Auction houses are enough of stock market simulations for me in games. Some people never move to collect or produce goods and items, yet buy up mass quantities of commodities and turn them around for profit on the same market. This process repeats until the cost becomes such that the available currency won't bear, generally via consumer sentiment.
Just like stocks, there are trends, booms and busts. If you're left holding the bag of 5000 cotton balls or 10,000 linen, if no one will pay a higher price than that you paid, the items still have a relative intrinsic value and you might net a loss, especially considering fees.
Although, granted, this is a simplistic model, I don't see any reasonable way to take it to another level, investing in other players' productivity. There's no risk for them, as they can just turn the game off, never returning, or arguably straight-up rip you off, even with gm intervention (well, he gave me the money). I don't see how you can make rules to force responsibility or punish under-achievement. The closest I've come to that is investing money with friends interested in picking up trade skills in games, but it didn't come with interest and they were informal agreements with people I know.
I suppose you can try a "stock trading simulator"?
I haven't tried the link below at all, so I can't recommend it personally... But this is an example of the kind of things I am talking about. You get a virtual portfolio and can manage "fake" portfolio in the real world.
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Auction houses are enough of stock market simulations for me in games. Some people never move to collect or produce goods and items, yet buy up mass quantities of commodities and turn them around for profit on the same market. This process repeats until the cost becomes such that the available currency won't bear, generally via consumer sentiment.
Just like stocks, there are trends, booms and busts. If you're left holding the bag of 5000 cotton balls or 10,000 linen, if no one will pay a higher price than that you paid, the items still have a relative intrinsic value and you might net a loss, especially considering fees.
Although, granted, this is a simplistic model, I don't see any reasonable way to take it to another level, investing in other players' productivity. There's no risk for them, as they can just turn the game off, never returning, or arguably straight-up rip you off, even with gm intervention (well, he gave me the money). I don't see how you can make rules to force responsibility or punish under-achievement. The closest I've come to that is investing money with friends interested in picking up trade skills in games, but it didn't come with interest and they were informal agreements with people I know.
http://www.optionshouse.com/
I suppose you can try a "stock trading simulator"?
I haven't tried the link below at all, so I can't recommend it personally... But this is an example of the kind of things I am talking about. You get a virtual portfolio and can manage "fake" portfolio in the real world.
http://www.investopedia.com/simulator/
I seem to recall EvE having stocks and a vast and complex economy..
Or you can sign up for a "practice" account at a real stock broker and trade real stocks for pretend money
Or he could take the $50 he would spend on a game and invest that.