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How important is Gold?
Balerathon
Member UncommonPosts: 29
So I've been playing MMOs for a long long time (well, since Runscape)... and I recently got to thinking...
How important is Gold to the enjoyment of the game... Is part of the fun struggling for every silver, while having to bankrupt yourself in order to buy the next pot. Or would games be funner if you had all the money you need and could just concentrate on the "important" stuff like Char development, perfecting game play, finding that mat or special item... getting good/great gear ect.
Im really torn between the two... If I had all the money I want/need, early in the game.. would I lose interest in it? What about when you reach mid/high levels and you already have millions and are trading the big bucks... and then start a new char and dump a bunch of cash into that lvl 1 char... so right off the bat you are in top gear always and have a zillion (yes a zillion) pots and can focus on the fun of a new char...
Isnt that the same?
Ideas? Comments? (No flaming please.)
Comments
*CONSPIRICY THEORY* - Maybe the reason why dev's dont want to stop these gold selling buisness's is because they own a few, a good way to make even more money aaa?
It all depends on personal enjoyment.
For myself, I enjoy having to work my way up, to a degree. I don't want to start off esssentially a millionaire, but I also don't want to spend 99% of my play time working for "cash", and I definately don't want to have success handed to me (ie. going off and buying gold)
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Hemingway
Well, I think that one reason for a monetary system from the developers side (point of view) is to give some weight toward the value of merchant items, guild fees, housing, craft items and travel. You want to provide players with a variety of mundane and magic items but you don't want them abused or treated as throwaway items and the same can be said for npc interaction. You give some meaning, however arbitrary, to certain actions.
It also limits the amount of items floating around in that gaming world. The amount provided for backpack space also curtails hoarding.
Money within player to player interaction simply provides an easy way to measure trade. Although in certain games such as DDO money becomes essentially worthless after a while. Unless you are a cleric
(The costs of wands and scrolls can get rather heavy). The massive amounts of money in DDO push the market for rare items to astronomical levels.
The key in my opinion is to have an economy that properly reflects a dynamic player base. One with an ebb and flow - supply and demand based on worldwide money flow. If your player accrued millions it would be interesting if your wealth brought some unwanted attention of the criminal kind....or you were simply taxed if that money wasn't invested in terms of land, buying a local government seat, running a mafia/thieves guild, etc
Although it would also be interesting to have a barter system world.
I think that gold farmers will always find a way however. :P
Yes I'm rambling
If every character is a game like WoW was born with 500 gold the prices in the Auction House would reflect an economy with that kind of buying power. Also, gold sinks are all over most games.
Having a lot of cash doesn't totally turn a game sour for a lot of players. Some players who buy gold experience a "king for a day" feeling. They go around wasting this gold, thus boosting the rest of the economy. This tends to only hurt the economy by boosting prices on items that make them out of the reach of players who actually use these items for first time advancement. But, this also helps some new players who sell easily farmed items for an increased price.
Would you get bored? Perhaps. Would you focus on other aspects of the game? Sure, but many other players focus on other kinds of advancement and make gold along the way. My Priest hit Outland with about 4g. I previously spent all of my gold buying an epic mount, and had to actually quest for the gold to train my tradeskills past 300.
At level 69 in Outland I have 730ish gold. I haven't tried to make any money, nor have I bought any gold from any outside source. Merely questing and leveling have gotten me this far. On a side note, 730g at level 69 is not a high number. People who sell all of the quest rewards they don't need are well near 1k by the time they hit 69. I am busy training enchanting and tailoring, so my money dips significantly each time I level up a skill.
Also, my armor takes anywhere from 1 to 10g to repair every time I stop. This is also uncommon due to the fact that most people are getting hit a lot more, and therefore need repairs more often.
To be perfectly honest I would never want to play a game where I didn't have to get my gold the hard way. Having 700g feels good because I know I earned it. Having my epic mount feels cool because I know what it took (a 30g loan from a friend + my own gold). Stepping into Outland with an epic mount and no money was challenging, but totally worth the time and effort spent.
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
i know im going to be a minority here but, i think that games should focus a bit more on there economy and that money should be equally as important as time invested in game.
most games are focused heavily on combat (which i like), but i also like to play the economy and i think that having money be really important is a good way to keep crafters and investors on even terms with adventurers