Economy Thoughts and Questions.

[Pariah]

So in reference to https://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,58678.msg1084244.html#new

I got a peek at a certain vehicle in the game and was like HOLY FUCK is that expensive...

So that got me thinking.  I've had some characters that could literally MINT sids, but always figured it would be unthemely for me to become some commoner with shit loads of sids in a bank account or weighed down by massive chunks of coin.  I think the most I've ever had at one point was like three kay and even then I was feeling a little twing of twankiness about it.

So that got me wonder that if something that's buyable by a prompt like BUY #1 for example and it's that damn expensive am I thinking of wealth incorrectly?

Is it acceptable for commoners to be rolling around with tens of thousands of sid in their bank account or on their person?

I always looked at it like I look at magickers, if I spend every waking moment casting shit in a temple or my apartment, I'm twinking the fuck outta it.  If I play a bynner who does nothing but smack training dummies and has no other goals or desires, I'm twinking the fuck outta it. (My opinions).

But if I can make a logical jump between my view of wealth and what things sell for, I'm thinking I might have been totally wrong to be worried I'm too rich as a commoner when I don't think I've made ten thousand sid in the last twenty character's lifetimes let alone one to be able to buy #1 vehicle.

As we know from other posts, I've been fooled before, when I thought everyone was peeking their mounts to discover that assess -v has an echo.  So maybe I've just been lead incorrectly to the though of wealth in the game world.  But is that the case?

[dumbstruck]

It seems to vary from character to character and player to player what would make sense. For me? The most coin I've ever had at once on a character is 5000 sid, and I've been playing since January 2009 iirc, on and off.

[Patuk]

Armageddon is not the same sorts of society we have on earth - capitalism isn't real, there is no Milton Friedman encouraging a free market, you have no Adam Smith talking about the invisible hand. From tribesmen who can't really lug around all their coin from A to B to nobles who have reputations and fiefs to maintain more than money, the game has currencies that end up being far more important than money. It can be reputation, it can be notoriety, it can be power over armed PCs, it can be anything else.

So - genuinely - don't get too hung up on wealth. It won't really save you if you're in real trouble, it won't let you ruin your enemies if their allies are loyal to more than coin, and in general really, money is just one currency among many in the kind of world we see in Zalanthas.

[Inks]

Armageddon is not the same sorts of society we have on earth - capitalism isn't real, there is no Milton Friedman encouraging a free market, you have no Adam Smith talking about the invisible hand. From tribesmen who can't really lug around all their coin from A to B to nobles who have reputations and fiefs to maintain more than money, the game has currencies that end up being far more important than money. It can be reputation, it can be notoriety, it can be power over armed PCs, it can be anything else.

So - genuinely - don't get too hung up on wealth. It won't really save you if you're in real trouble, it won't let you ruin your enemies if their allies are loyal to more than coin, and in general really, money is just one currency among many in the kind of world we see in Zalanthas.

Just wanted to say this is spot on and also very well written. Kudos.

[Pariah]

I am talking about pure, solid sids here for buying objects from vendors.

I am well aware I could have a million sid in the bank and still not have the power of a noble or well connected player.

I am questioning whether objects that are tens of thousand of sids are an indication of the level of profit I should be amassing.

[Filthy_Grey_Rat]

I am questioning whether objects that are tens of thousand of sids are an indication of the level of profit I should be amassing.

Tens of thousands of sids accumulated with one char is kind of like killing a mekillot with one char. It's happened before, it's not the standard. It's a high peak of some chars. I wouldn't believe a tribal char, or grebber in Red Storm to accumulate this much, ever. I would expect a human trader from one of the cities, on the high end of success, to sometimes have achieved this after IC years.

I hope that fleshes it out a bit more. The vehicle items are not supposed to be inexpensive. They're supposed to be incredibly expensive to commoners, such that most commoners wouldn't ever dream of being able to afford one. The ones that do are outside the average.


Imho, if you reach 10,000 sid in your Nenyuk account, and getting rich isn't a focus of your dwarf, or the only goal of your crazy human, you should try spending money on PCs, paying for services, or employing people.

[Hestia]

These super expensive "things that make more sense for multiple people to occupy at a time" are designed such that multiple people can chip in as a group to purchase these things.

Player clans need goals. Those super expensive things are some goals.  Earn enough as a collective to be able to afford one of these things.
Whether that's a fancy cart, wagon, super deluxe silt skimmer, an actual warehouse with its own shop -

They're things people strive to achieve, for those who enjoy that aspect of the game.

They're not intended for individual people to spam-craft, spam-greb, spam-PK-NPC and pawn the spoils. They're intended to be a group effort. These are things where - if everyone could easily and affordably have them independently, they probably would.

[Pariah]

These super expensive "things that make more sense for multiple people to occupy at a time" are designed such that multiple people can chip in as a group to purchase these things.

Player clans need goals. Those super expensive things are some goals.  Earn enough as a collective to be able to afford one of these things.
Whether that's a fancy cart, wagon, super deluxe silt skimmer, an actual warehouse with its own shop -

They're things people strive to achieve, for those who enjoy that aspect of the game.

They're not intended for individual people to spam-craft, spam-greb, spam-PK-NPC and pawn the spoils. They're intended to be a group effort. These are things where - if everyone could easily and affordably have them independently, they probably would.

Thanks that's sorta what I was thinking it /should/ be, but wasn't certain.  With the low number of players I was like, damn is someone spamming the shit outta sid generation just to buy a skimmer?

The only thing on that list I wish were more accessible are carts.  I think a cart can be useful as fuck to a hunter/grebber type character, but haven't seen a single store in game that provides them.  So I assume they are akin to Wagons, custom coded and super expensive.

[Brokkr]

There is a store that can sell carts, but it needs a PC that is running it that way.

[Pariah]

There is a store that can sell carts, but it needs a PC that is running it that way.

I'll sell the shit out some carts!
(Slapping the top of the cart) Top of the line cart, won't find it anywhere else! (Literally)