Progression Economy

Progression & Economy

Build the progression/economy layer — systems architecture plus the live-ops economy discipline (not monetization ethics or gacha-pull psychology, which live in loot-drop-system). Primary references: Genshin Impact (datamined configs + the Grasscutter server reimplementation as architectural evidence), EVE Online and WoW (the virtual-economy management craft), plus the broad RPG/MMO/idle canon for curve and skill-tree patterns. Counterpoint: BotW (the no-server, materials-as-progression model with a datamined hidden world level).

The architecture rule

Progression is tables, the wallet is a ledger, and the server (or the save) is the only authority.

PROGRESSION   stat(level) = base × curve[level]; curves are SHARED data;
              breakpoints/ascension as table rows; multi-track, cross-gated;
              the written aggregation contract
WALLET        typed currencies + a one-way conversion graph; a ledger, not a
              number; faucets vs sinks balanced to control money supply
ENERGY        a currency with temporal auto-grant; lazy recompute from server
              time, never a tick loop
TRANSACTIONS  client requests intent → server validates → commits spend+grant
              ATOMICALLY → notifies; idempotency keys; int64 minor units

Reference map

| File | Covers | | --- | --- | | [progression.md](./progression.md) | Curve tables (the Grasscutter-proven pattern), the XP-curve families (Pokémon groups, RuneScape geometric, D&D, WoW squish) with exact formulas, stat growth and soft caps / diminishing returns, skill trees (linear/branching/web, PoE passive tree, respec), prestige/paragon infinite progression, mastery/horizontal progression, the aggregation contract | | [wallet-economy.md](./wallet-economy.md) | The wallet-as-ledger, the one-way conversion graph, caps/overflow/expiry, AND the live-ops economy: faucets vs sinks, inflation/deflation and real cases, the in-house economist (EVE, Valve), player-driven markets, currency design (hard/soft/bound), wealth concentration and luxury sinks | | [energy.md](./energy.md) | Energy as timestamp-regen currency, the datamined resin model, the consumable taxonomy, DST/clock discipline | | [battle-pass.md](./battle-pass.md) | Season structure across the industry, the net-positive currency earn-back pattern, FOMO-expiry vs never-expires models, XP/challenge systems and weekly caps, retroactive entitlements, idempotent rollover (the OW2/Apex incidents), the Dota 2 revenue evidence | | [transactions.md](./transactions.md) | The server-authoritative flow, idempotency keys and their advanced traps, int64 minor units, anti-cheat, the offline/solo adaptation | | [pitfalls.md](./pitfalls.md) | 16 failure modes (symptom → cause → prevention) with real incidents (WoW int32 gold cap, D3 RMAH inflation, Lost Ark DST), debugging order, ship checklist |

What the datamines prove

• The curve-table pattern is real shipped code: Grasscutter loads

AvatarExcelConfigData (base stats + curve references) and computes base × curveInfos[curveId][level] exactly. Curves are immutable post-release (balance ships as new content, never as retroactive edits).

• Server-authoritative is total: the leaked official server generates

artifacts server-side; every handler follows validate→mutate→notify; the resin protocol sends nextAddTimestamp (timestamp regen, proven).

• BotW's counterpoint: no XP — orbs/seeds/materials as progression, plus a

datamined hidden world level (kill counters → points via LevelSensor.byml). Only raw counters are saved; derived values recalculate — minimize persisted derivable state.

Build order (4 shippable tiers)

Tier 1 — Tables and the contract
- [ ] Curve + breakpoint tables as data; explicit per-level value tables
- [ ] The stat aggregation contract WRITTEN + unit tests of record
- [ ] Multi-track state model with cross-gates as data
- [ ] int64 currencies in minor units; wallet = balance + append-only journal
Tier 2 — Transactions and the economy
- [ ] Atomic spend+grant (one transaction; solo: one save write)
- [ ] Idempotency keys (client-generated before first attempt, reused on retry)
- [ ] Server-side validation against the tables (client sends intents only)
- [ ] Faucet/sink map drawn; caps + overflow (mailbox with expiry)
Tier 3 — Energy and seasons
- [ ] Energy as timestamp-regen currency (server UTC clock, lazy recompute)
- [ ] Battle pass: season defs, reward tables, typed missions, weekly caps,
      retroactive entitlement, idempotent + replayable rollover
Tier 4 — Live operations
- [ ] Data/code version handshake at login (table hash)
- [ ] Receipt validation server-side; boot-time entitlement reconciliation
- [ ] Economy telemetry (progression rates, material stocks, faucet/sink flow)
      + pre-launch flow simulation
- [ ] Anti-cheat: rate limits + anomaly detection over the journal

Key numbers (starting points — sourced anchors)

| Parameter | Value | Anchor | | --- | --- | --- | | Genshin character curve | 1→90, 6 ascensions, 8,362,650 EXP; ~7.05M Mora all-in | wiki | | Pokémon XP groups | Fast 0.8n³ / Medium n³ / Slow 1.25n³ (L100 totals) | Bulbapedia | | RuneScape XP | L99 = 13,034,431; ~+10.4%/level (×2 per 7 levels) | RS Wiki | | D&D 5e | L20 = 355,000 XP (hand-authored, super-linear early) | PHB | | PoE passive tree | 1,325 nodes; resistances cap 75% (90% hard) | poewiki | | D4 paragon | capped 300; P300 = 24.78B XP | Icy Veins | | Genshin energy | cap 200 (4.7); 1/8 min = 180/day; 0→200 = 26h40 | wiki | | EVE economy | faucets (NPC bounties) historically >3× all sinks combined → inflation | CCP QEN | | Fortnite XP | 80,000 XP/level flat; L100 ≈ 8M, L200 = 16M | fortnite.gg | | WoW gold cap | int32 copper → 214,748g (reached Jan 2008) | history |

Full sourced tables (with flagged "do-not-invent" gaps) in each reference file.

Engine mapping (summary)

| Generic block | Unity 6 | UE5 (5.4+) | | --- | --- | --- | | Curve tables | SO from CSV/JSON import; explicit per-level tables for contractual curves | CurveTable + FScalableFloat = Value × Curve[Level] — the Genshin pattern, native in GAS | | Aggregation | hand-rolled pipeline + tests | GAS aggregators (Multiply mods SUM within a channel — the gotcha); custom order via MMC | | Wallet backend | UGS Economy / PlayFab v2 (14-day IdempotencyId) / custom | no first-party economy (PlayFab/Nakama/custom + dedicated server) | | Server logic | Cloud Code (validation lives here, not the client) | dedicated server + database | | Numeric | long minor units | int64; caps below type limits |

Full detail in [transactions.md](./transactions.md) and the reference files.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: Firzus
• Source: Firzus/agent-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.