Using the minetest game as a base, we can create a real virtual society with economy!

Resource Scarcity:

We must turn off worldedit and any other game that creates an unrealistic scenario of unlimited resources. Instead, natural resources should be limited and scarce. Most of the world is barren desert, icy tundra, or wilderness, with practically no food and very few metals.

We must allow hunger, damage, and death.

Metals are scarce and must be mined by risky and dangerous underground expeditions with little promise of reward.

Needs:

Energy -- replenished by sleeping in a bed inside a house

Hunger -- replenished by processed food

Thirst -- replenished by clean drinking water

Fun -- replenished by purchasing amusements

Aesthetics -- replenished by constructing beautiful buildings and owning valuable possessions

More expensive, more rare items will satisfy needs more quickly.

In order to satisfy needs, items must be consumed. This ensures that resources are quickly depleted and remain scarce.

Division of labour:

Players gain experience points in a specialty with time, which increase their rate of production:

Harvesters: miners, farmers, lumberjacks, diggers, foragers, hunters, fishermen, oil driller

Crafters: bakers, carpenters, paper makers, boat makers, oil refiner, smelter, blacksmith

Professionals: doctors, teachers, soldiers, publishers, technicians, sailors, builder, explorer

An experienced miner can dig 10x more quickly than a novice.

Markets:

Barter with physical blocks. Set up a market where it is easy to escrow items for exchange.

Users will naturally barter for items. The value of an item will be based on its rarity, required labor, and risk. So 1 mese block might trade for 500 wheat. Sellers and buyers can post their offers.

Money:

Gold and mese. Blacksmiths can mint coinage, which are actual items.

Wages:

Paid in coinage, grain, or cattle.

Property:

Allow users to own land and assets. Only the owner is allowed to use a resource. He can rent it to other players or sell the land.

Capital improvements like building a factory, plowing a farm, building irrigation ditches, or planting forests can increase yields by 10x. They should also be very expensive so that it requires great savings in order to build.

Guilds:

Guilds like bakers' guilds and miners' guilds will naturally form.

Politics and Voting:

Admins play the role of government. They should enforce law and order so that terrorists cannot rob and kill everyone.

One player one vote. Players decide on admin policy by voting.