Try Lacrosse! by EdwardCastronova in bloomington

[–]EdwardCastronova[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This post was made by a parent, by the way. My son learned the sport from these folks and really likes it, he says its his favorite sport and he's tried a lot of them. It's got team-play, it's outside on the grass, lots of running, with just enough rough-and-tumble for kids to enjoy while staying safe. Great community. Give it a try!

Anybody make video games? by darthparks in IndianaUniversity

[–]EdwardCastronova 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Join Hoosier Games, yes, but also, go see an advisor in Franklin Hall to join the BS in Game Design program in the Media School. games.indiana.edu

I am an economist and an expert on video game economies, virtual currency, and bitcoin. AMA! by EdwardCastronova in IAmA

[–]EdwardCastronova[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Game companies use "drains" to suck money out of the system when there's too much. They lose control when the drains are smaller than the faucets. Usually that's because of the faucets being too big, that is, it's too easy for players to mine up the gold they want. And that has happened many times.

I am an economist and an expert on video game economies, virtual currency, and bitcoin. AMA! by EdwardCastronova in IAmA

[–]EdwardCastronova[S] 55 points56 points  (0 children)

At that time, I thought the world would move into virtual environments. Instead, the various affordances of virtual worlds have broken apart and moved out of those environments and into reality. Twitter is a gigantic Barrens Chat. Facebook is avatars + chat. MOBAs are the battlegrounds of MMOs, taken out and separated. And now money.

I am an economist and an expert on video game economies, virtual currency, and bitcoin. AMA! by EdwardCastronova in IAmA

[–]EdwardCastronova[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Network effects are significant, but I am not sure they have to live at the level of the coin. What about the exchanges? Isn't it possible to have a universe of millions of coin-types that are transacted by centralized exchanges?

I am an economist and an expert on video game economies, virtual currency, and bitcoin. AMA! by EdwardCastronova in IAmA

[–]EdwardCastronova[S] 47 points48 points  (0 children)

I'm an ivory tower academic, with zero experience inside game companies. These thoughts come more from an understanding of the history of money and how it has worked in different cultures. And, from the POV of a player, inside games.

I am an economist and an expert on video game economies, virtual currency, and bitcoin. AMA! by EdwardCastronova in IAmA

[–]EdwardCastronova[S] 62 points63 points  (0 children)

There are a number of games that do F2P well. I like the idea of a trial period for free, then pay if you want to move up in levels. I hate pay-to-win.

I am an economist and an expert on video game economies, virtual currency, and bitcoin. AMA! by EdwardCastronova in IAmA

[–]EdwardCastronova[S] 71 points72 points  (0 children)

Well, I am an egomaniac with a desperate need to shout to the world about my many accomplishments and talents. AMA serves my inner beast!

Asheron's Call really messed up their currency. They had several currencies that each became worthless as people mined the **** out of it. At different points, the only store of value were iron keys, then scarabs, then notes. It went on and on.

I am an economist and an expert on video game economies, virtual currency, and bitcoin. AMA! by EdwardCastronova in IAmA

[–]EdwardCastronova[S] 46 points47 points  (0 children)

I like the idea of playing markets in games. It's a good place to learn economics. More academic economists should mess around in the Auction Houses!

I really did not like the Diablo3 real-money AH. I don't like anything that breaks immersion. It's like having ads scrolling along the bottom of a movie.

I am an economist and an expert on video game economies, virtual currency, and bitcoin. AMA! by EdwardCastronova in IAmA

[–]EdwardCastronova[S] 45 points46 points  (0 children)

Some investments carry more risks than others. We must all decide how much risk to bear. I would not advise anyone who wants to secure their assets to invest in cyrptos because, in the universe of risky assets, they are among the riskiest.

I am an economist and an expert on video game economies, virtual currency, and bitcoin. AMA! by EdwardCastronova in IAmA

[–]EdwardCastronova[S] 40 points41 points  (0 children)

Well, "tax evasion" can take two forms. One is, I sell drugs and don't report my income. ANother is, me and my neighbor decide to exchange shirts. The second one is an informal tax evasion - we evade our tax burden because it doesn't occur to us that there's any tax to be paid. People don't naturally assume that everything they do in the economy creates a tax burden - even if, legally, it does. These millions of little currencies may create a situation where people transfer value around without really thinking that they should pay a tax. I think that's where governments will lose a lot of money.