The Value of Currency

I’m often perplexed by the state of in-game economies. Usually I end up with absurd amounts of cash and the shops have nothing worth purchasing, so my useless fortune grows pointlessly, laughably large. That fortune has no value because it cannot be exchanged for any tangible value.

The Mass Effect series is a recent offender (Mass Effect 1 to a slightly lesser degree). I never once worried about having enough money in these games; I was always able to purchase everything I wanted and then some. I often wonder why developers included credits (space money) in this series. If there were more compelling items to purchase (or a need to purchase supplies) the credits might have been more meaningful. As it stands, however, credits are not the primary currency in Mass Effect. Your character’s skill points are.

Oblivion represents another case of too-much-money syndrome. I found gold everywhere, but I rarely found anything worth buying in any shop, anywhere, throughout the entire game. The shops simply never sold anything better than the gear I already had, even early on. I found all of my equipment and supplies while adventuring (and I never found anything good, which is another tale). The gold economy was mostly worthless, though for some reason I continued to collect it obsessively. At least you could buy houses and furniture with it. Again your character’s skill points represent the only meaningful currency in the game.

The too-much-money syndrome is a common issue in games, but it’s more than just a balancing issue. I think it stems from a lack of intrinsic value in in-game items. This is clear in the previous examples I have discussed. Do any games handle this properly?

Consider EVE Online, where any and all player-owned items are subject to sudden, irreversible destruction. Items in that universe have value because they can be destroyed and must be replaced if you intend to continue playing. As an EVE player I always feel pressed for cash. As a side note, the vast majority of items in the universe happen to be player-created. EVE’s ISK economy is bustling as a result because players can not only create value, but destroy it as well.

All three of the games mentioned have a character skill point economy as well as a more traditional credit/gold/ISK-based economy, but only one of these titles manages to make both types of economies meaningful. Notice how the possibility of loss makes value greater? I’ve mentioned this concept before, only in slightly different terms.