[MUD-Dev] Re: MUD-Dev Digest, Vol 11, Issue 19

[Threshold RPG]

On 20 Apr 2004, at 14:32, Chanur Silvarian wrote:

> If, in a game economy, you did not distribute minted coin but left
> it to the players to determine the trade value of goods vs. goods
> then inflation would be self-governing.  As more swords come into
> the market the value of a particular sword may decrease and as
> more gauntlets come into the market the value of a particular pair
> of gauntlets may also decrease but the sword would still hold the
> same value compared to the gauntlets.  So, a trade of the sword
> for the gauntlets would still be of the same value even after the
> market changed.

I believe this would be absolutely disasterous. This would inject
such an enormous amount of complexity into trade that most players
would find the concept of "purchasing" items from other players to
be unpalatable.

Players who love the concept of trade for its own sake might love
it, but unless you create a game simply to highlight this you will
have more angry people than happy people.

There is a reason why barter economies get replaced by currency
based ones: currency is incredibly efficient and helpful to
commerce.

Removing currency/coins would, imho, add an enormous amount of
tedium to the game without adding much (if any) benefit.

Again, this all assumes you are making a game that is designed to be
about more than just trade. In a game like A Tale in the Desert,
currency is not as important since the game really IS about the
various products you create.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Hartman, J.D. (http://www.threshold-rpg.com)
President & CEO, Threshold Virtual Environments, Inc.
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