http://www.zalanthas.org/blogs/brideofson/archives/001417.html

None of this is set in stone yet, but I wanted to give you some idea of the concepts we're looking at.

Items:

The only truly fixed factor in determining an item's cost is its weight. For example, 2 stones' worth of any material is always worth more than 1 stone's worth.

The risk associated with gathering the resource should be reflected in its value.

In order to have ongoing demand, most finished goods and some raw materials should decay in some fashion. This would be based on material and type of item.

Some items will decay through wear and tear, like clothing and weapons. Many of these things will be repairable up to a point, however repair will have diminishing returns until eventually the item must be replaced.

Other items will decay over time, like food.

How well a crafter made an item is reflected in its value. ... a tailor of middling skill could make a high-quality simple shirt, or a low-quality fancy shirt.

Jobs:

Every settlement should have a 'job board' (this could be handled as a rumor-type system). Employers can list openings.

In general, wages will be set by the market, based on how much employers are willing to pay, and how little employees are willing to work for.

Different types of jobs will need to be handled differently. Some will be hourly pay, some contract, some based on production.

There should be a minimum/maximum wage to prevent this from getting "broken."

Risky jobs, or those requiring more skill, should pay more.

Most resource gathering will be handled through trade, by exchanging items gathered for coin. However, we'll probably need code to handle resource-gathering jobs within cities, like claypit digging.

Resource gathering within cities should pay less than doing it in the wilds, because of less risk.

(Note from Vanth on resource gathering jobs: I would actually prefer -not- to have automated, static jobs that revolve around gathering, but rather to have something like a "commodities market" in major locations where you can buy and sell these materials for a price which depends on the market conditions--supply and demand--i.e. sometimes salt brings a good price, but if everyone goes out salt gathering the price eventually falls as mass quantities of salt are stockpiled.)

There will probably also be quest-type jobs, like "go hunt down the traitor Amos." Some of these may only be available to clans (see clan economics, below)

Shops:

We prefer to see a PC-run economy, so while there will be NPC shops, they will not be able to be competitive against an intelligent PC shopkeeper. NPC shops will be able to be edged out of a specific market in these instances.

Have a "help wanted" bulletin board of some sort in a central area. Let players both post and remove their offers of employment.

-On the same BB, let players offer their services to employers, and likewise both post and remove posts.

-Let employers hire both PCs and NPCs.

-Let employers set wages, and let them choose how to pay those wages: hourly, daily, monthly, etc.

-Let employers set the "shift" hours for NPCs.

--Let NPCs get upset and quit if their shift is too long/pay too little.

---So, Amos hires NPC-Malik for 10 coins an hour for 6 hours a day. But if Amos wants his shop to be open all day long, either he has to cover the rest himself, or he needs to hire someone else to cover, because Malik won't work more than 6 hours a day unless he's getting paid 15 coins an hour.

Clan Economics:

An idea from Raesanos: Clans are merely groups of people who perform tasks. These tasks would be roughly classifiable as quests, hunts, forages, etc. The same thing independents do, but with unique opportunities and the enjoyment of working as a group. Here, quests would not only be automated (salt-buyer NPC) but also RPTs. Basically, the T'zai Byn of the current game operates under this model. Unique automated quests could exist, such as a clan who is paid to guard the automated caravans that travel the world. Net result: clans operate in the same economic world as everyone else.

No more bottomless clan cooks or magickally refilling water tuns.

Trade and Caravans:

allow for trade agreements between towns/regions

-have a master room/page where imms can easily adjust the goods and quantities traded through these agreements

--perhaps these agreements spawn caravans when it's time for goods to be delivered.

The basic tenets of Sanvean's proposed caravan system:

* Profitable travel between civilized points should require time and risk.

* An automated system that allows players to travel between cities at a reasonable cost of

time/money should be readily available.

* Prices in an area should reflect that area's scarcities and abundances or resources as well

as the overall world environment.

* This process should not create significant extra work for the builders.

The PC experience:

PCs can go to an inn and sign up for a scripted caravan that is going to the two closest

locations, paying an amount of coins that makes travel non-trivial (100-200 coins?). They

can buy space for additional cargo on the caravan. It is possible for caravans to be filled and

PCs have to wait. Two thirds of the caravan's occupants are virtual. Caravans leave every three

game hours (currently one RL hour, I believe).

The staff experience:

Staff can adjust caravans, postponing, editing, etc through a web interface. This allows them

to respond to player events as necessary as well as providing a mechanism for adjusting the

system as necessary.

Caravans will be raidable.