It is believed that 25-40% of all characters are currently experiencing some form of shopping addiction. The addition of the Market system to Aardwolf gave shoppers yet one more avenue to compulsively spend, bringing shopping addiction rates to an all-time high.

Shopping addictions are complicated and manifest in several ways, from paying drastically over-market value for items of some worth and paying exorbitantly high prices for garbage items to paying considerably fair prices for items in irrational quantities and forgetting the items in one of a stack of bags.

A new product was released among test markets, designed to curb shopping addiction. Customers that purchased the product were contacted with a follow-up survey by the designers. 30% reported that they did not recall purchasing the item, or did not bother to use it. 35% said they were so happy with the product that they purchased one or more duplicates. 15% reported their purchase as a mistake, usually buying the wrong item number from the selling source. Only 10% reported an actual improvement in their spending habits, equal to the 10% that reported no improvement, despite intentional and correct use of the product. The clandestine designers said they were disappointed that while the general response was positive, the effectiveness of the product was grossly inadequate. In a statement released to the press, they reported the product will undergo modifications and improvements for six months and be released in a new test market. Scamlords from all over breathed a collective sigh of relief to know their business is safe through the next fiscal year and, in the same breath, began negotiating black market trading of advanced product samples.