Core System
Economy & Markets
Two economies run side by side: yours — the operator's bank, funded by subscriptions and spent on construction — and the adventurers', where gold and loot circulate through kills, vendors, and the auction house. Reading both is how you spot trouble before it costs you subscribers.
- Your bank
- Subscriptions vs building
- Markets
- Vendors + auction house
- Watch for
- Inflation
Faucets & sinks
Gold flows into the world through some activities and drains out through others — faucets and sinks. Keep them roughly in balance and prices stay healthy; let the faucets run away and inflation creeps in until gold means nothing. The economy panel charts both sides over time so you can catch it early.
| Activity | Effect on gold |
|---|---|
| Killing monsters | faucet — gold flows in |
| Selling loot to vendors | faucet — gold flows in |
| Buying from vendors | sink — gold drains out |
| Repairs, fees & travel | sink — gold drains out |
Your own bank is separate — funded by subscriptions and spent on building the world. The two are linked: a healthy player economy keeps players subscribed, which keeps you in business.
Loot & items
Everything an adventurer can carry falls into a few kinds:
| Kind | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Materials | raw goods sold to vendors for gold |
| Gatherables | resources harvested from nodes out in the world |
| Consumables | one-use items, like healing potions |
| Gear | equipment worn to make a character stronger |
Bags are limited, so an adventurer that hoards without selling can run out of room and start losing drops — another reason towns matter.
Vendors
Vendors are the always-open shops. They buy loot off adventurers at a set price and sell basics back — and crucially, the gold they pay out and the items they soak up are a steady drain that keeps the economy from drowning in stuff. They set the floor; the real market lives elsewhere.
The auction house
Where vendors are a fixed price list, the auction house is a living market: adventurers list gear and surplus they don't need and bid on what they do, and prices rise and fall with supply and demand across your whole population. It's a feature of your larger cities — and the busier your server, the more it comes alive.
A deep, liquid auction house is a sign of a healthy server; a dead one is a warning.
This article describes MMOS v0.1 behaviour. The game is in active development, so systems will grow and change — expect this to be revised as it does.