Economy
From Puzzle Pirates
Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates has a very large and complex economy, which is driven by shoppe and stall owners competing for commodities harvested across an ocean. While wood, iron, and sail cloth are used to build ships, the shipyard is constructed with wood, iron, tan cloth, and stone. The products shoppes produce are crucial to a pirate's daily activities, thus the economy is based on the economic theory of supply and demand.
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[edit] Commodities and Labor
All finished goods are produced using commodities. Commodities fall under many different categories, but general categories of commodities are used to produce general categories of goods (i.e. all swords require minerals).
All shoppe products also require labor to be finished. On subscriber oceans, this labor is provided by subscribed pirates; on doubloon oceans, a player needs a labor badge to provide work. Labor is provided by playing the appropriate crafting puzzle, though only distilling, alchemistry, and shipwrightery are currently available to play.
[edit] Inflation and Deflation
Over time, the purchasing power of a piece of eight (PoE) fluctuates. This behaviour is not determined by any intervention of the Ringers, but rather the game's economy reacting to variances in the money supply.
PoE enters the economy when it is won from brigands and skellies. Note, however, not all of this money nessesarily comes from the ether, as they may also have funds they previously won from another player. A small amount of money may also enter the game by OceanMasters sponsoring tournaments or other events. PoE then circulates around the economy from player to player via payouts, trades, shoppe purchases, wagers and tournaments, special events, and other means. Eventually, PoE leaves the economy via taxes (A portion goes to the governor, but the rest disappears), war chests, portrait sitting fees, and drinks for the old salts. Capital (not PoE itself, but goods of some value) is also removed from the ocean when items dust or rum or shot is consumed. As there are distinct PoE sources and sinks, whether the economy is inflationary or deflationary is largely dependent on how quickly new money enters the ocean compared to how quickly it leaves.
[edit] Model
The economy of Puzzle Pirates is a faucet drain economy. [1] [2] [3] While shoppes can produce their own goods, they must also pay taxes and rent. Most items held in the inventory suffer decay. The challenge of the game developers is to create an economy that has little to no inflation or deflation. Commodities spawn at a dynamic spawn rate: as average prices increase, commodity spawns increase as well, allowing the developers to keep commodities (and, in turn, finished products) in a very narrow price range.
[edit] Faucets
Money enters the Puzzle Pirates economy through navy wages, pillaging non-player ships, foraging/spawning gems, winning wagers against NPPs, and OceanMaster sponsored tournaments.
[edit] Drains
Drains are often called a PoE Sink. They include war chests, merchant brigands, sales tax and/or doubloon delivery fees, buying gems, the bid fee required when bidding on commodities from a commodities market, portraits, some palace fees, old salts at inns, charts purchased at shipyards, and losing wagers against NPPs.
[edit] External links
http://www.puzzlepirates.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=10767 -- Faulkston's economy graph.
