To

what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world

economy?

Student Name: Daniel Petoukhov
Session: May 2015
IB Subject of Essay: Economics
Supervisor Name: Mr. Charles Hawkes
Student Name: Daniel Petoukhov
IB Student Number:
Word Count: 3812

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Abstract
This essay will be responding to the research question: To what degree is RuneScapes
economy similar to the real-world economy? It will be evaluating all of the immediately observable
economic theories found in RuneScape, and will be comparing these theories to their real world
counter-parts.

The essay will identify the basic economic needs of a player in RuneScape, and how the average

player contributes to its virtual economy. By identifying these needs and contributions, the essay will
have much more insight on how each economic theory works in this virtual world. By analyzing
everything from scarcity to inflation and deflation, the essay will give an in-depth view of RuneScapes
economy. The goal is to determine the comparability of the two economic environments. This virtual
economy gives us a chance to observe and to study an economy where nearly all factors can be
controlled and a strong degree of comparability will suggest that virtual economies can be a strong
competitor in todays economic experimentation.

The essay has concluded that RuneScapes economy has a strong degree of similarity to the real-

world economy, making it an important testing ground in new-school economics. Furthermore, features
such as real money trade can give economists insight on the future of crypto-currencies, such as Bitcoin.
208 words

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1
Gameplay ..................................................................................................................................................... 2
Skills and Levels ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Combat ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Basic Economic Needs of a RuneScape Player ............................................................................................ 5
How the Average Player Contributes to the Economy ............................................................................... 6
Analysis ........................................................................................................................................................ 7
Resources (4 basic item groups) .................................................................................................................. 8
Exchange Mechanisms ................................................................................................................................. 9
Scarcity ....................................................................................................................................................... 11
Supply and Demand ................................................................................................................................... 13
Elasticity ..................................................................................................................................................... 14
Inelasticity of Basic Item Demand ............................................................................................................. 16
Elasticity of Valuable Item Demand .......................................................................................................... 17
Demand Shocks .......................................................................................................................................... 18
Price Controls ............................................................................................................................................. 19
Inflation and Deflation ............................................................................................................................... 20
Real Money Trade ...................................................................................................................................... 21
Evaluation and Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 23
Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................ 24

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Introduction
Runescape is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), released in 2001 by

Jagex studios. As many MMORPGs do, RuneScape boasts a virtual economy, and a very strong one at
that. Much like in the real world, players are able to buy and sell items (goods) by using RuneScapes
main currency, the gold coin. As the border between the real and the virtual begins to fade in todays
world, economists are looking at virtual economies to serve as a point of reference to predict our
economic future. By analyzing the extent to which a virtual economy, such as RuneScapes, is similar to
the real-world economy, economists will be able to deduce what areas of virtual economies are good
points of reference for todays virtual growth. Renowned economists and virtual analysts from Harvard
University (Christopher Thorpe), Columbia University (Jessica Hammer) and the Helsinki Institute for
Information Technology (Vili Lehdonvirta), to name a few, have realized the potential of these virtual
economies in todays studies of economics and are actively investigating what they can offer. In this
essay I will be investigating the degree of similarity between RuneScapes economy and the real-world
economy by individually analyzing observable economic theories within RuneScape and evaluating how
well they reflect their real-world counterparts.

RuneScape

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Gameplay

Players begin by creating their own character and they are then thrown into an area where the

game leads the player through a tutorial to learn some of the basics of Runescape.
Players set their own goals and objectives as they play through the game
Jagex Studios.

Players are able to train their skills, complete quests given by NPCs (non-player characters)

(with goods given as rewards for their completion) found within the world of Gielinor, fight various
monsters and even other active players. Interaction between players is done through an in-game chat
system, similar to a large online chat room, but messages only appear from those in a realistic proximity.
From an economic standpoint, most goods in the game are tied into the killing of monsters and to the
leveling of a players skills.

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Skills and Levels

Skills are trainable abilities that a player can level as he progresses through the game. The game

contains skills such as: strength, magic, agility, thieving and even skills like fishing, mining and cooking.
Players get experience points when they perform an action that involves a certain skill. For example,
making potions will give you experience points (XP) in the herblore (alchemy) skill. Once you get enough
XP in a skill, that skill will level up. As the players level rises, they will have access to the creation of
higher level items, but often times, this will also require more expensive materials. In this case, as the
player levels up his herblore, he/she will have access to more powerful potions, but the ingredients for
these will cost quite a bit more than some of the lower level potions. All skills begin at level 1 and are
maxed out at level 99. This may sound like an easy task, but the XP needed to proceed to the next level
scales with the current level. To put this into perspective, the amount of XP needed to get from level 98
to 99, is roughly the same amount as the XP needed to get from level 1 to 75. Getting a skill to level 99 is
not an easy task and (depending on the skill at hand) can take multiple months to accomplish. Back in
2001, when Runescape was first released, the game contained a mere 7 skills. Today, the game contains
26 unique skills and new ones are constantly in development. With the introduction of each new skill,
came the beginning of a new economic market as the leveling of most skills require certain crafting
materials which can be conveniently purchased from other players who are willing and able to collect
them.

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Combat
Combat is a core concept in the world of RuneScape and it plays a crucial part in its economy.
Each fightable character in the game, including your avatar, has a certain amount of hit points and a
character can only take a certain amount of damage before their hit points are reduced to zero, once
this happens, the character dies (this is not permanent for players). Players are able to fight monsters
found throughout the world using swords, axes, bows and magic, and each monster will drop items
(goods) upon death (when their hit points reach 0). Every monster in the game has certain drops
assigned to them which all have a percentage chance of dropping after death (those with lower
percentage changes will naturally be more expensive). These range from bones (used to level up the
prayer skill), to gold coins (currency), to armor, weapons and other useful items. Higher level monsters,
which can only be killed by higher level players, are more likely to drop more valuable items, meaning
that as you progress through the game, your economic contribution will increase (much like the
transition from childhood to adulthood). To a large extent, fightable monsters can be seen as one of
RuneScapes most important natural resource. Combat also has a set of skills that are tied into it: Attack
(accuracy), Strength (damage per hit), Defense (damage mitigation) and Constitution (amount of hit
points) and players gain experience in these by fighting, thus raising their combat level. A higher
combat level allows players to fight higher-level monsters, which in turn gives them the chance to
collect better drops. Much like in a capitalist environment, this gives incentive for new players to
progress through the game.

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Basic Economic Needs of a RuneScape Player

Much like in the real-world, the average RuneScape player has certain needs in order to

survive in the world RuneScape. Surviving is a risky term to use when it comes to describing virtual
life in an MMORPG as a RuneScape character will never be subject to natural real life occurrences, such
as starvation, disease or old-age. To thrive in Gielinor (RuneScapes virtual world), a RuneScape
character needs a few things: weapons and armor, food/potions (to restore health points in battle), and
crafting instruments/tools/materials to learn a certain craft(s) or skill(s) (i.e. farming, cooking, magic,
mining, thieving, etc.) These can be considered as the three building blocks of RuneScapes economy. All
crafting materials can be extracted from the world by any player and buying crafting materials is done
simply to speed up the process of leveling up a skill, such as buying wooden planks to level up a
characters construction rather than cutting and refining your own wood. In some cases, buying
materials is necessary, for example, if a player wants to refine oak wood into planks, but does not have
the woodcutting skill necessary to chop down oak trees, he or she will have to buy oak logs from a
player who has a high enough woodcutting level. Cosmetic wear also plays a large role in RuneScapes
economy and it ranges anywhere from heavy ornate armor to colorful party hats. These goods generally
have no use other than to represent achievements, wealth or for personal aesthetic appeal. Nonetheless
some of these items are extremely expensive and popular, especially among wealthier and more
experienced players.

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

How the Average Player Contributes to the Virtual Economy

At the beginning of his travels, a new player will earn most of his wealth from quest rewards and

the meager drops of low-level monsters. The average player is likely to invest this money solely into
weapons and armor, crafting tools/materials and food/potions. Like a person with a low income, a low-
level player has little significance in the economy, even when a large sample-set is observed. The
difference in RunseScapes virtual economy is that anyone can get out of the low wealth brackets simply
by playing the game and investing their time.

While progressing through the game, players will find many resources from which to collect

crafting materials that are used to level up skills. These items can be collected and either used for
personal skill leveling or sold at a profit. This represents an extremely large part of the economy. Many
players will kill certain monsters (for specific drops) or collect certain materials monotonously in order
to make profits. This is a very common job in RuneScape and at high levels, players will kill bosses
(extremely strong monsters) to try to get expensive drops or will use their high level skills to collect high
level materials, such as mining runite ore, which requires an impressive level of 85 in the mining skill.
Skills, such as mining, are usually a safe and dependable source of profit for players, which is why having
high level skills is a valuable asset. This can be easily compared to qualifications in real life, where better
qualifications suggest better incomes, and thus better quality of life.

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Analysis
RuneScapes economy holds many similarities to the real-world economy, but also has its fair share
of differences, most of them stemming from the limited amounts of time that gamers can invest into the
game. There are certain economic theories that are easily observable and comparable in both
environments:
A. Resources (4 basic item groups)
B. Exchange Mechanisms (grand exchange and trading)
C. Scarcity
D. Demand and Supply
E. Elasticity
F. Demand Shock
G. Price Controls
H. Inflation and Deflation
I.

Real Money Trade

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Resources (4 basic item groups)

In the real world there are basic economic pillars that are made up of human necessities, such as
food and water, and economic foundations, such as oil. In RuneScape there are four main categories of
items: consumables, primary products, finished items and discontinued items. Consumables are
anything that has a limited amount of uses attached to it, such as food or potions. Much like in the real
world, primary products, or crafting materials, are items that allow for the creation of another item via a
skill. For example, ores, which can be smelted into metal bars for further usage. Finished items are the
final product, armor, weapons, furniture and even consumables generally fall into this category, and
these can be compared to cars, clothing or housing. Discontinued items are items that are no longer
obtainable by playing the game and can only be bought from players who collected them whilst they
were still available. This means that there is a set number of these items in the game, usually making
them extremely expensive and sought after, much like famous pieces of art. These four categories of
items are the driving forces behind RuneScapes vast economy and virtually all of the observable
economic theories within the game focus on at least one of these groups.

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Exchange Mechanisms
There are two ways to exchange items between players in RuneScape. One is to use the simple
trading system within RuneScape where player are able to trade directly between each other. The
players have complete control over what they want to give to the other person and what they want to
receive in return.

Trading Window in RuneScape

Currently, the much more popular method is to use the Grand Exchange, which was only
released in late 2007 (before this the only way to exchange items was to use RuneScapes trading
system).

Grand Exchange Window in Runescape

To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Similar to the stock market, The Grand Exchange (GE) is a large scale trading system where

buyers and sellers do not have to meet each other in order to buy and sell goods. In the GE, bartering is
not supported and the only way to conduct trades is by using the in-game currency, gold pieces (GP).
Once an item is bought or sold, the buyer or seller can collect their item/money right there at the GE.
The GE greatly stimulated RuneScapes economy and turned it into a true powerhouse.

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Scarcity
Scarcity is one of the most elementary economic concepts, but is still the center of basic
economic debate. In real-world economics, scarcity can be defined as: The basic economic problem
that arises because people have unlimited wants but resources are limited.1 In RuneScape, scarcity
functions rather differently. Since RuneScape is a virtual world composed of virtual resources and virtual
wants and needs, there is an infinite supply of resources when an infinite amount of time to gather
them is considered. So what makes a scarce resource scarce? Well, for most people, this would be the
amount of time it takes to gather a certain resource. The longer it takes, the scarcer the resource
because there will always be less of it on the market as players simply do not have the time to play the
game continuously and resources can only be collected within the time frame that a player chooses to
play the game.
So now that we have determined that there is no such thing as a scarce resource (in terms of the
conventional definition), we can define a different type of scarcity that is unique to virtual economics:
time-restricted resources. Since all resources and commodities come in infinite amounts in
RuneScape, all of them can be defined as time-restricted resources, some more than others. A heavily
time-restricted resource would be one that could take hours of gameplay in order to obtain, while a
lightly time-restricted resource, such as a carrot growing on the side of a dirt road, would take mere
seconds out of a players game time to collect. This usage of time-restricted resources is how videogame
developers implement a notion of scarcity into their virtual economies.
When looking at RuneScape specifically, one can argue that discontinued items directly
represent scarcity in the conventional form. These items, such as a Santa hat that was only obtainable
on Christmas day of the year 2002, are now extremely rare and expensive, owned only by players of

1
2

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/scarcity.asp
http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/economics3.asp

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

extreme wealth or those who obtained it whilst the item was still available. While these items are
limited, they are not being depleted as they are no longer being collected.

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Supply and Demand

Another very basic concept in economics is the idea of supply and demand. Demand is the
amount of a product people are willing to buy at a certain price. The law of demand states that, if all
other factors remain equal, the higher the price of a good, the less people demand that good. Supply
demonstrates the quantities that will be sold at a certain price. Unlike the law of demand, the law of
supply suggests that the higher the price, the higher the quantity supplied. When supply and demand
are equal (e.g. where the graphical representation of supply function and demand function intersect)
the economy is said to be at equilibrium. At this point, the allocation of goods is at its most efficient
state because the amount of goods being supplied is exactly the same as the amount of goods being
demanded.2

Supply and demand in RuneScape function very similarly to the supply and demand in the real

world economy. Inelasticity of basic item demand, elasticity of valuable item demand and even demand
shocks are all observable phenomena within the virtual world of RuneScape.

http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/economics3.asp

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Elasticity
Elasticity in RuneScape is very similar to real-world economies. In economics, elasticity refers
the degree to which individuals (consumers/producers) change their demand/amount supplied in
response to price or income changes3. This can be calculated as:

The elasticity of a good or service is largely dependent on the amount of compliments and/or
substitutes that it has.
A complement is A good or service that is used in conjunction with another good or service 4.
This means that the demand for a good or service will rise if the price of its complementary good falls
and vice-versa. For example, if the price of printers increases, the demand for ink cartridges will
decrease because these two goods complement each other. If the price of one-handed weapons
decreases, the demand for shields will increase as these are commonly used together in combat, thus
they complement each other.
On the other hand, a substitute is A product or service that satisfies the need of a consumer
that another product or service fulfills5. Therefore, when the price of a good or service increases
(meaning demand goes down), the demand for its cheaper alternative, or substitute, is going to go up.
In terms of RuneScapes economy, this effect can be seen in every basic item group. When looking at
consumables, if the prices for cooked lobsters increase, than the demand for other similar foods will
increase because they nearly identically fulfill the needs of the consumer.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/elasticity.asp
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/complement.asp
5
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/substitute.asp
4

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

There is a phenomenon that occurs with discontinued items which renders supply perfectly
unresponsive to any price changes. As previously discussed, discontinued items are items that are no
longer obtainable in the game, thus there is a set number of them in the game. This means that players
do not have the option to supply more or less, regardless of how much may be demanded.

We can see that on the graph, the quantity supplied stays the same no matter what the price is,

although generally these items will be extremely expensive.

http://www.bized.co.uk/sites/bized/files/images/diagrams/small/pes_0.gif

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Inelasticity of basic item demand

Products that are necessities are more insensitive to price changes because consumers would
continue buying these products despite price increases.7 There are certain items in RuneScape that are
constantly in high demand. These will be referred to as basic necessities. These basic necessities fulfill
very basic needs that players of all levels and experience can use. Because of the extreme demand for
these items, a change in price has no significant effect on their demand. In real life, a most basic but
accurate reflection of this would be water, since it is such a basic necessity, it is very insensitive to price
changes. In RuneScape, goods such as weapons (as a group of items), or any other previously discussed
basic RuneScape necessity, are also very insensitive to price changes, as they are vital for combat.

7
8

http://www.investopedia.com/university/economics/economics4.asp
http://www.uri.edu/artsci/newecn/Classes/Art/INT1/Eco/S_D/Gifs/demand.inelastic.gif

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Elasticity of Valuable Item Demand

On the other side of the spectrum, there are certain items which scale with level. For example,
when you create your character all of your skills are at level 1. At level 1 mining you may only wield a
bronze pickaxe, but as you progress you unlock the ability to wield pickaxes that are forged out of more
reliable metals such as iron, steel or the staple fantasy metals like mithril and runite. This means that
even if a lower level player was able to afford a high tier pickaxe (or any other skill dependent item for
that matter) he/she would not be able to use it without the proper skill level. Because of this, the
elasticity of an item in RuneScape is based off three core concepts: the items level demand, the
availability of compliments and substitutes and the specific players wealth. Much like in real life, as
players progress through the game and gain levels in different skills, their wealth is also going to
naturally increase. This means that higher level items are less elastic simply because the players who get
the most utility out of them (players of higher level) will naturally be wealthier.

http://www.uri.edu/artsci/newecn/Classes/Art/INT1/Eco/S_D/Gifs/demand.elastic.gif

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Demand Shocks
In economics, a demand shock can be described as an: event that temporarily increases or
decreases demand for goods or services.10 Causes of demand shocks can range from a tax change all
the way to a natural disaster. If a country suffers an earthquake there will be a positive demand shock
for water and medical supplies.
An addition of a new quest or skill that requires a specific item(s) can cause severe demand
shocks within the RuneScape economy. For example, raw chicken used to be one of the least demanded
food items in the game. In 2008, the summoning skill was added into the game and raw chicken an
important crafting material. The demand for raw chicken exploded as players began leveling the skill and
suppliers realized the profit potential of collecting and selling it in bulk. Just like in the real world, this
was temporary, and the price of raw chicken has since stabilized, but these types of demand shocks are
a common occurrence.

10

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/demandshock.asp

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Price Controls
Price controls are Government mandated minimum or maximum prices that can be charged for
specified goods11. Governments tend to implement price controls only when necessary, such as setting
price ceilings on food if the prices become too high. In the case of RuneScape, the government is Jagex,
the developers of the game. In most cases, price ceilings are put on items that are necessary for
progression, such as low and mid-level armor. This is again comparable to price ceilings that are put on
basic necessities in real life.

11

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/price-controls.asp

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Inflation and Deflation

Inflation refers to a general increase in the price of goods and services12 while deflation is a
general decline in prices often caused by a reduction in the supply of money or credit13. Inflation is a
permanent factor in RuneScape as inflationary pressure will exist as long as the game does. While the
game is playable, players will keep amassing wealth as there is no set limit to the money supply, which
means that most items in the game will experience a gradual increase in price for as long as the game
exists. Deflation is not a common factor in RuneScapes virtual economy as there will never be a
reduction in the supply of money. Deflation can occur after a demand shock, but after the prices re-
stabilize, they will continue to inflate.

12

http://www.investopedia.com/exam-guide/cfp/economics-time-value/cfp6.asp
http://www.investopedia.com/exam-guide/cfp/economics-time-value/cfp6.asp

13

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Real Money Trade

Real money trade (RMT) is the sale of virtual in-game currency, items or high-level characters for
real money, it is also known as a virtual economys secondary market. This has always been a big part
of MMORPGs and is where a virtual economy branches into the real economy. RMT activity generally
consists of gold-farmers and power-levelers, both of which are players offering services where they
essentially invest time into the game on someone elses behalf. Players consistently show the will to
purchase these services as to not spend the time and effort themselves. To understand the scope of this
industry, we can first look at how much the global online game market is worth.

The global online game market was forecasted to be worth over $21 billion in 2012 and

according to Digi-Capital, will be worth 48 billion by 2016.14

14

http://www.develop-online.net/news/game-industry-worth-83bn-by-2016-research-claims/0113816

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

In 2009, the secondary market for online games was worth over $3 billion dollars and employed

nearly 400,000 people, numbers that have surely risen over the years. These statistics truly show the
grand scale of this hidden market and its rising importance in todays virtual world.

The purchase of in-game currency from gold-farmers is extremely similar to the idea behind

crypto-currencies, like Bitcoin. By spending real money, people are able to buy virtual currencies.
Although Bitcoin is an officially recognized currency, which can be used to buy many physical items, it
works very similarly to the purchases of virtual in-game money. Thus RMT and gold-farming can play
an important role in the economic studies and predictions for crypto-currencies.

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To what degree is RuneScapes economy similar to the real-world economy?

Evaluation and Conclusion

While certain economic theories such as scarcity and deflation differ slightly from their real

world counterparts, RuneScapes virtual economy boasts many economic reproductions when it comes
to available resources, exchange mechanisms, demand and supply, elasticity, demand shocks, price
controls and inflation. The use of incentive in the game, my making those who invest more time
wealthier, is a driving force in RuneScapes economy. By analyzing these economic theories and
comparing them to the real-world, I have determined that RuneScapes economy shares an extreme
degree of similarity to the real-world economy. In addition to this, RuneScape includes factors, such as
RMT, that are developing todays world and can be important for further economic studies. RMTs
similarities to crypto-currencies like Bitcoin makes it all the more intriguing and can help economists
predict models and outcasts for these crypto-currencies by analyzing virtual currencies within games
such as RuneScape. Although, virtual economies are fun-based, they are becoming an increasingly
significant opportunity to improve upon our economy and to prepare for the future by using these
virtual worlds for economic experiments. Understanding the virtual worlds and their economy is
beneficial for both of the (real) society and ourselves. (Yamaguchi, 2004).

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Thorpe, Christopher, Jessica Hammer, Jean Camp, Jon Callas, and Mike Bond. Virtual
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