12-21-2004, 01:30 AM
Repair costs and housing rent I would consider negative sinks. They tend to piss players off, because they don't actually get anything new for their money.
People have a psychological tendency to want new and better stuff. They don't like to keep paying for the same old stuff.
There are some options for positive sinks, so I see no reason to choose negative ones.
A couple positive options:
1) As already mentioned, status elements like housing that gets ridiculously expensive.
2) Like Lineage 1, exponential costs for item upgrades.
Since most of you aren't really familiar with the gameplay mechanics of Lineage 1, I'll explain a bit about option 2. Base items started off as +0. You buy enchant scrolls for cash, and use them on your items to make them higher +. Items would go to a certain + safely, then they'd have a chance to blow up when you enchant them.
The result of this system was a very nice economy. The best I've seen in a game so far. Two key parts: unlimited use of gold to improve one's character strength through items; and unlimited use of base items to make stronger items of that type.
The second part is more interesting. It keeps a relationship between the value of cash and the value of base items stable.
I don't know if there could be a form of option 2 that would be a comfortable fit for WoW though.
People have a psychological tendency to want new and better stuff. They don't like to keep paying for the same old stuff.
There are some options for positive sinks, so I see no reason to choose negative ones.
A couple positive options:
1) As already mentioned, status elements like housing that gets ridiculously expensive.
2) Like Lineage 1, exponential costs for item upgrades.
Since most of you aren't really familiar with the gameplay mechanics of Lineage 1, I'll explain a bit about option 2. Base items started off as +0. You buy enchant scrolls for cash, and use them on your items to make them higher +. Items would go to a certain + safely, then they'd have a chance to blow up when you enchant them.
The result of this system was a very nice economy. The best I've seen in a game so far. Two key parts: unlimited use of gold to improve one's character strength through items; and unlimited use of base items to make stronger items of that type.
The second part is more interesting. It keeps a relationship between the value of cash and the value of base items stable.
I don't know if there could be a form of option 2 that would be a comfortable fit for WoW though.
Less QQ more Pew Pew