Silk Road Online Business Lessons

August 23, 2007 · Filed Under Level Up, MMORPG News, Online

Gaming has long been receiving flak for being mindless distractions, being blamed for student delinquency due to their “addictive” nature. Anti-Gaming parties have been quick to point out that people (especially children and students) cannot learn any valuable lessons from them, branding these games as utter wastes of time.

Just goes to show that stereotypes are sometimes misleading.

Silk Road Online is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) that has, at its core, placed emphasis on the nature of trade and commerce. The name itself comes from the historical Silk Road which interconnects a series of ancient trade routes through various regions of the Asian continent, mainly connecting China with Asia Minor and the Mediterranean. The trading done on the Silk Road was a major factor in the development of great civilizations (like China and Egypt), and helped lay the foundations for the modern world.

More after the jump

History aside, players engage in a dynamic exchange between other players, resulting in the creation of a virtual economic world that is not unlike the real one. In Silk Road, players can take the role of merchants plying their wares from city to city and, in the process, learn the tricks of the commerce trade; from the basic law of supply and demand and buy low-sell high, up to understanding and predicting market trends. Decisions are made in real-time, with the over-all goal of amassing high profit from an otherwise ordinary deal.

While the concept of learning business methods in a video game is not entirely new (indeed, there are various PC games which allow a player to apply and test his entrepreneurial skills in a simulated environment), what separates Silk Road from stand-alone games is the fact that there is actual interaction among people and the market and its trends are dictated by the players themselves. Geo Beltran, who heads Level Up’s payment gateway games agrees; “There is nothing static in the world of Silk Road’s commerce. Every little decision has the potential to create a huge impact on the market, so players are always tested and constantly challenged to adapt and plan and, in the process, hone their skills as if they are doing it in real life.”

“This process, of course, is more interesting in the virtual world of Silk Road than in real life. This is due to the role-playing aspect of the game, which is much more exhilarating and immersive than the mundane reality of the real world. A typical merchant life in Silk Road would include buying a certain ware from one city and then traveling to another city which has a higher demand of the ware. Of course, half of the fun is in actually getting there in one piece. “ Beltran said.

The world of Silk Road is full of dangers in the form of monsters and other players who are out to make a quick buck at the expense of the traveling merchants, so players traveling from one place to another would have to take into account which route they are going to take. As the saying goes, “Time is gold” and the faster they are going to arrive at their destination, the faster they are going to sell their wares, and the sooner they are going to get their profit. However, shorter doesn’t necessarily mean faster, as the shortest route is almost always fraught with monsters and thieves.

Beltran says that the challenge is how to overcome this “danger”; “This is where the mercenaries come in. Merchants can have the option of hiring other players as bodyguards to protect them while they’re en route to the next city. Of course, these mercenaries don’t come free, and this is where the merchant’s business-sense kicks in. Is an added expense worth a potentially incident-free journey, or does he take the risk and journey alone, getting the full profit once his wares have been sold? Such decisions are what makes Silk Road exciting; the decisions which could affect a player’s hard-earned character.”

At the end of the day, once a merchant has successfully completed his transactions, nothing is more exhilarating than counting the profit in gold! The thought that he has gained significantly more than what he started at the beginning of the venture is comparable to what one would feel when he has successfully closed a big company deal. Seeing virtual money grow is real, for it’s the result of one’s real effort in the real world. After all, in the end, it’s the sense of accomplishment one gets that makes Silk Road that much more satisfying.

And it doesn’t end there. Silk Road Online just got bigger! With the Europe Expansion, trade routes are not just limited to the realm of virtual Asia anymore. The door to Europe is open, presenting a veritable new haven to enterprising merchants out there.

Be prepared for new challenges…

For more details, please log on to http://silkroadonline.ph/

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Comments

2 Responses to “Silk Road Online Business Lessons”

Noel on August 24th, 2007 9:00 am

Thanks for this article. I have been hearing of this game for a while now, but haven’t taken the time to look closer. But with this, I would really probably try it out.
GM T on August 26th, 2007 4:49 pm

Great to hear! You’re welcome, sir

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