An idea I had from a while back was for titles, names and social ranking. This would fit in perfectly with a "standard of living" cost. It would give benefits to players that dish out the extra cash for a higher social level and not penalize those at lower levels.

Within each province's Citizenship Registry there would be the option of paying for your "papers" and affirming your social standing within the province. The levels would be peasant, commoner, citizen, guilded, aristocrat, elite, noble, outsider, soldier, merchant.

Each level would afford you a certain level of priviledges and rights some similar but a few degrees of difference. The special classes; guilded, outsider, soldier and merchant I'll get to later. The main classes would be peasant commoner, citizen, aristocrat, elite and noble, in order of social standing. Each would afford basic citizenship rights but some would have added benefits such as merchants that allowed only arristocrats and up entrance or some street market festival that only peasants and commoners would know about. The middle classes would be citizen and guilded. The noble class would take some doing and a high circle player to achieve. It may also be an Estate Holder only thing, up to Simu.

Outsiders are the unregistered wanderers of the realms. They have no home and seem to come from nowhere. They are afforded no citizenship rights, they are you basic adventurer. A person of citizen class can become of guilded class if they choose when they reach the 30th circle in their guild. This would give them some added benefits to their guild in the registered province. Soldiers are anyone who serves in the army of a provice be it the ZEF or Theren Guard.

Merchants class can only be awarded to those of the trader guild. Special shops and certain laws apply to merchants. As well merchants can range on the social order as commoners to elite. With player owned shops and workshops and homes redux there is a lot of options for benefits for citizens and classes.

"Oderint dum metuant."

P.S. I think basic and premium subscription should have nothing to do with IG classes, except perhaps for the the noble class as mentioned earlier.

Here are my suggestion working with current systems etc. etc.

1. The fines for crimes varying on the size of your bank account. You commit a crime and have a big bank account your gonna pay a chunk.

2. Increasing bank exchange ranks (cept for dirge its high enough, not sure how the exchange system works exactly). If its not already happening they take about 10 percent of coin exchanged.

3. Merchant items: But heres the thing, for them to sell well they need the following things in my opinion, verby, good stats on weapons and armor(that are compairable to forged if not better in some cases.) Containers that are nice looking verby and large.
The stats on basic store bought stuff needs to be improved(also more material, hilts, color selections). The items in the armor and weapons shop in crossing could use a slight price hike(and a improved stock). More auctions a good deal more auctions(these seems to do well at pulling money out).

4. Increased cost for the mamas shops. (not big raise but nice enough to be effective)

5. Events like the kaith kirm, enterance fees for competitors 5 gold-1 plat.

6. More rentable ships at increased times.

7. Adding fees to the ships to the islands, not large more like a 5 silver fee (compensation for the dangers the ships face).

8. Finally making people pay for passports to muspar'i

9. Citizenship taxes getting an increase to say 5 gold.

10. Debts gaining interest if they are still unpaid after a certain amount of time.

11. Setting it up where a couple tables can be used by regular people(at fair sized price limits on the nontrader. Proceeds going to the traders guild.)

12. GM run events were there is a fee to get in 1 gold enterance fee stuff like that. Could hold grand balls, and socials, maybe have alterers show up and do work.

13. Benifits for donating money.

14. How about a couple areas on the major roads charging a small toll.

15. In wars like sorrows war where the road is blocked and the only way from say crossing to haven would be by Blockade runners.

16. More gambling venues, more GMNPCs running high-stake games. Setting up casinos in places like ratha and muspar'i. Shadey gambling games in Dirge. A floating casino going from port to port every now any then.

17. More excavation sites and high priced tools. Maybe even a couple excavation sites that you have to pay a small fee to enter.

18. More NPCs that require bribes.

19. A few more fests and mini fests how about merchants at fest charging to recharge items or fix old fest items that no longer work right). How about fest merchants that can repair the farthest gone items for a price. How about temperers and balancers and armorers.

20. When there are places like mines out, claim fees, paying npc workers.

Just a few suggestions, as long as i don't have to pay fees for circling i'm happy. These suggestions are what i could think of at the moment. Just a thought.

Ibec Alshaerd of Zoluren

---

"Too often we...enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."

While I appreciate your suggestions, several of them aren't going to really dent things to an extent to ever make any difference. We could raise costs of all shops by 10% and the issue will still remain. Until there is something that is a constant cost on every player, you're going to see the problem. Otherwise people can get around it.

<< 4. Increased cost for the mamas shops. (not big raise but nice enough to be effective)>>

I truly doubt the shop pulls more than 10 plat a day out if that much.

<< 9. Citizenship taxes getting an increase to say 5 gold>>

Less than 2 gold increase? not even significant really...

<< 11. Setting it up where a couple tables can be used by regular people(at fair sized price limits on the nontrader. Proceeds going to the traders guild.) >>

This is what I was waiting on you to mention since you posted you dislike of the bazaar in the Responses to GM announcements. I think I can safely say I remember Godrich saying that only trader would ever have access to trader tables. You can easily sit outside the tent and sell items. If you want to use the tables, it's easy enough, just become a trader and work at it. Also, this isn't really draining coins, it's just moving them from one person to another.

<< 15. In wars like sorrows war where the road is blocked and the only way from say crossing to haven would be by Blockade runners. >>

How does this remove coins? You've stated an idea but not how it removes coins, I ran a blockade with a caravan once but it cost me nothing.

Several of your ideas make some interesting suggestions. Unfortunately, even with 5 of them being implemented, I don't feel it's going to really drain any serious coins from the economy. The main things that are going to significantly drain the economy are costs that reflect everyday living and a few things that can never be implemented or the realms will cry bloody murder.

~Indigoe~

I still think the solution to removing coins from the economy in an effort to 'balance it' and prevent inflation is simple. You know all those really cool items that people get in the quest prize rooms and then bring back into the game and sell for 200-300 plat? If Simu REALLY wants to fix the economy, all they have to do is quit letting people spend $dollars for all the great items and put them in various shops around the game at outrageous prices (which you KNOW we'll pay) and make us purchase them with plats instead of dollars.

Ideally some of the items would end up in Trader shops, so that we would even end up getting an advantage out of the whole thing. But obviously none of this will ever happen, because Simu makes way too much money off payquests.

Really, none of these suggestions about 'standards of living' or increasing daily fees are going to come close to solving the problem. Rich, high-level characters have way more money than they'll ever need for daily living fees. The only characters who will be affected are lower level, poorer characters (who aren't the ones causing inflation in the first place). If you are ever going to make a dent in the huge number of plats being hoarded, what rich characters need is something uncommon and desirable to spend their money on. Right now the only things that fit this description are 1) top of the line player created weapons and armor (which only redistributes the wealth to the people who already have the most to begin with), 2) occasional GM auctions and/or merchants (which certainly help, but are obviously not frequent enough or else we wouldn't be having this discussion), and 3) cool items from quests as prizes (which only drains RL dollars from the players, not plats from the characters).

So if the GMs really want to balance the economy, the solution is simple - keep selling the same unique, cool items, but start selling them for plats instead of dollars.

Apu

<<So if the GMs really want to balance the economy, the solution is simple - keep selling the same unique, cool items, but start selling them for plats instead of dollars.>>

Agreed. Fixing the economy becomes a lot easier if you don't have the stipulation "we need to fix the economy but we cannot get rid of the things that are really helping to break it"

I think the Trader guild is just chock full of people ready to drain the economy. There needs to be services which a trader can peform for other non-traders in which the non-trader pays the trader, but part of the cost also goes to the guild for whatever reason. That way, for each service rendered, some money is leaving the area. This service, or these services are not things in which the player can turn around and sell however. Maybe, depending on the service, they'll have to keep coming back if they want it again.

I don't know what these sort of things can be, but I think each Trader character is equipped to be a little mini-econ drain.



Dandon

"If they ever come up with a swashbuckling School, I think one of the courses should be Laughing, Then Jumping Off Something" ~ Jack Handy

I would rather see BULK skin sales be trader only!

---

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

<<So if the GMs really want to balance the economy, the solution is simple - keep selling the same unique, cool items, but start selling them for plats instead of dollars.>>

Like engraved sticks and dirty laundry :)

>Everyone mentions those things... I really wish someone would tell me where I can find a log of this auction! Argh!

DragonRealms -> Events and Happenings in DragonRealms' Elanthia -> General Discussions - Events in General (OOC)

Last 2 auctions with the ships were posts 1126 and 1192.

Most thing concerning auctions, festivals and merchants can be found under Events and Happenings in DragonRealms. Enjoy.

Gidske

<<It's one thing to restrict usage when something new comes out (as when gem pouches came out) but it's entirely another matter to take something away when it's been granted to everyone since the beginning.>>

please apply this logic to hiding in combat.

Thanks

---

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.