I’m feeling philosophical tonight. I was reading through all the recent feedback that’s been coming through the site. If I had to make a general summary it would sound something like: “Love the site! You’re a ass for taxing my thollars.” In any case, two things struck me today.
One guy was complaining about the unfairness of the ‘Massive Windfall Tax’ and how such a function defeated the whole purpose of the game. Presumably the purpose of the game is to make as much fake money as possible. This is absolutely fascinating to me because I had never thought of ThotMarket as a game. I wonder how many users see it that way. Is it a game? That’s kind of like asking ‘Is this painting really art?’ I’m sure there is no answer, it’s just something interesting to think about.
Another interesting discussion that I’ve seen recently also centers around the layers of regulation that keep getting piled in to the system. I wonder if there are real world analogs for the balance between market dynamics and regulatory influence. My goal with ThotMarket is to create an economy of ideas that self regulates. Perhaps that’s too utopian, but I guess we should always strive for perfection, right? Someone smarter than me should investigate it.
In any case, the draconian caps and taxes are a band-aid, a stopgap, until the economy can be stabilized. By stabilized, I mean that there needs to be some reasonable balance between the few rich and the masses of less than rich. If the gap grows too large most users wont be able to effect a satisfying influence over the marketplace, and they will stop playing. I don’t think the super users really want that either (well most don’t). Wait a minute, I didn’t just call it a game did I?
