My favorite illustration of this principle. From an account of one of the first MMORPGs: Under the resource system, players could gather raw materials, like or

My favorite illustration of this principle. From an account of one of the first MMORPGs: Under the resource system, players could gather raw materials, like ore, and make them into finished goods, like armor, which, once used, would begin to break down and reënter the pool as raw materials. Players, it turned out, liked to make things—they were turning out hundreds, and even thousands, of swords and shields and gauntlets—but instead of using them, or throwing them out, which would have had the same effect, they hoarded them. One player reportedly had a collection of ten thousand identical shirts. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/05/28/pimps-and-dragons https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/05/28/pimps-and-drag... A collection of ten thousand identical shirts. Yet there are times in my life when I could have certainly appreciated the therapeutic benefit, if not higher purpose, in coming home from the office and spending all evening folding t-shirts in a virtual castle.