Hi:
My players want to exist/live/go all around the place (some are even intrigued by exoplanets!), but I wanna find out what economic mode prevails in which locale...something, it seems, which is eluding me (consulting the rulesbook). I can't seem to find what economy functions in what area in the EP universe.
Please help!
Thanks
SF
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Dimness about specific economies
Fri, 2011-07-08 11:20
#1
SEÑOR FASE
Dimness about specific economies
Fri, 2011-07-08 12:00
#2
nezumi.hebereke
Re: Dimness about specific economies
The consortium functions like a normal capitalist society, with probably some limited welfare programs, not too different from the U.S. Some PC facilities will operate like corporate towns. The Jovian Republic we haven't been told much about. It might function like laissez faire capitalism, a corrupt oligarchy, a fascist form of communism like the PRC, or something else altogether. Sol and the wastes of Mars are limited to simple bartering among unaffiliated nomads (except where the PC or some other organization steps in). Luna is likely some socio-capitalist state, like Switzerland, albeit with very heavy segregation.
Titan is socialist, trading social capital. Scum barges are anarchist, which span the gamut from 'right by might' to 'serve the greater good' to 'trade social capital' to whatever else. Europa is probably like a corporate state, so it's more a question of fighting for political support to cover for your pet projects. Past Saturn it's up in the air. You'll have to wait for Rimward for details, I guess. Venus is segregated and features all of the above.
Fri, 2011-07-08 12:46
#3
Arenamontanus
Re: Dimness about specific economies
The core book has a fairly good rundown on page 61 and onwards.
The old economy is used in mainly Jovian societies - classic monetary economy, somewhere between capitalism or fascism (depending on which habitat around Jupiter and how you want to play the junta).
The transitional economy is used across most of the inner solar system (Mercury, Venus, Luna, Mars and the various minor habitats - Planetary Consortium, Morningstar Constellation and the Luna-Lagrange Alliance). Still counts money in credits, but there are public access assemblers that can build things - except that you have an allocation of raw materials and energy determined by being a citizen, and need to buy the rest (as well as blueprints beyond the basics - and you cannot get blueprints legally for restricted things). Essentially an economy where scarcity comes from copy protection.
The new economy is used in the belt and outwards (with a few exceptions like corporate compounds like the Go Nin base on Eris). You can manufacture anything you like freely if you have the raw materials, services are priced based on reputation - scarcity comes from not being connected or popular (or direct lack of matter and energy). Variations exist like the anarchocapitalism on Extropia or the mixed economy on Pandora (Gatekeeper corporation is both titanian and transitional).
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Mon, 2011-07-25 07:27
#4
Xagroth
Re: Dimness about specific economies
In essence, the EP currency is credits, favours or a mix of the two. As for the economic backing of this, I divide it into:
- Raw materials (both matter and energy)
- Time (of use of a Cornucopia Machine)
- Cost of the blueprints (intellectual property)
As a rule of thumb, I charge the players one cathegory lower of the item cost for the raw materials (that is, an item listed as High would be Moderate), if using an open-source blueprint I charge them only half of the credits (no advantage if they are paying with rep, because in reputation-based economies the Cornucopia machines are very demanded), and if they use their own cornucopia machine I charge them only for the other two parts of the cost.
Now, open-source blueprints are hard to find in any society that doesn't run only on reputation, nearly impossible in credit-based economies, and requires some effort in transitional economies (if the players just want to buy the blueprint instead of looking for a free download, well, it's their money XD).
About obsolescence, they can pay one step lower for obsolescent or flawed items, or one step higher for items with some extra. This is hard to incorporate in certain kind of items, however (like weapons), so I just give there the option of buying the latest designs (which would be only a social standing issue, like the difference between using normal shoes or ones with the Prada label nowadays, for example), but that would be relevant only for people building some sort of F-rep (or people who follow the old CP202 "style above substance" ^^).