Questions, economy included

Comments

• RPGnub Member Posts: 96

  January 2007

  I'll try explaining this one.
  
  
  
  Basically FoM's economy system is (like the rest of the game) entirely run by the players. So regarding your question about what can be sold, bought or crafted the answer is: Everything
  
  
  
  Each faction is given a set amount of funds which can not directly be accessed by the faction's members but instead is used by the game automatically to pay for missions that are set up by the faction's leadership. Combatants, medics or commanders can now join these missions and will get paid according to the mission payout that is set by the faction leaders. (max 10k as I recall)
  
  For these three classes these missions are the main source of income albeit they can still produce goods but have certain limitations.
  
  
  
  Now on the other side there is the trader class which can produce anything up to the highest quality. They are unable to join the normal faction's missions but can access commerce missions (mining, production) which are automatically generated by the game.
  
  Since they provide a poor source of income however a trader needs to get into the productiion of goods.
  
  Now basically a trader needs to buy a production module which acts as sort of a blueprint for the finished product.
  
  The item itself is produced in the following steps:
  
  First you need to mine raw materials which can be found at offworld colonies. Mining them however will cost money which is automatically transferred to the faction that holds the colony (and some percentage paid to the government factions LED and FDC)
  
  In the next step the raw materials you mined need to be refined at a production terminal which requires no production module but once again costs money. Now depending on how complicated the item you are planning to make is you might be able to produce it directly from the refined materials or otherwise they need to be further refined into porduction parts. Generally a less complicated item like an ammo clip will require only a small selection of materials and parts while a complicated item like an implat will require a wider selection of more expensive materials and parts.
  
  Interesting to note is that the price of doing all this depends on how high the taxes of the colony are set by the faction that holds it and also on the current relationship of that faction with the faction you belong to. Mining on a hostile faction's colony  for instance will always cost more than mining on a neutral or allied faction's colony. When you finally finished producing your items you can set them up for sale at the marketing terminals of the world where you want to sell them. Since these terminals are only locally accessible you will have to consider where and at which price you want to sell your items.
  
  Furthermore there are 3 quality levels for every item which vary in production price as well as usefulness.
  
  The trick is now to produce an item for as little money as possible. Mining in large quantites for instance will yield a discount for your materials, thus saving you money. Also not all materials are available on every colony and like the products they differ in quality as well. You now have to look where you can mine the materials you need while avoiding high taxes at the same time and of course you will need to watch out for enemies as well.
  
  Basically however the trader with the highest capital will generally be able to sell the lowest because he can mine and produce in high quantities and thus reap the highest discounts. Also there are basic discounts which differ according to your current rank as well as the faction you belong to so this has some impact as well.
  
  
  
  The most interesting thing about this system is that no money in this game is actually lost, nor does new money get generated unless it becomes necessary. The whole system is a closed cycle since every credit that you spend somewhere will actually go somewhere, which in most cases end up to be one of the faction's funds again.
  
  However, there are some flaws that tend to cripple the economy as well. For one thing these are weapons and implants which can neither be destroyed nor lost. Since neither of them ever needs to be replaced or even repaired, the market for these items moves rather slowly, harming both supply and demand of them at the same time.
  
  The other bad point is that all items that are made are 100% predefined. While this may be necessary due to FoM's FPS combat system it is also a bit sad since traders can thus only compete in prices and not superior quality.
• Superman0X Member RarePosts: 2,292

  January 2007

  The economy question has been fairly well answered (thank you RPGnub). If you have any specific, or more detailed questions about the economy, feel free to ask.

  As for the game becoming free to play... well not anytime soon. They have discussed eventually adding a trial (or civilian) account so that new players can see the game before purchasing, however that is a long ways off.