Currency Type?

Yea, exactly. This is why I'm always opposed to over-conveniencing the player and always support realism -- even with all its burdens. The inconveniences are potential challenges; they could be, at least, if the game were designed well enough. Once you remove the inconveniences, you remove the potential challenges, and then the game becomes streamlined into something that's very simple, and only about a few things, like crafting, fighting, and looting. And that always takes the heart out of the game -- at least, in my opinion.

 

I am sure that there will be some sort of a bank system as all games have one. I say that's the fix. Unlimited gold space in the bank, while limiting how much you will be able to carry on yourself. This will still leave the challenge of the hunt, picking between gold and an item out in the wilderness, and fixes the problem with how much money a homeless person can have .

 

The only problem with the idea of limiting the amount of money you can have on hand outside of storage is that you then limit the player economy. Nobody buying an item for another player is going to want to go withdraw their max amount, make payment #1, return to the bank, make another withdraw, make payment #2, rise and repeat, hoping that the player you're giving money to doesn't run off just before the end leaving you broke and itemless. So say the game had a limit of 10,000 currency (gold, gems, cow chips, whatever). You automatically impose an artificial limit on the economy that no item can sell for more than that.

 

In UO, at least the version I played with, you could create a check at the bank for a certain amount; which had its limitations, too. But in theory, though, they could allow the player in any transaction to create a promissory note for the other player for a specific amount. The simplest way they could do that would be automatically --- so you would just have access to all your bank cash when doing a transaction -- and the transaction would happen right away, with the gold instantly transferred from your bank account to the other player. Or, they could make it a bit more fun: with the player still needing to get to the bank to complete the transaction, and giving you the opportunity to send hire thugs after him to stop the cash-out.

Personally, though, I hope there aren't many players around with hundreds of thousands of gold in their account. Like I said, my preference is it should be hard work to gain wealth.

 

Whatever currency system is implemented, we can't have it be too complex.

Precious metals have always maintained some sort of value for most of history, so that's the strongest basis for doing it now.

Platinum, Gold, Silver, Copper. (In descending order of value) The KISS principle. (Keep it Simple, Sam)

 

Currency is such a difficult topic. Not only does it need to be easy to figure out (thus gold, silver copper etc as we all know that). It does need to have value and power ingame or players start trading in items rather then currency. Think of how items had a 'SoJ' value in Diablo2. Most annoying thing to deal with ever.

 

as redfish said, checks are an easy fix to this problem. and what happens if you max out every check and all the item slots because its the launch of the game and you have that much money? then use item values and trade items just like we did back in UO when items were worth more than 125mill or 150mill... whatever the max was...

the only thing that I don't like about this system is that if you can create gold from ore then it creates the condition for mass exploits. people will just leave their miner afk macroing (someone always finds a way) and creates 5k gold or some arbitrary amount in a set amount of time. which will be even further exploited when we realize that people can just slide into single player online and never get PK'd or even questioned.

 

Bank.

 

I personally support gold weight for the reasons people have listed. Easy workarounds include the check system, but personally I always liked the idea of high valued precious gems that hold a much higher gold value to weight ratio as the way of trading larger sums of money. Keeps it real, but still keeps a fantasy feel that seems slightly lacking when I can just break out a check book.

Personally my only real concern is the ability to amass wealth in a static environment. Basically what Ice Shenron was saying. If you can go single player and amass wealth, then you can potentially screw up the economy. I know that when I played UO that was not a real option because of open pvp. A macroing miner was begging to be killed within minutes. Heck I remember people setting up mining parties so that they could defend themselves from the random pk while gathering. I also remember dressing up like a miner (had 0.0 mining) and waiting for pk groups to show up so I could "say hi" .

I really do hope that the things I loved about UO are not removed in an effort to cater to the more modern gamer who expects there never to be loss, or failure, or tough choices. The idea of being presented with too much loot at the end of a dungeon crawl to take it all should be amazing.... you actually got that much loot! People should have the freedom to interact with each other as they choose. In many ways UO was one of the most polite communities out in the world because if you really annoyed some one there was a good chance they would just slap you around. It led to many interesting interactions and aspects that I enjoyed personally.

 

When I said gold, I only mean that I want there to be gold coins in game, regardless of the monetary assets being something else, I still want my pot o' gold..

In regards to actual currencies that could be used in-game. If the player is to buy clothing or cosmetic items from the Online Store then by all means use some sort of stored currency system to do so, but in that image the name and design doesn't really matter as long as the currency works.

However, In-game currencies should be immersive, yes, immersive. Just like someone said in an earlier post, (I would quote it but not sure who it was), spiders should have spider silk, or some spider legs/sacks/eyes etc. instead of gold coins as loot. This loot could be traded for an actual currency. BUT I also think it would be fun to not have ANY currency, and force the player base to find their own form of currencies. A trade system where players and npcs trade actual pelts/random artifacts, for sets of armor/swords.

I can see it now. Pay 200 real U.S. Dollars, or any other real world currency, for 2 million worth of in-game currency in the online store..... It would make total sense to make the currency unusable because the player base and npcs only accept broken off limbs of beasts or only accept what supplies they are missing or short of that day. :/

Anyways. What would be REALLY neat is use the ore scale for cash coins, like shadow coins, valerite coins, gold coins, iron coins, etc. <--- THIS lol

 

While I like the simplicity of a single unit of currency e.g. Gold Piece, having multiple units such as gold, silver, bronze etc gives a bit more flexibility to the whole economy. If the cheapest thing in the game is a gold piece then everything else scales up from there.

I like the idea that becoming very wealthy is difficult as it is in life. But having a few coppers for a watery beer at the end of an adventure shouldn't be a problem

Coins having weight and taking up space also has potential to add fun game play elements.
After defeating most enemies you might scrounge a few coins from them but if you and your companions manage to slay some emense enemy such as a dragon and there are piles of gold and loot lying about you'd all be running about madly searching the piles for the most valuable gems and items...discarding the less valuable pieces as you find better ones. Depending how many survive the battle you might even have to make multiple trips to carry it all to a bank risking bandits etc...It would also make owning or renting horses/carts etc something worthwhile and potentially guards to escort them.

 

I agree with you, but only if they don't give us alternatives, like letters of credit and the like.

 

Using gold, silver, copper have been around long before WoW. But I get your point.

Love the idea of regional currency! I agree.

For me, I think it makes things interesting and could also isolate economic troubles one area. Would be easier to track someone using an exploit too I would imagine. Not to meantion currency trading which I enjoy doing... dont tell anyone.

 

With much respect to everyone's points of view, I don't think that regional currency should make its way into the game unless it's for transactions outside the game. The only regional currency I would like to see is different currencies for different cities within the game. NOT to be confused with yen, or dinero, or the euro, or the US dollar. These currencies should be unique to the location or city within. Such as some sort of Deceit coins, or New Britannian Chits, or New Trinsic coins. Please do not allow real world currencies to be distributed within the game. The level of immersion would be nill at that point.

 

I'd be down with different currencies if there was a legitimate split of the regions--a civil war or other such large-scale event.

 

I would say that the gold piece is an appropriate measurement, however there are things that need to be done in higher or lower values.

Lower value that a gold piece, say a silver piece, is ideal for tipping, purchasing a meal, etc. This is the game's "pocket change", if you will, worth up to the gold mark.

If a transaction needs a higher value than say 100 coins, then an ingot can be used. These must be specially weighted to make sure of their value, so are useful for merchant trade. This tends to be the used currency in business-to-busienss transactions. Silver ingots could also be used, but would eight more and be worth less.

For very large purchases, such as a sailing ship or large home, a bank deed could be used to exchange at a moneychanger for a number of gold ingots.

As far as the naming of the coinage, these should definately have favour and story. A single gold coin may be a Farthing, called because when they were first issued after the Cataclysm they were worth no more than their weight beyond the sight of Lord British's castle. A silver coin may be a Bit, so called because they were worth the same as one eighth of a gold coin, which are still octagonal but no longer bear the score marks where they could be broken into triangular wedges for denomination. So and and so on; Richard and Tracy can come up with the exact details.

 

No, don't ruin the economy by selling it for real currency. Have auto bans on people who try this including those asian gold sellers.

 

I think he means a mock up of the coin to put on his dresser..not real in-game currency

 

Do any of you remember the three regional currencies of U7:2? That very simple aspect was actually one of my favourite parts of the game. I loved being able to walk around filthy stinking rich... except that I was loaded down in coins of one town's currency, which were completely worthless in the town I was actually in! (And no, that's not meant ironically. I actually did enjoy this.)

From an immersion point of view, I would love this here for two reasons. Firstly, the idea of universally interlinked banks, where you can deposit physical items and coins in one place and take them out in another, whilst a staple of MMOs, is just silly in a game where magic is not so universal as to be indistinguishable from technology (gotta love Pratchett's Corollary). Having to go back to the town where I deposited my money in order to pick it up, or forcing someone else to go there to redeem the letter of credit they just got, well, there's immersion opportunities there for you! Consider the economic impact of a merchant having to hire guards to get him from city A to city B in order to actually turn the letter of credit that was just used to buy his cartfull of wood planks into cash, for example.

Secondly, and more germaine to this specific topic, is the fact that multiple currency systems allows for players to insert themselves into the moneychanging business. Got a bunch of Crowns you can't spend? Need the Guilders that are the local currency? Well, I just happen to have a bunch of Guilders you could trade me those worthless Crowns for. Of course, I'm going to have to charge you a little fee....

 

ITs been mentioned in other threads also. and i think while it has some good fondation ideas, i know that for me personally.. it would just be a headache to deal with it.

for a single player game like U7, cool. yor going to play that game 40, 80 hours, etc.. then your done.

for a game in which your going to be playing for years, having to always be worrying about currency types just would become a labor. Sort of like one of the theories on the overland map... when im playing LOTRO and I need to go from thorins hall to Rivendell.. sure, if i go by foot and mount, the scenery and trip is fun the first time..maybe the second..after a while? wow, thats painfull!!! (hence why you have swift travel, hunter ports, travel maps, etc)..

i think multiple currencys fall under the same concept. yeah, its kinda neat to mess with it a little bit.. but after a while? please.. give me a magical currency exchange machine because im tired of messing with it. not apples to apples, but i think the concept translates from one to the other well.

just my opinon though, others might find that cool over time. I wouldnt cry about it, i think id just find it annyoingon occasion.. and id try to find a way to may currency exchange profitable for me somehow

Id like to stick witha standard copper, silver, gold system. People can relate to it. New players coming into the game at laters dates will relate to it and not be intimidated by it, etc. I would like to see that go a step father though and take a page from D&D..copper, silver, gold, plaitnum, electrum. And lets not forget bank drafts . Bank drafts make sense to the setting to me, it certainlly makes more sense when doing large transactions (easy mechanics, without breaking immersion), and lets face it, they can be a bit fun in some ways!

Whatd be cool? is if you have a family crest, they show up on the bottom corner of your bank drafts... its the little things.