The Economy: it's time we talked about it

[Ash]

I didn’t quite expect this post to attract such attention, especially given it’s size. So kudos to those that read it. Seeing some of the replies has brought forward some thoughts about what i’d like people to take away from this. And the general principle i wanted to convey was this:

The economy has been adapted to compensate for the fact that Disco has no core fulfilling activity. The economy exists as a progression ladder to late game features. But when players climb this ladder and pull back the veil on these features, they realise that not only is the reward disproportionate to the grind, but does not allow them to do anything very fulfilling. For as long as i can remember, the standard response to this issue been to introduce more prizes in order to keep people grinding, and therefore active.

The fact that players must grind before they can access the game’s core features is just completely backwards. For those features to be unfulfilling anyway is just the kicker.

Basically, for anyone to see any improvement in any aspect of playing this game. The perspective of design needs to shift to the viewpoint of the most enjoyable activity.

Then, and only then, should you start reshaping the economy to fit around this activity.

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