[MUD-Dev] Re: (fwd) Re: Multiple currencies

[Matt Chatterley]

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On Wed, 3 Jun 1998, J C Lawrence wrote:

> From: mwilley at my-dejanews.com
> Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.admin
> Subject: Re: Multiple currencies
> Date: Mon, 01 Jun 1998 22:48:51 GMT
> 
> In article <01bd8d92$c75c52a0$52c7e4cd at morpheus>,
>   "Jeremy" <morpheus_2 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hey, I was toying with the idea of adding more than one type of coin to
> > Circle and would like to hear others views and ideas for implementation.
> 
> We're not even close to Circle, but Dreamshadow has had multiple currencies
> and a simple economic system for years.  In our system the amount of trade
> between currencies and the amount of each currency in the game affects it's
> relative value (according to a set of formulae I don't know, but were taken
> from the original coder's Macro Economics textbook).  To simplify the system,
> all currencies are valued against the Generic Currency Unit, which doesn't
> actually exist as a coin but is the the representation of value 1.  Instead of
> having a value in coins, each object is given a value in GCU, so the price of
> any item in a shop will fluctuate with inflation/deflation.  It also

[Big snipples]

Phew, been a while since I've been able to post.

My dev team's solution for the 'currency' problem was to throw them all
away. We use a 'barter' system, meaning that a 'coin' is a lump of
substance with an actual (and inferred) value. A gold coin weighing twenty
grams might have a value greater or less than 20g of gold in an area where
said coin is recognised as legal tender. Outside these areas, it assumes
its value as a lump of gold.

The idea here is that when a currency is required (for instance, suitable
silver coins for a Rome-like town), it can be added locally, and is
useable globally (recognizable as the currency of this particular town or
region). Any kind of object can also be valued and traded with Shopkeeps
who will accept that type of item (grocers won't be interested in swords,
for example).

Incidentally, one of the nice effects here is that you can 'trade in' old
gear for new gear, and then pay the 'balance' between them in money,
rather than needing to explicitly sell items, get money, buy items, and
pay money.

- -- 
	-Matt Chatterley
	http://user.itl.net/~neddy/
"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.." -John Lennon (Imagine)

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