The Analysis of Elder Scrolls Online Virtual Currencies

As 2013 inches forward, we're slowly getting closer to the final release of The Elder Scrolls online. There isn't much information out at the moment as the game is currently in closed beta. However, it is possible to infer some information about the TESO economy just from the small bits of information being released onto the web. With a design focus on an immersive single player quest line as well as a strong social aspect, it is hard to guess exactly what will roll out at the end of the year. Keep in mind this is speculation and none of this has been officially released by ZeniMax.

The game is based around a cl[censored] system like most MMOs but there is a catch. Any cl[censored] can wear any piece of armor or weapon. We can assume from this that pieces of armor will be valuable. If you look at a traditional MMO economy like World of Warcraft, some pieces of armor and weapons are only usable by a small percentage of the players. This drives the demand down, which in turn lowers the prices and potential profit to be made from selling armor and weapons. In TESO, any cl[censored] can use any piece of gear. Thus, the demand will be much larger than a traditional MMO economy and thus the prices of gear will be significantly higher.



Botting is a problem in all MMOs that have any form of economy. Developers can take certain steps to combat this, but it is an inevitable occurrence that must be accounted for. If there are any forms of farming skills in the game such as mining or woodcutting, there are going to be botters. However, botters only show up where there is potential for money to be made from real world trading. If the currency is not vitally important to the gameplay, there will be negligible amount of botters compared to games like Runescape or World of Warcraft.

As an MMO gets older, inflation will take its toll as more and more players make money off of quests and grinding. World of Warcraft helps to alleviate this by having vendors that sell items for large amounts of gold that effectively destroys that gold in the economy. Still, this is not completely effective as evidenced by WoW's rampant inflation. What used to be 100 gold in WoW is now more like 1,000 gold. So inflation will take its toll, but only if TESO survives and matures to release expansions.