Will the merchant system be changed?

I know PoE is changing alot of the classic takes on ARPG's, but Gold or some type of currency should ALWAYS be used. I am really disliking the whole barter thing.

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Tha_Cursed wrote:

I know PoE is changing alot of the classic takes on ARPG's, but Gold or some type of currency should ALWAYS be used. I am really disliking the whole barter thing.

Gold is useless. The only thing I can think of that it could be used for is receiving gold from merchants for selling items to them. This gold would be used to purchase useful currency like Scrolls of Wisdom. There would be a gold cap so you can't hoard gold - you're supposed to spend it on useful stuff.

There is currency, in the form of consumable items. If you haven't already, read up on the philosophies the devs used to create this system.

The no-gold system also fits well into the game's lore. In a time and place where people are struggling to survive, in the absence of governmental structure, shiny currency is worthless. Far more value is found in weapons, armor, and items that can improve them.

I really enjoy a bartering system. Its very unique and it really does give a lot more fun to the buying and selling of items instead of just having a normal currency, and it also makes you think about what you pick up and drop. it seems like a really good idea to me.

I'm just waiting until we can sell items, to get a full opinion on the system.

If they do add gold as currency, I know of a certain cave that just became a lot more interesting.

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Scully wrote:

If they do add gold as currency, I know of a certain cave that just became a lot more interesting.

:p We're gonna need bigger inventory bags for that haul.

I can't really say how the system holds up in practice, but in theory it sounds pretty good. I think my only real concern is about inventory space; I've played Diablo 2, and one of the most annoying things is having to discard some gems, or a useful item, because you only have a limited number of inventory slots.

We've given quite a bit of thought to the lack of a uniform, mineral currency, and we currently feel that it's the right way to go. Not only does having no gold make sense for lore continuity purposes, but it just makes the entire process of trading much more interesting.

I'm sure most of you played Diablo 2, and you probably recall that in that game, gold existed, but was essentially worthless. Sure, there are a number of different gold sinks (durability, potions, scrolls, re-hiring dead mercs, gambling), but nearly all of these exist just to give you something to spend gold on. From the very start, the Diablo 2 economy moved in the direction of barter, and over the last ten years, many different items have became de-facto "currency". I personally have conducted trades involving perfect Skulls, Stones of Jordan, various famous duped Rare rings, "Bugged White Rings", Ist Runes, Vex Runes, Zod Runes, etc. These items have all taken the place of "gold" at one time or another.

We want the currency items in Path of Exile to not only serve as a foundation for a barter economy, but also to be useful in game. Even simple items like Whetstones, which you can start finding at level 1, have tremendous value to a level 60 character. Having things like Whetstones in the game as currency gives a low level player a chance to have something that a high level veteran might want. The same goes true for Orbs of Scouring, Orbs of Chance, Orbs of Alchemy, and so on.

I've played hundreds of hours of Path of Exile, and not a single time did I find myself saying "damn, I wish we had gold in this game". That's the feeling we have worked hard to instill, and I feel we've done a good job.

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BrianWeissman wrote:

I've played hundreds of hours of Path of Exile, and not a single time did I find myself saying "damn, I wish we had gold in this game".

I agree completely.