The Money Problem

[darthSaKi]

I'm new to Era. Sorta. I played Era on a trial before I had a P2P in 2002, then I moved on to Valikorlia, and I have about 3000 hours on that server. I've logged on to Era in passing since that time, but, all in all, I'm new to Era.

Being new, I see a problem. There seem to be two tiers of players, those who have things and those who don't. The people who have things participate in an active market of buying, selling and trading. These transactions take place, by and large, over mass messages. A market is a good thing, a commodity based game needs one. But this market has a problem. The problem is that the only people participating in the market are well-established players. Players who have things. The items on the market have monetary values of 70k, 100k, 1mil or more. New players earning money mining or at another profession cannot hope to earn this amount of money. Having upper tier items is not a problem, the problem is that there is no bridge between low-grade store-bought items and the upper tier items. Another forum member articulated on a related thread that players don't expect 1 mil cash for their items, they want similar-tier items to be traded. How are have-nots ever going to get in the club? The division is cemented, you are a have or a have not and there isn't much between.

[Frazzle]

So true. Of course there has been an improvement in how to make money by the addition of allowing anyone to work in speedy pizza, but even working there for plenty of time does not raise enough to buy those 'upper tier items'. The only way to make that step up is to buy items for real money or cross server trade. People who cannot do that are missing out on possibly the best part of playing this server. The economy side.

[papajchris]

the only way to work your way up into the big leagues legally and somewhat quickly is to basically try to make profits off of your guns. One of my friends bought a glock for 35k and then 2 days later it was 100k for one. He sold it for 100k, got a better gun and then sold it to someone for i think around 115k. And he just kept trying to gain money that way. OR you can do what alot of players do such as myself: buy a somewhat decent gun that is not necessarily the best, but will get you kills and save your money. Although better guns may make you better, i often see players own with uzis and or a taurus. I do agree the market is messed up, but when its an open market like era has, it's difficult to control it.

[sam_is_me]

Yup. 'Playing the market' is your only chance, legally that is.

[cbk1994]

There are certainly some problems, but adding high-paying jobs isn't really going to help. The prices would just go up, assuming you could actually get up near the higher end.

Originally Posted by sam_is_me

Yup. 'Playing the market' is your only chance, legally that is.

I think it's safe to say that the majority of the wealth-moving is illegal at this point.

[darthSaKi]

What if a scenario was created that put the governing body over Era in financial trouble and in order to cope a progressive tax is legislated (taking advantage of Era's very wealthy populace). The tax could be on transactions and be designed so that the larger the amount of money exchanged, the more it is taxed. Or maybe it could be on ATM deposits, though that may cause players to not move their money around at all- freezing the market. The idea needs some constructive feedback.

[sam_is_me]

lol. THE BRIDGE TO SOUTHRIDGE HAS BEEN DESTROYED, NEED 5 MIL TO RECONSTRUCT.

[Codein]

I'm thinking of experimenting with a socialist-style taxation concept, where by richer players are taxed a higher percentage where as poorer players are taxed at a lower rate.

There could be bands, such as:

Band A: Highest rate. (30 percent)
Band B: Middle rate. (20 percent)
Band C: Low rate. (10 percent)
Band D: Exemption rate.

Also, I would keep a log of transactions and produce visual aids, such as graphs, using a sample of the data and make predictions.

I'm sure if the current system was researched into deep enough, looking at it from an economist point of view rather than a technical point of view, you could effectively curb inflation and deflate the economy without constant resets.

However, I'm unsure what measures you ARE already taking, so I can't say you're not looking into it deeply either way.

[Pelikano]

btw. when's the reset again?

[DuBsTeRmAn]

It's not again Sam, They did announce one a loooong time ago..
But they never had a reset ;o

[Pelikano]

Originally Posted by DuBsTeRmAn

It's not again Sam, They did announce one a loooong time ago..
But they never had a reset ;o

That was exactly my point

[Sinkler]

Originally Posted by darthSaKi

What if a scenario was created that put the governing body over Era in financial trouble and in order to cope a progressive tax is legislated (taking advantage of Era's very wealthy populace). The tax could be on transactions and be designed so that the larger the amount of money exchanged, the more it is taxed. Or maybe it could be on ATM deposits, though that may cause players to not move their money around at all- freezing the market. The idea needs some constructive feedback.

This was attempted by the former manager Alec. Alec want to two bodies:
the body of commerce (economic decision) and the body of somethingelse (gang). These were never implemented, but he was starting to make levels etc.

I don't know how effective it would be because when you entrust anyone with the power over money, it becomes corrupted and or abused.

[Frankie]

my advice: give up on the economy. stop trying so hard to control it. this is a game ffs.

[Codein]

Originally Posted by Frankie

my advice: give up on the economy. stop trying so hard to control it. this is a game ffs.

Did you read the posts before hand? It's evident that, from what the OP said, that Era's split down the middle - fun for the select rich people and not as much for those who are not rich.

I also find it quite ridiculous that I have to bore myself with monotomous jobs such as flower picking. It's really not that fun and there isn't much sense of a achievement with it because the prices are so high. The feeling I get is "Man, it's gonna take ****ing ages to get even a gun! Screw this." and I leave.

Games should be fun and a decent economy plays a part in that.

I'm really, really sorry if you're just so short-sighted as to not see it needs improvement. Why leave something that can be improved?

[Venom_Fish]

Originally Posted by cbk1994

There are certainly some problems, but adding high-paying jobs isn't really going to help. The prices would just go up, assuming you could actually get up near the higher end.



I think it's safe to say that the majority of the wealth-moving is illegal at this point.

I think you missed the entirety of his point. Obviously creating high-paying jobs would not bridge the gap between rich and poor, the rich would get... it'd still be the same distance.

Era has a shortage of guns, in stores. Outside of AK47, Uzi, Shotgun and Handgun. Or the occasional Daewoo, there are no average items you can purchase in stores for a reasonable price. Understandably, its to maintain rarity in items and prevent mass-production. Yet, AK47, Uzi, Shotgun and Handgun are mass-produced without a care in the world. Branching from that, you could simply create items in the same stat-class as those or a tad higher to help new players cope.

I've realized, Vulcan releasing Xm8 and Mk23s was a huge assistance to new players. Those guns are worth less than 10,000$ yet are "adequate" items in the PK Field. Often if a new player asks me for a gun, one of the two is what he receives.

Also, as for economic troubles... get realistic and use a circulating-economy.
Simply think of how a real economy works, I'd suggest the US' economy.
Its not rocket-science, and according to the Manager... he's going to be a rocket scientist, so it should be a breeze for him.