How to interpret the Economy

[onefortyseven]

To be fair, just RP it realistically (In accordance to prices in the real world), no money/stat wipe is really needed nor is feasible considering server's been going on for like 2 years already.

If you wish to RP something not being as expensive/cheap as stated scriptly (Because in the real world no sane person pays 100 bucks for one zip-tie), just RP it as it as such, I guess that's an EZ fix.

Edited June 27, 2019 by Brian

[Coni]

6 hours ago, Elmo said:

I would most definitely prefer a system like this with realistic values opposed to what we're currently working with. The only thing is I'm not sure how this would work being the server has come so far and the economy is already inflated. How would we go about changing this? Just removing everyone's money and starting over would work, but I'm sure lots of people would become upset losing money that they once worked hard to get.

Remove a digit everywhere, except where it makes sense to keep it. 

[Exploits]

I just take it for what it is. A backpack costs $2,000 because it costs $2,000 -- I don't have to make sense of it, the same way that I don't have to make sense of why asparagus costs $7/lbs at my local downtown grocer vs. $3/lbs at a major chain store. I have a good idea as to why there's such a fluctuation of prices, but the price itself will never 'make sense', because I simply go with either what's cheapest, or what's most accessible in any given moment, depending on my mood of day, and my 'understanding' it doesn't change the price at all.

 

So much discussion generates around notions of prices being 'absurd' in our in-game economy but the baseline for what we consider 'absurd' about these prices is determined by what we know in real-life: we tend to ignore that the income we generate in-game would also be flatly ridiculous, but most people aren't too concerned about reducing income levels as they are about 'exorbitant prices'. There is no 'real-life' to look towards for our characters to establish an example -- there is only the world they inhabit. What is it that they are comparing it to? In that respect, the complaints are wholly our own, and don't affect our characters at all; it's only affecting us because we allow it to.

 

Some people will take the money they make at face value. Others (such as myself) are more interested in cultivating an 'appearance' we believe firmly establishes our characters as being part of a certain wealth bracket. I know that, realistically, my character isn't actually making $30,000~ a week as a police officer: somebody who thinks they are are no more right or wrong than I am; I'm the one who made a decision, and they are not breaching any server rules. Yet ultimately, whether you're taking it at face or contorting to fit a mold, you'll still be paying $2,000 for a backpack, $500 to enter a club, et al. You'll still have to conform to the prices of the server.

 

As an anecdotal example, Grade A maple syrup for me (in Canada) costs about $7 a liter. In Europe, the price is somewhere closer to $35~ (taking the Euro $ exchange rate into account) per liter. To me, that seems absurd. But they aren't out there arguing that maple syrup is 'too expensive'. For Europeans, that's just the price of maple syrup.

 

TL;DR Do what you want, try to be consistent about it.

Edited June 27, 2019 by Exploits

[HaveADream]

1 hour ago, Exploits said:

I just take it for what it is. A backpack costs $2,000 because it costs $2,000 -- I don't have to make sense of it, the same way that I don't have to make sense of why asparagus costs $7/lbs at my local downtown grocer vs. $3/lbs at a major chain store. I have a good idea as to why there's such a fluctuation of prices, but the price itself will never 'make sense', because I simply go with either what's cheapest, or what's most accessible in any given moment, depending on my mood of day, and my 'understanding' it doesn't change the price at all.

 

So much discussion generates around notions of prices being 'absurd' in our in-game economy but the baseline for what we consider 'absurd' about these prices is determined by what we know in real-life: we tend to ignore that the income we generate in-game would also be flatly ridiculous, but most people aren't too concerned about reducing income levels as they are about 'exorbitant prices'. There is no 'real-life' to look towards for our characters to establish an example -- there is only the world they inhabit. What is it that they are comparing it to? In that respect, the complaints are wholly our own, and don't affect our characters at all; it's only affecting us because we allow it to.

 

Some people will take the money they make at face value. Others (such as myself) are more interested in cultivating an 'appearance' we believe firmly establishes our characters as being part of a certain wealth bracket. I know that, realistically, my character isn't actually making $30,000~ a week as a police officer: somebody who thinks they are are no more right or wrong than I am; I'm the one who made a decision, and they are not breaching any server rules. Yet ultimately, whether you're taking it at face or contorting to fit a mold, you'll still be paying $2,000 for a backpack, $500 to enter a club, et al. You'll still have to conform to the prices of the server.

 

As an anecdotal example, Grade A maple syrup for me (in Canada) costs about $7 a liter. In Europe, the price is somewhere closer to $35~ (taking the Euro $ exchange rate into account) per liter. To me, that seems absurd. But they aren't out there arguing that maple syrup is 'too expensive'. For Europeans, that's just the price of maple syrup.

 

TL;DR Do what you want, try to be consistent about it.

Sounding like a true economist.

 

Prices are what they are, don't associate them with real life, or you'll just give yourself a headache. This isn't 'our' world, nor our economy, but a fictional world, that's just the way things are.

[Nervous]

I'll explain it for the 1000th time, economy prices are based on items values.

You cannot price items like real life because it would completely ruin your game economy.

 

Quick example: If you follow IRL price.

> Houses are $350k

> Your monthly payment is 4k

> Guns are $100-$200, most items are $5-6.

>> Result: We have a decent economy for small items, but all vehicles / houses cannot be afforded, and no a mortgage system wouldn't work because you are not here 20 years to work all day to refund it and reach the loan money.

 

Second example, follow IRL price but base paychecks on houses value

> Houses are $350k

> Your hourly payment (instead of monthly) is 4k

> Guns are $100-$200, most items are $5-$6

>> Result : You have a broken economy except for vehicles and housing, everything else is meaningless and you can buy thousands of them.

 

The current mix is good because it allows realistic prices based on values. A realistic economy != a mirror of real life prices. Real life prices are what they are based on each items values too.