Barter System... pwitty pweeze?

[draft1983]

yes gimmie- and seeing as a gem worth 20g is in actual fact just 20g to me - add weight to gold too :DDDDDD

[Loranc]

Early renaissance era, we talking black death time period here? And what the heck is with that poll? If we don't agree with you we're boring and have no thought process of our own? We're just a bunch of mindless idiots or something? I have always liked the money system, I don't see how that makes me boring or that it should make my opinion inconsequential.

[draft1983]

money system is fine, but why not throw in a gem to sweeten the deal... people still do such things now.

[Ashram]

Combining both, and the ability to haggle seems to be the way to go. It could help represent a variety of societies, from those that are very "civilized" to those that are more traditional.

[JediMB]

With a mixed system, it would be cool if your items were worth a little bit more when traded than they'd be if you simply sold them for currency.

 

That's usually how "trade-ins" and such work in real life, since merchants always buy low and sell high, and benefit from getting more merchandise to sell to other customers.

 

That said, there should of course be limits for what any given merchant considers useful merchandise. You're not likely to see a jeweler accepting your attempt to trade in a pair of old boots.

[Buzzn Frogg]

"The Fall: Last Days of Gaia" had a pure bartering system. It worked by having assigned a value to every item, like in a normal currency system. But these were hidden (before a later patch), so you had to figure out for yourself how much it was worth. It was complicated by having the merchants not looking for the exact value, but having a bit of a price span. They also gave you vague hints, like "This is a good deal for me" or "Do you want to ruin me?".

While so the bartering was kind of a fun minigame in itself, the big problem was, that you were always running around with a lot of items in your inventory, because the merchant didn't have anything interesting to barter with and you couldn't just sell them for money.

So, I believe a monetary system is superior in almost every way. But a bartering system could be interesting to spice things up in specific circumstances. Or it could be a supplementary system like in Fallout.

[wormix]

I'd advise you to take the "boring" bit of the poll as a well-meaning misplaced joke...

 

I'd assume that what the OP (and most people) think of as a barter system, is where vendors don't have infinite amounts of gold (or whatever the currency is) and that gold isn't accepted everywhere. For the places where it's not accepted, it still uses the same 'values' so trading still works. Each 'region' could even have its own value multipliers for different item categories reflecting their demand, although this is getting a bit complicated.

 

There's something else to consider, which is whether the game tells you how much an item is worth. My personal belief is either the game should tell you outright (every adventurer knows the worth of a +2 sword or the sword of poking), or there should be a skill to estimate it (could be combined/paired with a trade/barter skill).

[Adhin]

The store should just be setup like FO3/NV is. It makes it simple. Instead of having seperate menus for buying and selling or having to do them seperate, you get a single window. The window lets you put up what you want for sale, what you want to buy, put up an 'offer' (raise or lower the base price it gives you), have part of that based off a barter or some social skill... presto. You have an actual, realistic, barter system that's existed for thousands of years.

 

I know folks think of barter as '3 sheep for blah blah' but, ultimately, majority of civilizations 'had' a currency and did bartering around that or in combination. That, and bartering is just discussing and coming to terms on a payment, that can be a currency or some other object. Lotta smaller business (like custom buildin' or pawn shops) still often do that kind of 'trading'.

 

So I voted for both as well, should be a single menu like FO3, allow us to adjust the bid and see if they'll take it. That can also factor into any kinda disposition they have with NPC liking you or not. Or a town liking you or not, or whatever. Could earn a reputation as being a crude business man for always getting the most out of a deal or otherway around and folks just like ya for constantly selling stuff for cheap. Either way making it a tag stuff to sell, and buy and having that be a +/- thing for what you get out, weather your paying some extra or they are. It's a good system, and hopefully is kept for PE.

 

-edit-

As a side note, the only example you have that you can really argue against 'not' using the countries 'currency' would be tribes. And Tribes living that close to mass civilization would probably take coins in trade but not at the values you would expect. Ultimately while they wouldn't be as useful to there sociaty, it would make it easier for them 'to' trade with the larger civilization around them. And, ultimately, they could just work in a trade thing just for tribes at that point.

 

In either case a rogue clan/faction or tribes are smaller more situational things. No major civilization has been run with out some kind of currency, and a lot of tribes where known to have rather simple makeshift ones (like beads or certain pebbles).

 

Seriouslly though 'clans' and factions? Ehh yes, they'd use the countries currency. Clan is just a large family, faction is a damn faction living with in that country, they're part of the overall political stuff... the idea they would, somehow, not use that just seems mildly absurd. Unless, of course, they're some crazed rogue faction out somewhere acting like some cult. In which case they may have there own, internal currency, but would still need that countries currency for outside resource gathering (unless they're the 'pillage 100% of the time' kind).

Edited September 30, 2012 by Adhin

[vv221]

Remember the Morrowind's system ?

By having an unique window for buying and selling, you can trade goods and use gold only to fill the gap between goods sold/bought.

 

Whoops, Adhin just described it better !

[Rosveen]

Mixed - Fallout style. Add haggling and you have the perfect system.

 

However, it would be interesting if several currencies were included - depending on a region, or rather kingdom - and if you traveled abroad, you had to either exchange your money (bank mechanics? maybe deposits too?) or rely solely on barter.

Edited September 30, 2012 by Rosveen

[beerflavour]

I only remember a 20 year old game where they had barter trade and no money, But then it was a strategy game set in a post-apocalyptic world.

 

My choice is "both", since you can't exclude barter trade if you travel an "uncivilised" region. But then currencies don't always come as metal coins or coloured paper. Cigarettes, shells, stone discs, etc. come to mind.

[moridin84]

Hyperspeed had a bartering system, it was quite fun. In Hyperspeed trading was a huge part of the game. And you had infinite amounts of space.

 

I don't think it's a good idea for a RPG like this, where you end up acquiring large numbers of useless items which you sell to get better ones.