Andrew Wagner: The Economics Inside Online Games

Author and economist Andrew Wagner’s new book, The Economics of Online Gaming, shares how economic decisions get made by players of online games. We discuss how reputations and player behaviors impact success in the game.

For instance, a very positive reputation could lead other players to work with you, but it also could lead them to take advantage of you. Andrew discovered, in this game, that while a bad reputation sets people against you, it also provided unforeseen benefits in the game, economically speaking, of course.

We agree with Andrew that economics can be intimidating because it is a math-heavy field. To some, economics is simply inaccessible. However, we all love the drama found in video games, so Andrew combined drama with economics in his book.

Also, if you’ve not checked out our new podcast channel, Weekly Grooves, please do so. Each weekly episode is short-commute ready (no more than 15 minutes long) and brings behavioral insights to the week’s headlines. 

© 2020 Behavioral Grooves

Kurt Nelson, PhD: @WhatMotivates

Tim Houlihan: @THoulihan

 

Links

Andrew Wagner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atwagner/

The Economics of Online Gaming:  https://www.businessexpertpress.com/books/the-economics-of-online-gaming-a-players-introduction-to-economic-thinking/

Eternal Lands: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Lands

PacMan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pac-Man

Guide to Common Biases and Heuristics: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XHpBr0VFcaT8wIUpr-9zMIb79dFMgOVFRxIZRybiftI/edit#

Ponzi Scheme: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme

Tom Petters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Petters

Bernie Madoff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Madoff

Multilevel Marketing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-level_marketing

Economies of Scale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economies_of_scale

Reputation Capital: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation_capital

Comcast: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comcast

Risk Tolerance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_aversion

Ethics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics

Jeff Kreisler: https://www.harpercollinsspeakersbureau.com/speaker/jeff-kreisler/

Alex Azar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Azar

Boeing 737Max: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_MAX

FAA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Aviation_Administration

Dan Ariely: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Ariely

Napster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napster

Welcome Back Kotter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Back,_Kotter

Weekly Grooves: https://weeklygrooves.podbean.com/

 

Musical Links

Staind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staind

The Fray: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fray

Cold Play: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coldplay

Fuel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_(band)

Green Day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Day

The Rembrandts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rembrandts

“I’ll Be There For You” Theme Song: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27ll_Be_There_for_You_(The_Rembrandts_song)

John Sebastian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sebastian

“Welcome Back” Theme Song: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Back_(John_Sebastian_song)

The Lovin’ Spoonful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lovin%27_Spoonful