So from time to time forums posts have arisen with people complaining about the state of the economy on the server with  solutions given but they font have the proper affect for a number of reasons so I just wanna toss my hat into the mix with a different approach. Immediately everyone assumes that the economy does not function properly because of the fact that most warps are bandit havens and that stops players from buying goods but I am going to refute that point and state a new one. What pirate craft has allowed us to see is an economic model at work. Because of the structure of this economic model and the fact that we are playing on a server in a video game certain restrictions and reservations apply to how we view the server economy in action. This economic model on this server resembles the macroeconomic system of “laizze-faire” capitalism otherwise known as trickle down economics. I will use this term loosely as the server has plenty of other types of trading by the nature of the game so before people start thinking “what about bartering etc” let me get my points in. In the following paragraphs I will attempt to dissect what the underlying problems are plaguing the economy and attempt to leave some form of a outline to how each may be resolved.

1. Locked up balances

This server has hundreds of active and inactive/banned members which balances range greatly in size so the exact number for currency in circulation can never be truly known. With that point being made what are “locked up balances” if you look at the server behemoths money wise on the top 10 list what is the most striking besides the sums of money? that  four out of ten of the top balances on the server are inactive. Too add on to that sentiment two of the top ten are banned and as I will state later in my case only one person( conservatively) possibly two contribute their money to the server economy. Lets look at the bans first, Saraphim7 and Kingkarim after being banned from the server left a sum of money equaling 479,826. That is a huge some of money that is locked up and will in the forceable future not be reinvested back into the economy. What is the problem with that? the problem lies within the fact that that was money spent by players for resources that is not being reinvested because of the ban leaving the server with a net loss of income into the economy. Out of the rest of the players on the top ten list four out of ten have been inactive long enough so that there presence is not relevant beyond the fact that there combined balances are 252,968. That is less than the banned behemoths but is still an extremely large chunk of the server currency in limbo. This leaves two more players that I have marked as “holding” meaning there balance is not going to be used in the forceable future for economic repair but it will be used with a total worth of 118,433. What that leaves us with is two players that have shown an attempt to help the economy in there varying ways with a combined balance of 287,929. Now what do we do with these raw numbers? This shows us that the combined amount of server cash locked up is 851,227. This is money that will most likely never be used again and in some cases cant. The fact that these balances were allowed to swell to these sizes means that if the server is following the path of trickle down economics is that these balances kept by these individuals would be reinvested. Without this reinvestment we get stagnation as the combined inactivity with the holed up cash leaves to prices that dont reflect the need of the market. The fact of the matter is that this 851,227 is a roadblock on the path to move the economy forward because and shows us very clearly where the money on the server is being sucked in and stuck. Every future trade has to move around this number making it harder for the economy to pick up pace because the damage has already been done.

2. Monopolies and warps

Within the server there are _ warps that are owned by players on the server. They are supposed to be places of commerce and can still be with the idea that “pirating” causes a loss of business being a side effect of a larger issue that is not being resolved. Out of a total of five player owned warps on the server two are almost completely inactive while another two are getting close leaving two more shops that function. Now the problem here lies on a bed of simplicity that is not being resolved. These shops need new owners that are more active. Now how this will go about im not sure and I will not go into on this post but the problem exists and the solution is clear. The active warps have owners that look at the economy and attempt to meet its demands. Kelly Yore is a prime example of someone who honestly checks the value of items to change his prices close to daily. That is good and all but that is one person and one warp. The problem would be easier to solve if the players owning these warps didn’t also fall into the locked up balances but this is not a coincidence. The owners of warp wolf, market and the collaboration of cts have not in any sort of way updated there shops to meet consumer demands. Market does still have some active shop keepers but very little and “piracy” has been used as the scapegoat for these issues. These warps are littered with out of stock signs and signs that have been not updated to see consumer demand. This inactivity combined with the locked up balances leads to piracy because these warps become useless. Why is there little to no killing at shop and food? because they are valuable warps and the active owners still have sway when it comes to people adhering to the player made rules. I haven’t mentioned trade up until this point but it still falls under the earlier sphere. Bislo has attempted to make the warp relevant again( buying up resources changing some sell signs) but it is unsustainable as most of the rest of the warp is dead which leaves them as nothing more but bandit territory. If these warps held valuable trades worth protecting then they would be protected. This isnt a crazy concept but people want to overlook it and just say player attacks are the leading problem. This failed system of inactive players combined with their inactive warps is what leads to economic decline and increased piracy. The solution to this problem is tough and im not gonna try and create a coherent one now but people seem to not understand the underlying factors in what causes economic decay.

3. trickle down and macro economics

Since the server took the route of trickle down by the nature of the game theoretically anyone can become just as rich with enough labor, but with that idea what is the point of an economy then? the economy is there for alternative routes than just mining or grinding and the lack there off leads to a more fractured system. Its hard to not advocate for a stable server shop with shifting prices but that is what my inclination is. Without proper “regulation” and adjustment to the way assets and warps are handled this can never change. My over arching point is, is that trickle down economics does not function in this type of environment. We cant change the fact that diamonds now go for 15-25 dollars a peice and frankly ideas such as iamthereapers of just leaving up high prices isn’t solving any problem. The nature of the game is that anyone can collect these resources and that has to be taken into consideration when setting prices but it hasn’t. In a twist of irony the fact that the server has such an unregulated and open economy has left the it as the second option to bartering and direct trading. The point of this bullet is to show the need for a shift from “laisse faire” to a more Keynesian form of economics in which the staff stimulates economic growth for the larger segment of the player base.

4. The difficulty of the solutions

When looking at these problems the solutions can seem easy “lets just throw money at players and give the warps new owners” seems to be the general consensus but that cant help in the slightest. I want to make it clear that the distribution of wealth is not a solution that works long term. The problem to a real solution lies in the fact that its gonna take a helluva lot of work to get the economy going again that is a daunting task for anyone. The staff already has enough on their plates and adding more isnt going to help but this issue needs to be addressed. These locked up assets need to be looked at, warps have to find a way to keep being updated, because the natural stagnation that comes with a fluid player base leads to this kind of slow down and sluggishness. The best possible solution that can minimize this problem but has been disregarded because of the basis of the idea is a server run shop. Now people usually stop at that idea and start thinking “pay to win” “unfair” “broken” but the solid argument hasnt been made against it. Look at real world examples, in the United States alone produce are bought by the government en bulk allowing for more production and subsidies are given to continue this growth. A server shop that is kept within reason and that can be updates by our fairly active and definitely engaged staff could allow players to bypass these dead warps until an actual solution is devised. I am not advocating a completely server side economy but something is needed until this benign mass of cash and warps are fixed.

Conclusion

Solving a problem on this scale is no where close to going to be solved easily. I understand that the staff have wanted to deal with this problem and probably know information I dont but the point is is that a majority of the player base dont seem to comprehend where the problems lie. I just hope that this post can help enlighten some aspects of the servers economic problems that haven’t been discussed openly before. Im not leaving a solid solution in place partially because frankly I dont think one can be made over night and I want an active discussion in the comments made about how to solve this problem. This post does not address all the problems in the economy because I simply cant think of them all! so please comment I want to know what else I should take into consideration!

(side note, sorry about any missing information ill try to write a more concise piece at a later date)