Fans ofMMORPGslove the genre for allowing them to save countless worlds from the perspective of characters they create, especially across various classes and with varying degrees of epic gear. However, one of the more interesting aspects ofMMOsthat can grab a player’s attention would be anMMORPG’s in-game economy. After all, it’s in these spaces where players can exchange various items and even start investing in creating items to be sold to acquire more resources in the game.
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While mostMMOsalready have their ownin-game player economies, some stand out among the rest either from the perspective of history or for offering something new to the table. Among some of the most intense in-game economies in MMOs include sprawling game markets devised by an economist, a massive in-game stock exchange-esque market in an open-world MMO, and a fully player-crafted economy.
8EverQuest
Considered as one of the pioneers of MMOs, 1999’sEverQuestbuilt the prototype of what would be today’s massively multiplayer online landscape. Players take on the role of adventurers in the world of Narroth, where the cutthroat atmosphere of character versus character for domination. With barely any other equivalent of an in-game market, economist Edward Castronova madea studywhere he analyzed market movements in the game at the time - especially taking into account the selling of items for in-game money.
Despite Sony’s measures in hindering players from conducting the buying and selling of items in thehistoricEverQuestgame, Castronova clarified that Ebay and other online marketplaces had seen quite a lot of movement in item trading, something unprecedented at the time. In his findings, he realized that a rough equivalency in real world dollars at the time had Norrath have the 77th highest GNP per capita, making it as rich as Russia and Bulgaria in that period. Despite the existence of potentially deeper economies today,EverQuestgave economists a firsthand look into the “future” of economics at the time, where virtual marketplaces can become just as active as the ones in real life.
7EVE Online
Compared to other MMOs set in space such asStar Trek OnlineandKnights of the Old Republic, the persistent sandbox ofEVE Onlineallows players to be more than just questers and bounty hunters. In fact, thanks to the efforts ofEVEdevs CCP hiring economist Eyjolfur “Eyjo” Guðmundsson, PhD, players are given access to an in-game economy with enough complexity the websiteEVE Online Market Datawas created to track it. At its core, it’s perhapsEVE Onlinethat made possible the idea of all items in the game being created and traded. This is largely due to how processes in the game almost always lead to the creation of various byproducts, all of which can be exchanged for various currencies.
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Key to the economy would be ISK, a currency players can purchase with real money, as well as devs having little oversight to whatever is happening to the market - leaving it completely player-driven. This is why players need to be wary not just of bots manning pirate and mining ships, but also veteran players who actively deceive and scam each other to get ahead.
6RuneScape
It’s perhapsRuneScapethat popularized the open world MMO concept for players since its 2001 release, giving players room to not just kill monsters and overcome dungeons but also live a “normal” life through tasks such as cooking, mining, and fishing. However, since the release of the Grand Exchange in 2007,RuneScapecharacters received yet another career prospect: the trader.
Since its release, the Grand Exchange replaced the ordinary “marketplace” in the game with the equivalent of the largest auction available for players. Similar to a trading floor, the Grand Exchange allows players to put in items for auction and engage inactiveRuneScapebuy-and-sell activities, with some players capitalizing on the market’s many movements to become rich in the free-to-play MMO. Given its popularity,RuneScapeeven released an officialGrand Exchangesection in their website where players can track the prices of items.
5Black Desert Online
When rivaling nations Calpheon and Valencia fight for control over the mysterious Black Stones of the eponymous Black Desert, players ofBlack Desert Onlineare thrust into the middle of their conflict. Thankfully, players who make a name for themselves in their adventures become reputable enough to recruit people into their cause, paving the way for assistants and gatherers called Workers that could help players in their various gathering resources.
Unlike other MMOs,Black Desert Onlinehas a rich microeconomyof sorts that allows players to establish their own settlements, with farms and other production nodes that they can assign Workers to work on - providing players with a steady supply of resources they can use for trading or crafting. This system becomes much deeper when players also get into the management of not just their farms but also their Workers, with a lot of thought included in the selection of the right Worker qualities, having enough money to pay them, and even ensuring they’re fully-energized with food to secure the highest-quality products.
4Ragnarok Online
Being an MMO that has a class built exclusively for trading, it makes sense thatRagnarok Onlinehas one of the most complex in-game player economies even in its initial 2002 release. DespiteRagnarok Onlinemeeting its untimely demise in 2018, various iterations of the franchise remain in platforms through the recent years. Economy-wise, the MMO’s claim to fame would be Vending, a Skill exclusive to the Merchant and Super Novice Jobs as long as they have access to a Pushcart. This has become the source of the iconic imagery ofRagnarok Onlinecharacters sitting down in city centers, with items in the Pushcart available for purchase. In a game set in Midgard where players choose from up to four (4) tiers of Jobs to stop the end of the world, a Job that allows players to enjoy the normality of a vendor’s life is a breath of fresh air.
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Contrary to modern in-game economies where almost every player has a means to trade, Vending inRagnarok Onlinegave Merchants and Super Novices an “exclusive” allure as official in-game vendors. Players do have various other means to buy and sell items, such as in player-generated Purchase Shops, searchable Catalogs, request-like Catalogues, and even automated in-game Auctions. The variety of means players can buy and sell items in as early as the 2000s madeRagnarok Onlineinstrumental in providing players with a complex in-game economy.
3Albion Online
Considered by many as the spiritual successor ofRuneScape, the MMO sandboxAlbion Onlineoffers players another opportunity to make a name for themselves in whatever means possible. Aside from adopting theRuneScapemechanic of gear loss after death,Albion Onlinehas a complete player-driven economy. Unlike other MMOs, every piece of gear inAlbion Onlinecan be created by players, meaning everyone has a chance of acquiring some of the game’s most powerful gear and even the opportunity to sell them for a high price.
This allows players to completely take a trading path as part of their progression in the game, which is a relief for free-to-play players as this means they’re able to contend with other high-level characters given enough time and training. Not to mention, the in-game Marketplace is one of the cleanest trading auctions in the modern MMO space, boasting a clean UI with accessible controls - much-needed features considering its contents are all items available in the game, regardless of rarity.
2World Of Warcraft
WithWorld of Warcraftentering 2023 with theDragonflightexpansion marking the return of the Dragonflights as Azeroth’s protectors, it’s no surprise thatWorld of Warcraftplayers would want to come equipped with the best gear possible. However, even during the early days of the Alliance versus Horde conflict, players have been active participants in the game’s active in-game economy.
Similar to other MMOs,World of Warcrafthas a variety of currencies in place - Copper, Silver, and Gold. However, one of the more unique innovations of the game in regard to its currencies would be WoW Tokens, or special currency purchaseable in real life that gives players access to a wide array of benefits such as game time within the MMO’s subscription model, or to even trade said tokens for expensive Gold. Even the game’s transactions in the Auction House is extremely active given the wide array of items players can trade for various needs. In aSplunk’s.conf presentation, Blizzard’s Shawn Routhier explained that as of 2021, players of the MMO make transactions that earn a total of around 21-billion Gold daily.
1Guild Wars 2
In theGuild Wars 2world of Tyria, players become adventurers that need to defend their realms from the five (5) Elder Dragons seeking to wreak havoc, forcing players to make alliances and connections throughout the game’s story. However, fans who want to have access to some of the game’s best items may do so through the Trading Post, the game’s equivalent of an auction house whereGuild Wars 2players can earn money aside from their Professions.
However, unlike other games where trading doesn’t become a huge part of the gameplay loop, players can find theGuild Wars 2Trading Post to be one of the more rewarding and stable in-game markets in MMOs. Compared to other markets, players can check sites such asGW2Efficiencyand observe relatively slow but steady movement in items sales. Moreover, players are more encouraged to flip items as there are certain moments of extreme high profit sales that need player patience, emulating the usual long-term experiences of real markets today.
