The Six Economic Principles for an Open Metaverse

This is a hypothesis on the core economic tenets of an open metaverse, as a basic outline. This builds on Tony Parisi’s Seven Rules of the Metaverse, and general economic principles. These are generalized high-level principles that are each worth an article of their own.  

It's important to note that my perspective may influence these principles. The concept of 'openness' has been debated for centuries. While I'm not an economist, these principles are based on numerous industry discussions and represent what I believe many will agree upon as key principles.

Open flow of virtual goods and services

An open metaverse would uphold the open flow of virtual goods and services between people and companies. The actual scope of the openness could be limited by the country in which the virtual location operates in, or the rules of the virtual world. Virtual goods could also have exchange rates or fees upon transactions, paid out to creators or companies. However, the core principle is that it can be freely exchanged between users without the arbitration of a central body.

Open travel of users between virtual locations

An open metaverse would allow for users to visit and travel anywhere in the open spatial web. Restrictions may occur within these virtual locations, such as private rooms or fees to enter private areas. Countries may also block certain users from entering particular locations. With these caveats in mind, an open metaverse would uphold the principle of free movement between locations when they wish.

An interoperable conversation system between users

An open metaverse will feature conversation systems that can interact between users seamlessly, regardless of the virtual location they operate in. That does not mean it should be dominated by one system; competitors can occur which offer more stable services or benefits, such as voice modulation. But in principle, there should be at least one system that allows users to converse with one another for free and privately.

Avatars that can be worn in any virtual location

An open metaverse would allow for avatars that can be bought and worn anywhere. There may be fees for transferring the avatar to other users, or perhaps benefits for wearing it in specific locations (such as a custom flare animation). However, the core principle is that an item has interoperable capabilities where it can be worn in most virtual locations where the user may visit.

A hardware-agnostic open metaverse

An open metaverse is not reliant on a single type of hardware, such as computers or virtual reality headsets. Users can access it from a range of options, from mobile phones to high-end PC set-ups. Graphical fidelity may differ between them all, but it largely works to an appropriate level across the board.

Clear regulations and rules

An open metaverse has clear and concise rules that users follow, with regulations that govern how people should act to reduce harm to others. Regulations focus on the wellbeing and protection of users, to ensure that they are protected from private spaces or fraud. The governance of these rules is reliant on the origin countries of the users that interact across the virtual worlds.