Money is too easy to obtain

[FilthyFerengi]

Hey everyone,

I've been playing on the server for some time now as a homeless bum (and absolutely loving it) and I find that the periodic paycheck of $125 is, in my opinion, far too generous for doing nothing. I will visit ATMs and find myself surprised by the amount of money that has accumulated from these paychecks in such a short span of time. Money can be an integral role in people's roleplaying, i.e. their class, their inability to do this or that or vice versa, and right now people's wallets feel a little... saturated when it comes to this aspect. I've seen the generous amounts of money that I've been offered and I think the root cause/problem is that people are able to have a steady stream of income, with little to no hiccups, far too easily.

My suggestions to increase the difficulty when it comes to money:

• Lower the periodic paycheck amount to ~$50 / <$100
• Increase the fees for storing a vehicle in a garage
• Significantly increase the cost of medical assistance at hospitals (why is it so cheap?!)
• Require the player to pay a fee for transport via ambulance
• Increase the cost of weapons / ammo across the board

These are just off the top of my head, but I think these changes would go a long way in making money more valuable and difficult to obtain. I would love to hear everyone's opinions on this.

 

Edited October 7, 2021 by FilthyFerengi

[Poody]

A few things to note regarding the Medical bullet points:

• Significantly increase the cost of medical assistance at hospitals (why is it so cheap?!)
  •  The cost of medical assistance at hospitals is okay, especially due to the fact that most of the time you will have EMS in the city that can help for no cost to the citizen as long as the citizen is patient with response. It drives me crazy when I'll stand there wanting to help someone with their injuries and someone walks right by to check themselves in, or when I show up to a scene and the patient has been moved by a friend due to lack of patience. 
• Require the player to pay a fee for transport via ambulance
  • This (imo) will significantly reduce the chance at Medical RP for both the patient and EMT. Although I do enjoy treating a patient on scene, it adds some great story building and RP scenarios when the patient needs to be transported for emergency medical attention. If you start charging people for an ambulance transport, the citizen is much less driven to RP it out because they have to pay an additional expense just to build out a story.

[Ramirez]

As someone who is full time crime, here's my input:

 

Being a Criminal is not cheap at all. Every action you do can literally make you suffer, even if its something you think is soo little. The life of crime is tricky since in order to make money or buy the stuff you want, you need to take the risks in order to do so. Those risks come with very heavy consequences if you fail, so sometimes you need that little help from the back doors. Personally, I think the system in place right now is fine, but that's just me from a criminal standpoint.

[Samantha Hatfield]

-1 Personally Agree with DJ on this one

[Kathryn Davies]

-1

• Lower the periodic paycheck amount to ~$50 / <$100 - At this point, why even have a paycheck? I am playing a fresh character right now who makes no money and the paycheck is enough for necessities. It really doesn't accumulate massively unless you put in crazy playtime and personally I think the current paycheck is completely fine. Especially as a pure civ this paycheck can be a godsend sometimes.
• Increase the fees for storing a vehicle in a garage - This isn't an integral system in the game and I think upping this will just become an annoyance to people, especially those with many cars. I see no real benefit in this apart from to make new people struggle for money which could discourage a lot of players who want to play purely civ.
• Significantly increase the cost of medical assistance at hospitals (why is it so cheap?!) - I understand the point here, because in a way you can be actively taking away RP from LSFD/EMS, and realistically hospital bills are quite a lot. But I see no real purpose in an RP server to have treatment more costly. I feel like personally this opens up more opportunities for players to be targeted, especially if playing a character that is expected not to have much money, and players could be harassed and forced to see the light if EMS isn't around. On the other hand, if we get a strong and regular force of EMS, I would be more inclined to agree that hospital prices should be raised as that would be actively taking away from RP if you aren't going to them first.
• Require the player to pay a fee for transport via ambulance - Again, this could really mess with players and discourage them if they are attacked and don't have money to be transported to hospital but their injuries are so significant they have to be. This is kind of unnecessary stress and could lead to players being forced to see the light. Players would have to refuse ambulances if they're in a tight spot, which honestly a lot of crims and civs are often in, and take away RP opportunities from EMS purely because they don't have the funds. It then leads to a dilemma of how they can treat the patient and what they're supposed to do if the patient can't be transported.
• Increase the cost of weapons / ammo across the board - I don't really know much about pricing anymore as I main a cop, however I feel legal guns should be encouraged and if gun prices rise it'll only lead to criminals thinking, why would I buy this crappy legal gun when I can get this class 2/3/etc and it's better value anyway? They'd much rather jump the price gap than waste money on something that isn't going to do the job. PLUS, if you get arrested for almost anything, in 9/10 cases (unless they release you at MRPD) that MK2 and ammo is getting confiscated and put in evidence. That means that even for lesser crimes where you get sent for maybe 10 months, you don't get that gun back anymore. That'd just make a bigger hole in people's pockets that's going to piss them off to no end and no one is going to want to be paying hefty prison fines and then getting out and realising, crap, I have to go buy a gun now that could probably be the same price as those fines. When players are managing the illegal gun market, which can be pretty pricey, no one wants to be paying top dollar for their MK2s on top of that.

Overall I really don't think these changes need to be made. If you play a character who isn't meant to have money and you're sitting around for hours, of course your paychecks are going to build. You have to have the spending habits to match the income and if you're a bum who lives in a shack and only buys food and water, of course it's going to look like excess. But at that point it turns into mind over matter, setting limits for yourself as a roleplayer and understanding that because the system doesn't work for one type of character, doesn't mean it's completely screwed up.

[MJ.]

I could see ALL of this happening, IF there was a Badlands 3.0, and the economy completely reset. But I highly doubt that would happen. 

Edited October 8, 2021 by MJ High

[vDrop]

Lower the periodic paycheck amount to ~$50 / <$100

Plus 1 - Actually would counter by saying, just get rid of it. 

Increase the fees for storing a vehicle in a garage

Minus 1 

Significantly increase the cost of medical assistance at hospitals (why is it so cheap?!)

Plus 1 - If EMS are clocked in. EMS is available, be patient and let them do there RP. Value the life more by not doing, eh things. Or deal with the fact shit happens. 

Require the player to pay a fee for transport via ambulance

Minus 1 - Transport by Ambulance continues the RP, Think putting a price tag will increase, "I know I was shot with a lot of bullets, but I'm good, I can stand up" or "Yeah I know I jumped off the 100 ft jump, but I can walk"

Increase the cost of weapons / ammo across the board

Hard Minus 1 - Its already expensive AF, and the amount of time and work they put in to make them happen, wouldn't be worth it. 

[furtruck]

You gotta remember not everyone plays the server for 10+ hours a day. For the ones who are only able to play for a couple hours a day the paychecks and other money grinds are very fair. 

[George Doors]

If you was to change everything you are talking about, i would say legal jobs need a huge boost to cover the costs of it all, Cause right now the jobs at the job center dont pay at all, i would hate to start again as a new player doing them jobs. No RP with them and no Money either.

[StareDown]

-1 to all personally, having done cop and crim side, crim side is very hard to make cash on. Even legal side isn't amazing unless you put in huge hours.

[Roger Fetamine]

-1 to this. My main character Roger is a counselor, yogi, rub down specialist, podcaster, etc etc. I do all of that and still have only recently been able to afford a nice car and a place to live and I've been on this server for awhile. 

I only am able to dedicate a few hours during my play sessions and sometimes....people just don't pay their bills. I too am to blame because I let my feelings of friendship and love make charging people outright difficult. Roger's big ole heart gets in the way. That being said, it is still a grind even with the 125 dollar supplement. I'm not buying cars or houses with that govt assistance check. I'm buying food and paying medical bills. 

It's all about time, sure if you can be on for long periods of time, then you are getting compensated for your awake time. Just as those who don't have quite as long to dedicate. 

 

A part of my journey has been showing others that you don't need to join PD, EMS, or gangs to make money. You don't even need to clock into scripted jobs to make money. Sometimes apart of the fun is figuring out what your path is. The 125 paycheck is there to help you not be forced into one or the other. 

 

Namaste, y'all