Sorry if this is just a brainfart, but I was wondering.

While writing the latest story I thought of what the different nations would call their money. It struck me that everywhere we use the same vanilla "credit" for transactions.

Could it be possible to name the credits something differently in the different nations? I mean with the new economy and all it would be cool to have a Serco kind of money, an Itani kind of money and so on. Like today where we have the dollar, the euro, the yen...etc. Would add a new element to the game, exchange of money as well if they weren't worth the same.
I'd suggest the:

Serco KC's, short for Kilo Calorie. When the hungers broke out after the wormhole closed, the item primarily traded in and for was food, thus one KC is equal to the value of one thousand calories of synthesised proto gunk. The Serco retained the denomination for their money even when they became a rich society after the Itani exodus.

Itani SIC's or "Standard Itani Credits. After the exodus, the Itani needed to agree on an exchange of goods that did not have any relations to the past on Terra II. They settled on the SIC, and even though the definition of how much a SIC is, the name has stayed.

UIT Xith's, pronounced zits, since that was what the economy was based on and what they could agree on.

Corvus Dubloons because of the yarr factor:)

Anyway, I think it could be kinda cool, but then again, I am kinda weird...

Hortan, proud member of IPA (members 2)

I think that would add unneeded complexity without creating an equal or greater amount of immersion.

Your mention of the euro is significant as it replaced the money of 15 member states of the European Union along with 10-11 other countries. The euro replaces the franc, schilling, drachma, mark, pound, lira, peseta ...and some others you can look up yourself. The point being that countries that trade together frequently ought to have a standardized monetery unit. I'm sure the UIT would have seen this right away and would have imposed such a system as quickly as they could.

Uh, the GBP hasn't gone anywhere. And for a good reason.

I ought to have said the Irish pound.

Apparently there was also a Cyprus or "Cypriot" pound which was news to me. There's also a few different francs and liras among the member states and I was trying to kill many birds with few stones. As I said, you all can go look it up yourselves.

for flavour..... You had the Maltese pound as well actually.
The Danish Krone is still here, and we are immensely happy for it.

The Euro was a means of bringing the member states closer together, as part of the way to becoming a more federal like institution. The standardised monetary system has yet to show any significant value...

I can understand that the various factions within the UIT would have the "Euro" imposed upon them , but why Itani and Serco should accept anything that the UIT wanted to impose upon them, is beyond me.

As I said, for flavour. I have no clue why it would be difficult or easy to implement, but anything that adds complexity is good as far as I care. RPG......right?

"The standardised monetary system has yet to show any significant value..."

Wrong. An unified currency means that it's easier to travel because you don't have to get change everytime you cross a border.

Also, credits are credits because they're just that: A representation of a value you owe or are owed. It is independent of what makes up the value, be it ships, equipment or trade goods. And I agree with Whistler that multiple currencies will not add to the immersive character of the game. Nearly no trade simulation I know uses differing currencies from country to country because it's a hassle to keep track of more than one purse in real life already, and games are supposed to be fun, not work.

Wrong to the wrong. The invention of plastic cards and ATM's kinda eliminated that a long time ago. The abolition of mandatory passport control ensured faster travels, not common moneys.

I at least thought it would be fun, but twas merely a suggestion for more flavour. I agree that games are supposed to be fun, not work. But if this is supposed to be a RPG, then it needs more than singleton missions aka "do this to get that" it needs for the nations to stand out which they don't at the moment. I mean, I can make a million credits in Itani space and use them all on Prometheus's... because it is all the same. I seriously do not see why it would feel like work? Three purses, the currencies, three nations...

Meh, I'll get the shovel out and bury it.........

I kinda like the different nation different currency thing... and then there's be grey were money is money no matter which nation issued it. If exchange rates are kept out entirely it would make the economy driven by materials, easiest way to get large sums of foreign currency is to take them large quantities of goods for sale.

Lousy idea IMHO for one reason........ exchange rates. (No offense Whytee). Ineveitably any country/confederacy/nation/etc that has its own currency will at some point decide that any goods it recieves will be worth more if payed with by a foreign currency because they have to deal with the issue of changing it back to their currency. And in some cases it maybe that one particular nation will NOT accept the currency of an opposing nation. Just too problematic i think.

Whytee, do you live here in Europe? If you withdraw from an ATM in a country that has a currency different from your own, you still pay for exchange rates. Plus, you cannot pay everything with plastic, especially not in restaurants and bars.

So... wrong to your wrong to my wrong.

wasn't it the uit who standardized currency (credits) and writing (gts)?

doesn't matter what you call those bits. for as long as every outpost has it's own exchange rate. and oh! they do. because price varies depending on local availability.

Makes sense. I'd bet the Itani & Serco would have different currency, neither would accept the other, so UIT currency would act as a go-between, maybe eventually the UIT currency would become the galactic standard.

Tosh, yes I do. And I travel a crapload. And I always use my credit card and ATM's, just as I did prior to the Euro. And getting the Euro has not made anything easier, especially not travel time, it merely made everything more expensive (by around 5% for low cost items like a cup of coffee...). I agree that you pay for the exchange rates, a way for the banks to make moneys. However, I find that I can pay with card in most places, especially in restaurants (and I have seen my share...).

However, that was not the point of the discussion. Any further economic discussion should probably be moved to another forum. If anybody shot the idea down, it was lebermac, I can see why it would make sense that everybody used standard UIT credits to trade with, and that it would be accepted everywhere (the dollar). That the Serco and Itani have their own currency may not be interesting per se.

I'd have to say that the current economic condition puts a large hole in lebermac's logic. The dollar is weak, no one wants it anymore, the euro is worth more, and is a safer investment, yet even the euro depends on the continuity of the dollar

so i can see how at periods of high economic activity, the uit would have a profitable exchange rate over other factions, but at low times, some of the other currency might become more valueable

idk might add some new dynamics to the game..

I'd have to say that the current economic condition puts a large hole in lebermac's logic. The dollar is weak, no one wants it anymore, the euro is worth more, and is a safer investment, yet even the euro depends on the continuity of the dollar

so i can see how at periods of high economic activity, the uit would have a profitable exchange rate over other factions, but at low times, some of the other currency might become more valuable

idk might add some new dynamics to the game..

Definitely like the names.

It's really not a bad idea, but I think it's a little complicated and definitely wouldn't be something for the near term. One would hope in like.. three thousand years or so, people have their act together enough to agree on common currency. But, who knows, I guess half the point of my storyline was to say that people haven't really changed that much. ANYway..

On a somewhat related note:

Every few years we get an economist blowing through here (this is not directed at Whytee), who says we need separate currencies for all the nations, floated at their own rates, with the governments doing deficit spending and so on. Ie "EconoSim: The game for economists!". It's all very interesting and stuff, and it might make the game better (at least, for economists), but it's pretty low on the totem pole of "stuff to make the game more fun, as quickly as possible". Which is the path that currently governs my motivations.

Thanks for making sure I am not tagged as an economist Inc.!! I am behind you guys 100% and agree with the "stuff to make the game more fun", but eventually some day maybe perhaps when you have run out of other things to improve on VO.... Who knows, technology may improve and I will still play when I am 140;)