This week’s New World Forged in Aeternum video is a meaty one, at least if you’re the type of MMORPG player who gets all revved up for economy discussion (it’s me, I’m the MMORPG player). Amazon’s Patrick Smedley, Tony Morton, and Joel Clift explain that they consider wealth disparity a key problem to overcome in the game because it drives inflation that hurts every tier of player.
“We want somebody who only has a couple of hours a week to play to feel like their time is valued,” Morton says, “And then we also want to make sure that somebody who plays an absolute ton still feels like their time is valued, but in doing so not making is so they’re so far different that their experiences in the game are just equally opposite.”
In fact, the team literally has a tool that measures the gap between high-end players and casual players and shows the impact of currency faucets and sinks. The devs also have a trade index tracker that monitors various resources and craftables for large variations, since those can be indicators of design issues. Those tools, plus player feedback, help the studio determine the right econ tweaks and balancing.
Even if you’re not an econ person, at least click to the “cuteness break” at 8:32, when Patrick Smedley’s pupper takes center stage.
