Moneyless (barter) server concept

[BBQ Fanatic]

Hi folks!
I was talking with friend of mine about various Tibia's aspects and concepts and we started to think about server without gold, based on barter system.
The longer I think about it, it gets harder to do that well. For a discussion, let's ignore wether it would has players or not.

In that kind of server NPCs loses majority of their meaning. Let's look at items that are generally bought from NPC for money:
• Resources like potions and runes
Those items, like actually everything, would be dropped by minions. It has to be a common loot since it's very needed. But in addition, here's come a new heavy feature that's present in all modern MMORPGs - crafting systems. Players would have possibility to do an alchemy. As for the runes, well, it is already in Tibia.
• Selling trash
There comes a big boost for RPG vibe. Without the money, players would be "forced" to collect all the stuff and trade them for anothers which they need. It raises a interactions among players. And again, crafting system would be helpful and useful as well here. Players could dismantle trash items to get crafting materials to recycle them onto another.
• Getting a tools like a backpacks
This is not a big problem at all, but still worth to mention. Dropped by monsters, and again - crafted by players.

Those 3 comes to my mind for now, but I am 200% sure I forgot about few other cases.

But this concept generates a lot of frustrations I guess. Like you want go for hunt, but you were able to buy only 17 potions, when you need like 200.
I've come up with some "golden mean" idea, which connects NPC with items' availability.
Let's keep the trade with NPC, but item for item. Like villagers in Minecraft >.< But this would changing constantly. Per trade, or maybe per hour, per day etc. I mean, NPC X will give you 5 Mana potions for Dwarven Shield. When you trade it, NPC has nothing for you for that time (1h, a day or so on)

Those are ideas that popped in my head, but I am curious what you guys would say about it etc.
(Note: I am not trying to create server like that so I looking for solutions )

 

[Keal Atis]

I think you can't make server without money. Players will choose some common, but important item (maybe some quest item to quest which every character should do) and it will be used as money, to trade between players.

 

[oen432]

I think you can't make server without money. Players will choose some common, but important item (maybe some quest item to quest which every character should do) and it will be used as money, to trade between players.

Path of Exile

 

[BBQ Fanatic]

I think you can't make server without money. Players will choose some common, but important item (maybe some quest item to quest which every character should do) and it will be used as money, to trade between players.

Of course. Sooner or later money equivalent will be created by players themselves. Like small diamonds or whatever. But this what it is, entire economy would be created by players. But from the beginning, prices will not be determinate in advanced (like hp potion - 50gp).

I do like games where players are some kind of creators of inner mechanics, that's why this idea appeared in my mind

 

[Slatera]

Path of Exile

Idk if PoE can be used as an example for this, since while it doesn't have gold, it does have valuable currency, I don't see what valuable currency Tibia has, you'd basically just be trading equipment for equipment, which you don't really do in PoE either for example.

 

[oen432]

Idk if PoE can be used as an example for this, since while it doesn't have gold, it does have valuable currency, I don't see what valuable currency Tibia has, you'd basically just be trading equipment for equipment, which you don't really do in PoE either for example.

Who said you can't introduce new items? If you want to create vanilla Tibia without ANY changes other than removing gold then it doesn't make any sense at all.

 

[Slatera]

No one, I suppose, but what valuable currency can you introduce in tibia that would be useable in a sense like PoE?

 

[hellboy]

Hi folks!
I was talking with friend of mine about various Tibia's aspects and concepts and we started to think about server without gold, based on barter system.
The longer I think about it, it gets harder to do that well. For a discussion, let's ignore wether it would has players or not.

In that kind of server NPCs loses majority of their meaning. Let's look at items that are generally bought from NPC for money:
• Resources like potions and runes
Those items, like actually everything, would be dropped by minions. It has to be a common loot since it's very needed. But in addition, here's come a new heavy feature that's present in all modern MMORPGs - crafting systems. Players would have possibility to do an alchemy. As for the runes, well, it is already in Tibia.
• Selling trash
There comes a big boost for RPG vibe. Without the money, players would be "forced" to collect all the stuff and trade them for anothers which they need. It raises a interactions among players. And again, crafting system would be helpful and useful as well here. Players could dismantle trash items to get crafting materials to recycle them onto another.
• Getting a tools like a backpacks
This is not a big problem at all, but still worth to mention. Dropped by monsters, and again - crafted by players.

Those 3 comes to my mind for now, but I am 200% sure I forgot about few other cases.

But this concept generates a lot of frustrations I guess. Like you want go for hunt, but you were able to buy only 17 potions, when you need like 200.
I've come up with some "golden mean" idea, which connects NPC with items' availability.
Let's keep the trade with NPC, but item for item. Like villagers in Minecraft >.< But this would changing constantly. Per trade, or maybe per hour, per day etc. I mean, NPC X will give you 5 Mana potions for Dwarven Shield. When you trade it, NPC has nothing for you for that time (1h, a day or so on)

Those are ideas that popped in my head, but I am curious what you guys would say about it etc.
(Note: I am not trying to create server like that so I looking for solutions )

I played server like this in 2012.
RIP. Kalathar 1.0 No NPC, crafting system, low amount of players (10?). It was great time.

I think you can't make server without money. Players will choose some common, but important item (maybe some quest item to quest which every character should do) and it will be used as money, to trade between players.

In Kalathar 1.0 it was iron ore. Needed to make plate armor (best craftable armor in this OTS).

 

[soul4soul]

I feel it would be more difficult to balance and should the server take off the community would always find something to use as a common currency/barter item such as gems. Today gamer's, myself included, wouldn't appreciate being limited by NPCs either. No one wants to wait for hours to craft items or for a NPC to refill supplies. What else would there be to do in the game when progress is blocked by lack of supplies from NPCs?

Another server which tried this idea is Brave by @Kavalor. While I had fun playing it I don't think it worked well, in the beginning it was really hard to get and make items and then once you learned how the server worked and achieved certain tools it was too easy to create items. One of the methods used to try and promote trading was that creation of certain raw material was limited to each vocation. It actually was a good way to force players to trade and make the barter system work but it was common for players to level up another char in the other vocations so they could craft items by themselves.

Your idea needs a lot of work at this point, its just an idea and there are two servers which tried it that didn't succeed. Perhaps you can refine your idea more and get a more complete picture of how this server would work as and whole.

 

[zbizu]

A more interesting server to play would be a server built around hyperdeflation - polar opposite of current state of ot servers.
A server in which gold would be much harder to earn, but also everything would be much cheaper. Just imagine potions costing 5 gp, having to bring 20 vials to get that 5 gp back, monsters dropping nearly no gold at all and desert quest having 500gp as a reward. 100 cc would be huge amount of money again.

The grind could be balanced to be equal to default gameplay, but with far less gold in the server.

 

[Itutorial]

The only real question is if this idea will make the game fun to play for the people that play these types of games. It could be a great system but if people don't like the game it doesn't matter.

Generally, I think this system is better but every RPG has moved to not doing it this way and there is probably a reason for that.