Emergent Economies for Role Playing Games

Computer role playing games, particularly those with persistent worlds, often allow players to buy and sell goods and services with computer controlled non-player characters (NPCs). The prices for these goods and services are often determined a priori, and remain fixed for the game’s duration. As a result, prices do not respond to changes in supply and demand, nor does supply and demand respond to changes in prices. We present an economic model suitable for use with role playing games that will automatically determine prices for multiple goods, supply and demand for each character, and an allocation of agents to roles that is sustainable given the state of the game.