Financial sinks — the irrational face of game economy
The financial sink is the concept that makes economists frown across the globe. It seems irrational mainly — a mechanism to take money out of the economy without anybody profiting sounds not optimal, to say the least.
So what even are money sinks?
Money sinks are an ever-present part of computer games, either online and single-player. These are mechanisms that force players to spend money on goods and necessities. There are two primary types of money sinks: luxurious and necessary. Luxurious are such money sinks that allow players to spend large quantities of in-game money on minor visual enhancements that do not benefit players in any way but change the appearance of players’ items. A good example is “mounts” in the game World of Warcraft, where the price of mounts varies from a few silver coins and up to millions of gold coins. While a majority of luxury item-related trades in the game happen between players, numerous mounts are representing excessive price points, such as the notorious Mighty Caravan Brutosaurus, a mount with an attached auctioneer. This feature saves a fraction of time for its user. Still, it can never be justified for the price it costs, so it had become the ultimate luxurious money sink, as the next most expensive item buyable from the NPCs is down 3 million gold.
On the other hand, there are necessary spendings in computer games, also known as necessary money sinks. These are types of spendings performed by players that are obligatory and cannot be avoided. An excellent example of those is the repair price for armor in games, when once in a while you have to pay for your armor to be fully working and giving stats at its fullest. Entrance fees for tournaments, mission item prices, repair — all of those minor spendings that players are forced to do in computer games are there as a financial instrument that we talk about today.
Why would developers ever do that?
There are several reasons for the developers to create ways for the players to spend money. First and foremost, it’s inflation. That’s something I talked about multiple times in my previous articles. Still, inflation in online games is the problem of the highest order, as by attracting more players, developers naturally increase the quantities of financial possessions of the players. Suppose money is not taken out of the economy somehow. In that case, it will become an uncontrollable loop of inflation that would lead to an economic collapse where no amount of money can buy anything. Of course, it is more of a theory as developers usually care about this, but that is obvious as there is no way to stop inflation otherwise as money is being factually endlessly “printed” by getting it from mobs and quests.
Secondly, it is an engagement factor. High-leveled players often feel like they have achieved everything in the game they play — they stored all the valuable possessions, got all the achievements, and have nothing else to play for. That’s when sinks come into play. For example, Brutosaurus, a mount that I have mentioned earlier, has become a challenge itself with hundreds of players trying to buy him either to show their wealth or to obtain “A Horde of Hoofbeats” — an achievement for getting 400 mounts. This and other achievements are the sign of experience of players and ones do grind their way towards those for years and years just so that they could exhibit it in their profile. Thus, we see that money sinks have become a way of engaging skilled and long-term players towards staying in the game for a longer time.
Lastly, financial sinks implement realism. While financial transactions are usually not something that players come to the game for (with rare exceptions of EVE online), it certainly enriches the gameplay in its own way. I personally was never a fan of stockpiling materials for in-game crafting or as a preparation for raids or other instances where a specific consumable is needed. Still, I understood that it is an essential part of the immersion, and thus I respected it throughout my gameplay. Other players that I have interviewed showed different levels of tolerance towards money sinks in games, but the absolute majority signaled that they see necessary money sinks as a norm in the games nowadays that having those gone would “feel weird and uncomfortable.”
Conclusion
Money sink is a concept that still misleads both players and game designers, and this principle is something that the modern gaming community still has to think about. I believe that same as with native advertising, money sinks would become unnoticeable for the casual players (unless they are designed to be spottable), and thus make either developers’ and players’ lives better.
