Money: The use of coins

[SilkShuffle]

So I've been looking for things within the game that have changed from my first time around,(not on the wiki, that takes the fun out of it!) and I noticed that coins can stack! This was always on a wish list of mine as I always thought they would be perfect as currency except for their inability to stack. Sadly all the chars I have spawned havent found any operational currency systems centring on coins. Is this the common state of affairs? or have I just been unlucky? How long have coins been stackable? (I looked in the implemented section of the forums but couldn't find it) Does anyone know any places where coins are consistently used? and finally does anyone have any problems with using coins as currency?

[Yang]

You were unlucky or in your language area there is no coins in use. I have five characters, and tree of them spotted coins. One in English language area, and two in Polish. So keep looking for well developed cities.

[Fingersmith]

I have a couple of chars in places where coins are used.
My personal opinion is that the whole coin system is not working .
For one its localised . The coins are only used within a specific city and if a char needs to go out of the city he has to cash in his coins first, for a tradable resource like iron or steel for example.
Second to make coins you use valuable resources . Like an iron coin is 10 g. of iron. So if you are a town leader you need to spend iron and time to make a bunch of coins to pay your workers .
Thirdly most of the chars who offer their services usually want to work for specific items. like a weapon, a shield, a vehicle or a building . So again the leader is paying the workers in coins and at the end the workers give back the coins to get what they wanted on the first place. So why use them at all? just make a contract for x numbers of working days in return for the item one needs
To efficiently use a coin system there should be a banking system first, which would be expanded enough to at least cover a whole island with branches in every city. Where people would be able to cache in their earning for any resource they wanted. And even then a secure paper note acknowledging the amount owed would be preferable than actual coins.

[Yang]

Coin system work just like every money. People must believe that this coin actually represent exact value.
You say its to regional? My chars saw those coins covering whole kingdoms. Its up to people how big kingdom is. Also there can be signed treaty about money between kingdoms or towns. This way moneys can cover bigger area.
You say it cost too much? Coins can be made with higher denomination, like 5 or 10 and you have much less to produce. Also when this money gains value then calculate, whats is cheaper, produce money, or earn for it?
Money can be used in present form, just let society to grow up to it.

[SekoETC]

Klojt has a functional coin system but the problem is people keep hoarding them so we occasionally have to mint more. People rarely buy anything with them, they just keep saving up until they die.

[Chris]

I have seen coins used. One of my characters worked for coins for many years, but those coins were merely a record of debts owed by the company and payable in company-created goods. That is, the coins were not in circulation outside of the company and its workers. I have seen coins in other places, but they were more curiosities.

I think that Cantr lacks many conditions necessary for money to be successful. The activity level and population density are too low. Food is the only necessity and easy in many places to get on one's own. There are few strong governments. Taxes, when imposed, are paid for in kind (e.g., 30% tax on oil from an oil drill), with no option to pay in money. The coining process imposes significant costs in time, machinery, and material relative to the benefits.

[SilkShuffle]

Its not that my characters have not spotted coins, its that they haven't encountered any place that actually uses them. I've spotted a coin every now and then on the ground, but never seen an actual transaction occur with them.

As for the "valuable resource" concern, can't you make coins out of any metal? many metals exist that have no real "useful" value outside of jewellery or no use (outside of a few exceptional instances) at all (nickel, copper, tin, gold and silver come to mind)

[SumBum]

Plus the fact that the only real consumables in the game are food and fuel. In the towns where theres's enough population to support a money system, it's also easy to obtain food - or even freely provided by the town. So, your chars work to purchase the things they want, but then they run out of things they want. Most chars continue to work in spite of not needing anything else, so they hoard coins with nothing to spend them on.

[Addicted]

So, your chars work to purchase the things they want, but then they run out of things they want. Most chars continue to work in spite of not needing anything else, so they hoard coins with nothing to spend them on.

This is it eactly. I often wondered if a bank was re-opened with balaces etc. But I couldn't think of a way to make it work within the mechanics. Now it's past the point of being useful.

[SilkShuffle]

The problem (to me anyway) is the lack of culture. Obviously it would be nice for things to degrade over time, but that hasn't been implemented yet. The other way that this "degrading" can happen is through culture, like fashion irl, even if the dress is perfectly good in perfectly good condition if its in an old style it might as well be thrown out (a slight exaggeration but you get the idea). If people some how linked the consumption of goods to increased social standing, I am sure things would get much more exciting.

[Chris]

If people some how linked the consumption of goods to increased social standing,

They already do. Look at who has the most expensive clothes and the best equipment. The newspawns are often naked or have one or two pieces of cheap clothing. The leaders and the wealthy often have a full outfit with better materials like cotton, silk, and gold. Same with weapons and shields and vehicles. There are plenty of exceptions, but that is the rule.

[SilkShuffle]

They already do. Look at who has the most expensive clothes and the best equipment. The newspawns are often naked or have one or two pieces of cheap clothing. The leaders and the wealthy often have a full outfit with better materials like cotton, silk, and gold. Same with weapons and shields and vehicles. There are plenty of exceptions, but that is the rule.

But thats only one time consumption. They make the "perfect outfit" and then wear the same thing for the next 50 years. Of course some characters might switch things up every now and then, but those are exceptions. I can't really see anyone throwing away their crossbow because they went out of style, but homes, clothes, mannerisms and food seem like things that can be subjected to the kind of culture driven consumption I'm talking about.

[SekoETC]

Clothing deterioration might happen soon. Then the leaders can't look stylish without repairing their clothes sometimes, and they might hire someone to do it for them. It would be even neater if dirtiness was implemented, so people had to wash clothes.

[Chris]

I know that the staff are sold on deterioration for everything, but I predict that it won't help and may hurt the game. When I played the Sims, I got tired of having to move my character to the bathroom to pee and to the shower and to the kitchen sink for washing dishes, etc. Requiring work to stay where you are is bad game design. People want to advance. Some people take breaks. Having them come back to houses and vehicles and equipment that have crumbled into dust will only make it that much easier for them to press that green X.

[SekoETC]

But without deterioration people will have eventually manufactured everything and will have nothing to maintain. All they need is food and fuel.