Curse

counciler132 · Aug 31, 2008, 03:53 AM // 03:53

Well, I've been thinking about this for a while, and I really can't come up with an answer. I'm wondering just how valuable a single gold piece would be worth to an average citizen of Tyria.

Obviously different economies exist in different regions. Gold might be worth less or more in Ascalon than it is in Kryta. But how much is it overall? On average?

Can one gold coin buy a loaf of bread to feed a peasant's family for a day? 3 coins for a jug of ale? A whopping one hundred coins to enlist the work of a hero like ourselves?

Does anybody have any ideas what the value of a gold coin is?

the savage nornbear · Aug 31, 2008, 03:59 AM // 03:59

Well isn't it some 300 gold coins for ale, and something around that for pieces for cake and candy and such? So 100 gold coins seems equal to about one US dollar.

poasiods · Aug 31, 2008, 04:00 AM // 04:00

In the Gate of Kryta mission, you can see two Krytans arguing about the price of lettuce. Not sure how much the guy was trying to sell it for, though.

Konig Des Todes · Aug 31, 2008, 04:58 AM // 04:58

I think the rate of gold is the same everywhere in the game, because unlike the paper currency we have, gold is the same everywhere, as long as the size is the same. Same goes for the platinum.

As for how much they cost, this is our best look:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merchant/Josephine talk

Josephine: You've got to be kidding me.
Merchant: I never kid.
Josephine: Four gold for a head of lettuce?
Merchant: It's supply and demand.
Josephine: Well, then I demand my money back.
Merchant: Look, Joe, my whole crop was trampled by those ghouls.
Josephine: I don't care. I won't pay that much.
Merchant: Suit yourself. All right, look, how 'bout I give it to you for three gold?
Josephine: Three gold? For that much, I could clothe my entire family!
Merchant: Then, what would you pay?
Josephine: Hmm...For a gold piece each, I'll take three.
Both: I'll give you three heads of lettuce for four gold.

3 gold can clothe a whole family, and 3 heads of lettuce for 4 gold.

wyrd · Aug 31, 2008, 05:01 AM // 05:01

The value of a gold coin is what we make it worth.

lordheinous · Aug 31, 2008, 06:10 AM // 06:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by wyrd

The value of a gold coin is what we make it worth.

He's clearly talking lore-wise

OT: I think that they never really gave it much thought, there is that dialogue that was posted above, but I'm guessing that the developers probably didn't have a heated debate before writing that, probably just whatever employee writing that dialogue taking some liberties, as stuff like ale costs 200g from a merchant.

CronkTheImpaler · Aug 31, 2008, 06:18 AM // 06:18

interesting topic really. if ya think about it a little gold doesnt follow any trend that i can see. some things are inflated while others are devalued massively. example is weapons: even though they are all the same, mods, dmg etc, the prices range wildly. i personally would like it if gold had more value. make GOLD the true rare commodity it is. in an enviroment such as GW in general materials and food would hold great value do to the inability for vast travels. small communities would need to be self sufficient. If this is the basic logic of the human condition in GW then Gold should have great value.

Cronk

or maybe the last two painkillers are takin their toll.

counciler132 · Aug 31, 2008, 06:35 AM // 06:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by the savage nornbear

Well isn't it some 300 gold coins for ale, and something around that for pieces for cake and candy and such? So 100 gold coins seems equal to about one US dollar.

Well, I'm hoping to exclude the merchants and player markets from this discussion, since they vary -wildly-. It would make the discussion too complex to really iron out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azazel The Assassin

<snip> 3 gold can clothe a whole family, and 3 heads of lettuce for 4 gold.

THANK YOU! More of this is what I'm needing here! See, and the funny thing is that we players who are carrying around 150 gold and thinking nothing of it, we're actually stinking rich compared to these people.

THEN AGAIN, keep in mind that even the Prophecies manual states that there is a surprising amount of wealth in Kryta, but MOST of it is kept in the hands of the White Mantle. The poor folk of Kryta don't have much money at all..... just look at their housing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordheinous

He's clearly talking lore-wise

OT: I think that they never really gave it much thought, there is that dialogue that was posted above, but I'm guessing that the developers probably didn't have a heated debate before writing that, probably just whatever employee writing that dialogue taking some liberties, as stuff like ale costs 200g from a merchant.

Yes, I am. Thank you. ^-^

As I said before, I want to keep merchants out of the picture here, because I think they cater more to the non lore economy of the game than the economy I'm talking about. We obviously don't operate at the same level as the NPCs when it comes to finances.... 100k for a sword. That's more than three generations of those farmers could save for.If ANET tried to link the lore economy with the metagame economy..... it would be either not very believable.. (1k for lettuce, anyone?) ... or it would be catastraphic... (I have no idea how to imagine what it would do to our economy if gold to US was worth as much as it is to the NPCs)

And Cronk..... maybe my beer is kicking in, but I simply can't follow your post. I don't know how to understand it, much less comment on it.

CronkTheImpaler · Aug 31, 2008, 06:56 AM // 06:56

ok ill make another run at this. ill actually let my brain catch up with my fingers this time.

what i was tryin to get across is in a real life situation (assuming kryta ascalon and these places are real) it would be difficult to trave for business. business is where the money is in a real economy. aside from royalty and hoodlums business men generate income and wealth. mostly what you see in GW is little villages and outposts (no business). so ya have to assume most of the income is generated by trapping furs, farming, blacksmiths and the like. the amount of gold available would be minimal except in large cities.

it was stated ealier that 100k for swords and at one point FOW armor was over a million gold. these prices are rediculously out of whack for what the real enviromental economy would generate. and all i was "trying" to say lol, was that id rather see an economy that reflects what that "real world" economy would support. (real world= ascalonian or canthan economy)

in some MMO's, and i wont mention names, it takes a long time to accumulate gold. However 100 gold gets you some very elite items. i think it would be nice to see 1000 gold as something to be happy about. right now i have 1 million in storage and 7 of my nine chars are maxed in holding 100k. o be honest its not really hard to pile up that much wealth. a little farmin a couple lucky drops and you are there.

i guess what im sayin when its all told is id like GOLD to be the standard bearer in the economy, not ecto or Zkeys or any other inflated item. you would just need a smaller denomination to build up to the gold level. maybe silver copper plutonium lmao... i dont care what it is, just make gold worth what its suppose to be worth.

Cronk

if this is still confusing then i give up.

mazey vorstagg · Aug 31, 2008, 08:11 AM // 08:11

I actually think that farmer is about right with the prices.

Merchants in game sell things at much higher prices than they should do to accomodate the money drops we're getting, and the fact that heroes have a larger income than farmers.

If 3 heads of lettuce sell for 4g then in our markets that's about £1.50 . Therefore 1g = about 50p or $1

1g = $1 is very neat

GWEXTREEMFAN · Aug 31, 2008, 10:42 AM // 10:42

and not to forget the fact
who said that we, the hero's of tyria shouldn't have a little bit more in our wallet?
after all we did save the whole world from destruction

Sai Sayre · Sep 01, 2008, 05:06 PM // 17:06

i think i can help cronk out a bit. true, in a real life situation gold would be extremely rare in the small farming communities seen throughout guild wars. however, what cronk is forgetting is that we, the players, are not the only ones that have to fight monsters. the villagers of tyria are constantly struggling with wurms in their fields (like in pre) and many other low level creatures. and as we know, even these creatures will drop gold, so a villager having a few gold coins really wouldn't be so rare.

as to the value of a single gold piece, i'd like to point out the ascalonian refugees from GW:EN, who tend some ressurection shrines in vanguard areas. if you talk to them after vanquishing or nearly vanquishing an area, they will reply stating they placed a wager on you being able to slay so many foes. i believe the wager was 4 gold, and the refugee will ponder what they should buy. i think they're usually trying to decide between food and a new pair of shoes.

Ariena Najea · Sep 01, 2008, 05:17 PM // 17:17

4 gold for 3 heads of lettuce seems reasonable, and so does the high price for ale. The truth? We heroes buy Hunter's Ale, not just the cheap stuff all of the sensible townspeople will buy when they go out. We have money and we know it, we just get caught into all of the tourist traps along the way

draxynnic · Sep 02, 2008, 03:19 AM // 03:19

Actually, Hunter's Ale is relatively cheap (it sells for 5g) - it's just that we can't actually buy it with gold, instead needing to trade with commendations (which mostly sit at 200g each in value). Dwarven ale is 200g at the merchant, and that's clearly the really good stuff... short of Aged Dwarven Ale, of course.

Sirius-NZ · Sep 02, 2008, 06:59 AM // 06:59

That and it's a measure to make the Drunkard title expensive to get.

counciler132 · Sep 02, 2008, 11:33 PM // 23:33

I imagine the heroes like ourselves get access to the best quality stuff. If you think about it, we have extreme stamina to be able to take the kind of punishment our enemies deal out. Serious stamina. So it makes sense that it takes a serious kind of drink to get us drunk.

Besides... as a hero, would you want to drink the same 1g cheap swill that peasants drink?

Shasgaliel · Sep 03, 2008, 01:23 PM // 13:23

In Factions you can "bribe" the priests to obtain a possibility of having a certain blessing. You get bribe option for the amount of 50 gold. If it was not a significant amount of money I do not think this would be accepted as a bribe.