Economies

[Gwain]

Alot of the posted comments and ideas need to be read carefully to understand their context. For example, my post was directed at older players, not younger. Most of the changes and ideas I've suggested in my last post were directed at them. I'd like to think that younger players will be able to use the current economic conditions over time to make a sizable income. Over time being the word, as in longer than a month, but less than a year. I hold in my being that new player characters have lots of quests, tasks and places to find employ, that if you follow a regular regiment you can become quite well off by the time you are not so new to playing the mud.

[Horace]

I didn't mean to seem aloof after my posts, I was just away from computer for a couple days at work. I'll post the suggestion to the game suggestions thread.


What it basically comes down to for me, is that I don't know a single person who enjoys not being able to sell the worthless (read: things other PC's would never want to buy) things they acquire. On the other hand, everyone I speak to regularly about FK dislikes the cap. To my demographic and the demographics of the friends I've made because of my stay on FK, it's 100% absolute that everyone would rather there be no cap.

I'm not saying that it's the perfect system, and the suggestions Gwain made, while in my opinion more geared to his playing style, could work out very well on the whole. I'm just saying that removing the cap is easy, fast, and without any repercussions if it somehow makes everything worse.

One thing I can foresee, and I believe it to be something that would spur an issue of a similar nature - without a cap PC's will have reliable income. With reliable income comes confidence in purchasing. People will stock up on components, player run stores will run out much more quickly. I think the shift from removing the idea of a player supported economy (i include components in this) to a player supplemented economy. We just don't have the playerbase to do something like a player economy. But we do have the playerbase to allow dedicated players to stock 1 or 2 "rare" (in fk terms) components to compliment IMM stocked infinity component stores.

Waterdeep doesn't run out of components. Ever. Of any components. 50 players can't purchase enough of anything to affect the price of any good of any availability in a city the size of Waterdeep - and the canon IC issue isn't my main point. My main point is that component cost is exponentially more costly in FK than it was intended to be in written DnD...maybe in Dark Sun it's on par, but certainly not Faerun. Forgotten Realms is about the highest magic setting you can find.

Players who do take the time to amass fortunes like Gwain suggested, or make the investment of actively just trying to earn gold like Taerom suggested, equally shouldn't be pressured to conform to the other's way. One way is not better than the other. It's just two ways that meet the same end, and both enjoy the way they personally choose to pursue it. Being lectured at on how to play your character was something I'm very pleased doesn't exist anymore.

If you already enjoy the economy the way it is, it won't effect your playing style at all if the cap is removed.