Hassle or something that could add depth? What do you think about the idea of banks of varying quality / safety or currencies that correspond to different nations? For a space trading game I was thinking about whether it would add depth or be a hassle to have regions within the universe which don't operate under standard currency. These would be foreign empires or backwater worlds where the economy works differently. In these territories (which are the exception, btw, not the rule and not the starting area) your money may be worthless because wealth may be based on some exotic mineral, or possession of strange life forms which you have to find/steal/collect. You don't have to do business with them, but they'd each have at least one unique item unavailable anywhere else. (Example: A population addicted to a drug has come to base their currency around the drug and is the only supplier of a certain weapon system.) These territories might also have banks of varying safety. So you could get fabulously wealthy in a Cayman Islands style colony with loose banking rules, but their unstable political situation might mean the bank could be nationalized. (This could be tied into optional but critical missions where you prevent this). I would add in fluctuating exchange rates and automatic conversion so that you'd know before you got to a location what your money/cargo would be worth. I'm thinking of combining this idea with a larger idea of player driven empire growth, with the upside that if the empire grows (and you help it) your wealth is good in more areas. Thoughts?

If you're going for a hardcore economy simulation, it might be an interesting addition to have different currency markets. However, in the general case this is an area where I don't mind a single currency being used for the sake of simplicity and abstraction.

If you plan on having a dynamic economy that would make perfect sense to do that. Implementing it can be a bit of a hassle since it requires you to keep up with the prices at all of your bases/trading posts. This is exactly along the lines of the economy that I am in the process of implementing into my server/client game. In my case the client has no say-so in the prices or what is bought or sold, they can only do the trading. I implemented it server-side by having a price offset from the base price of the commodity/equipment/artifact that the base either produces or what the players have sold to the base beforehand.

To save yourself a bit of a headache by planning out the areas you want to change the currency type...

Personally I think it's a nice idea.

To be honest money as we know it is worthless. £5 is nothing more than a piece of paper with HMs portrait on. The only reason £5 lets me buy something for £5 is because the shopkeeper values £5 who values it because somebody else values £5 who values it... etc. It could as well be the house of marbles instead of the royal mint who issues "money". I forget the actual country, but I remember reading about a woman who had a wheelbarrow full of money who was going to the shop, but the economy had collapsed to such a point that when she was robbed on the way to the shop they stole the wheelbarrow rather than the money, simply because it was worth more!

If two players have an obscene amount of gold but one wants to buy something from the other, clearly neither is going to value getting more gold as they have so much it is meaningless, but if player A has diamonds which player B wants but can't buy (perhaps the diamond seller doesn't value money), then clearly diamonds have become more valuable than gold to these two players for this transaction.

The only issue with having something like this is if its scripted then you'll have to be very careful otherwise the game economy could well collapse as there could be too much/too little of a resource meaning trading with a region could become far too hard if what they value is next to non-existent in the game or far too easy if what they value has saturated the economy. However if it is a player driven economy (EVE online), then this could work well as values of resources (money, gold, diamonds etc.) would be based on the player(s) actions.

The nation you are most likely referring to is Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is currently undergoing hyperinflation.

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Original post by NewBreed Personally I think it's a nice idea. To be honest money as we know it is worthless. £5 is nothing more than a piece of paper with HMs portrait on. The only reason £5 lets me buy something for £5 is because the shopkeeper values £5 who values it because somebody else values £5 who values it... etc. It could as well be the house of marbles instead of the royal mint who issues "money". I forget the actual country, but I remember reading about a woman who had a wheelbarrow full of money who was going to the shop, but the economy had collapsed to such a point that when she was robbed on the way to the shop they stole the wheelbarrow rather than the money, simply because it was worth more! If two players have an obscene amount of gold but one wants to buy something from the other, clearly neither is going to value getting more gold as they have so much it is meaningless, but if player A has diamonds which player B wants but can't buy (perhaps the diamond seller doesn't value money), then clearly diamonds have become more valuable than gold to these two players for this transaction. The only issue with having something like this is if its scripted then you'll have to be very careful otherwise the game economy could well collapse as there could be too much/too little of a resource meaning trading with a region could become far too hard if what they value is next to non-existent in the game or far too easy if what they value has saturated the economy. However if it is a player driven economy (EVE online), then this could work well as values of resources (money, gold, diamonds etc.) would be based on the player(s) actions.

Currency arbitrage can add a whole new dimension to the market economics of your game. This adds a new layer of complexity, and it presents the possibility that players could find themselves in a position or place where they are unable to engage in commerce (due to a lack of currency - unless there was some type of exchange). If you do not think that sort of situation will inhibit the gameplay, I'd say it could add a lot to the experience.

It's a nice idea. Really nice.

Opens up a whole other avenue of money making / losing.

Imagine there is a war in one sector, say your base sector, and the currency collapses....

Or you go into a sector after a major conflict and buy everything up! :)

Hmm, I'm not so sure. Is this the same as your "Diablo in a tank" game? That portion sounds cool and I'd be interested in that game, but maybe not so much in the intricases of floating currencies. I guess if the game world is big enough that I can avoid the hassle, then it's not so bad (especially if I can still trade for those "unique" items with other people, just missing out on the cheapest prices, perhaps).

Maybe it's just me, but I like the simplicity of a single currency. We didn't all grow up wanting to be economists [wink]

On the other hand, if it's just a matter of "bring me X items of kind Y and I'll give you Z items of kind W" then I could live with that...

Two points about this

If it was used sparingly and for areas of special interest either because they are remote or have unique characteristics in their social system it could be good.

For instance a backwater space station filled with refugees would only be interested in trading in spare parts and supplies. While in high courts and high political areas the currency of choice would be boons and favours. There you could trade a set of lucrative mining rights for a shield emitter used on royal guard ships.

It could also be used to add some humour to the game such as in Fallout 2 where one of the quests rewards with a fortune in bottle caps the now defunct currency of the original game.

If you wanted to incorporate empire growth and decline into the game then each empire should at least have its own currency until one achieve sufficient commercial might to have currency become the primary currency of the game. This would an extra dimension to the player strategic planning when considering inter empire trading and single empire trade. Trading between empires would have to be considered based on not currency market as you might lose money with exchange rate on the trade. Likewise if you trade solely in one empire that is currently in decline you may discover the fortune you have amassed is worth very little in the galaxy at large.

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Original post by dean1012 The nation you are most likely referring to is Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is currently undergoing hyperinflation. Quote: Original post by NewBreed Personally I think it's a nice idea. To be honest money as we know it is worthless. £5 is nothing more than a piece of paper with HMs portrait on. The only reason £5 lets me buy something for £5 is because the shopkeeper values £5 who values it because somebody else values £5 who values it... etc. It could as well be the house of marbles instead of the royal mint who issues "money". I forget the actual country, but I remember reading about a woman who had a wheelbarrow full of money who was going to the shop, but the economy had collapsed to such a point that when she was robbed on the way to the shop they stole the wheelbarrow rather than the money, simply because it was worth more! If two players have an obscene amount of gold but one wants to buy something from the other, clearly neither is going to value getting more gold as they have so much it is meaningless, but if player A has diamonds which player B wants but can't buy (perhaps the diamond seller doesn't value money), then clearly diamonds have become more valuable than gold to these two players for this transaction. The only issue with having something like this is if its scripted then you'll have to be very careful otherwise the game economy could well collapse as there could be too much/too little of a resource meaning trading with a region could become far too hard if what they value is next to non-existent in the game or far too easy if what they value has saturated the economy. However if it is a player driven economy (EVE online), then this could work well as values of resources (money, gold, diamonds etc.) would be based on the player(s) actions.

Or possibly Germany after world war 1, another example is people burning money as it is cheaper than wood!

Slightly more on topic, I think it could work providing the items are bonuses. If think that if you were constantly dealing with this, it would become tiresome. However, if it was for special items, that would be quite cool.

You could add a nice bit of risk/reward in to it as well by making it so that the entire economy could collapse.

For example, maybe make it so that the player can make money by playing the currency. They put money in to the currency, take the drug elsewhere, get loads of people hooked on it, exports on the planet increase, your money becomes worth more. Convert it back to intergalactic currency and reap the profits. Or, the risk, your actions would raise the intention of intergalactic police, who come down hard on the planet for drug trading, the currency collapses with your money in it.