Global Currency or Item for Item Barter?

[Tybalt]

Kinslayer, How would you suggest introducing the Currency into the Game?
There will not be any NPCs, that has been established. The only Quests will be Player Made. If you leave currency to be found, it is then pointless.

[Darenkel]

Well... if everything in the game had a fixed value and tribe members were rewarded for adding to the tribe 'stockpile', you could have a fixed currency, with no reason for exponential inflation. The currency system would end up being based completely upon the fixed item values.

Say, you submit a long log to the tribe stockpile, you'd get like... 25 'points' that could be used to buy something from that tribe or another person. This would work even for the traders because they could be part of their own nomadic tribe and have the option of trading in items, for 'points'.

After items are added to the stockpile, other people could buy them from the tribe, for that value.

Or, perhaps make it so the Quartermaster of a tribe, can change the value of an item (from the 'base value') within a certain percentage of the previous 'value', like 5%, once every week or 2.

That way, if there was inflation, it would be gradual enough (and able to keep up with monentary gain) for even newcomers to be able to jump-right-in, as it were.

Also, if the stockpile was limited in some way, like only being able to have so much stuff in it, like a space or weight limit. Then the stuff would have to be used or traded off to someone that can make use of it, in order for something else to be placed in the stockpile. This would make it so that, if people just fed a ton of items into the stockpile, to get the 'points' they would have to figure out what to do with those items, once the stockpile is filled (like buy up some of the items, for the new or original value, whichever is higher, to reduce exploitation).

If anyone wants to hear more about this idea, let me know, and I'll elaborate some more...

[Deacon]

nevermind, others have pretty much said what i was going to...i just needed to read some of the text walls

[Tybalt]

I have been working on figuring out a method for the introduction of a global currency to Xsyon without the use of an NPC, Static Quest lines, or Scavenging. I have yet to discover a method that does not allow outrageous inflation or exploitable hording. Well, other than setting a global value to each item based on quality, damage, rarity. And disallowing value modification. Which defeats the point of free trade or regional resources.

So far every successful attempt that I have made would only work on the Tribal or Alliance scale. All Global models have so far been unsuccessful.
Maybe there is no way to set a Global standard and we will all have to set exchange rates to tribes outside our alliances. Which is where the Global standard becomes exploitable. Bah... Damn it!

If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them. Maybe someone has thought of something I missed. (Very well thought out or discussed ideas only please. I don't need another wording of a method already attempted.)
I need a full scale idea, from introduction to inflation control.

Wurm Online's method is a lot more clear to me now. Even if it is flawed, it is the lesser flawed of the available options. It solved the gold farmers issue and is the most beneficial system for the development team. But it is unfair to the average player.

[Darenkel]

Alright, how's this for a full-scale idea.

A client-side psuedo-value system that would allow the player to download value-sets for the items in the game. Then, be able to alter them as pricing changes. In this way, someone would be able to calculate the 'fairness' of a trade, on-the-fly.

That would be about the size of the whole system... a glorified calculator that draws from an, optionally, downloadable database, that can be used for a purely item-to-item trade system. TADA!

This would probably work, for the most part, at release. Not to mention, it leaves room for development, in the future, into the more advanced forms of commerce.

P.S.- Having previous experience in running a database and some minor scripting (not that macroing crap...) I could even spell out how the database could be constructed and plugged into the client's UI, but I won't right now, due to the semi-boring nature of this sort of thing, to most people...

[KeithStone]

Alright, how's this for a full-scale idea.

A client-side psuedo-value system that would allow the player to download value-sets for the items in the game. Then, be able to alter them as pricing changes. In this way, someone would be able to calculate the 'fairness' of a trade, on-the-fly.

That would be about the size of the whole system... a glorified calculator that draws from an, optionally, downloadable database, that can be used for a purely item-to-item trade system. TADA!

This would probably work, for the most part, at release. Not to mention, it leaves room for development, in the future, into the more advanced forms of commerce.

P.S.- Having previous experience in running a database and some minor scripting (not that macroing crap...) I could even spell out how the database could be constructed and plugged into the client's UI, but I won't right now, due to the semi-boring nature of this sort of thing, to most people...

based on what value?

[Darenkel]

based on what value?

A value that can be determined by players. After all, we have a few months before the game would probably be released, so we could fashion a system that is similar to the value-point system that Tybalt proposed, before, which I think would be a great place to start!

Long Log: 5.00 vp
Short Log: 2.50 vp
Mountain Whitefish: 3.75 vp
Leather: 2.50 vp
Leather scrap: 1.00 vp
Screw: 0.25 vp

and so on.

This system would fully implement supply and demand. And would negate the need for a global standard currency.

Our biggest hurdle will be, figuring out what constitutes a full value-point (probably wouldn't be Leather Scraps, tho), then work from there, on that basis.

[mrcalhou]

I have been working on figuring out a method for the introduction of a global currency to Xsyon without the use of an NPC, Static Quest lines, or Scavenging.

Place a building in newbie starting areas that buys basic resources and animal parts for a set value. There would be no actual NPC in this building, just something like a menu board that the player clicks. The prices could change dynamically based on how many items have been sold per time period. That is, as more bolts are sold to it, the price it buys the bolts for decreases. This would also give players a place to buy basic resources and the price that items are resold could be = (the price unit is bought)(multiplier based on how many are availible that will be greater than 1)(static "tax" that gets removed from the system). The buildings would have an infinite amount of currency that they can distribute.

Explaining this through the lore might be difficult, but I honestly don't think that most people care about the lore. Especially since there are no NPCs and quest lines to tell a story.

Edit: The arguements for this working are that it provides an outlet for currency to be introduced into the game without the players having to have started with currency. It gives the currency value because the currency can be traded in for different [consumable] resources, and players can trade currency around for things that they want. Eventually this currency would get back to the crafters and the crafters could use the currency to buy from the terminals or the players--which ever would give the better deal at the time. Basically crafters will be in competition to offer better prices over the terminal, but so too will the people selling resources.

[Kitsume]

Place a building in newbie starting areas that buys basic resources and animal parts for a set value. There would be no actual NPC in this building, just something like a menu board that the player clicks. The prices could change dynamically based on how many items have been sold per time period. That is, as more bolts are sold to it, the price it buys the bolts for decreases. This would also give players a place to buy basic resources and the price that items are resold could be = (the price unit is bought)(x+1.yz%) where x, y, and z are some variable that the deves feels would be appropriate.

Explaining this through the lore might be difficult, but I honestly don't think that most people care about the lore. Especially since there are no NPCs and quest lines to tell a story.

There are no plans for a newbie island or other location for a new player training area in Xsyon. It is the listed spawn points upon character creation, though the Devs have mentioned that Good tribes may have the option to allow new players to spawn at their Totems.

[mrcalhou]

There are no plans for a newbie island or other location for a new player training area in Xsyon. It is the listed spawn points upon character creation, though the Devs have mentioned that Good tribes may have the option to allow new players to spawn at their Totems.

Well, whatever, it doesn't really matter what it's called. Just put the buildings spread out across the map near where new players spawn and where they are not at all close together.