In WoW, Final Fantasy XI, and others, an auction house exists so that players can buy and sell items. In games like Diablo II, a trade system exists so that players can establish the value of items arbitrarily. In another game, Dark Souls, one can buy items from a non-player character (NPC). However, if they player doesn’t have the funds, he can actually kill the NPC and retrieve some items.

Anyway… The video reminds me of what McGonigal was saying about how gaming will eventually become a ‘team sport.’ I like how you relate the concepts of Economics to the importance of correct planning. Is it more important to spend time outlining for a project, or is just more important to jump right in? This is how I was able to connect to your project.

In what other games do you see the concepts of economics that you described?

I could add this to my employment analogy. Suppose a manager hired someone who they thought was fit for the job (“Leeroy”). The company had a big project (enemy) ahead of them. Now, the “Leeroy” of the group makes a huge mistake, an irreparable one. The manager will probably fire the “Leeroy.” The company can continue with the project, however, it will take a superb effort to finish the job. Or they can just give up and lose the project, costing money and time (gold, loot, and experience points).