Virtual Economist

Prediction: virtual economist will be one of the most in-demand jobs of our time

As web3 grows and games become virtual economies where millions live and work, designing systems where users feel rewarded for time spent will be a critical skill

Short thread below

1/ Balacing virtual economies with lots of people is really hard. Beta tests don't capture large-scale behavior, and humans are really good at exploiting loopholes - just see the recent @wolfdotgame exploits that forced the devs to rebuild the entire game

2/ Even without NFTs, well-intentioned economic systems go awry. Amazon's new MMO @playnewworld suffered from deflation - in-game activities didn't reward players with enough gold and so folks stopped spending

Result: game asset prices crashed, the economy grinded to a halt

3/ FPS game #HaloInfinite is another case study. The game monetized through a battle pass where players unlock rewards by completing stingy & sometimes esoteric challenges

Result: players boycotted an otherwise great game

4/ Yet folks do exist that can craft well-oiled economies - @EveOnline @Warcraft have monetized fans for decades thru many cycles. @FortniteGame has the industry's best season pass and regularly hosts events where players buy limited-time virtual goods and feel great about it

5/ These rare folks - game designers fluent in free-to-play systems and newly conversant in web3 - will become architects of the brave new worlds where we will live, play, and work in the future. If you're one of these designers - DM me! We have lots to build

[original tweetstorm link]