Goblin Squad Member
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Link to previous discussion on same topic: A question to the Devs About In game currency
As this time the in game currency for Pathfinder Online is expected to be called “coin” (with no encumbrance, weight or mass) and will reside in a character account with transactions occurring automatically when sales and purchases are made. This system is easy to control and monitor for Goblinworks so the “faucets and drains” can be tweaked when necessary (i.e. Too much coin in the world? Turn off the faucets and open the drains! Too little? Turn on the faucets and plug the drains!) That’s fine from a developer standpoint, but it is problematic from a player perspective. Even if it is a secondary currency system, please consider allowing the various kingdoms, nations and settlements to mint their own coinage in Pathfinder Online!
The reason this ghost of a previous thread is getting rehashed is the last blog discussing gathering, harvesting, farming, extraction and other elements of resource accumulation and use. The more I think about “coin” being the default currency type in PFO the less I like it (I know, I am not the guy programming the economic system, opening and closing the faucets and drains, etc… but carrying a non-thing really bugs me.)
Throughout history kingdoms, countries and nations have minted their own currencies for various reasons. Some of these reasons include:
-Establishing and maintaining sovereignty
-Controlling one or more metals markets, supply and sources
-Controlling the economy, manipulating markets, increasing trade, and maintaining value of goods
-Maintaining a “national identity”
-Coinage maintains its intrinsic value (the value of the metal(s) used) even if the issuing authority fails
Typical fantasy game coinage includes coppers, silver pieces, gold coins or ingots, and platinum coins. Other items often used as currencies include jewelry made of precious metals and some gemstones. (These last items more often fall into a barter system, but can be used as a currency if their values are standardized.)
It might take a few innovative systems created by the game designers to implement coinage systems (currency systems may or may not be implemented later), but having a system in game allowing precious metals to be mined, transported, refined, minted, stored in treasury and issued when needed by the legal authorities (or counterfeiters).
Entire industries and skill sets could be realized if a Kingdom’s army is sent out to survey mining sites to find a precious metal node (or many nodes!), mine the site, defend the site, caravan the ore to a smelter (or smelt in on site), design the coinage, mint the actual coins, distribute the coinage, and manage the entire system! There are many possibilities and every player Kingdom would have a different set up.
In the event no minting and coinage system is designed by Goblinworks, players will create their own barter system, assigning values to items based on supply and demand, taking away much of the intelligence valued Goblinworks hopes to maintain by using the “coin” system. (Goblinworks would be able to tell what the ins and outs of “coin”, as well as who has what and how much “coin” is idle, but that data would lose its value.)
I want coins jingling in my coin purse! Make it so!
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Goblin Squad Member
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Allow Kingdoms to mint their own currency (2)
Here are some arguments for and, in fairness, against minting physical coinage.
1) If a player has to travel to a another settlement, or any place other than the safety of their own home area, they must carry funds with which to purchase items on the way, after they arrive, while they are there, or on their trip back. Coin purses go way back in time, and the traveler would be carrying the physical coinage or gemstones/jewelry with them in order to conduct business. This would give the world a more “solid” feel (imho) and your inventory check every time you started off, or had any sort of encounter, would include checking your coin purse. You could use the coinage as a straight purchase medium, or trade and barter using the intrinsic value of the metals and the gems/jewelry you carried. Bandits would have a tangible asset to try to steal, and travelers would have a tangible asset to protect. Losing “coin” to bandits seems largely meaningless since it is deducted from an account you don’t even manage (it is managed for you). This is little different than having another deduction from your paycheck…most people scarcely notice that. But having to hand over your coins...that’s a different ball of wax!
2) Kingdoms and settlements could create their own coinage with their own artwork (or choose from a selection of pre-designed coinage styles…and there are many of those). Kingdoms could also change the levels of the metals in the coinage in order to increase or decrease the intrinsic value of each coin. This technique has been used many times over thousands of years for various reasons, but chiefly to stretch their resources in times of economic hardship and a devaluation (think of your coinage being diluted by other non-precious metals). For example, as the intrinsic value of a silver coin goes down (from 90% to 75%) the next minting at 75% lost 1/6th of its value. The coin might look the same, but if that coin were melted down to an ingot it would take 48 of the 75% coins to make an ingot of the same value as 40 of the 90% coins. Many metals would become hard won prizes and kingdoms and settlements would jealously protect their reserves. Independent gatherers would have to range far and wide to find unclaimed resources, making these resources FAR more valuable, and their discovery and exploitation FAR more exciting.
3) Creating a system for a set variety of coinage purities seems like it should not be any more difficult than tracking any other type of in game item. A bit more work, but well worth it in terms of game quality. Also, designing the currency tables, currency art, crafting skills and systems seem doable.
Difficult and rare in an MMO? Surely! Unique? Maybe! Awesome?
! Most definitely!
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Goblin Squad Member
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I would like the idea of coins being physical objects you could carry and store in banks. I do not know if I am sold on being able to mint currency with national identities. I'd kind of prefer the simple copper/silver/gold. If I start getting 25 different stacks of coins to manage, it is going to be a bit of an annoyance.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I am a huge fan of Settlement Script/Currency.
Companies should be able to produce their own Company Script at will, in whatever quantities they wish.
... please allow each guild to create and distribute it's own money in whatever way that guild leadership sees fit, and which can be accepted by any other guild that chooses to accept it.
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Goblin Squad Member
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It is an interesting idea. Not sure how hard it would be to implement it though.
But it could provide some real world type politics into PFO. Such as the standard US$ for world currency that everyone accepts and then some nations, like China, that manipulate their currency.
Not to mention, counterfeit currency.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I am a huge fan of Settlement Script/Currency.
Scrip is a dangerous financial medium....paper is fiat. It is only as good as the word of the issuer. But the US is living off scrip right now in the form of bonds. Scrip has a rich history though, and was used for centuries (and still is...look how the rebels in Syria are paying for their goods...basically IOUs for most of it...or outright piracy).
Companies should be able to produce their own Company Script at will, in whatever quantities they wish.
... please allow each guild to create and distribute it's own money in whatever way that guild leadership sees fit, and which can be accepted by any other guild that chooses to accept it.
I know Ryan wants to use "coin"...but with the rich potential of the mining, crafting and settlement systems it seems waste to not implementing minting of Kingdom coinage. The coins of many kingdoms could well become relics of failed kingdoms within the span of the game!
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Goblin Squad Member
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I do not see currency really happening. Companies will remember who has done them a favor etc, and they may create an item that is effectively a "pay to bearer one favor" promissory note. I think having a multitude of currencies and needing to track which currency trades with which at what rate would create a nightmare on the development end.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Well, all currency will be made of the precious medals...
However, settlement currency might come with settlement discounts. If one has settlement currency, it can be assumed they have either earned it or stole it. Claiming either might be interest RP...depending upon the benefit.
Would be cool 8 years from now to have money from long lost empires.
The only problem I see with this suggestion is that GW has already told us money will not be carried. I will be in a universal bank accessible from anywhere. This actually kind of makes the idea of money moot...it is more a system of credit.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Issues I could see being the most problematic are:
1. If there's only a few icons for currencies, they're all going to feel similar; if there are a whole lot of icons, it might become hard to remember what's actually money.
2. Inventory management could become problematic with copper, silver, and gold pieces from several different nations (much more so if organizations smaller than a nation can mint).
I do however think physical coin, which takes up encumbrance and is an item, is a good thing; it's kind of silly if a bandit who kills you can't take whatever money you had on you. And it's also kind of silly for a person in an MMO to hand you 1 million coins without either character feeling the least bit burdened by what should be 20,000 pounds of metal by CRB standards. Wonder if soulbinding coin would be possible...
In the event no minting and coinage system is designed by Goblinworks, players will create their own barter system, assigning values to items based on supply and demand, taking away much of the intelligence valued Goblinworks hopes to maintain by using the “coin” system. (Goblinworks would be able to tell what the ins and outs of “coin”, as well as who has what and how much “coin” is idle, but that data would lose its value.)
I don't see how resource bartering will reduce GW's 'intelligence opportunities'.
All events, interactions, and transactions go thru their servers, whether using 'coin' or not.
I can't really see how this improves the gameplay in a good ratio to the amount of development time required to implement, test and balance it. Its a cool idea and all but it doesn't really bring much to the table.
For example, lets say you're a travelling murderer who is happily going around garrote and knifing friendly travelers and merchants. You accumulate a decent sized pot of gold but unfortunately find yourself with a dozen different currencies and none of them stack. They can't be melted down neatly either so you're kind of stuck with a handful of useless coins sitting in your bank. Its great for a immersion, but it doesn't really do anything else except create minor annoyances.
Lets also say you are a nice traveler going about your normal trading routines and you head off to a local trade hub to grab some supplies to the tune of say 500 golden coins. The journey is 15 minutes and once you arrive you discover - Alas! You are a handful of coins short, and unfortunately the trader wont take short change, better get back on your horse dear traveler and go grab some more cash cause you're frankly s*$! out of luck!
It would be awesome if we could have this, but i see more problems than solutions in relation to how much immersion and fun it would bring. Having a "transaction Account" for handling player finances is dull, boring and immersion breaking but its a good compromise to some of the headaches I've experienced in some games and I quite welcome this system.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Non-universal currencies degrade meaningful human interaction. You add the interaction of a moneychanger but you lose many transactions due to frustration with price discovery and/or lack of a moneychanger.
Or...make all gold pieces universal gold pieces, who cares whose head is stamped in it. Likewise with all the coin. What it would do it allow things like "preferred coinage" where discounts are given. This preference could be based upon any criterion the service/merchant wants...nation loyalty, promoting a new mercantile empire.
Of course, just because a coinage is universal in theory, does not mean it does not leave open cool RP opportunities. A merchant could refuse to accept a coinage stamped by the enemy of his/her nation, simply as a matter of principal. I could foresee a situation where investigators trying to track or identify an assassin asks a merchant what coinage the suspect used...it could be an identifier...or maybe the assassin knew that.
A metric based upon the amount of a settlement/nation's currency in circulation would be interesting.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Non-universal currencies degrade meaningful human interaction. You add the interaction of a moneychanger but you lose many transactions due to frustration with price discovery and/or lack of a moneychanger.
Ryan, you have done more research on this than I have, but that sounds like the complete opposite of what I think would happen. More people would get involved in the handling of different types of currency and coinage...some would find favor, some would end up languishing in a lockbox (got a jar of pennies squirreled away in your closet?). The quality coins that were high value would continue to be used, and less favored ones shunned. Low value coins would be melted into ingots for reuse.
Players would be able to tell (with the right skills) what currencies were being devalued, showing a weakness in that kingdom/settlement as they try to stretch their economy. Mining nodes and mines would become hot spots where larger battles would occur to control the flow of ore and minerals.
I'm all for interaction, but ISK and coin and other spectral "currencies" floating in air don't seem to create any interactions. It might be tricky to implement but I see that as a big missed opportunity.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I'm not sold on the idea (pun intended).
Breaking realism is a big deal so should only happen a few times for major things but this IS one of those things. The absence of fluidity you would have with different kingdom and even company currency would be such a huge pain to deal with and not fun when it got in the way of bigger plans (almost all of the time).
Not to mention you guys are talking about multiple parties issuing as much currency as they want whenever they feel like. Analogies to the US fiat currency aren't enough to describe the economic sharknado that would create (there wouldn't be a single anchor currency to base others from). You have to get into the laws of thermodynamics how closed systems tend toward entropy to describe the kind of fluctuation and devaluation of currencies that would go on. We'd all be bartering with shells after two weeks and in a month arguing over who gets to hold the conch.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Too many currencies, and it's just a nuisance. And if the currencies are all functionally similar, why not just make them the same thing?
Although I can see that there could be some RP points arising from the differentiation of where the coin was made, I don't think those few opportunities are sufficient for placing in a system that the large majority of players are going to at best ignore, and at worst find a hassle.
As for completely different currencies and exchange rates, etc., that seems like a whole lot of added complexity for GW and the players to keep track of, on top of the rest of the market interactions. I want to be a merchant, but I don't want a requirement for a degree in economics to make sense of the trades I'm doing. Maybe I'm overestimating the added complexity here. :P
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Goblin Squad Member
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You guys keep talking about fiat currencies...doesn't Pathfinder use gp, sp, cp? How are chunks of scarce resources fiat currency? They are by definition...the original definition...money.
An ounce of gold is an ounce of gold...again, no matter whose head is stamped on it.
What does become interesting is when settlements can set bonuses, discounts, or even taxes for using (or not using) specific currencies within their domain or control (again, just denoted as an ounce of gold with different stamps). I can even imagine large regions around a large city utilizing that main cities currency as the primary...or even races adopting a single currency. I could see dwarfs universally adopting the currency used by the major dwarven city for instance...and only using it between each other.
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Goblin Squad Member
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An ounce of gold is an ounce of gold...again, no matter whose head is stamped on it.
Except when a certain person or group insider decides to turn that ounce of gold into 7/10 of gold and 3/10 of maybe nickel. Doesn't seem like much for one coin, but add in 1000s of coins made that way.
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Goblin Squad Member
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An ounce of gold is an ounce of gold...again, no matter whose head is stamped on it.Except when a certain person or group insider decides to turn that ounce of gold into 7/10 of gold and 3/10 of maybe nickel. Doesn't seem like much for one coin, but add in 1000s of coins made that way.
Is that really something that be slipped past a public that has abilities in alchemy, divination, and or other means of magical information gathering?
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Goblin Squad Member
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I would think that there would be resources that end up as commodities. Those could be used as currency of a sort, and areas poor in a resource might require it as part of any trade for the stuff they specialize in.
For example, maybe a settlement with a lot of pasture land is in constant need of lumber, but knows that the lumberjack camp many hexes away really needs wool and mutton. That settlement might decide to only trade with those who have wood for sheep.
What does the (1) in the title signify?
Goblinworks Executive Founder
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Either the coins themselves are interchangeable, and just flavored/colored differently, or they aren't.
If they are, it adds nothing economically and very little to trade, since highly successful traders won't care whose image is on the gold.
If they are different, then it becomes impossible to balance the drains to the faucets. When one group starts with the fiat coinage (using less gold, or less pure gold), the costs of everything in that coin need to adjust to the previous equilibrium.
Note that coin in PFO is not perfectly analogous to currency; coin is intrinsically valuable in that there are things which destroy coin and provide benefits. In addition to being a medium of exchange, coin is consumed in production and maintenance, and there is no substitute.
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Goblin Squad Member
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If some settlement wants to spend one of their premium structure spots to build a mint...to make coin equal to the common currency but named differently, why not let them?
There might be a bit of an issue with a player controlled resource drain/coin faucet if GW is making an effort to manage both the coin supply and inflation rate. If players can turn large amounts of precious metal into large amounts of coin - even accounting for costs and seigneurage - then you have players controlling the tap on a faucet and GW might need to moderate other faucets and drains.
One thing that this idea would require is for coin to be physical and lootable.
This would raise problems because looting gear is one thing, being looted of your coin when you have been saving up for something for a couple of weeks and are now off with your pouch full of gold to buy it would raise howls of protest.
Having said that what I would expect to see is that the big groups with good reputations for being above board would probably set up a banking system where you could deposit coin in there repository in one town and withdraw it in the other thus negating the need to transport gold long distance. While this would be good for those big groups it would have an impact on those smaller settlements that didn't have the trust that they had the ability to keep the gold safe. Remember gold being lootable means that it has to exist in the bank to be looted when a settlement falls.
An unintended consequence would also be that it makes settlement pillaging more attractive for those groups who don't necessarily wish to run a settlement but can get the numbers together to storm a small town
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Goblin Squad Member
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You guys keep talking about fiat currencies...doesn't Pathfinder use gp, sp, cp? How are chunks of scarce resources fiat currency?
Because in the posts above the proposals are for unlimited numbers of groups to print unlimited amounts of currency. No one said anything about made of metals or scrip representing a portion of a stockpile of precious metals; therefore fiat currency.
If the suggestion were a kind of gold standard where the amount of currency issued was limited by size of stockpiles of gold owned by the issuer then a gold piece would be a gold piece and mechanically we'd have... the coin system.
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Goblin Squad Member
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What if nation currency served a diffrent purpose than standard currency? For example the trainers in Mudville only accept that city's currency. Rare equipment types might only be purchased using Mudville slugs. The government of the city would control who has access to their currency and thereby control who has acces to some of their premium goods and services.
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Goblin Squad Member
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You guys keep talking about fiat currencies...doesn't Pathfinder use gp, sp, cp? How are chunks of scarce resources fiat currency?Because in the posts above the proposals are for unlimited numbers of groups to print unlimited amounts of currency. No one said anything about made of metals or scrip representing a portion of a stockpile of precious metals; therefore fiat currency.
If the suggestion were a kind of gold standard where the amount of currency issued was limited by size of stockpiles of gold owned by the issuer then a gold piece would be a gold piece and mechanically we'd have... the coin system.
Only Gold is likely to continuously appear and be destroyed in this world. It is not going to be the same finite resource.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Only Gold is likely to continuously appear and be destroyed in this world. It is not going to be the same finite resource.You guys keep talking about fiat currencies...doesn't Pathfinder use gp, sp, cp? How are chunks of scarce resources fiat currency?Because in the posts above the proposals are for unlimited numbers of groups to print unlimited amounts of currency. No one said anything about made of metals or scrip representing a portion of a stockpile of precious metals; therefore fiat currency.
If the suggestion were a kind of gold standard where the amount of currency issued was limited by size of stockpiles of gold owned by the issuer then a gold piece would be a gold piece and mechanically we'd have... the coin system.
@Proxima Sin, granted, sorry missed the OPs second post. Thanks.
@Lifedragn, Even better, GW knows how much is "in game" synchronically and diachronically...and can adjust as needed.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Let's look at it this way. This is "Pathfinder Online" the key word being "Pathfinder".
In the RPG game, all countries mint gold coins of the same weight and of the same purity metal... for the most part.
This allows countries to trade back and forth. Sure, the coins will have the face of their own ruler, but that's to instill a matter of national pride (and showing them who their boss is) by seeing the face of their own ruler on a majority their coin.
Now... does a merchant care if the gold coins have his ruler's face or another's? Usually not so much. Why should we?
Scrip in a world like Pathfinder is a way of exerting control over your people... it can't be traded freely. It can't be converted easily. In a small community that doesn't have much outside trade? Sure, it doesn't matter.
If it's a world of freedoms like the River Kingdoms, then the people would rebel against being forced into a currency that restrains them as much as scrip would.
I don't think scrip lines up very well with this game at all.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I think all the posters who think various currencies lack "realism" should look out their window as the world. PFO will have different ways to transact business...players have ways of making trade happen, even without a currency. I think this would add a lot to the game. Sure it would add a lot of work for the developers and coders, but if you had a large kingdom most of your citizenry would never have to leave your realm and all business would be transacted inside your borders. Easy.
Once a merchant decided to conduct trade between kingdoms he will have the task of transporting funds, converting funds, dealing with the political fallout of bringing an unfavored currency into a foreign land. (Remember the scene in 300 when Leonidas' wife Gorgo pierces Theron's coin purse and Persian coins with the likeness of Xerxes spill out on the floor? Bad news for Theron.)
Settlement and Kingdoms will create scrip, IOU's, write contracts, make trade deals. That will all happen. Trade will find a way. I believe this would be fun and would add depth. Talk to the players who live in Europe before the Euro. The Euro might make movement commerce easier, but there are huge (some yet unrealized) problems with a central authority making financial decisions for countries that clearly violate other nations' sovereignty. Settlements and kingdoms that wish to be strong and independent will find a way.
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Goblin Squad Member
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V interesting thread. I simply don't possess the knowledge of economics and currency to be able to judge. Though I can say there is something "romantic" about gold-panning assuming gold coin and bullion. Perhaps that's the dwarven fondness for gold speaking.
I'll link an interesting article on the EURO when I get back. What a complete disaster linking such disparate countries.
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Goblin Squad Member
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For what it's worth, my desire for Guild Scrip was not to be used as a general currency, but rather to be used in Trades as a way for the Guild to reward desired behavior and as a way to equitably distribute scarce resources.
Yup. There needs to be a way for settlements, nations, or player factions (above the company level, I think) to award faction points.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Man, now that you mention it there could be all kinds of cool systems built around scrips. For example, having a welfare system that hands out free repairs to needy adventurers in your settlement. :) In this sort of context, I do like the idea of a "currency" that can be created by companies/settlements/nations... Maybe I was just misunderstanding the proposed system from the beginning...
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Goblin Squad Member
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For what it's worth, my desire for Guild Scrip was not to be used as a general currency, but rather to be used in Trades as a way for the Guild to reward desired behavior and as a way to equitably distribute scarce resources.
If it's internal to a CC, settlement, or kingdom, the organization could track that entirely out-of-game even if it's not possible to put custom text on paper within it. Guilds have been doing that with "Dragon Kill Points" and equivalents at least since EQ1, and all they need is a forum and a 'treasurer'.
There's no reason that boss-monster raiding is necessary for such a system. There could be field tourneys, artistic competitions, etc. If there's a way of running a kill counter within a war or escalation cycle, an organization could give a weekly award for their most valuable slayer since the last time the tally was counted. Donating resources and time toward construction projects could be rewarded the same way.|
Goblinworks Executive Founder
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In the vein of DKP as currency, I was led through two references to
Social Norms from Close-Knit Groups to Loose-Knit Groups, an academic paper that I think has relevant details.
One reference deeper leads me to Order without Law How Neighbors Settle Disputes. That sounds relevant as well, but I haven't perused either.
Note that both documents are academically dry, and are not intended to be entertaining or to feed a epiphany addiction.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I'll link an interesting article on the EURO when I get back. What a complete disaster linking such disparate countries.
It's Not That the Euro Will Fail, It's That It Should Fail
The basic arguments about whether countries should have a monetary union were laid out by Robert Mundel back in the 1960s. The whole field is the study of optimum currency areas. The above chart is drawing on the insights of that study and attempting to measure the relative sensibleness of different possibly monetary unions.
As Cembalest has said via email:
The best way I know of to compare countries is via the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report. This compilation rates 142 countries on over 100 factors related to labor and goods market efficiency; government institutions (property rights, corruption); macroeconomic soundness (debt, deficits); health and education; business sophistication (local supplier quality/quantity); and capacity for innovation (quality of scientific research institutions, R&D spend, patent grants).So that’s what’s being measured. How similar are the various countries and how similar, and thus amenable to monetary union, are other collections of countries?
The Eurozone is less suitable as a single currency than the Ottoman Empire of 1800. Don’t forget, that would put Greece in monetary union with Tunisia, Israel and Saudi Arabia. No wonder we’re having problems as Greece is instead in a monetary union with Germany.
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Goblin Squad Member
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A Settlement might actively 'refuse' the use of Currency in trading if the situation warrants.
Gold is worthless if it's all everyone has, and your pantry is empty, after all.
If 'Currency' is a controlled market, which I sincerely hope it remains to avoid the spiraling b*@&#~@$ we find in WoW and other MMOs where it can be gathered repeatedly and endlessly, then if players desire more wealth than the current level of 'Currency' in the game will allow, they will turn to a universally accepted substitute to compensate.
And what's a universally accepted substitute? Precious metals. With small amounts of fluctuation, Ingots of Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mithril and even Adamantite could easily become worth two or even three times their normal weight in 'Currency' in an environment where Coin is limited but material items are considerably less so.
Alternative resources might also end up being used as a form of 'Barter Currency', but Metal, given it's universal appeal and resistance to rot and decay, is uniquely suited to the task.
Alternative 'Barter Currencies' could be:
Gems: Small, light-weight and valuable. Shares similar properties to Metal in that it will not rot or decay.
Wood: While large and cumbersome, it will always be in demand. The creation and up-keep of structures and weapons ensure that while not as popular as Metal, it will always be needed.
Food: Much like wood, however Food appeals to a different angle. It keeps the Development Indexes ticking over and is a staple and easily accepted form of 'Barter Currency'.
Labour: A much more nebulous 'trade', doing X amount of actions for Y amount of goods, but if Currency is either in short supply or not an option for either party, the prospect of a character plying their skills in return for Trade Goods or a favour in the future is also a possibility.
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Goblin Squad Member
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If this were a game where the point is a lot of raiding and killing of dragons to get limited amounts of high quality gear, then the ability for guilds to create a scrip for internal use might have be useful instead of tracking something like DKP externally.
However, this is a game whose purpose is to generate as much trade interaction as possible between all players in the game. Scrip creates a barrier for efficient trade back and forth by segregating the market.
Scrip also adds a currency market that could easily fail whenever a kingdom/settlement is conquered (or if the group of players that issued it goes inactive).
Again, neat concept, but I think it would cause issues for what GW is trying to do with the game.
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Goblin Squad Member
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One place where settlement scrip or faction points could be useful is in construction. Settlements will build one structure at a time, and they'll take lots of materials, and lots of labor. If the settlement has a way to track such contributions with ious (scrip or faction points), then they might be able to build faster than if they had to pay for all of that labor and material with coin.
edit to add: Settlements will track such contributions. It might as well be in game as out of game.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Scrip also adds a currency market that could easily fail whenever a kingdom/settlement is conquered (or if the group of players that issued it goes inactive).
That is one of the weaknesses of scrip; in turn some scrip, especially when used by a weak country, is not equal to face value, or the job costs more than normal because of the risk the receiving party takes by accepting a weak currency. Same mechanic as a bond issue, the greater the risk of default, the higher the interest rate the issuer must pay to attract buyers.
Scrip creates a barrier for efficient trade back and forth by segregating the market.
There will be cases where a group that can issue scrip will want to limit the market. The Company Store is an example of a scrip system, some worked, most were very abusive to the "customers" (who really became slaves to a greedy owner/operator who paid in scrip and charged outrageous prices for goods, like a mining pick for $1,000. It was a trap, but it worked as long as Johnny Law didn't find out.)
...it would cause issues for what GW is trying to do with the game.
Once the game is released to the general population, GW will lose control of many of the things they were hoping to carefully balance prior to OE. Watch the population of any game. The bots, hackers and scammers find the weaknesses immediately through experimentation. IT happens every time and Ryan will be expecting that. He has said so. There are some tools developers can use to fight that, or thwart them. But it is an uphill battle.
Many other gamers will find exploits and squeeze them dry. GW2 had a pricing flaw for some of their special gear...it was priced at 1% of the correct value, and was a tradable/sellable item. Players who bought one or two were spared, but players who bought 100 or 1000 of the same item to become rich were banned, even though it was a flaw in the code. C'est la vie.
The final group of games are the ones that push the limits without actually trying to find an exploit. I am one of those gamers. I'll explore all the way around the edge of the map to see how far I can get, try to jump injumpable jumps, and climb unclimbable hills. It's just fun to see what sort of mischief I can get into to without violating the rules. (There are limits to what is allowed even there, and if you stray too far you'll get the banhammer.)
Scrip, barter, handshake deals and IOUs are all part of an alternative marketplace. IF there are tools in place that can assist players in using those systems there will be fewer opportunities for scammers (the contract system, for example). Large settlements or kingdoms will all run a barter house in one form or another. Get a good markup when there is little current market for particular goods and you will have a thriving enterprise. It takes a larger operation for that to work, but some will make that a successful option.
I am just hoping to see some of these tools in place during the first couple of years.