Balanced Supply and Demand
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The most basic dynamic for describing the forces that govern an economy is supply and demand. In the Snook-verse the Battle Arena is chiefly the source of supply to the Ladder and vice versa, the Ladder is the source of demand for the Battle Arena. As such they form a balanced economic dyad.
The supply-demand balance doesn’t stem only from the introduction of new Traits to circulation, and removal and burning of existing Traits. It is also directly tied to the utility or functional roles the two environments play.
Here’s the scenario, play-by-play:
First, stock up on Traits - Battle Arena the real Grinder
A first-time Snooker goes to the Battle Arena, or tries to go to the Ladder, only to realize she doesn’t have a Special Skin.
She spends time “grinding” in the Battle Arena, collecting Traits, unlocking special skins, and getting better at the game.
During that time, her $SNK balance grew from the PPK.
Spend your stock in Snook’s Ladder
Once she has enough Traits, Special skins and confidence to enter the Snook Ladder, she has to wait for the season, and for the weekend.
She starts playing in the Snook Ladder and she’s excited. Perhaps she even won a match or two. Her Ladder score grows and with it her ranking.
At a certain point her Special Skin, with all its 12 Traits, dies. Regardless of the fact that 12 Traits were just removed from the economy, she is now down a Special Skin and the economy’s Trait supply is down 12 Traits.
Since she might not have another Special Skin or enough snooks to Fuse into a Special Skin, she goes back to the Battle Arena to stock up again. She might be able to do it fast enough to get back to the Ladder.
Since the Ladder season is based on score, and since the Ladder is only open 23% of the time, there’s a strong incentive to maximize the play time during the open weekend windows. That puts pressure on heavily stocking up during the weekdays.
This game dynamic produces a positive feedback loop that is reflected in this simulated supply-demand curve:
