Should Coins Have Weight Associated With It?

1. This is a game, it's suppose to be fun. If I wanted real life I wouldn't have pledged any money to this GAME.
It's bad enough I have to stop adventuring just to get rid of the junk called loot. And I can't just leave the loot there as this game is so gold-centric I need every piece worth anything to pay the bills. Now y'all want to increase the amount of times I have to go back to town. I don't like wasting so much time and it adds ZERO fun to the game.

Realism is great in reality, but this is a fantasy game not a real life sim. I really don't want to have to make multiple trips to the bank cause what I'm buying from Tim costs so much I have to pay him in allotments.

 

Highly debatable apparently.

First of all.. if you're calling your loot "junk" then why are you even picking it up?

Secondly.. you can't do anything with a number on your GUI. Ergo.. that doesn't add any fun for anyone.

Money as an item.. now what's been talked about so far... minting your own custom coin.. devs have talked about that.. mining gold.. smelting it down.. minting coin.. possibly melting down coin.. I've heard that one too.

Building a treasure horde.. I'd have fun donig that. Various opportunities have already been mentioned that are only possible with physical currency.

In short.. a number on your GUI adds nothing. There literally is no fun added for anyone. It just sits there looking all.. numbery. Phyiscal currency on the other hand adds a lot. You engage it. You interact with it. It has substance and implications. It adds to the game in ways others find fun.

 

A number on my GUI adds nothing. No burden. No inconvenience. No forced interactions.

It's just there when I need it.

I think this is one of those preference things, and nothing anybody says is going to change the minds of people with an opposing view.

 

The op has left out a some for currency to have weight, IMO.

1. Flexibility with multiple currencies - The most valuable thing that inventory-based currency would add is flexibility. You could have any number of currencies, based in different metals with different types of stamps, and you wouldn't need a GUI display designed to list them all, since they'd be listed just like any other inventory items. Then you could easily trade them through the trade screen in the same way, by dragging the currency you want to trade to the trade window from your bag. Out-of-inventory currency as it currently stands would make this all very difficult.
2. More gameplay, less grinding - A dragon's den could be filled with hundreds of thousands of gold coins instead of just hundreds, but the game could only let you pick up a fraction of that. You would of course, then, need to decide whether to pick up more gold, or to pick up other items the dragon had, and decide whether to stuff your pocket with loot or reduce your load to escape as quickly as possible.

 

Almost universally the case for all forum debates. In two years, there has only been one subject for which I have ever seen someone clearly state they had changed their minds because of the debate and still the one guy making the biggest stink absolutely refused to reconsider their position.

I have long since come to the opinion that we debate not for ourselves.. but for those who have not yet firmly made up their minds.

Now me personally, I don't want the devs deciding to do or not do something based solely on a player's sense of convenience. some of us want.. some of us don't want. Fair enough but rarely conclusive. So setting convenience aside.. what are the design implications? What else does a feature bring to the game.. good or bad?

Well I've seen a lot of good points. The challenge I would put forth to anyone who doesn't want currency to have weight... apart from being inconvenient to them. What other negatives are there?

 

Not sure there are any other negatives.

Although calling it "inconvenience" is a little dismissive. For those of us who would prefer weightless gold, it's about the ability to enjoy the game - playability - pure and simple.

Giving gold some weight is not a big deal. Giving gold too much weight can actually detract from a lot of people's enjoyment. I'm not wise enough to know how much it should weight, besides suggesting "not much, if anything".

 

No one is suggesting it should weigh a ton. I think we're all willing to be reasonable on that. But what is the issue here if not a sense of convenience or lack thereof that it would effect one's enjoyment of the game?

 

Also remember; if there's multiple currencies, the weight will only matter as much as items cost in the currency you're getting. If standard equipment is sold in copper, and you're getting silver or gold coins, you won't need to carry that much back to do maintenance, and so the weight won't be overbearing.

 

Well, my answers were not intended to be a debate. We were asked to give our opinion, so I did.

If you are asking, besides the things I don't like about it that you are dismissing, what else do I have, I don't have anything else.

It should be enough that I have stated what I enjoy about gold not having weight, and what doesn't seem like fun to me, if it did have weight.

 

Sorry going to nitpick a little bit here.. since the first thing I think of with "multiple currencies" is guilders vs monatori (sp) vs gold ala Serpent Isle. I like the term multi-denominational currency. Either way though we're talking copper/bronze, silver and gold. Which I would point out is both lorically sound and something Richard has talked about doing before.

They don't actually appear in-game but the minter in Ultima VI describes the coins of the realm which included copper and silver coin.. and also eluding to the fact that being the Avatar you'd only have gold of course.

 

Of course; anything other than gold would be beneath the Avatar.

 

Yeah I was replying there I just ended up using the comments as a springboard. Last part wasn't really directed at you.

 

I guess it's convenience. If by convenience you mean I don't have to spend much time, or any, worrying about gold encumbrance so I can play.

Americans had the Boston Tea Party because they were inconvenienced by the British, in a sense.

I wouldn't call it convenience. I'd call it freedom.

 

Somehow I find that comparison to be a gross over simplification.

 

I think its something that sounds like a major inconvenience, but wouldn't be that big of a deal in the end; especially if its managed right, with multiple denominations, which further lower the burden. But it would add a lot of benefits and flexibility.

There are valid concerns about how encumbrance and weight are handled, but the currency you carry would only be a small portion of your weight carried. You wouldn't be carrying thousands of coins, and not even hundreds with multiple denominations. So, personally, I think if there's a problem with encumbrance it should go back to a discussion about the encumbrance system.

 

The main reason I don't like weight to coins is because I can only think of one game that did that (That I've played anyway). UO. So.. What I didn't like about it is even with max strength, carrying minimal items, I'd be able to carry only like 5,000 gold. So.. that meant I'd recall to the bank, drop off gold. refill reagents, recall back to dungeon, don't loot anything but gold, and repeat 100x to buy a house. It wasn't much fun.

 

Sometimes hyperbole is used to make a valid point.

Point being, what you call convenience, I call freedom.

 

and sometimes it's not.

Freedom does not equal convenience. If it did, we wouldn't have to fight for it.

 

As I have already pointed out:
1. Reduced profitability for village dwellers selling high value crafted items because travellers carry less gold. This can lead to...
2. Migration of rural dwellers to large cities where they can earn more for high value crafted items

So, villages have ever decreasing populations, and those who remain there become increasingly impoverished. Just like real life - only sometimes emulating real life is not a desirable goal.

 

I think naturally higher priced items are going to migrate up the chain of town size. Smaller towns will be excellent places to gather and sell bulk resources. Unless, you make it a point to make smaller towns like a boutique.

Call me crazy but I like some inconvenience. I would trade convenience for more nuances in the game. I find enjoyment in the challenge of working with the game mechanics to create something that might not be there. This is how I view Lord British games, they are not straight forward and simple. They challenge you to think outside of the box.

For some reason I like the idea of people not staying in the woods killing 1000 monsters before they have to take a break and make their way to town.