Pirates of the Burning Sea economy preview
Female Gamer has posted an Flying Lab Software-approved look at the "player driven economy" in Pirates of the Burning Sea. It's got a number of different innovations, starting with the fact that players don't just craft items-- they actually create their own logging camps, mines, shipyards, or plantations, and those "structures" have to be put in a certain area (where the enemies aren't) on the map.
Crafting with those structures is different, too-- instead of simply collecting mats and hitting craft, there's an ingredient of "stored labor" in those recipes, and that labor is generated by the player-created structures. So instead of clicking the button to craft something and then waiting, you must wait first, build up "stored labor," and then you can click at will to create whatever you want. There's also a charge in doubloons to create each item, and those charges can be raised or lowered depending on what you're creating and where.
FLS also chose a blind bidding system (similar to FFXI apparently, which I haven't played), in which bidders guess at the minimum price rather than aim for the highest bid (as in WoW). Just like EVE, you've got to be where an item is to receive it. That's annoying, but it fits with the setting, since there aren't exactly magic mail systems around. And finally, an auction house only shows trades in the same region of the game, so there are "trader" possibilities, where players will be able to take goods from one section to another and try to buy low and sell high.
All in all, it sounds really interesting-- a combination of new innovations in MMO trading, and a number of compromises made based on the setting. Pirates, we're told is scheduled to release around January 2008.
[ via VW ]
