Re: (TFT) Jobs table: 100,000 simulated soldiers and farmers

[CofDublin@aol.com]

Comments below
 
In a message dated 9/21/2011 5:10:45 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
mejobo@comcast.net writes:

>  Still, making too much surplus isn't good (and it will  drive up  your
> prices, though having no wait could be nice for some  more  commonly
> sold items).
 
 


>  Too much surplus drives prices down, not up.




Right,  but if you are just making a few extra things here and there,   
wouldn't' that increase their price, as they are paying more for not   
having to wait to get whatever item you are selling? Basically, you   
are beating the competition in service, so you got to make a bit   
more....



One of the hardest things for Americans to understand is exactly how small  
a medieval economy is. Granted, the parallel isn't exact because of magic, 
but  the point still stands. People expected to do a lot more waiting back 
then.  Nobody had clocks with a second hand or had appointments by the 
minute. So, they  likely wouldn't notice improved service like that. Plus, 
probably every  shop has some surplus because it isn't like you get caught up in 
your favorite  book or have a great deal to do outside of work. There's sex, 
but how many kids  can you support? So, if a band of adventurers blows into a 
village. They'll  probably buy out everything that's already made and the 
village will have some  surplus itself for awhile.
 

>
>
>
>> So lets say that old Bilbo has  gone on his adventure, dealt with  
>> Smaug,
> but the  battle of the Five Armies never happened. So these guys are
> sitting  on  a mountain of treasure and the >nearest settlement is   
> Dale.Gold is
> fixing to become very cheap in Dale in that  scenario.
 


>
> Probably not.  Within the context of the  whole of Middle Earth, gold  
> is
> still a valuable   commodity... unless they get so much gold that it  
> ruins  it
> (like for the  Spanish in real life, to an extent), which  would need  
> to be a
> LOT  relative to how much was  in Middle Earth before, the effect  
> isn't to
> make   gold cheap in Dale, per se, its to make Dale rich- EVERYTHING  
>  will be
> cheap, given how wealthy everyone is (cept, of course, they  dont'  
> all get  the
> gold, as I  recall).
 
 


>
> Mansa Musa of Mali went on hajj to Mecca, he  devaluated gold for 12  
> years
> in Egypt and in what is  now Saudi Arabia. Price on goods super- 
> inflated as a
> result  of his generosity and wealth.
 
 


Yeah, but if anyone from Egypt went to France, or wherever,  they'd  
still be rich. Its just like how in America, everything  (basic  
commodities) is more expensive, but more people are richer  than in a  
third world country... we rarely think of America as poor,  however, in  
part because when trading outside the US, they have more  relative money.

But, of course, prices will rise in Egypt, or  Dale.
 
 
But most people didn't go farther than 10 miles from where they lived. The  
adventurers are unusual, which is one reason why they start out with 32 
points  rather than 30. They're better than average. One of the things that 
makes  Americans more like medieval notables is that they routinely travel. No, 
the  people in Egypt who had to deal with the aftereffects of Mansa Musa 
were trapped  for the most part and not able to leave to France or a place 
where they could  make a killing with their gold. Think also of the 49ers & how 
the real money  was made in the exorbitant prices charged for necessities 
by their  suppliers.
 


>
> If your campaign is getting unbalanced, 1 way to  right things is to  
> make
> taxes and fees and tithes. Then  tinker with your economics by  
> introducing a
> change at  Court off-stage. Another thing that medieval kings also  
> did was  to
> recall the currency and devaluate it. This was hard on the  economy  
> but it
> is a  way to raise prices  realistically.
=====
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