WHULorigan
Emperor Mongoose
The US just delivered it's last shipment of 1¢ coin blanks to the treasury this week. After they are struck, the US will cease minting cent coins.
Imperial Credits
- Thread starter Longboat
- Start date
...For now.
Hard to come up with anything quite as inconsistent as a "permanent" government policy.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
It's already pretty much done that here. I can barely remember when I last drew cash out. Just tap and go, pin number for anything over $100.
You eyeball what the cashier typed in and fix it then and there instead of finding you were shortchanged later on.
Cash, ecash, credit.
It's all made up numbers we agree to pretend about.
You eyeball what the cashier typed in and fix it then and there instead of finding you were shortchanged later on.
Cash, ecash, credit.
It's all made up numbers we agree to pretend about.
Yeah.
Those will very quickly change to 95c Stores.
You get used to all the prices changing from (say) $999.99 to $999.95 pretty quickly too.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Usual procedure is to round down to the next five cents.
boggo2300
Cosmic Mongoose
been so long since I've used cash I couldn't even have told you how they round.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
- Quarter farthing (1/16d.) (Ceylon)
- Third farthing (1/12d.) (Malta)
- Half farthing (1/8d.)
- Farthing (1/4d.)
- Halfpenny (1/2d.)
- Penny (1d.)
- Three halfpence (1+1/2d.) (Ceylon & West Indies)
- Twopence (2d.)
- Threepence (3d.)
- Brass threepence
- Fourpence (4d.)
- Sixpence (6d.)
- Shilling (1/–)
- Fifteen pence (1/3d.) (Australia)
- Florin (2/–)
- Half crown (2/6d.)
- Double florin (4/–)
- Crown (5/–)
- Quarter guinea (5/3d.)
- Third guinea (7/–)
- Half sovereign (10/–)
- Half guinea (10/6d.)
- Sovereign (£1)
- Guinea (£1/1/–)
- Double sovereign (£2)
- Two guineas (£2/2/–)
- Five pounds (£5)
- Five guineas (£5/5/–)
Keep in mind that prices in real-world regularly change due to current economic conditions. As we've seen throughout human history valuations regularly go up and down. During boom times they can escalate spectacularly, and during recessions/depressions, the opposite.
While it can certainly be a game mechanic for a scenario (traders looking for boom/bust locations to make an extra credit or three, or sometimes merc groups taking on a contract and by the time it's finished their pay could be much less due to local conditions causing the planets' local currency to be devalued).
A clever ref might actually put that into part of the game - a non-governmental group is hiring out the players but all they have is the local currency to pay in (only the government has access to enough Imperial credits). A quick check by the players, assuming they do one, shows the local currency has an X exchange rate and seems to have a stable history, so they take the job. By the end of the job (or due TO the job) the local currency value plummets in relation to the Imperial Credit. Should they demand more, take the loss, sit on their local stuff till it recovers.... could easily dovetail into another adventure!
Overall though I think most gamers are happy to go with the 'book' prices for everything. Makes gaming easier, keeping track of things easier, and in general nobody seems to like the reality of economic changes as part of their adventures. It sucks in reality, so why bring it into our fantasy?
While it can certainly be a game mechanic for a scenario (traders looking for boom/bust locations to make an extra credit or three, or sometimes merc groups taking on a contract and by the time it's finished their pay could be much less due to local conditions causing the planets' local currency to be devalued).
A clever ref might actually put that into part of the game - a non-governmental group is hiring out the players but all they have is the local currency to pay in (only the government has access to enough Imperial credits). A quick check by the players, assuming they do one, shows the local currency has an X exchange rate and seems to have a stable history, so they take the job. By the end of the job (or due TO the job) the local currency value plummets in relation to the Imperial Credit. Should they demand more, take the loss, sit on their local stuff till it recovers.... could easily dovetail into another adventure!
Overall though I think most gamers are happy to go with the 'book' prices for everything. Makes gaming easier, keeping track of things easier, and in general nobody seems to like the reality of economic changes as part of their adventures. It sucks in reality, so why bring it into our fantasy?
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
I had to look it up.
You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
The Traveller universe needs cash, though. Because of Tech Level. It's the same reason that Han Solo accepted boxes of coin, precious metals, and jewels from the Rebels on Yavin. Not everywhere you go accepts electronic currency. Some places, you just need cold, hard cash or valuable stuff to barter.
Thus, the Imperial Credit exists.
The Traveller Adventure has a nice write-up on them. They come in cash* and coin. *The cash is not paper. I can't recall exactly, but it seemed to be some sort of hard to reproduce and counterfeit blocks that are cut, or rather shaved, in to paper thin bills.
Thus, the Imperial Credit exists.
The Traveller Adventure has a nice write-up on them. They come in cash* and coin. *The cash is not paper. I can't recall exactly, but it seemed to be some sort of hard to reproduce and counterfeit blocks that are cut, or rather shaved, in to paper thin bills.
Well, it needs secure currency. I agree that physical Imperial Credits are important, but numbers run too high for those to be the only option.
For serious funds transfers, I'd think in terms of a secure chunk of electronics that's physically loaded with value at one location and delivered to another one to be securely unloaded. Possibly requiring physical return to the original location to finalise the transaction, and a final confirmation sent to authorise release of funds.
Think the US checking system.
Although if you can make uncounterfeitable credit notes, you should be able to make a secure electronic wallet.
I run things with tracking a player's cash on hand (including physical credits and e-wallet) and their bank balance seperately. The bank funds are available based on jumps from an A or B port, though generally I assume the data follows them at the speed of mail, as long as they stay in civilised space. The banks do most of the validation behind the scenes, debit the mortgage from the balance regardless of where the ship is etc. It's important to make sure they leave enough balance to cover mortgage payments while off grid...
For serious funds transfers, I'd think in terms of a secure chunk of electronics that's physically loaded with value at one location and delivered to another one to be securely unloaded. Possibly requiring physical return to the original location to finalise the transaction, and a final confirmation sent to authorise release of funds.
Think the US checking system.
Although if you can make uncounterfeitable credit notes, you should be able to make a secure electronic wallet.
I run things with tracking a player's cash on hand (including physical credits and e-wallet) and their bank balance seperately. The bank funds are available based on jumps from an A or B port, though generally I assume the data follows them at the speed of mail, as long as they stay in civilised space. The banks do most of the validation behind the scenes, debit the mortgage from the balance regardless of where the ship is etc. It's important to make sure they leave enough balance to cover mortgage payments while off grid...
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MasterGwydion
Emperor Mongoose
I figure that the banking corps run an x-boat-like network for financial transactions.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
MasterGwydion
Emperor Mongoose
A Megacorp puts a high enough bounty on your head, you'd rather be chased by Imperials. lol
