I think that it's a great idea as long as you keep it like you said - restricted to off-the-beaten-path sorts of areas, so that players can choose to play that subgame or choose to ignore it.

Quote:

Original post by NewBreed 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!

Ok this will be an answer from someone who's actually studying economics. (4th year)

I'll explain how it works in real life. May be it helps you getting new ideas:

It's important to mention that, as you say, £5 are worth because the shopkeeper values it as worthy.
But that's not the entire truth, and it's unavoidable to explain a bit of history.

In the past, hard-to-find metals (like gold) was worth, not to mention they were very handy. Diamonds are similar to gold, but can't be divided. Half of a diamond worths much less than the half of the entire diamond, so you can see some goods are less viable to become currency. Gold instead can be divided and mantain exactly the same value proportion.
Gold, silver and copper fixed the problems primitive barter had.
Drugs have all the attributions those metal have, but, in my opinion, they have the particular propierty of being abled to be produced and consumed quickly. This could have a huuuughe impact on inflationary effects. Probably such economy system based on drugs as currency wouldn't be any similar to current economic systems found in the reality (you'll understand why if you keep reading).

Later appeared money; which had the same system we currently use (and hasn't changed much since then):
Sheets of papers are print with a number telling how much they were worth. Why people wanted those sheets of papers?? Because someone (at that time, they were feudal lords. Today in the US, the federal bank, in my country Argentina it's the BCRA) backed up that paper with gold (or a similar metal).

This means that the shopkeeper knew if he had that piece of paper, he could go to the feudal Lord and ask for his Gold, in exchange of the paper (which should be destroyed, otherwise monetary inflation appears, as there is more sheets of papers than the feudal lord can actually back up with his gold reserve.)

Money has the same advantages and gold, plus it doesn't weight so much and is easier to carry.

Ultimately, the shopkeeper values those £5 because he values the gold it being backed up from the Country's Reserve, but it's still up to the shopkeeper if he actually thinks gold is worth.
Of course, nowadays you surely won't be able to change your money for gold in the federal reserve, but you can though buy that gold which is the same (except for the simple fact that the one who's selling it may have raised some pounds so he can profit)

Nowadays, inside the country it isn't very important to back up the money with gold in the reserve. But since none is self-supplying country; it's very important for exchange rates and trading how much money each country can back up (though exchange rates are also affected by the offer and demand laws, it's not the only factor)

In real-life, since around 1930 (can't remember the date, or was it after world war II? whatever..) dollars became the main currency which all currencies would be compared to (this was a deliberate convention after all the chaos the world suffered, it didn't happen "just because") and dollars would be backed up by the US with gold.
Many countries use dollars to back up their currencies, while the US is forced to accumulate gold.

If more money is emitted without increasing the back-up, inflation appears. (Though, it's not the only cause of inflation, there are thousands more)

I hope you find this explanation usefull and inspiring
Cheers
Dark Sylinc

Edit: Forgot to mention:
Money has two values:
The one it claims to have (i.e. U$5) which is being backed up
The one it actually worths by it's materials (or other similar stuff).
For example in my country 1 cent pennies were removed when (due to inflation) the materials it was being created with started to worth more than 1 cent. (the real value started to be above the one it claimed to have)

Quote:

Original post by Matias Goldberg In real-life, since around 1930 (can't remember the date, or was it after world war II? whatever..) dollars became the main currency which all currencies would be compared to (this was a deliberate convention after all the chaos the world suffered, it didn't happen "just because") and dollars would be backed up by the US with gold. Many countries use dollars to back up their currencies, while the US is forced to accumulate gold. If more money is emitted without increasing the back-up, inflation appears. (Though, it's not the only cause of inflation, there are thousands more) I hope you find this explanation usefull and inspiring Cheers Dark Sylinc Edit: Forgot to mention: Money has two values: The one it claims to have (i.e. U$5) which is being backed up The one it actually worths by it's materials (or other similar stuff). For example in my country 1 cent pennies were removed when (due to inflation) the materials it was being created with started to worth more than 1 cent. (the real value started to be above the one it claimed to have)

The United States has been off of the gold standard for over thirty years. The USD is strictly a fiat currency now (it has value because we say it has value, that's it). Fiat currencies only mean anything as long as the economy and government of the issuing country are stable.

Quote:

Original post by reykjavik The United States has been off of the gold standard for over thirty years. The USD is strictly a fiat currency now (it has value because we say it has value, that's it). Fiat currencies only mean anything as long as the economy and government of the issuing country are stable.

True. Didn't wanna go there.
Google "end of the Bretton Woods system" for those who are interested.
This doesn't mean money isn't being backed up.

Games with multiple currencies are needed. Any game that deals with more than one civilization, or often cases, even one civilization, should have the option to create new currencies. This is one area that the gaming community has failed drastically on. I'm glad that some people are finally starting to get it!

On another note, the nationalization or centralization of banks really doesn't effect the value of currency itself.

I think it would be fun sending sectors of the universe full of rich snobs into recession.

Quote:

Original post by thekaiz Games with multiple currencies are needed. Any game that deals with more than one civilization, or often cases, even one civilization, should have the option to create new currencies. This is one area that the gaming community has failed drastically on. I'm glad that some people are finally starting to get it!

Sometimes, having multiple currencies in a game might be more of a hassle than a feature.

It is not uncommon to see many countries sharing a currency in real life : the United States can be considered a common currency zone where 50 "countries" (states) share the US Dollar. The Eurozone with the Euro is another one. The world was on the Gold Standard, which collapsed spectacularly but is evocated by some Economists.

From a Game Design point of view the question would be : What does multiple currencies add to your game? What does it take away? (e.g. convenience)

Quote:

Original post by Girsanov Quote: Original post by thekaiz Games with multiple currencies are needed. Any game that deals with more than one civilization, or often cases, even one civilization, should have the option to create new currencies. This is one area that the gaming community has failed drastically on. I'm glad that some people are finally starting to get it! Sometimes, having multiple currencies in a game might be more of a hassle than a feature. It is not uncommon to see many countries sharing a currency in real life : the United States can be considered a common currency zone where 50 "countries" (states) share the US Dollar. The Eurozone with the Euro is another one. The world was on the Gold Standard, which collapsed spectacularly but is evocated by some Economists. From a Game Design point of view the question would be : What does multiple currencies add to your game? What does it take away? (e.g. convenience)

While I agree with thekaiz, I also was thinking something similar. Sometimes simplification is necessary or handy.

Many games, movies and series (mmm... Stargate coming to my mind) the aliens speak english. And sometimes they speak it better than a native american or british [lol]. Though their writting uses unknown, weird symbols.
The truth is that making all living beings on the universe to speak... ummm... english is well, handy.
But some movies managed not to use it and yet stand successful.

It requieres effort and careful thinking.

Quote:

Original post by Girsanov Quote: Original post by thekaiz Games with multiple currencies are needed. Any game that deals with more than one civilization, or often cases, even one civilization, should have the option to create new currencies. This is one area that the gaming community has failed drastically on. I'm glad that some people are finally starting to get it! Sometimes, having multiple currencies in a game might be more of a hassle than a feature. It is not uncommon to see many countries sharing a currency in real life : the United States can be considered a common currency zone where 50 "countries" (states) share the US Dollar. The Eurozone with the Euro is another one. The world was on the Gold Standard, which collapsed spectacularly but is evocated by some Economists. From a Game Design point of view the question would be : What does multiple currencies add to your game? What does it take away? (e.g. convenience)

If you are targeting hardcore strategy gamers... it adds a whole new dimension of strategy, the ability to manipulate, and create. Trust me on this one, they will love it. What does it take away? Those who want simple games, they are not fun to play with anyway, they are the same type that use cheat codes.

Quote:

Original post by thekaiz they are not fun to play with anyway, they are the same type that use cheat codes.

Whoa! Generalize much?