the currency system needs a revamp... here's how

[jedoud]

The economy of Skyrim has bothered me from day one. The first bit of gold I had seemed like a lot of gold for a prisoner to have on their person. It would seem you would have none, or at the most one or two pieces you have tucked away somewhere not so pleasant. Furthermore, everything is based on gold, and each hold uses the same gold. What civil war? Apparently it is purely a third grade turf war, my sandbox thing, although they hint at more. Each hold is dependent on the Empire for their economy, their gold. This is ridiculous on the surface. Keeping things lore friendly, I have to reject the bank idea, that wouldn't have been possible, as banks weren't really a concept then, but goldsmiths were. Goldsmiths would have held your gold, provided you with a letter of credit, all the things you have mentioned a bank might do, but they would be hold specific, except those that were loyal to the Empire. Each hold would have to have their own economy, their own coins, made from metals they could obtain. In certain holds it might be that there are no gold coins, or the few that do exist would be so prized that only the Jarl would have them, or a rare collector. The base metal is copper, however it would have be based on the gold standard, as gold is the standard. Tied to the Empire gold, it would be some value of that standard, depending on proximity to Solitude, and the base of the Empire.

 

I really think a lot about this, and try to think through how economics would work in this world. More things would be traded, not sold. You would not find many merchants in out laying areas that had gold, or very little at any rate. They would trade goods. You are a boon to a town, and a threat to a city to some degree, as you come in with a boat load of trade goods, and need food and shelter for the night. You are a target for thieves, and may want to pay a little extra to your housekarl for added protection. If you are traveling with your housekarl, why are you asking the inn keeper for food and a bed, shouldn't the housekarl attend to such details.

 

Well anyway, I keep watching for more, something that I can help with. I like some of the mods I see, UFO, EOS, TOS, and others, but some of them break lore quite baddly, but alas so didn't Bethesda, so why bother with it at all.

[Mychael]

I agree that the system needs a revamp... The big problem I see though is merchants and anyone you can give money to through dialogue. The one alternate system I have seen changes the default coin to copper and adds the silver and gold coins as items. However, what happens when you are at a merchant and they don't have enough copper to change out for your gold and silver so you can buy that sweet sword you're looking at? Also, how will you be able to pay NPCs who take coin through dialogue, like the carriage drivers, if you don't happen to have the default coin on you? Is it possible to make them recognize the other coins and provide appropriate change?

[David Brasher]

Why didn't Bethesda do bartering like it did in Morrowind and Fallout 3?

 

In Morrowind you might go to a vendor to sell your 50,000 Drake daedric weapon and discover that the vendor had 800 Drakes. So you would trade the weapon for all of the vendor's gold plus a bunch of weapons and armor and scrolls and jewelry and things. Sometimes you couldn't carry it all home in one trip.

Edited May 21, 2012 by David Brasher

[sukeban]

I do really find myself liking the idea of daily/monthly upkeep paid for number/quality of houses/housecarls/followers/dogs/etc. I am far from a script genius, but that seems to be like something that is very much doable in a mod. The problem, to me, seems to be when ideas are expanded from one Hold to the entirety of Skyrim. Whereas ideas might be simple to implement on a Hold-by-Hold basis, requiring each Hold to react dynamically to the others would seem to require... a whole lot of time and effort.

 

The Morrowind-style bartering resonates with me more than ideas for banking. Given the era, I wouldn't imagine that banks would even exist in places outside of Solitude, Markarth, and, perhaps, a very much corrupted bank of Riften. The principal destroyer of Skyrim's economy, at least as far as I am concerned, is the veritable avalanche of high-level enchanted gear that buries the PC from level 25 and up. This influx of gold to the PC (that is, if they bother to cart it all back to town) from this moment on is truly insane and completely destabilizes the economy. Truly, you could script an entire inflationary bust in Riften from the PC's spoils carted away from Avanchul'zel. Any economic mod should tamp down on this loot overflow and increase the scarcity of all currency, whether that ultimately be copper, silver, dwemer metal or gold.

 

OTOH, we could initiate a pro-inflationary Skyrim, wherein the cost of inns balloons to 500 gold per night when the PC is using enchanted ebony swords as toothpicks.

 

I do like the idea of localized "taxes" or perhaps just increased upkeep for units hired in that area. It would be nice to see the "property taxes" levied in Riften (say, Florida) vs. the taxes levied in Solitude (say, New York) to be radically divergent. That would give an extra incentive for the PC to base himself in tax havens, even if that meant that the overall quality of life was lower.

 

Above all, however, it would be maximally ace to be able to buy and own shops in Skyrim. Even if the shop was on autopilot after acquisition, it would give far more depth and complexity to the whole "invest" merchanic, which is quite forgettable in vanilla. Such a mod would likely have to drastically increase the number of NPCs and rival shops in the world, but I could definitely envision that as being a winning mod for both gameplay and immersion.

Edited May 21, 2012 by sukeban