Diablo III Hyperinflation

Diablo III's real-money auction house had some potential to be a major innovation in virtual economies. Instead, it looks like the designers failed to grasp lessons of virtual money management that are now more than a decade old. Namely, make sure you have enough sinks.

There's a wonderful, well-informed, economically expert write-up over at Mises.Org, by Peter C. Earle. Mr. Earle knows his econ and he knows the game as well. It's some of the best virtual economy analysis I ahve seen in a long while.

Thanks to Waiyen Tang for the heads-up!

Comments

[Pete Earle]

1.

Thanks so much; glad you liked the article!

[Mister Foxy]

2.

I understand why Blizzard wanted a real money auction house considering how many items that where sold in D2, but I cant help to feel that the economy overall in D3 is a big fail :/