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Recent Headlines for Earthrise

Question of the Week: Economic Concerns

By Keith Cross on Apr 30, 2008

In the latest Question of the Week on the Earthrise forums, Masthead Studios answers questions about the in-game economy.

Will there be a "auction house" that covers the whole world, a single central market or will we see a more decentralized area based economy? If the latter is the case, will we have to 'haul' resources and items if we want to move them between areas? Do you have any particular mechanics planned for those players who would like to be traders?

Even today electronic shopping, auctions and global stock markets have become the norm, and markets in the futuristic society of Earthrise will follow this trend. Players will have access to the market from every civilized location in the world, where they can check and manage their bank account or deposit and withdraw items to and from their warehouse. The personal warehouse will also serve as the basis of player's personal shops, as a number of items can be marked for sale with assigned price. The size of the warehouse and the number of personal items for sale can be expanded by buying warehouse expansions, so players will be limited at first but will be able to turn their small-town garage sale into a profitable market store and take their profits further. Players will be able to access each other player's store by their in-game name, as well as search the global database of available items, with additional tools for market analysis. Guilds will have the same marketing benefits but on a grand scale, with additional management features such as rank-based guild warehouse where guild members of different ranks will be able to provide and withdraw from different sub-accounts and item stashes. The whole market system will be designed for simplicity and ease of use, allowing players to quickly monitor, study and use the market system for their profit.