selling can run out of room and start losing drops, another reason towns matter.
Vendors
Vendors are the always-open shops. They buy loot off adventurers at a set price and sell basics back, and crucially the gold they pay out and the items they soak up are a steady drain that keeps the economy from drowning in stuff. They set the floor; the real market lives elsewhere.
The auction house
Where vendors are a fixed price list, the auction house is a living market: adventurers list gear and surplus they don't need and bid on what they do, and prices rise and fall with supply and demand across your whole population. It's a feature of your larger cities, and the busier your server, the more it comes alive.
A deep, liquid auction house is a sign of a healthy server; a dead one is a warning.
This article describes MMOS v0.1 behaviour. The game is in active development, so systems will grow and change. Expect this to be revised as it does.