Elizabeth Warren for President

For President

"One day somebody will explain to me why it is that, at a time when science has never been wiser, or the truth more stark, or human knowledge more available, populists and liars are in such pressing demand."

— John le Carré in The Guardian

Play Time

Analysis of MMORPG play as economic activity

Play Time is an economic analysis of play in massively-multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPG). It began as an undergraduate 'honors thesis', but, like most of my projects, it grew to a monstrous size and carried me away with it.

Contents

Play Time was originally written as one long and rather heterogeneous paper, but I have since revised and reorganized it. The work now comprises a general introduction and three separate monographs, of which 'The Problem of Abundance in MMORPG' is the most interesting. It should be accessible to anyone who has taken a few college-level economics courses. PDF and web texts are available:

  • An Introduction [PDF]

    An overview of the topics to be discussed, along with definitions used throughout the work.

  • An Overview of the MMORPG Genre [PDF]

    A broad description of the genre, as it stood in early 2004, written in a scholarly style. Most players and designers will not find this interesting.

  • The Problem of Abundance in MMORPG [PDF]

    This is the paper to read. Identifies the wants and constraints that motivate players and developers, and shows that many definitive aspects of MMORPG design serve economic functions.

  • Principles of MMORPG Asymmetric Trade

    A fairly detailed undergraduate-level analysis of the microeconomics of 'eBaying'. I haven't finished revising this one yet.

  • References

    A bibliography for the foregoing works.