Credits

TEC might have currency as for the others. I would suspect that when your on the run from the apocalyps you dont really care about a money system, you just want to live. And when your able to mind control people then you dont really need it.

I like the pinata donkeys idea...

IMO there should be a currency, even if each would have his own. There is no doubt that in every civilization goods are exchanged and that good-exchange (I give you a sheep, you give me 10 bricks) is quite unpractical. Hence the need for currency that represents the value of things - and you can still reverse-calculate everything into sheep should you wish.   

The point of babbling; each race should have a currency. It can be the same one for all of them (simplyfication), but there should be something.

EDIT: Now that I think of it, there could be black market in the game where you could buy a FOREIGN technology (perhaps just one ship upgrade or something) and the resource it needs to operate, both at high - and changing - cost...

Black market would be fun.....

but the problem with the money theory is this:
the vasari have no use for it, anyone that has anything is going to put it towards the survival effort, if only to save their own ass.
the advent dont give a damn, they're here to take back their universe, anything they have is going towards the war effort to
the TEC is an EMERGENCY COALITION, they SIEZE stuff and put it towards the war effort.
not to mention that if you resist helping them to build stuff they'll probably shoot or jail you.

this makes currency a liability both in game, and in lore.

Credits, Metal and Crystal are the resources in the game. They're used by all races.

woah, complete turn around...

where the hell did this come from?

BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIR!!!

Money (of any sort) always matters. Even if you're a totally phylosophical person it will matter when you are hungry and want to buy something to put into your mouth. You can say that Vasari use cristals instead of money, but in this case cristals ARE money. Money is not something that is neccessarily printed on paper.

Unless a civilization only trades goods for goods (which is hard to envision with civs as developed as these are supposed to be, spacefaring and all) some sort of exchange mediator is needed. Whatever it is, it is called money (in English).

ever heard of the barter system.

true, it can come in plastic and precious metals to!

but the idea is that they are SO different that credits do not transfer (which is the ONLY logical conclusion) and that their only similarities are their needs in resources, thats why this makes sense.

if some alien race came out of the sky and said "give us all your cash".
would you be surprised? or would you be expecting that?
because I would be very, very surprised.

If they are advanced I am sure they have come up with a good foreign currency exchange system

they could have god as their clerk and I still wouldn't see it happening.

actually currency exchange would be awesome

Think about it - the better your civilization does the more your stuff is worth - if your winning the war your currency would increase - if your losing it would decrease... but hey it doesn't exist so no worries!

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that would be incredibally unbalanced.
anyone who even loses a single battle would immediately be put on the slippery slippery slope towards loss. how are you supposed to recover from attacks that not only affect your military strength, but also anhiliate your economy (regardless of what/where they attack)

Thats a totally unrealistic way of currency exchange.

The way things happen in our world, is the supply and demand factor. Hard currency over soft currency. Plus, you need some kind of medium of exchange(gold or silver), but I think we can make it work on other principles.

Didn't anyone ever read about currency exchange rates during the United States Civil War?

/

Yes, that was when money was supported by gold, it doesnt work that way anymore.

Ah ha! Cleverly countered by moving to World War 2!

in relation to the Confederate and Union currency... the exchange rate fluctuated wildly based on who was perceived to be winning... This is also why the United States has paper money today as at the time paper money was printed by the governments of both the Union and Confederacy in order to pay for the war...

now in relation to sins - Assuming each government had there own credit system (which they don't I've stated this is a mute point earlier) then one would assume that traders would want to invest in whichever currency is currently perceived as being the most stable and having the greatest safeguard of ones money (hence the shirking dollar when compared to the Euro but the dollars continued strength against the Mexican Peso) - further more remember that during WW2 German currency became worthless (for those of you who live in Germany that sentience now officially reads "further more, remember that during the 1930's through 1945 nothing happened in Germany and as such German currency was weakened" apologies I couldn't help myself)

I know the example above is brutally simplified and that other things do effect the value of currency but I'm trying to make an example as to how winning or losing a war and based on empire size - how ones money would be affected in a real world market during a war...

Care to go even more resent? I'd be good money that whatever currency is in use as the national currency in Afghanistan or Iraq is even more valueless then its been in a long time.

no...
they would place the money in whatever system of government that

WASN'T GONNA KILL THEM!!!

just thought that needed caps...

would a jew invest in germany during the holocaust? I dont think so.

it also doesn't take into account garunteed death, and it also assumes the existance of third party countries that don't participate in combat.

neither one of these are existant in game, so already the idea collapses. additionally it would, again, collapse the workings of the game.

Just necause you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there. Raw materials of all sorts are always needed by everybody unless one of them is an energy being. Suddenly these materials become the currency. Not to mention the technology exchange.

but they bear independant value for each culture, rather than the demand value impressed upon by a myriad of purchasers as in our current system.
which is why, again, barter fits. not credit system.

Maybe a barter system.

Ill give you fifty crystals for some ore

...
what I've been pointing out this whole freaking time. thank you very much.

i don't recall you pointing it out even once...

a barter system is what I'm talking about. where you trade raw materials for raw materials.

Trading goods for goods is possible (known from human history and our childhood) yet unpractical when speaking about a lot of different goods and large quantites. But definitely possible.

With raw materials bearing independent value for each race (caused by the different technologies) nothing changes. Today different countries value materials very differently, mostly dependant on their presence and quantity. But the market shapes the prices. These prices are paid with the money the seller is willing to accept and the bidder is able to give.

What we are talking about with this game is not at all uncommon to the situation on Earth today. What happened is the establishment of "world currency" in which most huge transfers happen, currently $ and more and more €. You don't see barter system (there are exceptions, naturally) because it's impractical - although different countries value goods differently.

But that does not mean the game couldn't have barter system. Offer/demand work just the same.