An Argument for Money

[debiru 27]

what do you need a helicopter for?

do you want to travel somewhere? you can give some stuff to the owner and he can fly you wherever you desire..

do you need it to show of? you can kill the owner, steal it..

your group needs/wants the helicopter of another group? you can give them something in return (as a group you have more stuff) and if stuff is hard to find anything you have, has great value to someone else..

plus it's great if helicopters are hard to get/buy.. players will go at war over a helicopter

you can even pay with services (help them with something)

Edited August 9, 2012 by debiru

[ultimato@gmail.com 2]

The way "money" works is threefold:

1: A common understanding that is has value

2: There is a limited supply of it

3: It is more practical to carry around with you than another item you would want to barter with.

In the real world, governments and organizations sponsor their respective currencies and limit the amount in circulation. Also it works since "dollar bills" are easy to carry around with you.

Another example from the real world is valuable metals such as gold and silver. They are naturally supply limited, and there is a demand for them in jewelry etc. Think silver/gold coins and they are pretty decent in portability as well, (compared to lugging around big items for barter).

How could this work in DayZ?

The "common understanding of value" pinciple could be that the item itself is useful (food, ammo, meds etc.), or it could be something otherwise useless, but backed by an in-game organization (i.e. FreesideTrading.co).

"You would be ok with giving away your SVD for 20 empty tin cans (a poor example I know) if you knew that they at a later point would accept those same tin cans back as payment for something else."

The "limited supply" just means that the item used as currency needs to have a certain balance in supply. Too common and it looses its value, too rare and it is not an effective means of trading.

The last part is what really needs to change in DayZ for a form of currency to evolve. PORTABILITY. No item in the game takes significantly less space in the inventory compared to items you may want to buy/sell for it.

[Louis13245 29]

The way I'm seeing it, nobody would use the money. I mean there really would be no reason at all to use it. Why give up good weapons/equipment you found for something that is completely useless. No one is going to give up their newly acquired FN FAL no matter how big of a wad of cash you throw at them because when it comes down to it, that money is going to be useless in a situation where you have to fight or die.

I can't say whether people would value it or not. The thing is, currency dosen't have to have a use in real life. We can't use paper money for anything. What matters is confidence, and part of that is implementing the fondations. From there on it's the player base that controls what it becomes.

If money is valued, then it would become useful. It could mean the difference between startvation and survival, between being infected meat burgers and a survivor.

what do you need a helicopter for?

do you want to travel somewhere? you can give some stuff to the owner and he can fly you wherever you desire..

do you need it to show of? you can kill the owner, steal it..

your group needs/wants the helicopter of another group? you can give them something in return (as a group you have more stuff) and if stuff is hard to find anything you have, has great value to someone else..

plus it's great if helicopters are hard to get/buy.. players will go at war over a helicopter

you can even pay with services (help them with something)

Your logic is false for two reasons.

People will always want helicopters. Always. I don't know why, but they will. Live with it.

The other thing is, just because it's rare doesn't mean its valuable. Someone who plays it close and personal wouldn't give a monkey's arse for a .50 Cal sniper rifle. Likewise, a ghillied sniper wouldn't want that M24 machine gun. Currency plays the go between, which is way almost every barter system has eventually evolved into using a currency of some form or another.

It's liquidity.

The way "money" works is threefold:

1: A common understanding that is has value

2: There is a limited supply of it

3: It is more practical to carry around with you than another item you would want to barter with.

Thats the thing. I don't know if it will work or not. We all don't until we try it. Given a strong enough player backing, I believe it could work.

Edited August 9, 2012 by Louis13245

[Lukio (DayZ) 24]

There have been many requests and ideas for some kind of trade-value-item or currency. Bottlecaps, shells, whatever.

The thing is before you get any currency, you need to be able to trade. At the moment there is no such thing as a trade of different goods, because tbh all goods are basically the same, have a decent availability and if you want something from another player you can just shoot him.

On top of that players who would have enough currency to buy things probably have acquired these items any way.

Getting in "trade distance" with any player I do not know I can trust 100% not to shoot me is not going to happen either.

[Louis13245 29]

There have been many requests and ideas for some kind of trade-value-item or currency. Bottlecaps, shells, whatever.

The thing is before you get any currency, you need to be able to trade. At the moment there is no such thing as a trade of different goods, because tbh all goods are basically the same, have a decent availability and if you want something from another player you can just shoot him.

On top of that players who would have enough currency to buy things probably have acquired these items any way.

Getting in "trade distance" with any player I do not know I can trust 100% not to shoot me is not going to happen either.

Those are balancing issues. I know theres no trading interface to facilitate it yet, but it will be implemented eventually, in some form or another. Some people won't trust others. Some people will. It's cliche by now, but its part of the game.

In the current state of the game, you would be almost right. People wouldn't get close to each other, they can't trade, all of which spells doom for currency. It'll change in the standalone.