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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hunter99" data-source="post: 5560172" data-attributes="member: 6675744">How the D&D world operates and what the laws of economics dictate are at variance with one another. The laws of economics dictate that gradually, over time what is at first a luxury due to high production costs is made more efficient and thus becomes available to the middle class. This is what accounts for the rising standard of living in the western world as opposed to countries and areas which do not have capitalism. D&D does not take this into account so the D&D world exists perpetually in the dark and middle ages. In the world, supply and demand are determined by impersonal, market forces. (or at least they should be.) In the D&D world, supply and demand are determined by the DM. Another example of the difference between the real world and the D&D world is the issue of productivity vs. looting. In D&D, productivity which is fundamentally non-violent is not rewarded; looting on the other hand, which is at root violent is rewarded, and handsomely too. This destroys the incentive to produce in D&D since there is no government to make sure that what you are producing is not looted by those more powerful. (Of course, even in the real world, wealth is looted by governments.) This prevents the formation of wealth-creation mechanisms which raise the people's standard of living. Something else which exists in the D&D world (and the real world, think unions) are guilds, which, if they use force to prevent competition, are obviously anti-competetive and hence anti-capitalistic and anti-markets. Another issue is that in a capitalist, market society there is not, or at least there is not supposed to be any limit on the amount of income that you can earn but in D&D due to game balance issues, the amount 0f income a person can earn is artificially limitied even if a person's idea is clever, creative, and innovative. Which amounts to punishing a person for his virtues and his ability because it upsets game balance. All these conditions make any sort of business, any productive endeavor where wealth is not gained through looting but through production impossible.  Therefore I would say that since such conditions exist, as long as you are consistent, you should go by WBL guidelines and also to make sure that the players remember the focus and the purpose of the game. D&D is about adventure, not shopkeeping.</blockquote>

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