An Elanthian Economy
This is the work of Thunkster's player, a man whose capacity for thinking I admire. It was a pleasure for me to post the following discourse on my website. Please remember that the opinions expressed herein are not necessarily the opinions of anyone but TP himself; finally, no sea thraks were harmed in the making of this product. We proceed with TP's "An Elanthian Economy."
Thanks!
First off, I would like to thank the people who helped me but wish to remain nameless. Ylena, thank you for your motivation and support, your encouragement and excitement was more helpful then you know. Stephanmaturin for the critical assessment of my paper, and the unparalleled help in providing sense and aim for my babbling style, and also for your help in making my undiplomatic tones come out as they are intended and not as they are written. Thank you to Juspera for posting this on her web site, and for making Gemstone a better game for all of us. I look forward to playing with you in many quests and adventures yet to come. With people like you here, there will always be a Gemstone worth playing.
To Kathy, thank you for tolerating me, I know how demanding I am sometimes (I am tolerable when I sleep though). Thank you for reading my paper (all 7 revisions) and helping me out so much. I can’t think of what I would do without you. Thank you for being my childhood friend, youthful joy, mature guidance, ancient wisdom, and ageless passion. You are more to me than you can possibly know. I love you.
I wanted to wait longer to finish my paper, but it seems to be growing each time I look at it and will soon be too long to upload, much less read. Do to the numerous requests for anonymity in my acknowledgements, I may have mixed some people up. If you have helped me with this paper and I did not acknowledge you, let me know! You deserve it for helping me, and sighting you only lends to my credit! For all of those unnamed people who read my paper and advised me in weak areas, I thank you very much.
An Elanthian Economy
The economy of Elanthia is one where the very few have a very high concentration of wealth and items, both altered in description, and powerful or rare. The difference between a character that is fun to play or one that simply frustrates you can be one special item of any significance, and not having the means to obtain one can have a lot of impact on your gaming environment. This creates a case of those who cannot get those things becoming so frustrated with the game, as to be destructive of it for all those around them. This is actually a large part of the cause of discontent in GS. Anyone who monitors the message boards can see the multitude of samples of people who would like to have a special character. The posts often reflect pleas for more such things in the game. I am not an economist, but how this happened, and some solutions that might help, are not difficult for me to see. I was at a function with one of my characters recently, where a character, approximately level 30, had no less than 25 altered items in his description. As time wore on at the affair, he produced no less than four GM auction items with multiple scripts and descriptions and at least three granted the user a mechanical advantage (AS, DS, CS, TD or special effect enhancement). He mentioned in passing how at a wedding in the near future he intended to give as a gift a 10X shield with an altered description to the bride. I have no idea how he managed such an elaborate collection of items, I didn’t ask and am certain that he is perfectly justified in his gains. The problem is that other players see things like this, which is what they’re made for, and become angry that they have no means to earn them. Many have played for years and have never received an alteration, nor found a box item. They may not even be well known, or simply quiet players. Thus they are left out of quests until they decide to force themselves into one, or patiently wait until they build that recognition, which will take not only levels, but the right friends, and the right opportunities. The point is that they are largely not in control of achieving or failing rewards of their RP ability. It is a thing left almost entirely to circumstance. These people do not have the more wealthy and powerful characters, and have a hard time competing for the sale of many items in day to day Elanthia, much less at GM auctions or the like. They are not the minority.
I played Thunkster for over 2 years. He has not one altered or special item. He never did. He simply did not have the money. Many other people have played characters they have poured emotion, self, literal years of man hours, heart, soul, love, detail and creativity into, only to feel as I felt – and still feel – while playing Thunk. That feeling is one of self-indignation at their futile attempts to be included in any alterations, get an item enchanted higher, win a special prize at an event, or even hope to compete at any type of auction, GM or public run. Those people deserve recognition, but do not receive it. Those people deserve neat items, but never see them except on the famous or “connected” characters. Often these characters are the ones rarely seen Role-playing a single moment of their lives unless a GM is near. The distressing truth is, that most of those items are not earned by role-playing, but through building wealth.
There are exceptions, some very excellent role-players do exist, and have the rewards that should be given to such innovative thinkers. However, there are many others who contribute as much to the game as they do and yet go constantly unnoticed while the very few filthy rich continue to garner the goodies. How this happened is not much of a disputed mystery. In fact I found it easy to find agreeance and support for. How it happened was a simple systematic case of not finishing the fixes that were started. With a little compromise by both players and GMs, we can change this system of inequality and in effect, make it a more enjoyable environment for us all. I propose some compromises to help get us there below.
How It Happened
When I first came to GS over three years ago, silverback orcs were carrying enough coins, gems and boxes that in a single hunt with a level 12 Thunkster, I made double – and easily double, what I do today with my level 27 rogue who hunts some of the richest animals of his level in the game. I do not underhunt, I remain within three years of my level. That is a difference of 2x the treasure (and that is a modest estimation) going to my old character who was less than ½ the age of my current one. That’s a difference of 400%!
When I started playing, I didn’t even know what an alteration was, or what power-hunting meant. Once I found out, I still did not pursue those ends, not really seeing the benefits of it. Additionally, I did not exploit the power-hunting possibilities because I actually came here to role-play; I had to leave my particular group of table top RPGers when I was transferred out of the area. Thus I allowed opportunity to pass me by not unlike the majority of my peers. About a year and a half later, the treasure system was changed because the GMs (and rightfully so) felt there was too much money in the game. What this small change did as a result, was cut the income of the average player (in my case at least) to about half of what it had been in the past. Coin was still abundant with not much work required though. The effects not seen were these: the people who had power-hunted, or coin hunted, already had the money. There is nothing in Elanthia to drain that money, and they already had it. The result was that the newer players could not compete in GM auctions, or for special items at general sales very easily.
Recently (I would guess within the last year to year and a half?), animal generation rates were drastically cut. This because there was too much treasure in the game (again it was still true) and that it was too easy to camp-hunt or coin-hunt off of the higher generation rates. Both are arguments that I can at least find some truth in. The effect of this change was that those who had power-hunted and/or coin hunted prior to these changes, left their peers or the new people to GS gagging on their dust like a cat on a furball. There was now less opportunity to catch the elite, and the elite still had their money, and thus power.
About a month ago, the treasure distribution system was changed. This change was different in that it did not change the amount of treasure being introduced to the game, only the placement of it. I see this as a greater good, although with potentially devastating affects. First of all, further lowering of treasure levels may now happen without player knowledge. It wouldn’t be noticeable as in the case where Silverback Orcs carried star rubies all the time, then suddenly stopped, now it could possibly be that the treasure has simply moved. But what if it hasn’t moved? What if it was down tweaked again without player knowledge? I am not fond of even more treasure down-tweaks unless the upper end money is removed first. The point about the treasure system is that once again, those who come here for role-playing and not power hunting are left in the wake of their peers. Again the elite still have the money, there is no way to drain that money, it is harder for those that are new or who never did exploit their opportunities to catch them, and the rift widens.
The common theme among the history of treasure fixes in GS is that they each do nothing to stop the consolidation of wealth that exists and continues to concentrate, while simultaneously making it more difficult for those that failed to exploit the latest opportunities, or those new to GS and trying to start from scratch, to catch up to their peers. Due to family in-trading and item swapping, changes in animals and abundant wealth among characters at even low levels is increasingly the norm. It is a challenge not worth taking on to attempt to start a character from scratch and hoping for him to be able to compete with his peers in monetary terms, and therefore all aspects affected by it, for literal years. I have played for three years, I am still playing catch up and expect to be for at least another two. That is a ridiculous amount of time to expect someone to invest in a game just to claw their way to a level playing field.
I see all of the above changes as necessary or at least potentially good. I think all of them have the power to fail or succeed based on the willingness of the GMs (which requires Simu support) to make it so. Each change could survive on its own merits and strengths if handled appropriately. To date, I have seen the treasure fixes fix small problems, but the ultimate goal of fixing the economic balance still remains largely untouched. The rift is still widening between the elites and those who have not camped for the last three years in Harbingers, those that are new to GS are still at major disadvantages of their goal to obtain a special item, or a unique type of recognition created by an alteration, or a special toy that enhances role-play and becomes a symbol of their character. Now, when I meet an idealist new to the lands, I often find myself making note of their name only so I can compare how cheery they are that first month to how completely belligerent they will be in less than a year, and so I can see if their character pops up in one of Simu’s competitor’s games sometime soon. New players become frustrated, and the more they become educated about Elanthia, the more they see no possible means in sight of ever being special. While I realize it is impossible to make 10,000 customers all feel special, I think we could make a lot more people feel better about the game, and thus less disruptive to true RPGers.
Some of the other rationale for the lowering of treasure and other fixes to the economy, is that the prices of things overall will lower as a result. That is fantasy in Elanthia. In real life it does in fact work, but here, is not quite so true. First off, it is a game. If an item sits in a locker until death overtakes us all as players (not characters) who cares? Secondly, despite the fact that treasure is lower, there are still literal mountains of silver in existence in the accounts of the very few. Thirdly, there is an inexhaustible source of wealth. Creatures will never stop carrying something worth money. There is always a source of income. Thus, if I buy one of Selandrial’s silver-hilted falchions for 300k off the shelf and the treasure is down tweaked to a minimum, the result is, I simply do not sell it. Eventually, someone is going to pay the over one million coins it is going for today. If not, I can keep it. No harm, I don’t have to eat or pay bills with my Elanthian money. I do not need to sell, and therefore will not until I am appeased by an offer. Items do not, except on truly rare and temporary exception – depreciate in GS. Period. If it has no extenuating circumstances that perpetuated its drop in price, then it is one of the rarest events in GS to be seen, and is almost assured to be a temporary drop, quickly being re-inflated by perpetual sale. I have rarely sold an item at a loss. The time I did have to sell a few items at a loss was because my locker was full and my RT was too high. I also ensured that I only sold the common and less valuable items at a loss. I retained the more valued items for sale at later dates, and for a large enough profit to easily cover my initial losses.
The Result
The result is that you have people who never did take advantage of the system when the chance was present, and will continue not to do so for the most part. This leaves those who have been here for a while or who have exploited the system at a distinct and obvious disadvantage in any event such as a GM auction, or even providing the necessary equipment for characters. Even at this stage of the game my level 27 rogue has a Selandrial falchion which is his. Beyond that everything he uses; his armor, his shield, his cloak, his gem pouch, his backpack, and any other items besides lockpicks, are not his. They are on loan from friends. He has 1.5 million in the bank. Not bad but not enough to buy anything unique, in truth, not even enough to buy some of the better armors in the game. That 1.5 million would barely cover the cost of his falchion, much less get the Pyrothag brig armor he wants, or the black tower shield, and should he ever attempt to compete in any type of auction run by GMs or on the amulet with peers of like age, he would be laughed out of the tent. New players are in an even worse situation. What if they have no friends yet that are willing to loan them over 5 million silvers worth of items to help them hunt? They will have to hunt – and hunt – and hunt – and hunt without much progression and with massive amounts of dying to get even one of the items I use myself on a daily basis. Thus a new player is left attempting to catch up, and current Elanthian ethos will have an impact on him if he is caught under-hunting to try to gain ground on his older and wealthier peers.
People want toys. They want altered items, they want special items. They deserve altered items, they deserve special items. I would argue that many of the mid to low level characters being played in game now, are some of the best role-played characters in the game overall. They have the same desires, goals and wants for their characters as the elites, but do not have the money or opportunity to become monetarily competitive. They deserve that opportunity. The fact of the matter is, that will not happen unless something changes. Those toys are part of the reason why we all play this game. They enhance role-play and give our characters a more memorable presence in other people’s minds. Some of the items I am talking about have large mechanical ramifications as well. Who wouldn’t want the self recharging blessing sheath or the self charging opals ring? Those are advantages in a mechanical form over other players. This doesn’t even consider the prices of enchanting an item – if you can find a wizard who is not already enchanting for the next two real life years for other people or their younger characters. The result is that GS is not a level playing field at all, and in fact, will never be with its current economic policy.
What to Do about It?
I have spent two pages rattling off the deficiencies of Elanthian economy. Now I wish to show some ideas to fix it. Some of my ideas can certainly be improved upon, however, it is a start and any that wish to further them should feel free to do so. There is too much money in the game for the very few. I propose the following changes that will suck some of the cash away from the very rich, and hopefully cause no or minimal harm to the poorer characters of the game.
First, let’s start with some basics. The training fee of ten silvers. It costs the same to train a level 0 whatsamatusi as it does to train a 174th level character that goes to the rift to, “Hang loose.” Set up a system based on level that charges a reasonable amount. Say level x 100 silvers to train.
The boat trip to Teras needs adjusting. Paying a fee commensurate of someone’s level and hunting ability is more appropriate. Charging both ways would also be beneficial. I would suggest that the captain make the boat fee 1000 silvers X level.
Here is one of my favorite ideas, the banking system. Charge more for notes overall. Increase each charge for notes by 2 – 3 %. This will take more money back out of the game for everyone. In addition, it will close the gap on some of the higher note values. For example, if I use 50k notes to buy something, I will pay 1000 silvers for the note at a 2% rate. Someone exchange a 50 million silver note however, is now paying 100k silvers. It is an overall adjustment that doesn’t do much, but it does make the gaps closer than they were without the changes, and continues to eat silvers out of the game. The closer gap would mean that instead of being 1 million short of that auction item, an adventurer might now be only 500k away, allowing for an easier task of bridging some of those gaps. Lower silver totals game wide also helps the GMs monitor and adjust the money system. The numbers are just plain smaller, and every time an item is sold, noone drops Bill Gates sized numbers of silvers on it.
Further, make characters start paying the bank to safeguard money. We don’t have stocks and bonds in Elanthia, how exactly do we justify not paying a bank to keep our silvers safe? They aren’t investing it anywhere, they are neither paying interest or charging fees for anything except notes. Tell me honestly that no banker would want a larger chunk of the Elanthian pie if he could get it. Here is my solution; say, the first of each month a fee is due commensurate with the size of the account. Say a 1% fee. Thus my one million silver account would be charged 10,000 silvers at the first of each month to help fund the protection the bank provides for the silvers. Someone with a bank account of 100,000 silvers, would pay a fee of 1,000 silvers. Someone who hoards money and has an account worth 400,000,000 would pay 4,000,000 for the luxury of having the bank safeguard their assets. This would work along the same principles as the bank note adjustments.
There are potential problems with the changes to the banking system that I could see occurring, one would be people shifting from raw silvers and into item currency, where they transfer the funds into items of some sort rather than keeping it in liquid silver. However, the benefit of that type of “sneaking” around the system also benefits the poorer player. When the Spitfire returns, those with the money in the bank can withdraw the amount and head to the ship to join lists or get an early crack at some of the cheap but good items. Those that have attempted to bypass the system will first have to liquidate their items, and likely at a small loss if not minimal profit. They would be doing this while the others were on the spitfire jacking up the prices on the good items, thus laying a “hidden” penalty on those who did not keep their assets liquid. There is the matter of people storing gems on them, but that’s what the pickpocket skill is for, and a person can only hold so many gems. Not to mention there are other ways to lose gems besides theft that I have seen, including the rumor (which I have been unable to reproduce) of a backpack full of items exploding while being drug. Those gems still have to be transferred back to coin, and that coin must be carried over often very tricky terrain. Once fallen, too much coin makes it impossible to stand. One potential side effect is that it may encourage people to hoard gems, and thus increase theft. The acceptability of theft and the resulting PvP is not an argument I care to enter into, but I feel that if this does happen, it would be a negligibly infrequent occurrence by proportion, and can be addressed if the problem actually develops. Further, I see the wealth distribution of the game as a much more pressing problem than the ongoing debates about thievery.
The simple fact is that we still see a major benefit in closing the money gap between those that do and do not have the funds required to compete in the Elanthian market today. We also give the GMs and ourselves a lower total of silver in game to deal with, and thus fixes or figures are easier to handle.
Another fledgling idea of mine is to make adjustments at NPC merchants so that the more special items owned, the higher prices will be. Allow me to relate a real world situation to this. When I was in other countries, anything that could be bought was negotiable. Fixed pricing is a product of American culture, and was not present in 15th century Europe or Britain. If a shopkeeper saw someone who was filthy rich walk in his door, he charged more to that person than say, a poor peasant down the street. He knew he could afford it after all. In my real life experience, I would go to stores while stationed in Saudi-Arabia and shop. One of our local friends had warned me to dress down, not shave, not carry large bills…“look poor”. He mentioned to me there were at least four different price lists at most stores. One for Americans, one for the royalty, one for the regular folks, and one for the third world nationals that lived and worked there. Depending on what they thought they could charge, they would charge it. In Elanthia, if we apply these terms, the more shiny crap a person is wearing, the more they should be charged by any decent business man. Further, age of a person should be a factor. A merchant can tell how long someone has been adventuring based on sight, how long they have visited that merchant, name recognition, etc… We could even apply a fame factor into this. If the most famous person in the game walks into a store, do you honestly expect the merchant who sits and talks with all the townsfolk and customers he receives not to know who they are, especially since most of them have grown up in that small town? This affect would have to be applied to people who have their flags toggled off like mine is, though. Even hidden fame should be a factor. This would however, also require the implementation of the trading skill at NPC merchants not already using them, so that people of older stature could train away some if not all of the penalties. The result of this would be that in my case, my rogue buys picks less often than he used to, and has more cash. The new system would take that into account, and charge me more based on my level, my trading skill, my fame, and my charisma. This gives an actual reason to train in trading. It gives a reason to have a good charisma statistic. It sucks money out of the game. It charges more to people who have great consolidations of wealth and items. It would also help prevent the eyesore I see when I look at some people and the screen scrolls with useless and uninteresting crap. Now, being a walking pawn shop would actually affect you even if you do not swing a sword or lack containers to carry things.
Another such way to close the gap, even if in small ways, is to make the registration fee formula take into account the value of an item. If it considered the price of an item plus any altered enhancements then had some multiplier (IE 2% of the worth of the item being registered) the fee would be higher for the specific item of value.
Here is my most radical proposal of all. I am not so much a proponent of the idea itself, as I am the discussion of the idea to develop better ones. Keeping that in mind… no changes in treasure will solve the imbalance while the rich still have the money. The banks need to be bottomed out. Erase all bank accounts. Destroy all notes. Have all the gems in someone’s possession literally fall through a mysterious hole in their backpacks. Eliminate the money altogether and start everyone over. Otherwise the attempts to change treasure are futile for although smaller in number, the difference of the wealth either increases or remains the same. One of the flaws I see in this is those that hoard the very expensive items in preparation for it (IE the 50 sets of vultite full plate kept in the house locker and on slave bodies). For those I have no idea what the solution would be. I would like to restate that I am not a big advocate of this measure, in fact I see several problems with it and am sure someone can come up with a better idea. It is expressed here solely to perpetuate further thought.
Item rarity plays a large hand in the economics of Elanthia. The only way – and I mean only way to make an item depreciate in GS is to make it worthless, build something better or flood the market. Take Selandrial’s falchions. If critical weighting ceases to have an effect, we are left with a pretty falchion. The price drops. That’s great for dropping the price of the item, except those that did invest money in them are now burned and will take it out on the nearest GM and/or player, or both. Or we can make a better item; if Selandrial produces a new falchion with more weighting at his next shop, the price of the silver-hilted falchions might drop, depending on the number of improved falchions bought, and how cheap they are to start with, although there is a slim – and I mean slim - chance of seeing any drop in the regular silver-hilteds as a result of this. The price might drop. The next option I see is flooding the market; if suddenly Selandrial’s falchions are sold at the arms store in Landing for the price of 500k (200K more than Selandrial first sold them for), the price drops. The same holds true for any item in the game. What should be done to keep those costs down is mass sales of them. Either make them a regular item in a shop, or have Selandrial return and sell them like mad. You have to make it useless or flood the market to lower prices. Period
On that same line, alterations. In this case, flooding the market is the only way to diffuse the tension of the market here besides deleting every altered item in the game. If you want someone who is willing to put in 10 - 15 hours a week only on alterations – and yes, this is what I suggest – there are a lot of volunteers out there, myself among them. Simply teach us to do alterations, I have seen many people offer to take on this task for free. Then there will either be enough alterers around, or enough of us will have tried it and failed to understand a little more why they are so rare. The game needs more alterations, and not just in Platinum. Many of us that volunteer are willing to work in both Prime and Platinum if anyone is willing to let us. Other people have been taught to make alterations, we can too. This game is in dire need of economic reconstruction, and I believe that flooding this market is a necessity to that end.
Special items need to be increased, again with the flooding the market principle. They need to be more abundant. I have played three years and never gotten a box found item. Moreover, those items that are found need to be able to be customized to that person. After all, what the hell is Thunkster going to do with an assassin’s blade? He spends more time hugging people and dancing than he ever did drawing his sword. As opposed to box found items I suggest we put in alteration tickets, or an item that can have an alteration added to it when it is found. Anything that in some way becomes part of their character and thus reduces the temptation to sell the item. I would also encourage allowing people to trade their items with merchants for something they feel better suits them as characters. Take Thunkster’s hypothetical Assassin’s blade. Now I can either trade that in on a toy doll he wants, or I can sell that on the market and further inflate Elanthia, or perhaps trade it for another item. Trading it for another item is not at all agreeable to me personally, as it is not “Thunkster’s” item, and may not have the history he wants with it, and thus he would be more apt to sell it later, at a profit of course. I am not proposing an actual “flood” of these items, only a very small increase if any at all. What I would really like to see is a wider distribution of these items. Try giving a special item to a low level person with no ancient characters on their account. They can keep the item and garner its gifts, or sell it and have the necessary funds to compete with their peers. Either way the wealth is at least partially redistributed. This is yet another area where I will volunteer my time to help, and I recall several others posting on boards in the game that they too are willing to be taught and to help with these projects.
Another idea that has been proposed to me, is that of common item sales. Start making things that disappear from the game purchasable. Create a small gypsy wagon someplace that sells small statues, blue crystals, white crystals, glowing vials, wands etc… Have them charge a small amount like half of the current market value for those items. When they shatter, they are gone, and the money is permanently out of the game. This also encourages people to sell those items to the pawnshop instead of to each other, allowing for inflation of the prices, and exploitation of the older players who are selling them strictly for profit because they do not use such items anymore. Less money trading hands makes a more stable and less inflated economy.
More ways to suck general money out of the game overall, is to have animals stop carrying crystal amulets. Crystal amulets can be bought in most of the towns, or made on Teras. Add them to the general store list in RR. At the prices currently listed for such things, people can either have their amulets made, or buy them from the various shops, again allowing for money to be drained out of the game. I might even go so far as to propose this idea for wands, statues, crystals, etc… but only if the gypsy wagons were created in each town.
Add a level modifier to the locker fees, including moving them. Apply the same age formula that could be applied to the NPC merchants I mentioned, and more money is out of the game, and there is again a reason to train in trading and to have a decent charisma.
Here is my input on breakage which I very much tried to avoid, but was urged by some very persuasive arguments to either address it now or later… so here goes. I am a huge opponent of breakage. However, should most items (not the truly special or unique ones, or the all powerful “God slayer” swords) be easily replaceable/repairable, I could see a use for breakage returning. The thing that worries me most about it though, is the high demand for enchanted items that already exists, and the minimal means of some professions to produce those items. Repairing items will have the same affect, only a few classes will be able to repair things at all well, or create new items from scratch. That leaves the people who are unable to replenish what they most rely on, with no way to remain competitive other than to purchase those items from those that least rely on them. My proposal would be to re-implement breakage if - and ONLY if – the NPC merchants began to carry weapons that could be bought at reasonable prices to replace/repair the ones breaking. This leaves each profession with other options than to be at someone else's mercy for that enchanted or weighted sword, and not having to wait around for that slow process to be complete. A weapon reliant profession with no sword, is nothing more than a well developed and very grumpy NPC in Elanthia. What this effect would be, is that items would break, and that it would be a reasonable fee to replace those items without being subject to the whims of other players, and thus be able to keep costs lower. It would also be a great way to suck some of the money out of the game, and has some proportionality already built into it. For example, if a 5th level warrior breaks his mithril weapon, he runs to the store, pays the 20k or so to replace/repair it, and the old one goes wherever broken things go. The funds to replace/repair the item have just left the game, a weapon has been destroyed and replaced/repaired, and noone exploited anyone else in so doing it all. Now at higher levels, in my case at least, I would want to replace my silver-hilted blue vultite falchion. Say it was sold at the same cost of the original falchions that Selandrial sold, 300k. Now 300k has left the game, and it cost me that because I am older and have need of better weapons and armor, and I have the resources to buy them. Another issue this might address, is the overwhelming tendency of a few (no not all, I know it’s not even the majority) to make piles of silver enchanting. When breakage returns we will see the same type of monopoly that has plagued the enchanting business and created so many problems. Creating this kind of competition is one of the things that we have needed in Elanthia for a long time. Laissez-faire capitalism only works if there is enough competition to keep prices low. This is not the case with any of the player made items in the game right now, except perhaps embeddable items, and only because they are so commonly found at merchants, and because several classes can imbed. This type of competition would keep those that can weight, sanctify, or enchant an item from exploiting those that cannot. I also propose the very same type of system for armor and shields. By introducing competition it keeps money circulating, but not inflating, and takes a large amount of silver directly out of the game. Bringing breakage back without this form of option, or something similar, will be highly catastrophic to our already hurting economy.
A final idea is that we do away with GM auctions. If the other ideas listed here were implemented, enough money would be going out of the game to satisfy the problem. Perhaps the results would not be seen right away, my ideas would take time to show their results. In the mean time, stop selling the rewards of a role-playing game to those who can hunt the most money in a years time. Start awarding them as RPA’s. This can be done in the same fashion that normal RPA’s are awarded. Watch a character and give them a chance to prove themselves. If they are worthy, instead of giving them an experience modifier which is intangible and can never be shown as an accomplishment once worn off except in OOC conversations, alter something for the player or give them a special item. Give them something that will remain with them as a reminder of what is expected and rewarded in Elanthia. Allow them to flaunt their toy to their friends, and they will encourage good RP through their actions. Instead of having the largest bank account being the most talked about thing in Elanthia, make the items something that were really earned in the spirit of role-playing. Anyone can stand and whack something dead, it takes a truly creative person to role-play well. The effect is that you move the emphasis of success in Gemstone away from who has the most cash, and into who is the best role-player. Then anyone who wanted the neat toys would have to earn them not through economic capitalism, but through role-playing with skill. Those that wanted money could have the money, and those that contributed most to the game environment, could get the rewards of it. This is an idea I have felt very strongly about for a very long time. If no other single idea listed is accepted as a good one, this one is it. One of the questions I fear rising against this argument is that of the player who tries, but really is not a good role-player yet, what about them? With time, they can learn the ins and outs of it. Noone starts off knowing how to role-play perfectly. With work and interest, they can see how the best RPGers do it, and they can be shown how to do it. Like anything else it can be taught or learned, if there is a reason to teach or learn it. What if the person in question just really isn’t interested in RPGs, and just wants to come whack things? Then I would argue that they probably don’t have much interest in special items anyway, an altered broadsword will kill the exact same amount that an unaltered one does. If they are interested in getting some of the special items that enhance mechanical abilities then they should probably become interested in the RP aspects of the game. My argument on this is simple, the rewards in an RPG should go to the role-players.
All of the ideas I propose are targeting the amount of money overall, and tries to close the gap of the filthy rich and the “begging for table scraps” poor. The new player in the game is in serious trouble when attempting to compete in the future. These ideas that I propose here are ideas simply to inspire other, and therefore better, ideas. Although I believe some of them should be implemented at this very moment, some are simply placed out for brainstorm ideas, and still others, truly scare the hell out of me. My goal is to inspire the thinking of others. I am not an economist, my goal is to get the economists or anyone that has a good idea to forward their suggestions. Some of the best improvements in our real day to day lives came from seeing a completely horrid idea on paper, and making very subtle adjustments to it.
What If?
What if nothing is done about the economy? Well, from my viewpoint there is one simple answer. There are many that have been loyal Gemstone patrons for years. They have zero opportunity in the economy of Elanthia to ever achieve the goals they have for their characters because they are not one of the elite, and the changes that have taken place, while positive in theory, have for the most part destined them not to be able to compete economically. This leaves them to sit and be irked – and irk others - or to explore other options. Other options include other companies. Realms of Exile is in beta test as we speak. Soon it will be open for all who wish to play there. Most people’s loyalty is with Simutronics and most will likely remain here. Mine will. However, this is the choice they face; stay with GS and suffer as the poor man in a rich man’s world, or go to some new, unproven competitor to become one of the oldest (since they would be starting when it did) players and have a chance to get to and remain on top of the economic and RP environment there. The majority of players lean towards GS out of loyalty despite the very tempting offer of equality that new games bring. Many other customers though, will see the opportunity to start at the same level, as equals, and seize it. Even if they wait one or two months, the rift between elitist and average player in those new games, will not exist in such massive proportions as it does here. I see that GS is trying to improve the game, and I would rather remain than leave. Many are tired of waiting. When RoE opens, I expect a defection of numbers that has not been seen before by Simutronics, especially for GS players. We will have to wait and see its full effect, but either way, that is one competitor, others are right behind them. There is a market for multi-player RPGs, and there are people that are starting to compete for that market. If you haven’t yet, I suggest taking a little walk through the private room titled “Gemstone” on AOL. During the day it is always full of GS players. One could barely gain entry to it three months ago. The numbers have waned and of what still remains, half – if not more than half, are now also beta testing new games. The economy of Elanthia is destructive to the ends of equality and opportunity. The economy is the major issue of the masses and a solution must be found if the hunger of competitive games is not to drastically reduce the GS numbers. I offer that solution, or steps towards it. I offer my time to help achieve it. I also remain open to the idea of defecting should the fixes not come. I am loyal to GS and I have many friends here. I still have ties to this game, and I enjoy the people who share this game with me. That aside, most will not wait forever for GS to fix its ills. They have the choice of staying a nobody with no hope of ever receiving the items and special things for their characters that they want, or of going elsewhere and achieving those goals..
Many fixes have been applied except for the drastic ones. The drastic ones are what is needed. The failed attempts to rectify the Elanthian economy should be obvious by now, I count at least three separate attempts to solve the problem, and three failures, each possibly harming the economy more than had nothing changed at all. The changes are good – if followed through upon, following through till the end is always the hard part though. Many will complain that they have spent literal years and thousands of dollars piling up their wealth, and that they deserve those rewards. While they’re right, most that have taken that route have at least some rewards, and the rest go without. The fact of the matter is that there are other players now, that there is no more GEnie connection, and that those days are gone. GS has to make a choice between allowing people to monopolize the wealth of the game, or balancing it out. In the past, GS customers were content to wait it out, and try to patiently improve their world. Those days as well, are gone. One competitor is here, and others follow not far behind it. The staff and players of GS must act now, or face a large migration elsewhere. The masses – not the elite few – have options now. Does GS want to remain one of those options? Recently Simu and the GMs have taken tremendous risk in new policy that have and will continue to have profound changes in Elanthian culture; the treasure system, the spell changes, the amulet changes, Platinum… GS must be willing to take another step, the GMs must continue to face the barrage of tasteless assaults they have experienced recently, and players must be willing to make this step with them. The players must show support of the GMs in order for any changes to come. The personal insults towards the GMs and players who move for improvements must stop. How can we expect a GM to make a bold new step for us, if we continue to debase them for the slightest move? Is it a wonder that changes have been slow in coming? The GMs have to be willing to face the scrutiny again, and the players must be willing to support them. We, together, have to agree to solve our problem. We must balance this economy, or the real life economy around it – will do it for us.
TP.
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