Monetary system

[ivenesco]

Hello everyone,

 

What do you think guys, how monetary system in Eternity should look like? Most popular is just gold based, but I find it... ridiculous;

"One beer!!"

"One gold coin, please"

Hm... Quite expensive, isn't it? I'd rather prefer gold / silver / bronze partition. Maybe it isn't very important aspect of a game, but standard gold system just make no sense to me.

[Starwars]

I don't have any ideas for how it should look but I do hope they will have a monetary system going for it. It may not even make a difference in the actual gameplay (though would be lovely if it did, especially if they have a mechanic/option for weighted money), but it just makes sense and is good for for the world-building.

 

I believe Josh has expressed an interest in this (and you have different currencies in NV) so hopefully they'll include it.

[Revan91]

If they add silver and bronze coins good, but if they stay to the gold ones only it's still fine to me.

[nikolokolus]

I like a little bit of variety in currency and frankly, if you have a copper based economy with conversion rates for silver, gold and platinum, it makes it a little easier to justify carrying around wealth and giving coins some weight.

 

If 1000 coppers equal a platinum piece and most exchanges and purchases are handled at the copper level you won't end up with a million coins of whatever in your backpack at the end of the game.

[Leferd]

Dragon Age actually had a pretty good system with gold > silver > copper.

 

That should be a good takeaway for Obsidian from Bio.

[Nonek]

In my old pen and paper campaigns I usually used to go with: 20 copper groats = silver penny, 10 silver pennies = silver mark, 5 silver marks = gold crown.

 

But also every merchant carried a set of weights, which was the calling card of their profession, and could trade in hacksilver or just about any precious metal. For big transactions, gemstones or jewellery were usually purchased. Then again my players were usually as poor as church mice.

[Ieo]

LotRO's system goes like this, automatic: 100 copper > 1000 silver > 1 gold

 

There can be easily four levels, but I wouldn't want more than that; the weight discussion is relevant.

 

Personally, I'd love to see something not based on precious metals.

 

Wood? Precious stone coins?

 

Cowry shells!

[rjshae]

Something simple.

 

Undoubtedly different types of currency exist, but smaller denominations can be integrated into the game by assuming they are used to take care of logistical issues like basic food, drink, clothing repair, haircuts, ointments, and so forth. I don't think the player should need to worry about those details, but perhaps an overview could explain why they aren't part of the game.

[Potemkin]

They also have to explain the relation betweeen magic and the currency. If there is magic, wouldn't a wizard then be able to conjure up as much gold as possible? They have to explain that. And if you can conjure animals and rise skeletons and stuff, how come you can't conjure up your own house with furniture etc. So they have to explain the relation between the existence of magic and currency. Why would a magican need money?

 

They would also have to explore how the existence of money relates to the ingame societies class structure as discussed in this thread. The existence of money would make some people rich and others poor. And the rich would, by being rich, gain power over the poor and this fact makes the society a class society. And where you have class you have conflict (a great theme to be explored in the game). But that's the topic for another thread (this one).

Edited September 29, 2012 by Potemkin

[Bobeck]

Different types of currencies in the game would be great.

I can imagine a situation in which the economic crisis in one region (eg caused by our previous actions ) would cause a sudden depreciation of that currency.

Players who have not noticed the incoming changes would lose most of wealth that way.

 

What annoys me the most, is that the economic aspect of most games is too shallow. After a few hours, I usually end up with lots of cash. That allows me to actually buy any toy I want.

I would like to see that expert mode changes somehow the way a player earns money. It would make the game more harder and fun.

Edited September 29, 2012 by Bobeck

[ravenshrike]

Personally I want diamonds to be worth what they actually are. Which is very little. It would be amusing to me if even the poorest houses had a piece of jewelry with diamonds in it.

[PsychoBlonde]

I think it'd be cool if they made a stab at eliminating the money system altogether. 99% of the "gear" in these games exists for no reason other than to generate minuscule amounts of cash which you accumulate so you can get something decent. So why not just make it that you can turn heaps of mediocre junk into better items directly via crafting or barter? Want a bribe system? Make it so you have to surrender an item of X quality for the bribe.

 

Barring that, I don't care what they decide to call their "money" counter. Gold. Chocolate. Squibbles. Don't care.

[ogrezilla]

Copper Silver Gold systems are familiar and make enough sense that I'm fine with that. The big thing I hope is that we don't get too much of it too quickly.

[LadyCrimson]

I'd like to see some barter trade in the game, so not everything is just dependent on collecting numerical value "coins."

 

"I"d like that new bow."

"500 gold."

"How about 300 gold and these two iron swords?"

"Toss in that bronze shield and you got a deal."

 

...but yes, having at least gold and copper coins, so things might cost 2g 35copper is cool/a nice touch.

[ogrezilla]

I think it'd be cool if they made a stab at eliminating the money system altogether. 99% of the "gear" in these games exists for no reason other than to generate minuscule amounts of cash which you accumulate so you can get something decent. So why not just make it that you can turn heaps of mediocre junk into better items directly via crafting or barter? Want a bribe system? Make it so you have to surrender an item of X quality for the bribe.

 

Barring that, I don't care what they decide to call their "money" counter. Gold. Chocolate. Squibbles. Don't care.

I think an easy solution to this could be to have it so every enemy we kill doesn't drop stuff worth selling. Either have them drop damaged armor that nobody would want to buy (but maybe we can fix with a non-combat skill) or just have merchants have a limit they will buy. Maybe they have limited gold or maybe they just flat out don't want 50 breast plates.

[ogrezilla]

I'd like to see some barter trade in the game, so not everything is just dependent on collecting numerical value "coins."

 

"I"d like that new bow."

"500 gold."

"How about 300 gold and these two iron swords?"

"Toss in that bronze shield and you got a deal."

 

...but yes, having at least gold and copper coins, so things might cost 2g 35copper is cool/a nice touch.

that's basically just the same thing as selling two iron swords and a bronze shield for 200 gold. The game needs to have a numeric system of valuing items even if we can't convert them to that number. But then its just a hassle to carry around too much stuff.

[LadyCrimson]

that's basically just the same thing as selling two iron swords and a bronze shield for 200 gold. The game needs to have a numeric system of valuing items even if we can't convert them to that number. But then its just a hassle to carry around too much stuff.

The original Divine Divinity used a combo of both, if I recall correctly, and I liked that system. The limitation was that the sellers/storekeeps had a VERY limited amount of gold, that didn't replenish very often, so you couldn't just sell them your 20 swords every trip to town and collect all the gold. But you could use items to 'trade' for other items once they ran out of coins to give you.

 

Or something like that. It's been a while, I don't remember exactly.

[Nonek]

Little meta nod, how about small medium and large obsidian or onyx tokens. "First mined on the blasted slopes of the Black Isle, these coins bear runes denoting their value. They are said to be born of the fiery volcanic explosion that devastated that once mighty kingdom."

[RosesandAshes]

I'd like to see a barter system in the game, too. If I've been collecting axes (as I sometimes do) why can't I trade say, ten normal axes and a couple shields for one nice axe? Or give a shopkeeper a weapon that sie doesn't have in stock to get a nice weapon in return? Or, if I want to be mean, trade in a cursed necklace, not tell the shopkeeper that it's cursed, and then giggle as I walk out with a perfectly non-cursed item?

 

Or, to give the system a bit more flexibility, maybe put coin prices next to the number of goods you'd need to trade? (ie. This item costs ten gold or one standard axe).

[hideo kuze]

Dragon Age actually had a pretty good system with gold > silver > copper.

 

That should be a good takeaway for Obsidian from Bio.

 

 

Temple of Elemental Evil (you know from Troika, you know developed by Tim Cain) had this before Dragon Age came to life!

 

And I'm pretty sure some older 90s RPGs had this too.

 

 

Learn 2 RPG before saying "That should be a good takeaway for Obsidian from Bio."

 

But I'll say one thing DA:O did well was the origins prologue.

 

hah! But now that I think about it, Temple of Elemental Evil also did that. Although it was a bit shorter.

Edited September 29, 2012 by hideo kuze

[rjshae]

They also have to explain the relation betweeen magic and the currency. If there is magic, wouldn't a wizard then be able to conjure up as much gold as possible? They have to explain that. And if you can conjure animals and rise skeletons and stuff, how come you can't conjure up your own house with furniture etc. So they have to explain the relation between the existence of magic and currency. Why would a magican need money?

 

Perhaps as a result, coins are made of materials that a wizard is unable to replicate for some reason, such as cold iron, or tapping a coin with cold iron causes it to lose the magical charge. Alternatively, a wizard's guild controls the money supply and guarantees the monetary value through some type of arcane binding.

[Nonek]

Permanency spells in most game systems are very high level and quite expensive/time consuming and without them anything you conjured would disappear at the end of the spells duration, and upon the wizard leaving the area or dying. Also a simple dispel magic could destroy who knows how much wealth, in a single stroke.

[PsychoBlonde]

I think an easy solution to this could be to have it so every enemy we kill doesn't drop stuff worth selling. Either have them drop damaged armor that nobody would want to buy (but maybe we can fix with a non-combat skill) or just have merchants have a limit they will buy. Maybe they have limited gold or maybe they just flat out don't want 50 breast plates.

 

I had an idea a while back for a game with an actual "economy", where different items are worth different amounts in different places and dump-selling a lot of the same item causes the price to drop like a rock and eventually merchants just won't buy any more. Likewise, if you buy a lot of the same item (like, say, healing potions), the price goes up. Over time, the gluts and shortages would tend to even out over the world as trading took place.

[Reddie]

Hm... Quite expensive, isn't it? I'd rather prefer gold / silver / bronze partition. Maybe it isn't very important aspect of a game, but standard gold system just make no sense to me.

 

The value of gold is not a constant, it depends on the availability. So a plausible explanation to abundance of gold in your generic fantasy world would be that in this said world, gold veins are more accessible and/or much more common.

 

However, I would also like there to be denominations, as it adds to my perception of in-game world being more similar to real world and therefore more realistic

[rjshae]

I think an easy solution to this could be to have it so every enemy we kill doesn't drop stuff worth selling. Either have them drop damaged armor that nobody would want to buy (but maybe we can fix with a non-combat skill) or just have merchants have a limit they will buy. Maybe they have limited gold or maybe they just flat out don't want 50 breast plates.

 

I had an idea a while back for a game with an actual "economy", where different items are worth different amounts in different places and dump-selling a lot of the same item causes the price to drop like a rock and eventually merchants just won't buy any more. Likewise, if you buy a lot of the same item (like, say, healing potions), the price goes up. Over time, the gluts and shortages would tend to even out over the world as trading took place.

 

I guess that would depend on how much of a world trading system exists. Medieval economies had a lot of guild-based monopolies and trade would be hampered by road tolls, banditry, and wars. Some nations (like Venice) may have tight control over the trade of certain goods. Bankers could charge prohibitive interest rates that makes borrowing risky. The net effect may make rates vary considerably and produce a market for adventurers to trade in scarce and expensive goods.

 

Speaking of economies, it might be interesting to set up an auction system for high-end magic items. Item holders may engage agents to sell the items, which would be bid for by wealthy clients. This would cause the items available to vary over time, and to range in price depending on who else is interested.