digibutter.nerr

[Francis]

The economy depends on the balance of two things... coins coming in, and coins going out. We need many ways to earn and spend coin.

How will you, as President, help keep the digibutter economy healthy?

[Die4Less]

Well, we need more ways to spend coins. A few changes to the Usershop System would work wondefully. by having it so Usershop owners could invent new kinds of items. Give them options like the pitfall. A bumper style item option for usershops will help with creativity. Thus, better variety (and better in general) might make people spend coins on items.

That brings us to another issue. Items. It might help if we could somehow reward people who kill another person with items. It will make them want to use items, thus they will buy items, use them, and with the money they earn, perhaps buy more. If we could get a chain going, it would bring more life into items. Another optional but potentially helpful feature would be a sell feature for Usershop items. I'm sure many of us have wasted money on an item we didn't want. I mean, we bought it on accident, and now we should be able to sell it.

Another way to spend coins? The arcade. Sure the games we have now are fun, but what if we could get more variety? People might actually play if there was more variety... in addition, we should probably reset high scores once a month at the very least, so as to provide more incentive to play (you will get coins for the high score), as well as allowing more friendly competition to get the high score. People should also receive coins even if they don't get the high score, just like a real arcade. By winning coins, they might be inclined to play again and try to get the high score, thus creating another chain.

EDIT: Although I think I would consider it part of the Court/Strike System and it's appropriate question if it comes, Orangesoda provided a good question below, It's an issue that needs to be fixed. Fines should be redone, as 10 coins isn't enough for some crimes. I would most likely try to have Francis impose a system that depends on a few factors.

Factor 1: How wealthy is the Defendent?
Factor 2: How serious is the Crime?
Factor 3: Did they plead Guilty, or Not Guilty?

Another option would be to impose a fixed penalty rate. Something like 15% of the Defendent's cash. Either way would work, and should be looked into...

and, that's about it, I think...

[Typhoon™]

Some other canidate please include the increase of coins for fines.

[Gold Prognosticus]

In order to spend money you need to have money.

Francis did well with the new feature that gives out money each day, but to me it still doesn't feel like enough. Arcade prizes are also ineffective, as the scoreboards are quickly claimed with very high scores.

In order to counter this problem, I would first bring bank intrest back. This was a great source of money for many members. However, there needs to be some form of cap or restriction on how much intrest can be made, to prevent imbalances in the economy.

Secondly, spending. I do believe that Francis is already at work on a new battle system for the site, but we need things for now.

Items are currently the main way to spend money, but many members consider it as a waste. I propose organising some form of site-wide tournament every week/month/year where any member can sign up and see who can survive the longest.

[Spiny]

Economy wise, this site is also suffering.
As Gold Prognosticus said, the arcade is quickly filled with high scores.
Otherwise inactive members seem to only come on to maintain their high scores, and are taking the opprotunity for a prize they don't need out from under the users' noses. And since they are held for so long before they're cleared out, barely anyone can top them.
For that, I propose the scores be reset more frequently than they are now. And the person with the top high score cannot keep it unless they actually post atleast once that month.

In terms of rich users, I propose that a cap be instated on how many they can have if it doesn't exist already. On top of that, the admittance to the rich users forum should also be lowered by(Not TO) atleast a fourth of it's current total.

For Item shops, I suggest that if the user hits the cap mentioned before, the shop closes down until they get a lower total. This prevents some more popular shops (I'm looking at you, Ultimario Mart.>=/)from stealing attention away from the overlooked ones.

For the items themselves, I don't really see a problem aside from get rid of certain item spaces in the prexisting shops that won't get restocked, like T Virus or Smash Ball until they actually are restocked. They take up space that could be put to good use.


Any direct user/shop mentions I have used were purely for example.

[Almaz]

We are fine as we surf through this economic crisis! Do not worry! The fundamentals of our economy are strong!

...alright, that joke out of the way? Good, alright, how do we deal with unnecessary-feature-that-people-mope-about-#4? As far as I can tell, really, there is no point to even having an economy. Fines are useless as most members can make them up in a matter of minutes (hours at most), the attack system is downright pathetic and dead, and the only thing coins are used for lately is the relationships system, which itself is hanging by a thread.

Oh, and of course, the Arcade pretty much means squat lately.

I don't have a plan to jump-start the economy. No, the economy can only become valid through a long growing process, with every member possible contributing. Simply put, the economy HAS no rewards, other than "I'm rich and you're not". All I'm going to propose is simple solutions that give users with more moolah more benefits.

First off, gambling. We need more gambling. Why? Because it's as fun as Hell. I'll push for whatever games you'd like - slots, blackjack, 'Look the Other Way', strip poker (okay, MAYBE that's a little too extreme) - but we need those fun little diversions. Lady Luck is one of the most entertaining escapes from life - unbiased and thrilling. Just look at how entertaining the Game Corner was in Pokemon! I'd be willing to add Grate Guy's Casino to the map, or Game Guy's Room or the Rocket Game Corner or Glittertown to the map, and I'd be extremely enthusiastic about it.

But, the bigger issue is, of course, what is the worth of a coin? At the moment...absolutely nothing. They're useless. They're like pennies; who wants pennies?! They're a pathetic status symbol that lost its edge months ago. The Secret Place of the Filthy Rich is a dull excuse for a semi-spam forum.

Well, there's two solutions. One, we ignore coins completely until a new battle system is reinstated, at which point the economy will function on its own and this debate will become meaningless. Free pass to the next day, thank you Francis.

However, I suppose I can give an alternate solution if Francis does (and, all reports show, he most likely WILL) continue to delay this attack system for 'personal reasons' or something more important than keeping the economy on a website about fictional inter-dimensional characters from a fantasy-filled series of video games flowing at full capacity. My solution is simple: rewards.

Not just bragging rights, actual, tangible rewards. Fan Fiction, collectibles, plot devices, prison passes - that which cannot be accessed normally. Where would we give out these rewards? Arcade, casino prizes, Shop Points - really, anywhere where earning cash can be rewarded. This is, as far as I can tell, the only way to make the economy lucrative again, without creating a huge status gap between members.

Oh, and refreshing arcade high scores, catching cheating, improving the features of Usershop ideas - these are just a given to happen, though.

Really, the economy can't be discussed without going into items, which goes into the attack system, which leads to a dead end.

NEXT!

[Super Hario]

[Gold Prognosticus]

I have to say I disagree with Mister I on the subject of attack items. The battle system was and still is one of the many features that make this site unique - without any of those features, or indeed Francis as a skilled coder and admin, this site would be as plain as the thousands of other nintendo fansites out there. Even if it involves starting from scratch, I do not believe we should completely ignore battling.

I do, however, approve of his ideas about gambling and rewards - they are, in my opinion, both excellent ideas.

[Almaz]

The simple reason I'm specifically ignoring attack items is that Francis has stated he will revamp them. I'm uncertain how this can be done, but the current system is on very limited life support, and since I, nor anyone else, has seen this system, I cannot comment on it at this time. I can only comment on the current battle system, but due to a solution already being in the works, that does very little good.

Your tournament idea is also pretty good, Gold Prog. Unfortunately, with everyone at even ground at this time, it's still a matter of "Han shoots first".

*sigh* Not much more meat to this discussion, is there? Shame...quite a shame...too many variables to put a good foot forward. >.<

[Paper Peach]

Much that I want to say has already been said, so I'll my little tidbit...

As Mister I said, Gambling is fun. The Star Carnival used to be a flourishing part of our site. It was a source of both income and entertainment. I'd like to start it up again.

Now I've said before I don't believe in the president enforcing his own ideas whithout consent from the members (that's what congress is for, right?). So with your permission, I might have an idea....

Give the members a free play week. They can start with a certain amount of Carnival Coins which, when gambled, can turn into actual coins. This system will only last for a little bit, but if it succeeds, it will give the Star Carnival a running start in it's revival...

[lovegod703]

What I would do is I would hear what people would spend their money on and find out what gets left in the shops. I would delete the items not selling enough and I would create new items that were suggested to me and I think is a good idea, and what the people want and would spend money on.