The folks over at Bounty Bay Online have released a brief look at the game's economic system.
Ahoy,
Olives that go to London, then a charge of wood to Shanghai followed by iron ore to Portugal - and the invested capital might already have multiplied. In online RPG Bounty Bay Online, players can manage their money largely like in the real world. The historic microcosm of the 15th century enables all virtual economists to act as if they are in a real market. But one difference: They ship their goods not yet by plane, but in a ship. And meet other tradesmen in their guild instead of the business-club - and can collect debts with their sword, if necessary!
The economic system in Bounty Bay Online is based on real market mechanisms. If none of the players is producing or importing fabrics or frigates, a gap in supplies emerges and the prices rise - which is a first-class chance for clever merchants with a hunger for cash flow. If, on the other side, the demand from the buyers side is too low, then prices fall. The game's internal resource system only produces some essential items for very high prices - like food for ship travels -, which can easily be underbid by human tradesmen. So: Everyone who takes market laws seriously and has an eye for some other parameters like the capacity of his ship or local taxes, can become a virtual millionaire quite soon.
Read more about Bounty Bay Online here.
