Best Posts in Thread: An Idea for Minecraft's First Valid Economy

Meepcraft should focus on being a good towny server. That is when it was successful. 9 out of 10 new players do jot care about the economic metrics and catering to the dozen who want a pure economy server has decimated the rabks of people who just want to build and run towns .

 

Hey Meep! Keep in mind that this isnt a suggestion or anything, it's just an idea for what I think could work. Please critique this! It's far from perfect.

The issue with Meepcraft's economy is that its in Minecraft. In Minecraft, its incredibly easy to produce goods, but difficult to consume them. This concept is directly shown with the downward trend of prices for virtually every item in the server. With an axe, I can cut down hundreds of stacks of wood in the Wild in just an afternoon, an amount that would probably take the server months to consume. Because of this basic, fundamental problem with Minecraft, people are left with vasts amounts of money and absolutely no reason to ever spend it.

But, in Minecraft, some items do retain their value. There are some blocks that aren't so readily available, like shulker boxes. I haven't logged onto the server in months, but I can say with confidence that shulker boxes in Meepcraft retain some sort of value. Shulker boxes are limited in number and are one of the few items on Meepcraft that actually have a rational supply associated with it. Because of this, they are quite literally one of the only items on Meepcraft with value.

I've demonstrated that the principle of supply is the force that suppresses Meepcraft's economy. Items with unlimited supply are worthless, and the few that do have limited supply possess value. Meepcraft makes the mistake of basing a most of its economy around the buy and sell of these worthless, unlimited items. Instead, I believe it would be wiser to create our economy on the supply and demand of goods that aren't infinite.

I think I've created a solution for the problem. I'd like to address the three pillars I believe could create atleast a better economy on a Minecraft server:

1. Currency is extremely limited and is used to purchase valuable goods from the server not normally found in Minecraft
2. The creation of currency is capped per player per day.
3. Creating currency requires direct participation of Meepcraft citizens to help the server (and its economy) grow.

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Here's my proposed system! The only (*) way to produce money in this hypothetical economy is to vote. Voting, I believe, is the perfect way to produce currency on a Minecraft server. For starters, players are capped at voting once per day, meaning that players cannot create massive amounts of currency to devalue it. Secondly, voting is obviously beneficial to the server. Voting is lastly very easy for both new and older players alike, meaning that there is equality in opportunity between everyone. This creates a system where newer players can produce money at the exact same speed and ease as older players, making them not only less frustrated but feel valuable. That's something Meepcraft has been missing!

The currency in this economy is something I call Meepcoins. Meepcoins can be traded with players, but it's primary use is to purchase items of value from the server. Because of Minecraft's fundamental problem with infinite supply, the items purchasable with Meepcoins must be either unobtainable in vanilla or incredibly rare. Items that can be purchased could include fly notes, custom pickaxes (such as Glass Pick), custom armor, custom heads, the creation of towns and nations, and possibly temporary custom titles and cosmetics. It's important that Meepcoins remain as valuable as possible. Much care should be placed on making sure that everyone can benefit from items offered for purchase through Meepcoins.

This system comes with so many benefits. Here's one I believe can make a huge impact on the community: If the creation of towns relies on a large sum of Meepcoins, people will have to pool in votes to be able to purchase one in a reasonable amount of time. This means that the towns in this population start out populated with dedicated individuals from the start, fostering a sense of community, which keeps players on the server.

There's a small issue with this system that prevents it from being perfect. "Whats to stop players from quickly logging in, voting, and then logging off?" This argument is valid because we cannot rely on players being willing to part ways with their Meepcoins for readily vanilla Minecraft items that players produce in hopes to obtain additional currency. In this economy, it must be essential to reward players for the time they put in. It can be fixed through many ways. What I believe is best is that Admins could decide to (*) create a plugin that awards Meepcoins to players based on the amount of time they actively spend playing. I don't like doing this, but I believe it is the best way to reward players for their time. To compliment this "income", regular events could be put in place that rewards victors and participants with varying amounts of Meepcoins. Players could also be awarded Meepcoins for Parkour, because Parkour has a seven day cap for rewards. I'm sure other methods can be put in place, but of course, these methods would need to have time limits that do not allow them to be exploited endlessly by players. It's important to note that a small market will surely exist for players to exchange Meepcoins for the more valuable materials in Minecraft, like diamonds or beacons. This creates additional incentive for people to work (and be rewarded for their time).

Thus concludes my hypothetical economy. Please, respond with input. I'll answer everything I can.


Shameless poke to @KlutchDecals . I'd like your input on this specifically. Maybe @Fuzzlr ? I'm probably pushing it..