Jumpgate Evolution economy changing to player-driven system

by James Egan Jul 5th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, Economy, Game mechanics, Interviews, Crafting

Some gamers were disheartened when NetDevil opted to delay the Jumpgate Evolution launch in order to refine some aspects of gameplay, but we're hoping the extra time they've bought for themselves will equate to a more polished release. One of those aspects of the game they're improving is Jumpgate Evolution's economy, which is the subject of an interview that producer Hermann Peterscheck gave to JGERadio's "Tikigod."

Throughout the interview, Peterscheck emphasizes that Jumpgate Evolution's economy should, by design, function in ways similar to a real world economy (but hopefully with a lot less fail) -- a far more dynamic system than one driven by NPC vendors. Peterscheck says, "I actually think the changes make the economy more alive. What we have done is moved away from an AI-based economy to a player-driven economy."

He adds that items in Jumpgate Evolution will have positional value, meaning they're actually fixed in that location in-game until the players transport them. "If an item is put on the auction house in Solrain core, then when it is bought, you have to go pick it up there," Peterscheck says. (Hence, we assume there will be no in-game emailing of ore, ships, or modules.)

In addition, some items in-game can only be manufactured at specific locations, thus raw materials which exist in one area of Jumpgate Evolution's setting may need to be transported long distances to a manufacturing facility. This should provide ample opportunities for players to turn a profit as haulers or traders in the game.

As most coverage of the game tends to focus on the dynamic combat aspects of JGE, it's good to see another angle on this sci-fi MMO. The JGERadio interview with Jumpgate Evolution producer Hermann Peterscheck has plenty more info about the game's economy and highlights the things the changes they're making before the title launches.

Tags: auction-house, crafting, economy, game-mechanics, hermann-peterscheck, interviews, jge, jgeradio, jumpgate-evolution, netdevil, player-driven, positional-value, producer, sci-fi

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

wolfsterne said on 12:24PM 7-05-2009

Yeah because that has worked so well for games like SWG and Lineage II.

Oh wait......

cakey said on 12:36PM 7-05-2009

SWG and L2 failure was due to a whole other set of reasons.

Thranx said on 11:43AM 7-16-2009

SWG's economy was fantastic in every aspect. Easily the best economy in any game I've played.

Speak not of what you do not know.

Brian! said on 12:32PM 7-05-2009

Well, works ok in EvE. Maybe they are going closer to that model.

TKOtheKDR said on 12:36PM 7-05-2009

Well, I was looking forward to Jumpgate until this announcement. Player driven economies suck, be it in SWG, FFXI, or EVE. There goes my hope of a decent space-based MMO being released anytime soon. I just hope that Cryptic doesn't botch the ST MMO in the same way.

double9s said on 5:46PM 7-05-2009

Jesus Jones, overreacting much? I assume you were excited about everything else you saw in JGE and this single facet has changed your mind? You could at least explain your reasoning of why player-driven economies are so bad.

Darkfield said on 3:14AM 7-07-2009

I think you overreacting a bit. I'm following JGE for 2 years now and I'm dying to get my hands on it. Player driven economy I think is better than a fixed economy system, it's sometimes works better cause fixed prices are boring, less money in it for traders as well. A dynamic economy where players involve is by far better, more fun, more money, gives more control to players over their property on sale.

However I'm with you on character limits for crafting skills.

Dude said on 12:50PM 7-05-2009

EVE Online...

L. Pike said on 1:09PM 7-05-2009

It has worked ok in EVE. It would just be nice if it's set up fairly from the start. With this kind of system if its screwed from the start, it's never going to be right.

Potajito said on 1:18PM 7-05-2009

I think is the right deccision, now they just need decent PvP.

Kaamos said on 1:26PM 7-05-2009

basic equipment should be from vendors
basic-advanced equipment should be from crafting through vendors
advanced equipment should be from rare drops on rats/mobs
advanced-elite equipment should be from crafting through rare drops on mobs
elite equipment should be from rare/boss mobs

and all mobs should drop parts- technology- in space combat I'd say scavenging parts from others is exactly how modern day cars work- scavenging parts amongst the un-usefull gear available.

Searching for wrecks was my favorite thing in Freelancer.
I would say though depending on the type of damage you deal, you would affect certain technologies on destruction from being broken vs others.

Like anti-matter would destroy warp cores
Explosives would crack armor but leave chunks (of circuitry)
Emp would be safe but useless against emp save designs.
Lasers would pinpoint targets without overall damage

AH, anyway those are my ideas, there is alot to Learn from Eve-Online without copying it- Sci-Fi type games are left to the Imagination, which is what is so good about the genre, its so sad people arent PRODUCING these ideas, someone hire me and i'll R&D some for ya >:D

szsleepy said on 2:14PM 7-05-2009

I got news for you Kaamos. Ideas are a dime a dozen.

Wii60 said on 2:25PM 7-05-2009

I was all excited about JGE about 2 months ago. Since the delay, I haven't really given it a second thought. It's achieved near vaporware levels with a lack of real info.

Their marketing/advertising guys should be fired on the spot. You can't hype the release that much, delay it, and give zero info on the new launch date. These are massive tactical errors in a tough market which leads me to believe the final product will be a failure.

Brian! said on 11:55PM 7-05-2009

@Wii60 - I have to agree. A delay into infinity gives me little confidence in the title. This was going to be a must buy this summer, but if it does eventually ship I will probably wait on it a while to see what the masses say after they bought into it.

Guess we will see.

Cyron said on 6:53AM 7-06-2009

See, I haven't been excited by the game, because it seemed to be a twitch based pew pew fest. This news actually makes me look at it again...

mysecretid said on 3:27PM 7-05-2009

/agree that player-driven economies tend to suck.

Why? Because it typically leads to insane price-fixing and price gouging, all controlled by large guilds (or an alliance of large guilds) on a given server.

The intentional inflation gets so bad in games like EverQuest II (for one example) that, typically, by the time you can afford to buy something at market prices, you're five to ten levels minimum beyound the point where the item can be of any use to you.

The "solution"? Join one of the guilds that are controlling the supply, so that you can get your items at a "guild discount".

It's so mafia-like, it's almost funny.

For a game like EVE-Online, such a system fits with the dark tone of the universe, but in other games -- where you just want to play without a lot of aggravation -- it's a serious annoyance.

My interest in trying out Jumpgate: Evolution just fell off a fair bit .. going from "intrigued" to "meh".

Primus said on 4:15PM 7-05-2009

This isn't a big surprise, the original Jumpgate MMO also had a player-driven economy. It was also the reason why I stopped playing. The game's population was never all that great, and the biggest clans would empty the resources from stations in order to maximize their gains. If you weren't a member of a big clan, you were pretty much screwed.

Aeon said on 2:25PM 7-12-2009

You don't suppose... maybe 10 years of running the original Jumpgate taught NetDevil a thing or two? This was addressed in the ND community forums over two years ago.

Gwyd said on 6:38PM 7-05-2009

Lots of over reacting over this so far, few details have been released yet but people are pulling every worst case scenario they can think of.

Personally I'm hoping that this will give a trader play style more depth and interest, after all just blowing things up for a living can get a little boring.

As always I'll wait for more info before commenting too heavily on the matter, from what I've seen so far the combat has me interested, a more in-depth economy might tick another box if done right.