In this chapter, the statements of the previous chapters will be compared to allow for an understanding of how virtual and real-world economies compare to each other.
3.1. Common trades of economic systems
Economic systems be it a virtual system or one that exists within the real world, concern themselves with the relationship between consumer and distributor, how these two entities trade with each other and how resources are allocated. (Investopedia, Command Economy, n.d.)
Both systems are structured in a way that allows them to pursue certain economic goals. Stability and economic growth (In games for the player entity and in the real world for the macro-economic system) (AmosWEB Encyclonomic, n.d.) are two goals both systems usually have in common.
It is also possible to identify certain economic systems within both use cases and they can usually be determined using the same questions. This allows, for example, to consider if an economic system be it in a game or the real world can be considered a planned economy or a market-driven economy.
3.2. Differences between Economic Systems
The first and probably most important difference between economies in games and the real world is that stability and economic growth (In games for the player entity and in the real world for the macro-economic system) (AmosWEB Encyclonomic, n.d.) are goals that both economic systems have in common, their main objective is completely different. This means that the economic systems of the real world concern themselves mainly with the objective to create a ‘fair’ way of resource distribution, overall growth on a macro-economic level, a stable price for goods and services, the utilisation of all available resources and the most effective use of all resources available. (AmosWEB Encyclonomic, n.d.) While economic systems in games have the objective to deliver interesting choices to the player (Schell, 2015, p. 235) making stability and economic growth more side goals that are advantageous for the actual objectives.
Another difference is the way resources are limited within these systems. In real-world economic systems, every resource is limited and a decision must be made about how that resource is used. Contrarily in-game economies, every resource can at least theoretically exist for an almost infinite amount of times since everything can be copied and simply exists twice or trice. But game economies are limited in another way. While in the real world, many people work on the creation of new or different things, games have usually only a limited team that creates only a limited variety of different goods that can be obtained within the game. This makes resource limitation in games more a problem of consumer choice than a resource quantity limitation.
In the real world, all entities are a concern for an economic system, but in games, all players and the system exist separately from each other. Allowing games to ignore the demands of all NPCs that exist within the system and by doing so to treat them as a collective entity that does not have any needs.
In games, the players interact with a system that has, at least theoretically, an infinite amount of supply. It is therefore possible for that system to engage in all trades that a player asks for. If the player obtains a good or currency from that system the total amount of that good or currency within the game world becomes higher. If the player gives a good or currency to the system the total amount of that good or currency within the game world becomes lower. Comparing this to trade in the real world, one comes to realize that while different entities engage in trade the total amount of goods and currency always stays the same. The only way of increasing or reducing the amount of a good or currency in the real world is by breaking something or producing something, both of which generally result in the creation or exhaustion of other resources.
3.3. What does this mean for game economies
This means that game economies have more freedom in how an economy can be managed since many of the known limitations from real world do not apply. But it also shows that economies in games have goals that can be problematic to combine with the approaches for solving basic economic problems in the real world.
