How do you plan on testing the mechanics of the game economy prior to launch?
It seems like in every WEB3 game there is at least one or more developer assumptions that gets disproven, and subsequent rebalancing is needed.
Is there even a reasonable way to test this before going live?
Yes, big things like ingame items and and crafting/professions will go out live in stages after being properly tested, both for bugs and technical issues and also to see how players use them and if they can abuse them.
What if we did the open beta using some junk token like fake-zing that everyone gets X of when joining the beta. Assuming beta will end in a wipe, it might give a chance to try out the economy on the equivalent of a test net.
I haven't thought carefully about all the ramifications, and maybe it would require too much work for the small team. Just brainstorming.
Yeah we definitely plan on that and already have a test token on h-e.