roblox-economy

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Roblox Economy Design

Roblox 经济设计

Use this skill when designing currency systems, balancing rewards, creating trading systems, or diagnosing inflation in an existing game.

当你设计货币系统、平衡奖励、创建交易系统，或诊断现有游戏的通胀问题时，可以使用此技能。

Currency Types

货币类型

Soft Currency (e.g. "Gold"): Earned through gameplay. Primary transaction currency.
Premium Currency (e.g. "Gems"): Earned rarely or purchased with Robux. For premium items, boosts, skips.
Tokens (e.g. "Event Points"): Limited-time currency for event rewards. Expires or resets per event.
XP/Level: Not a currency but follows similar curve design.

Rule: never more than 3 currencies. Players can't track more than that.

软货币（例如“金币”）：通过游戏玩法获取，主要交易货币。
硬货币（例如“宝石”）：获取难度高或需用Robux购买，用于购买高级物品、增益道具、跳过等待等。
代币（例如“活动点数”）：限时货币，用于兑换活动奖励，每轮活动到期后失效或重置。
经验值/等级：不属于货币，但遵循类似的曲线设计规则。

规则：货币类型不得超过3种，玩家无法追踪更多类型。

Faucets vs Sinks

产出与消耗

The economy must have BOTH, roughly balanced over time.

经济系统必须同时包含产出和消耗机制，且长期保持大致平衡。

Faucets (currency enters)

产出（货币流入）

Quest/mission rewards
Level-up bonuses
Daily login rewards
Enemy/NPC drops
PvP/minigame wins
Selling items (inventory → currency)
Achievement rewards
Rebirth/prestige bonuses

任务/任务奖励
升级奖励
每日登录奖励
敌人/NPC掉落
PvP/小游戏胜利
出售物品（从背包转为货币）
成就奖励
转生/名望奖励

Sinks (currency leaves)

消耗（货币流出）

Item purchases
Upgrades (permanent improvements)
Repair/durability costs
Cosmetic purchases
Trading taxes (10-20%)
Revive/retry fees
Expiring consumables
Gacha/lootbox rolls

If faucets > sinks: inflation. Currency becomes worthless. Players hoard items instead. If sinks > faucets: deflation. New players can't afford anything. Retention drops.

物品购买
升级（永久提升）
维修/耐久消耗
外观购买
交易税（10-20%）
复活/重试费用
到期消耗品
扭蛋/宝箱抽取

若产出 > 消耗：通胀，货币贬值，玩家转而囤积物品。 若消耗 > 产出：通缩，新玩家无力购买任何物品，留存率下降。

Time-to-Earn Targets

赚取时长目标

For every major item, calculate expected earn time:

Item: Legendary Sword
Price: 10,000 Gold
Average gold/min (new player): 50/min → 200 min (3.3 hours)
Average gold/min (level 20): 150/min → 67 min (1.1 hours)

Target brackets:

Goal Type	Time to Earn
Early goals (first hour)	5-15 minutes
Session goals	30-60 minutes
Multi-session goals	2-5 hours
Long-term goals	10-50 hours
Prestige/completionist	100+ hours

Critical rule: Players must feel meaningful progress every 30-60 seconds. If the next reward is 3 hours away with no intermediate feedback, they quit.

针对每个主要物品，计算预期赚取时长：

Item: Legendary Sword
Price: 10,000 Gold
Average gold/min (new player): 50/min → 200 min (3.3 hours)
Average gold/min (level 20): 150/min → 67 min (1.1 hours)

目标区间：

目标类型	赚取时长
初期目标（首小时）	5-15分钟
单局会话目标	30-60分钟
多会话目标	2-5小时
长期目标	10-50小时
转生/全收集目标	100+小时

关键规则：玩家必须每30-60秒感受到有意义的进度。如果下一个奖励需要3小时且没有中间反馈，玩家会放弃。

Inflation Control

通胀控制

Over time, currency supply grows faster than demand. Counter with:

Hard sinks: Premium upgrades that scale with progression
Variable pricing: Scale prices with player level or economy velocity
Seasonal resets: Event currencies that expire
Luxury goods: High-tier items that absorb large currency amounts
Trading taxes: 10-20% removed per transaction
Durability/repair: Ongoing costs for powerful items
Prestige/rebirth: Reset currency for permanent multipliers

随着时间推移，货币供应量增长速度会超过需求。可通过以下方式应对：

硬性消耗：随进度升级的高级道具
动态定价：根据玩家等级或经济流通速度调整价格
季节性重置：活动货币到期失效
奢侈品：吸收大量货币的高阶物品
交易税：每笔交易扣除10-20%的货币
耐久/维修：强力物品的持续消耗
转生/名望：重置货币以获取永久倍率加成

Trading System Design

交易系统设计

Atomic Trade Pattern

原子交易模式

Trades MUST be atomic. Either both sides complete or neither does.

luau

-- Server-side trade execution
local function executeTrade(player1Data, player2Data, offer1, offer2): boolean
    -- Verify both players still have their offered items
    if not hasItems(player1Data, offer1) then return false end
    if not hasItems(player2Data, offer2) then return false end

    -- Execute atomically
    removeItems(player1Data, offer1)
    removeItems(player2Data, offer2)
    addItems(player1Data, offer2)
    addItems(player2Data, offer1)

    -- Apply tax (remove currency portion)
    local tax1 = math.floor(offer1.currency * 0.1)
    local tax2 = math.floor(offer2.currency * 0.1)
    player1Data.Gold -= tax1
    player2Data.Gold -= tax2

    return true
end

交易必须是原子性的，要么双方都完成交易，要么都不完成。

luau

-- Server-side trade execution
local function executeTrade(player1Data, player2Data, offer1, offer2): boolean
    -- Verify both players still have their offered items
    if not hasItems(player1Data, offer1) then return false end
    if not hasItems(player2Data, offer2) then return false end

    -- Execute atomically
    removeItems(player1Data, offer1)
    removeItems(player2Data, offer2)
    addItems(player1Data, offer2)
    addItems(player2Data, offer1)

    -- Apply tax (remove currency portion)
    local tax1 = math.floor(offer1.currency * 0.1)
    local tax2 = math.floor(offer2.currency * 0.1)
    player1Data.Gold -= tax1
    player2Data.Gold -= tax2

    return true
end

Anti-Scam Rules

防诈骗规则

Both players must confirm twice (propose → review → confirm)
Show exact items being traded with rarity/value indicators
Cooldown between trades (prevent rapid-fire scam attempts)
Log all trades server-side for rollback capability
Value warnings: "You are trading a Legendary item for a Common item. Are you sure?"

双方必须确认两次（发起→审核→确认）
显示交易物品的详细信息，包括稀有度/价值标识
交易间隔冷却（防止快速诈骗尝试）
服务器端记录所有交易，支持回滚
价值警告：“你正在用一件传奇物品交换一件普通物品，确定吗？”

Monetization Integration

变现整合

Robux → Premium Currency

Robux 兑换硬货币

Never sell soft currency directly for Robux (causes instant inflation)
Sell premium currency that buys exclusive items OR time-skips
Time-skips should save time, not provide power (pay-to-skip, not pay-to-win)

绝不直接用Robux售卖软货币（会导致瞬间通胀）
售卖硬货币，用于购买专属物品或跳过等待时间
跳过等待应节省时间，而非提供战力（付费跳过，而非付费变强）

GamePass Design

GamePass 设计

Permanent multipliers (2x Gold) are inflation accelerators. Cap them or scale prices.
Cosmetic-only passes have zero economy impact (safest)
Inventory expansion passes are good sinks (player pays for convenience)

永久倍率（2倍金币）会加速通胀，需设置上限或调整价格
仅外观类通行证对经济无影响（最安全）
背包扩容通行证是优质消耗点（玩家为便利付费）

Battle Pass / Season Pass

战斗通行证/赛季通行证

Free track: enough rewards to feel progress
Premium track: cosmetics + currency + exclusive items
End-of-season: unconverted premium currency expires (sink)

免费路线：提供足够奖励让玩家感受到进度
付费路线：外观+货币+专属物品
赛季结束：未兑换的硬货币失效（消耗点）

Economy Health Metrics

经济健康指标

Track these server-side:

luau

-- Log economy metrics per player session
AnalyticsService:LogEconomyEvent(player, {
    flowType = Enum.AnalyticsEconomyFlowType.Source, -- or Sink
    currencyType = "Gold",
    amount = amount,
    transactionType = "QuestReward", -- or "Purchase", "Trade", etc.
    itemSKU = itemId, -- what was bought/earned
})

Key ratios to monitor:

Earn rate by level: Are high-level players earning disproportionately?
Sink participation: What % of players use each sink?
Currency stockpile distribution: Are top 1% hoarding?
Time-to-first-purchase: How long before new players buy something?
Trade volume: Is the trading economy healthy or dead?

在服务器端追踪以下数据：

luau

-- Log economy metrics per player session
AnalyticsService:LogEconomyEvent(player, {
    flowType = Enum.AnalyticsEconomyFlowType.Source, -- or Sink
    currencyType = "Gold",
    amount = amount,
    transactionType = "QuestReward", -- or "Purchase", "Trade", etc.
    itemSKU = itemId, -- what was bought/earned
})

需监控的关键比率：

各等级赚取速率：高等级玩家赚取是否不成比例？
消耗参与率：有多少比例的玩家使用每种消耗机制？
货币囤积分布：前1%的玩家是否囤积大量货币？
首次购买时长：新玩家多久后进行首次购买？
交易量：交易经济是否健康或已停滞？

Common Mistakes

常见错误

Infinite faucets, finite sinks: Eventually everyone has everything. Game dies.
Rewarding AFK: Players will AFK-farm any passive income. Gate rewards behind active play.
Linear scaling: If level 1 earns 10/min and level 100 earns 1000/min, prices must scale too or early content becomes free.
No early wins: If the first meaningful purchase is 2 hours away, new players leave in 10 minutes.
Tradeable premium currency: Creates real-money trading (RMT) markets. Usually bad.
No tax on trades: Currency circulates forever without leaving the economy.

无限产出，有限消耗：最终所有人拥有一切，游戏死亡。
奖励挂机：玩家会挂机刷任何被动收入，需将奖励与主动玩法绑定。
线性缩放：如果1级每分钟赚10，100级每分钟赚1000，价格必须同步缩放，否则早期内容变得免费。
无初期胜利：如果首次有意义的购买需要2小时，新玩家会在10分钟内离开。
硬货币可交易：会催生真实货币交易（RMT）市场，通常有害。
交易无税：货币永远在经济中流通，不会流出。

Goal Type

Time to Earn

Early goals (first hour)

5-15 minutes

Session goals

30-60 minutes

Multi-session goals

2-5 hours

Long-term goals

10-50 hours

Prestige/completionist

100+ hours

目标类型

赚取时长

初期目标（首小时）

5-15分钟

单局会话目标

30-60分钟

多会话目标

2-5小时

长期目标

10-50小时

转生/全收集目标

100+小时

-- Server-side trade execution local function executeTrade(player1Data, player2Data, offer1, offer2): boolean -- Verify both players still have their offered items if not hasItems(player1Data, offer1) then return false end if not hasItems(player2Data, offer2) then return false end -- Execute atomically removeItems(player1Data, offer1) removeItems(player2Data, offer2) addItems(player1Data, offer2) addItems(player2Data, offer1) -- Apply tax (remove currency portion) local tax1 = math.floor(offer1.currency * 0.1) local tax2 = math.floor(offer2.currency * 0.1) player1Data.Gold -= tax1 player2Data.Gold -= tax2 return true end

-- Log economy metrics per player session AnalyticsService:LogEconomyEvent(player, { flowType = Enum.AnalyticsEconomyFlowType.Source, -- or Sink currencyType = "Gold", amount = amount, transactionType = "QuestReward", -- or "Purchase", "Trade", etc. itemSKU = itemId, -- what was bought/earned })