In-Game Economics 101

EDIT: Oh sure, Washington Post, put up your article at the exact same time I post this, referencing very similar things...  You're on my list, buddy.

Disclaimer!  Some of this discussion comes from the presentation "Understanding Virtual Worlds" that Michelle Kandalaft (a Ph.D. Psychology student and awesome gamer-gal) and I put together at the University of Texas at Arlington.  I am not an expert in Economics, though my mother drew a Supply-Demand graph on a napkin at Denny's when I asked why things cost money at the age of 4.  So, credit where credit is due to Dr. Kandalaft and my mother.

Also, the Amazon.com ad for The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers [7th Edition] was purposeful.  If you haven't read it, you really ought to.

With Blizzard's announcement that Diablo 3 will feature a system for users to sell in-game items for real-world currency, gaming blogs and twitters have erupted with interest over the decision.  While to many this seems a formalizing of a long-standing system (gold-farming), the nature of in-game trade for real-life currency is not unheard of in Virtual Worlds.

TL;DR (because really, this is TL):  Economics is complicated.

More (and, lamentably, graphs) after the jump...

Star Trek: TNG

We've been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I have only one conclusion from watching a majority of the first season:

Dragon Age 2 DLC: The Exiled Prince & The Black Emporium

Dragon Age 2 was realeased with two DLC packs instantly available, one of which was free when purchasing a new copy of the game.  But, you ask, if I picked up the game used, is the DLC worth it?

The Black Emporium is said free-with-new-purchase DLC, and adds the following to Dragon Age 2 gameplay:

• Hawke can enter a sustained mode (at no cost to mana/stamina) to summon a Mabiri Warhound which assists the party.  The dog is available from the very beginning of the adventure. 
• The (titular) Black Emporium is opened in Kirkwall in Act I.  The Emporium features items that cannot be purchased anywhere else in the game, especially the Maker's Sigh, which allows you to redistribute all ability points and talent assignments (essentially allowing you to reformat a character).



Third floor: Ladies' handbags, designer dresses, disembowling daggers.

Is It Worth It?  For free, no questions asked, but is it worth the $9.99 price tag?  The additional features, while certainly neat (new dialogue is added for each party member's interactions with your Mabari, for example), did not add any additional play-time to the game.  You can pick up any crafting resources you missed in a previous act (which is nice), but it wont' help you towards the devilish Supplier trophy/achievement, so that is what it is.  Rather than considering purchase of the DLC, consider whether or not a used version of the game is worth not having these features, since that's pretty much the choice you're making...

The Exiled Prince adds a new companion to your party.  Or so it claims to.  In all reality, Sebastian Vael cannot actually join the party until Act II, and has only a minor quest to complete in Act I.  I barely utilized Isabella because she joined the group so late in Act I, do you think I'm going to use this dude?  Furthermore, Sebastian unbalances the otherwise well thought out party system (or had you not noticed that you had 2 rogues, 2 warriors, and 2 mages?) as a third rogue (and a second one of range).  On the bright side, Sebastian can equip bows, while Varric keeps Bianca near him at all times.



Holding his Longbow like a gangsta...

You can romance Sebastian, if you're a woman.  He is a man of the cloth, so no Friends of Dorothy need apply.  Like other companians, he has quests to be completed, which all-in-all add a couple hours to gameplay (although they utilize the heavily recycled locales, so it just feels like more of the same).

Is it Worth It?  For $6.99, I don't think it really was.  Sebastian barely feels like he belongs in the party of misfits, and I'd much prefer Varric for ranged attacks (and romantic lustings).  All in all, it just doesn't justify the price tag.

Item Packs are also the available DLC for Dragon Age 2, but as I haven't given them a spin, I'm not sure I feel good reviewing them.  The game already has all types of weapons and armor to chose from ... do you really want more?

Flash Game Friday: Sweatshop

Maybe you don't want to think about social issues while playing a Flash Game.  If so, skip this review and just play this classic.  (No seriously, you should play it, anyway.  It's about not shitting your pants, an admirable goal.)

Sweatshop is a game created by Little Loud to help raise awareness of the high costs of cheap prices, and possibly just be a fun game to play.  The game can, at times, be a bit heavy handed about it's thesis (sweatshops = bad), but at its core, it has a fun story and very non-traditional tower defense gameplay.

Workers have specialties, but children can do anything!

As raw materials come down the production line, you must place workers to craft the items.  As manager, you control the worker's conditions: how fast the belt runs, if there are bathrooms available, etc.  Some of these impact production and sale value, and some are simply for the benefit of your employees' health and wellness.  It is cheaper to hire children and replace the dead ones with new ones, but that's awfully heartless!

The game boasts 30 levels of increasing difficulty, and I found myself into the game for a few solid hours.  Give it a go, if not just to blow off some steam at your comparably easy job, but also to learn!

Bioshock 2

"Uh oh, Mr. Bubbles...  Big Sister doesn't want you playing with me..."

Let us pretend, for a moment, that all sequels improve upon the original, rather than simply using an existing title to cash in on an easily satisfied market base.  Once you're ready to step out of that fantasy world, we can talk about Bioshock 2. 

Strictly speaking, Bioshock 2 isn't bad, but neither is it Bioshock the first, which is really its greatest criticism.  Although, plenty more criticism to go, after the jump!

Totes Jelly

While I've been busy replaying Fallout: New Vegas with the new DLC I nabbed from the generous Playstation Store card my Grandma got me for my birthday (thanks Grandma!), my best friend - my best friend - has Platinum'd yet another game.

While it's all good and well to have slacked behind on getting Blast Shards in Empire City (or whatever we're calling New York in video games these days), missing the Supplier trophy in DA:2 has set me back from Eldronius yet further!  

Worry not, dear friend, for I am coming after you.  Just as soon as a I deal with Super Mutants and Cazadores and reading about vampires in Louisana and the founding of Rapture...

ADDITIONALLY: for those of interest, my percentage is higher due to my completion of the DLC The Exiled Prince, which was a bit meh to be honest (who wants a fuddy-duddy like Sebastian when you already have a sexy dwarf with a crossbow?).  Platinum trophies only require performing 100% of the original content.

Demo: Catherine

I - I don't actually know what it was I just played.  Strictly speaking, it was a puzzle game wherein your character scales a tower of blocks to reach the exit, creating paths by pushing and pulling said blocks.

The confusing part was the apologetically Japanese anime cut scenes, wherein your main character Vincent freaks out about his girlfriend hinting at marriage, and then his dream states where he climbs the block towers - dressed only in his undies and some weird sheep horns.  The sheep thing is pretty prevalent, and there's an underlying murder mystery thing that might be related to having woken up next to a perky blond - the titular Catherine.  It's due out in the next couple days, so grab the demo if you want a feel for what the game was like...

Demo: Limbo

This tree thing killed me a couple times.  My roommate laughed.

Got a hold and gave a whirl for the demo of Limbo, monochromatic platform-puzzle game that has received a lot of awards.  Can't say much about it, the demo was pretty short (10 minutes of gameplay).  It looked very artsy, but not in the fun, bubbly way that Braid did.

So - not much to say, other than I'm speculative about giving $15 towards it.  If I was still a Playstation Plus subscriber, the number goes down a couple digits.

But - you know - meh.  That's how I'm feeling...

Bioshock 2 DLC 50% Off on Playstation Store

After logging into the Playstation Store today to download the latest Fallout: New Vegas DLC, I was greeted by a huge advertisement that all 2K DLC was half-off.  I cursed my early purchase of Minerva's Den and Protector Trials DLC; but my misfortune can be your savings!  Consider extending your Bioshock 2 experience with these two DLC packs - for 50% off!

Minerva's Den, the trip into a new Rapture environment as Subject Sigma will run you $4.99 and the Protector Trials - an opportunity to flex your Big Daddy muscles in a set of fun challenges - is only $2.49.  So, for a total of less than two Starbucks lattes, you can extend the original game by another few hours!

Flash Game Friday: 100th

100th, a puzzle platformer that relies on the use of rising balloons, may be just the time waster you need today!

Balloon hoppin' - that's my thing.

The game uses basic arrow keys to control your pixelated creation, and X to hold or release baloons which you can use to explore the world.  The game is easy enough to understand, with a couple of fun puzzles to collect gifts and reach then end.  Good play!

P.S. while very demanding from a manual dexterity perspective, you can beat the game only using the red balloon.  Good luck!