Connected Realms
World of Warcraft not too long ago made an adjustment to its servers in order to accommodate for those servers that did not have as many players playing on them. This had both an effect on the social side as well as the economic side. For one it assisted with the population balance which is always a struggle to mediate. This is the social side (graphs). Each player is a node and by combining these servers into one these nodes have been connected by many more links, thus expanding the network. With the network expanded, new relationships can form (good and bad). What may also come of this is the interaction of two people or the reception of an idea that may have not been possible otherwise. Essentially, bridges, more specifically local bridges, may form and connect two networks of people that wouldn’t have interacted and allow these two groups to pass knowledge and ideas of the game through the two nodes (people) who now share the bridge. Perhaps it is tips about the game, gold (the currency of the game), or even just small-talk; this relationship would not have formed if it were not for this technological addition to the game.
In regards to the economic side, the amount of buyers and sellers has certainly changed. Within the game there is a place for players to post auctions and other players are able to bid on these items or just buy them out at a price set by the seller. With more buyers and more sellers participating in the market, there has been an increased variety in the prices and values. Accordingly, what used to be a market-clearing price may not necessarily be one now as there are many new buyers with many new values for the products. Thus, sellers will have to adjust their prices if they wish to compete within the market. This is in regard to the buyout option. In terms of the auction, it is an ascending bid auction, where players are allowed to bid up until whoever has given the highest bid will win the object (unless of course someone decides to pay the buyout price right away). Often, the value set by the buyer is the buyout price set by the seller, and this is the option taken most of the time by the buyer. Why is that? The game seems to have found a way to set market-clearing prices despite it being a fictional economy. Accordingly, we see that all economies, regardless of their tangibility, appear to follow this ideology that we have learned in class.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/10551009
http://wowpedia.org/Connected_Realms