Why not add more denominations of currency?

Alex319

Artisan
In discussions on the forums I keep hearing about how the OOG cost of coin physreps can be a significant barrier to plot teams in terms of what treasure they can put out. It seems to me like a simple way to mitigate this problem is to add additional denominations of currency. For instance, if there was a "5 gold" coin, then to hand out 7 gold would only require 3 coin physreps (5+1+1), not 7. That would also make it easier for PCs to make change when dividing up treasure hoards.
 
Production in volume generally drives down cost.

Producing 3000 of 1 costs less than 1000 of 3 costs less than 500 of 6, etc.
 
Chapters need to find ways to bring coin back into the "bucket". Holding an auction is one great way of doing that.
 
Due to minimum quantities on coin orders, I suspect adding more types of coin phys-reps would be cost prohibitive.
 
From where Alliance gets their coins, it costs roughly $150-200 per 1000 tokens (depending upon volume and coin type) plus shipping (which can cost a bit as 1000 coins weighs a good amount). To create a new design will cost roughly $400 per side of the coin for the company to make the die.

The Platinum Piece was introduced recently to try and stem the loss of gold but as chapters continue to grow and PC's continue to level up, it is required by the treasure policy of the game to continue to put more coin and other valuables out into the game. The fact that I have seen multiple players boasting sums in excess of 5,000 GP, the issue isn't with the supply but with a lack of reason for coins to be spent. The trouble is that unless the players are getting something in return for the expenditure, they will generally balk at any idea to help divest them of their coins (You want to be a noble? Costs you X amount of gold per month if you're a Knight for upkeep and taxes, Y amount if you're a Baron, etc.)

To my knowledge though, there is nothing stopping a local chapter from adopting a new type of currency and using it as a LCO currency. Finding specific types of gemstones and making them worth 20, 50 or even 100 gold would work but it would only be usable in that chapter. Being a RL pewter smith, I had pitched an idea years ago for a Platinum Bar that was worth 25GP each. I forget the actual cost per bar but since it received zero support, I simply stopped the idea. Below is the initial design concept (approx 2" tall, 1.5" wide at the center and about 1/8" thick).

Ingot2.png
 
Yeah, that is a problem that I've been griping about for a long time. The real Alliance player economy is in components, scrolls, and MIs, not coin, because those make the most useful goods. It usually takes a while for new players to catch on to this, so they often end up selling stuff way under what would be reasonable value because they are not aware of the actual utility.
 
I think that a National Evaluate List would go a long way to stemming this tide of coin loss, in part because you can literally assign a coin value to any physical object. So instead of paying with 10 gold coins (or 1 plat), you can give a 'gem' that has a 10g value and travels easier/better than tons of coin (airports tend to search your bags when they see a giant bag of coin in your stuff).
 
Yeah, that is a problem that I've been griping about for a long time. The real Alliance player economy is in components, scrolls, and MIs, not coin, because those make the most useful goods. It usually takes a while for new players to catch on to this, so they often end up selling stuff way under what would be reasonable value because they are not aware of the actual utility.
Extra Credits did a couple of videos on the topic of Hyper Inflation in MMOS.
 
Chapters need to find ways to bring coin back into the "bucket". Holding an auction is one great way of doing that.

Donation back to game for goblin stamps?
50gp = 500gs
Can add a theme to it, make it a little more in game.
Think people would do it? (the numbers can change)
Has any of the chapters tried it?
 
I think that a National Evaluate List would go a long way to stemming this tide of coin loss, in part because you can literally assign a coin value to any physical object. So instead of paying with 10 gold coins (or 1 plat), you can give a 'gem' that has a 10g value and travels easier/better than tons of coin (airports tend to search your bags when they see a giant bag of coin in your stuff).

There was a proposal for this and it was shot down pretty heavily by the Owners.
 
There was a proposal for this and it was shot down pretty heavily by the Owners.

Really? Wow. I'm...really surprised by that. Is there at least a recognition of need (or at least that it'd be really, really nice)?

Would there be anything stopping chapters from having their own list in addition to a National one?

I can see potential issues with Treasure Policy, or with coin being sucked out of a chapter with another, but I think that if things can travel, characters will be more likely to accept gems, etc. as payment over coin instead of having to cash items in for coin.

Just curious. No worries if you can't answer. :)
 
I know that the West Coast and Calgary use the same "merchant" list. So we can send out items with all sorts of values.

There is nothing stopping any chapter from adopting a list. The items would just sort of be LCO when it comes to travel to a chapter without it. There are concerns with forgeries and players cheating, but hey, that can happen in any system.

We have used "art", "furs", and "gold bricks" with a value that players can trade to each other, barter or whatever. We do have the option for players to Merchant those items, albeit for a reduced rate (encouraging them to keep those items in game and trading around).
 
Nothing stopping some team going to chapter B with 130 gold worth of pp from chapter A and using merchant. Right @Tyson? ;)
 
Really? Wow. I'm...really surprised by that. Is there at least a recognition of need (or at least that it'd be really, really nice)?

Would there be anything stopping chapters from having their own list in addition to a National one?

I can see potential issues with Treasure Policy, or with coin being sucked out of a chapter with another, but I think that if things can travel, characters will be more likely to accept gems, etc. as payment over coin instead of having to cash items in for coin.

Just curious. No worries if you can't answer. :)

I actually would be against it, personally, but more for a security issue. It would only take one bad apple to forge some false items and potentially rip off a distant chapter for a bunch of coin.

That's less of an issue at the local level, since folks would probably be surprised at how this guy randomly came up with 30 plat worth of gems out of nowhere.
 
I actually would be against it, personally, but more for a security issue. It would only take one bad apple to forge some false items and potentially rip off a distant chapter for a bunch of coin.

That's less of an issue at the local level, since folks would probably be surprised at how this guy randomly came up with 30 plat worth of gems out of nowhere.

Honestly they can do that now with a scanner, printer and the Merchant skill. If someone wants to cheat that badly they basically can no matter what system we put into place.
 
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