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How many currencies do we need? Suggested fix.
zakon90505
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
Instead of just complaining about the current system, I decided to throw out some thoughts that I think would improve things. This isn't a "new" formula, but "new" doesn't always mean better. So here we go.
We currently have energy credits, dilithium, Lobi Crystals, Latinum, Reputation, Fleet Marks, Fleet Credits and Zen.
Have I missed any of the "currencies"? They seem to be overcomplicating the game economy when they don't have enough resource types to justify it.
If I am a Fed I should be using Fed "currency", be it credits or whatever, to purchase Fed gear from vendors or the game system. This would extend to using fleet provisions to obtain gear from the fleet base.
Provisioning the base should be a matter of throwing raw materials and assigning personnel to it. Dilithium could be a raw material for that, but shouldn't be currency. After all we are all part of Star Fleet and at the end of the day the base belongs to them.
Working with non Federation member races would require a second universally recognized currency. Latinum would work here. Special high end gear that would require you to be on especially good terms with that race. This is where you would use the reputation system. Unfriendly races such as Romulans, Remans, Breen, KDF etc. would require reputation to trade any gear at all with them. High reputation could grant discounts when purchasing gear from non Fed races as well.
KDF would use their own currency, and acquire reputation and latinum to allow trade with Fed and other races outside their empire.
All Exchange transactions would be outside official Federation control, and would use latinum.
Unique gear, bonus gear, enhancements such as extra bank space, officer packs, special Boffs, extra character slots, foundry mission building slots, weapons and ships would be purchased through the Zen store. Subscription members and lifetime members would get a Zen stipend. FTP and PTP members could of course buy Zen for cash. No more grinding for an in game resource that could be used to convert to Zen.
This system would consolidate currencies based along existing faction/empire lines with one universally recognized currency for cross faction trade and make Zen a real world money transaction only, whether via paid player granted stipend or free to play credit card transaction.
Foundry missions could be play tested by the Devs and go through a QA process to check against Star Trek canon, complexity, playability and difficulty. Missions that met published criteria could be moved out of the Foundry and into main stream content with the devs assigning a minimum level and putting appropriate rewards into the mission. The Foundry author would be "paid" in Zen and his Foundry slot would be freed up.
Did I miss anything?
We currently have energy credits, dilithium, Lobi Crystals, Latinum, Reputation, Fleet Marks, Fleet Credits and Zen.
Have I missed any of the "currencies"? They seem to be overcomplicating the game economy when they don't have enough resource types to justify it.
If I am a Fed I should be using Fed "currency", be it credits or whatever, to purchase Fed gear from vendors or the game system. This would extend to using fleet provisions to obtain gear from the fleet base.
Provisioning the base should be a matter of throwing raw materials and assigning personnel to it. Dilithium could be a raw material for that, but shouldn't be currency. After all we are all part of Star Fleet and at the end of the day the base belongs to them.
Working with non Federation member races would require a second universally recognized currency. Latinum would work here. Special high end gear that would require you to be on especially good terms with that race. This is where you would use the reputation system. Unfriendly races such as Romulans, Remans, Breen, KDF etc. would require reputation to trade any gear at all with them. High reputation could grant discounts when purchasing gear from non Fed races as well.
KDF would use their own currency, and acquire reputation and latinum to allow trade with Fed and other races outside their empire.
All Exchange transactions would be outside official Federation control, and would use latinum.
Unique gear, bonus gear, enhancements such as extra bank space, officer packs, special Boffs, extra character slots, foundry mission building slots, weapons and ships would be purchased through the Zen store. Subscription members and lifetime members would get a Zen stipend. FTP and PTP members could of course buy Zen for cash. No more grinding for an in game resource that could be used to convert to Zen.
This system would consolidate currencies based along existing faction/empire lines with one universally recognized currency for cross faction trade and make Zen a real world money transaction only, whether via paid player granted stipend or free to play credit card transaction.
Foundry missions could be play tested by the Devs and go through a QA process to check against Star Trek canon, complexity, playability and difficulty. Missions that met published criteria could be moved out of the Foundry and into main stream content with the devs assigning a minimum level and putting appropriate rewards into the mission. The Foundry author would be "paid" in Zen and his Foundry slot would be freed up.
Did I miss anything?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Captain Gordon Lightfoot, USS Edmund Fitzgerald
Check out Firefly Fleet: http://serenitystation.forumotion.com/
Check out Firefly Fleet: http://serenitystation.forumotion.com/
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Comments
The currency situation as-is doesn't really need too much improving. It's mostly fine.
Fleet, Omega and Romulan Marks aren't really currencies - you don't exchange them for goods, they're used as a gating mechanism for progression in Reputation/Holdings. They're closer to an experience metric.
Fleet Credits are an abuse-prevention mechanism. Get rid of them and people can reap the benefits of the Fleet system without contributing to it.
Dilithium and Zen need to remain as-is, to allow the market rather than Cryptic decide the fair exchange rate between time and money.
Without Lobi you lose a lot of the incentive to open lockboxes. And however unpopular lockboxes are on the forums, they're not going anywhere because they *do* sell.
Energy Credits and Latinum... now these I can see working as a combined currency. But there would still be problems. Latinum has more canon-credibility as a unit of exchange... but at the same time how do you justify giving your ship's replicator latinum to buy food?