They actually attempted a finite supply of resources. It failed early due to what they'd label hoarding but in effect was saving of resources to combat the unknowns as players learned the world, and also to gather enough gold for a highly coveted castle (and boat, and horse, and armor). Right out of the gate we saw every animal slain and hides harvested leading to vendors out of stock and a sieze up in the economy. The quick fix was to cut the loop and just spawn to a limit in an area and allow for infinite resources and gold. Then the gold dupe bug further killed natural economics. Rare unstackable items like empty jars became status symbols decorating houses.