Talk:Currency

In every reference to currency I can find, Arenanet has called money "gold," as opposed to coin. Perhaps they are just using it as a generic term for now, however I think that's how it works in GW1 as well. --Emelend 03:13, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

You edit conflicted my plea for assistance. :) I'll c&p paste it now.

So I thought I would create this missing page, but I have a few things I'm not really sure about on the currency front.

• The name for money. On one of the videos the driver moused over each of the rewards the money given was called :'Coin' and was over 1 thousand pieces of the smallest currency. If there is a better name please let me know.
• The name of the smallest coin. Is it bronze or copper? Right now I can't remember ever seeing anything but the icon?
• Describing coin on this page. Should karma be merged into this page or coin given its own page?
• Does coin actually drop as loot? Not enough looting in the demo footage but can anyone confirm this?

I don't have a strong opinion on coin vs gold. -- Aspectacle  03:18, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

I would do "coins" or "gold". Using singular nouns for money is awkward. -~=Ϛρѧякγ (τѧιк) 03:35, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

I find 'coin' is often used as a plural in fantasy-criminal slang. --Riddle 04:13, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Yup, coin is a plural for coin.

On reflection, I think it is a little confusing to call the currency 'gold' because if you are actually awarded copper or silver to say you've been awarded gold is misleading. I'm not a huge fan of coin, perhaps if we just use 'money'... -- Aspectacle  04:20, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

I suggest specie. 06:10, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Glad you clarified that Felix. Because... wtf. :P

I looked at the video again with the mouse over - it was coins rather than coin. But also karma points rather than karma and experience points rather than experience. None of those terms have especially wide use. May have to wait to the release of the game to get the best answer. -- Aspectacle  09:46, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Experience points doesn't have a wide use? What do you think exp stands for? epo Man 10:26, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

An abbreviation of experience? Most people use the shorter terms experience, or xp rather than actually saying experience points. -- Aspectacle  21:13, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps Zaishen Coins were an introduction to this idea of 3 lvls of currency in GW2? (Usaf1a8xx 03:58, 4 September 2010 (UTC))

Actually, exp is an abbreviation of experience points. :P Yeah, I also thought of Z-Coins. Maybe one idea was influenced from the other. -~=Ϛρѧякγ (τѧιк) 04:30, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

So no more Platinum? How sad. :( You'd think they'd keep that when they're already keeping so many skill names. 82.149.1.199 18:40, 20 September 2010 (UTC)

The Z-coin thing makes me wonder if the zaishen actually took over the economy at some point... seeing as how you're always giving them all your stuff and money in the first game.165.29.184.7 16:15, 5 November 2010 (UTC)

Limit

Is there any word on whether there will be a cap on the amount of gold held in a player's inventory/storage? Power WM 21:53, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

If there was word on it, I would imagine the article to reflect so. - Infinite - talk 21:57, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

'Head asplodes' -- Arduin 02:23, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

Well excuse me for thinking that just MAYBE the news-stalkers who have written articles so far might have missed something. Power WM 02:49, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

Ahhh, please don't worry Power WM. Sometimes some commets are best when taken with a spoon full of sugar. I haven't seen you around by the way, welcome on the wiki! ge4ce 06:11, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks ^^ I've been around, I just don't talk. And I think I will start refraining again because of things like this. *Points to top*. Power WM 13:57, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

I wasn't being rude. - Infinite - talk 14:01, 3 January 2011 (UTC)

:(

I'm sad, the coin division is exactly like wow... Though, I don't mind... I just dont see why they moved away from the current from GW1. :( - Lucian Shadowborn 06:25, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

Meh, it is also exactly like many other MMOs. I personally like this change, I'm really hoping this will help keep GW2's economy from being as god-awful as GW1's. Eive 06:28, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

As Eive stated, GW1's economy was a massive joke. PvE was never the primary goal of the game during development, so PvE-only aspects like auction houses and economic issues weren't a big concern. A few things since release have also done their number on the game - multiple duping exploits and ultra-rare minipets (like 16 of one kind being released in the entire world - silly ANet, big design mistake). A big problem was also gold not being directly trade-able in any real amount (i.e., over 100k). Losing money converting to ecto always struck me as stupid.

ANet copying currency systems from real MMOs with real economies is a big improvement. -Auron 06:47, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

WTT 13 ecto 99G - Infinite - talk 11:41, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

When you put it that way, I see your point. At least with zkeys, they tended to sat either 5k or 6k. - Lucian Shadowborn 01:46, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Economies within MMO worlds are meant to be stupid. There will always be some sort of flaw in its system, be it directly or indirectly, that will be manipulated, suppressed or pressured. It's all about making cash, quickly and efficiently. Nothing can beat the players who intentionally seek the loops of a market or system. (scanning areas, markets and other features) It's also obvious that we will see websites that will sell coin for real life cash on that very first or second day after the launch of GW2. Very sad and frustrating, but somehow smart and 'open'. You can debate about this subject long, deep and wide, but there wont be much stuff that can actually be done to go against it. We can only hope that Anet will find ways to keep balance between coin sellers and coin buyers. Filtering where necessary (finding people in the wrong) and keeping it under the thumb. (So that it will not annoy us 'ordinary' or 'hard core' players) You also have the part, like previously mentioned 'websites after launch', of the conversation about 'illegal'-bot companies that invest in these games. Which is hard cash for Anet. Anet does and does not like that. There is this saying 'money cannot buy happiness', but actually, it does very much. tl;dr! ge4ce 16:01, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

"Economies within MMO worlds are meant to be stupid. There will always be some sort of flaw in its system, be it directly or indirectly, that will be manipulated, suppressed or pressured. It's all about making cash, quickly and efficiently." So you're saying MMO economies are like the ones in real life? :/ 86.106.87.209 13:41, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

Money is always used in the same manner; substituting currencies does not magically make money a good system. Required, though. - Infinite - talk 17:31, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

At least it makes sense purchasing those potions and cheap stuff with currency made of metal cheaper than gold. 62.197.173.242 08:16, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

Bronze?

I don't really see the logic in using Gold, Silver and Bronze. It would make more sense to use copper instead of bronze, seeing that gold, silver and copper all are metals, while bronze is an alloy -meaning a mixture of different elements, with one being copper in this case. I mean bronze is an alloy consisting of 80-90% copper, with the rest being tin. I really can't see why they would do this. --W hlert 19:36, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Typical RPG-ness. - 20:51, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Implying alloys aren't metals? Come on man that's basic chemistry xD (I get your point, copper is a pure metal rather than bronze). But look at any major sports event. They have gold, silver, bronze medals, all shiny shiny metals and bronze is generally higher in price than copper if I'm not awfully mistaken Argatio 16:58, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

I still don't understand why it's not just gold, silver and copper. The Zaishen coins follow that pattern as well. (Is it actually sourced to be bronze, instead of copper? History of the article shows no sign of that.) - Infinite - talk 17:28, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Gold, Silver and Bronze medals were introduced in the Olympics in 1904 to represent the ages of man...Gold Age (man lived among the gods), Silver Age (youth lasted for 100 years) and Bronze Age (man lived among heroes). They could introduce platinum ad a coin over gold so that storage of a crapload of money would be available. Tin was added to copper to make it more durable so copper or bronze coins would change their durability (and both should be more durable than gold coins!) I rather like the idea of copper, silver, gold and platinum for the currency in GW2. It allows for a new smaller exchange unit (which may turn the marketplace into a nightmare) and retain that ultimate collectible unit of plat. Book 17:34, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

@Infinite: I've never seen any confirmation on bronze or copper. Afaik, someone decided bronze one day and swept through the wiki with the template. I'd be happy to see the confirmation! -- aspectacle  00:33, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

You were sort of the person I had hoped to be able to clarify. Guess we are going to be looking at Twitter for this one. I'll ask Stephane. - Infinite - talk 00:37, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

didnt they say many times bronze >.> --Angelkiss 03:36, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Not that I've noticed -> but it is something I'd gloss over if I wasn't listening or watching for it. Have you got any examples? because I can't find any - the only mouse over I've seen said 'coin'. -- aspectacle  04:00, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

well i thoughti heard it but im not watching all the videos again.--Angelkiss 04:26, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

maybe we should take out bronze till we know unless someone wants to find it.--Angelkiss 04:47, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Regardless, I think I'm personally still going to refer to it as copper. Not because of WoW, mind you, because of D&D. It just seems to fit better as they're all in the same section of the Periodic Table. Keitaro Shijo 15:35, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

AreanNet economy expert John Smith called it copper in his latest article. How much more official could we get? I think this is enough to make a sweeping consensus across the wiki. --Star Jewel 00:06, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

currency nav bar

Two suggestions:

• Influence should also be added to the nav bar. I believe it is what guilds earn to purchase guild items.
• Both Influence and Glory should be added to this page.

If I get time I'll try to add them soon. --Moto Saxon 04:22, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

The [[Fame]] page doesn't even exist. Any source of this or someone can compose that article up first? Glastium | talk 10:46, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

I was the one that modified bc I realize I had used the wrong term. Anyhow, it's in this video. --Moto Saxon 12:41, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Added the Influence page and a link on the nav bar! -- NilePenguin 10:44, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Gold, karma and gems

I assume that in his most recent blog post, when talking about gold, Mike O'Brien means all kinds of coins and not just gold coins? Mediggo 17:59, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

I think that he simply means coin in general, yes. Saying "gold" would put a specific price on gems, which wouldn't make sense since it's only tradable between players. -- NilePenguin 18:18, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

Disambiguation

Coin currently redirects to Currency whereas all the other currencies (karma, gem, influence, token) have their own pages. Should coin gets its own page as well and currency be changed into a disambiguation page? Or just leave it as it is? I think if someone is looking for coin they'll search for "coin" or "gold", not currency. Eerie Moss 19:54, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

I propose the exact opposite and believe a merge of all individual articles is in order; having the individual articles redirect to their respective sections on the newly merged Currency article. - Infinite - talk 20:04, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

I was going to suggest the same but the influence article is really long. I'm fine with that too though. Edit: Although it also makes sense to have a discussion about whether the page for a currency should list everything that can be bought with that currency. That table in influence is probably better suited to the guild page, for instance. Eerie Moss 20:15, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

I think the current structure works fine. As what Eerie says, there may be more contents for some pages (influences, tokens) than others (golds, etc.). Sure, we can put most of the info on influence to Guild boosts or whatever, but before we know that much (about guilds, dungeons, etc.), I'll put this down for now. Glastium talk 20:34, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

I think that Eerie Moss' original suggestion of a separate Coin article is best. Judging by the size of the currency article on gww, pages for individual kinds of currency can get quite long on their own, even if we don't keep the current huge influence page. Plus, game mechanics like karma seem worthy of an article on their own explaining the intricacies of the specific currency. How much can you earn? What's the most efficient way to gather influence? How does influence gathering scale with guild size? There's enough information that can be put on a page for each of these currencies to warrant an article of their own IMO. -- NilePenguin 20:41, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

What about keeping the individual pages, and the currency page that does like what Wikipedia does - main articles, and link to the proper page for more detailed info. On the individual pages, have something like "Karma is a form of Currency blah blah blah" so it still directs over here. Currency is an official name for them all, so why force it to be a disambig page? Keep the linking, and add minor articles from the page so you can read about all of them and how they all relate. Then the pages have the bigger articles with major acquisition methods (here, Karma is obtained from clearing events, Karma however could mention how participation exactly relates to reward) and vendors, and influence trading, and purposes for the currency, all that... that could be enough... ~~ Kiomadoushi 22:51, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

I agree with Kio about there being short descriptions on this page with a For more information, see main article link with a link back from those pages to here. As for Coin, is there really that much more that needs to be said about coin that it needs its own page? The only thing it looks like the GW1 wiki has more on currency is any limit to how much they can store on person or in their chest. And I don't think we should list merchants that deal with a specific currency on the currency pages. We can link to categories like |Category:Merchants who use Karma| or the like. 23:07, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm fine with keeping the current Currencies article as a little more than just a disambiguation. A Coin article could feature the basic description, what other currencies it can be converted to (and at what rate), the amount that can be carried on a character, in storage or in guild storage, the methods of acquisition, and how people refer to it ingame (c/s/g? coin? k? gold?). Seems enough for an article to me, but mostly it just feels weird and inconsistent to have articles for every currency but the most important one. -- NilePenguin 00:37, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Reset indent Agreed, I think there will be enough information on the individual pages to justify having separate articles (karma earn rates, different sorts of tokens (if any), influence acquisition formulas, etc.). Any objections? Eerie Moss 05:58, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Okay, I'm still okay with either approach, but I'm kind of leaning back towards having a single consolidated currency page, so here's my proposal: User:Eerie_Moss/sandbox/Currency. I feel like this makes a lot of sense. We're not going to list all the karma vendors or items on the karma page, so there's no need to list all the guild upgrades on the influence page. I've added a section to Guild which would easily accomodate all the tables from influence. Eerie Moss 11:52, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't think Influence nor Gems would like to be reduced to but a sub-section of Currency. :P If I wanted to read about just karma or just gems, I'd rather read about them on their own pages. Currency should be left with more extensive disambiguation than usual, with links and short descriptions on the various currencies. Maybe sort them to tradable (coins and gems) and nontradable (influence, glory, karma)? So I agree with Kio's suggestion... I'm not really sure if tokens count as currency, though, unless they're common dungeon rewards. If they're unique to each dungeon, they are more in line with collector trophies. Mediggo 12:23, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm sort of at a loss at this point. I've removed tokens as I agree with you there and changed the rest back into little sections. I do believe the rewards for each currency are better listed on another page, but I think it should be in places like Guild#Upgrades and Structured_PvP#Rewards rather than Influence and Glory. If there are any suggestions I'll tweak my proposal, otherwise I'll leave the currency page alone until we can firm up the structure some more. Eerie Moss 13:12, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

That's probably a better place for those tables, yes. Still, looks like a consensus for making a Coin page and shorten the Currencies page. I suggest we leave "Token" alone for the time being - if they are dungeon-specific, they may be better off just listed under the appropriate dungeon page. -- NilePenguin 15:31, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Okay, final check: any objections to turning Currency into a link page and moving the Coin section to coin? Here's what I'm thinking for a link page. Eerie Moss 15:59, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

No objections and I like that disambig. -- NilePenguin 16:11, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Maybe minus the "disambig" part, considering it's not something to clear up ambiguity since currency is the name for the group of currency-type "items"... But the disambig-type is ok. ALSO, that reminds me about Tokens / Token... should they be a featured section on Dungeons, as a trophy currency item, that then has those two redirect over to that section. As it is, if I wanted to look for a page about Tokens, there is nothing, so we need a place to mention them in length. ~~ Kiomadoushi 00:51, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

edit actually, now they're finally loading (it was telling me page does not exist a moment ago), but it still has the currency infobox, and could probably use quite an update... ~~ Kiomadoushi 01:12, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

Tokens

Should we add an icon/page for Tokens? Are Tokens confirmed to still be in the game? Karew 14:54, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

I don't personally consider tokens currency. They show up as items in inventory, unlike other currencies which all have a dedicated spot. Tokens are more like the trophies in GW1. There are collectors which exchange things for them, but they aren't considered currency. --Eerie Moss 16:07, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

Right, currency is comprised of the five units of commerce that don't take up inventory space. (I'm glad you asked the question, as it made me think about what distinctions we ought to make between currency and items that are valueless until exchanged.) – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 16:23, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

It also largely depends on whether or not they can be traded between players. IMO, Tokens should get their own article, too... Mediggo 06:08, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

Only Gems and Coin can be traded among players; Karma, Influence, and Glory aren't directly exchangeable. I'm not opposed to having an article about the specific reward, but I also think we aren't missing anything (at the moment) with redirecting to Dungeon. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 15:10, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

Yes, obviously. I meant that if tokens were tradable, they might make for actual currency in game. Mediggo 15:33, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

Ah, sorry, I misunderstood your point. Still, I don't think "tradeability" is what distinguishes "currency" in GW2: it's whether the item takes up inventory space or not and/or whether non-specialized NPCs will take the item in trade. You can also trade mystic keys, but they aren't currency either: you can't buy armor from players using mystic keys or tokens. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 15:47, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

I think the tokens are more like a collector's item from gw1 than a form of currency. As for the mattering of tradeability: I just think that the fact that they aren't tradeable reinforces the fact that they're not currency.--El_Nazgir 15:57, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

Five currency, but there are six item in the list. I think that Supply / Token have the same behavior, one for PvP side and the other for PvE side. So either we add both in the list or we add none.

I usually do the equipment stuff, but I stumbled upon this issue. Because imo some tokens definitely act as currency. Ascalonian Emblems for example do not really work diffrent from Karma except for the fact that, they take up inventory space. If you want to differentiate between those two - which I can understand - , say that Karma is a Standard Currency and an Emblem is a Token. But I would like to see the Tokens added to the Currency nav. - Yandere 17:51, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

Money

Money should probably redirect here...but I cannot make the page...anyone interested? 80.112.181.245 11:21, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Good idea, money is probably something people are searching for :P - Yandere 12:24, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Badges of Honor

Shouldn't badges of honor be considered a currency used for purchasing WvW weapons, accessories, armor sets and siege weapons? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.25.91.30 (talk).

Commendations

Guild Commendations need to be added here I guess and in the nav. --Alad 07:21, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

Addressed at Talk:Token#Commendations. —Dr Ishmael 15:44, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

"Account-Based"

The heading "account-based" seems to imply that you can't trade those currencies to another account, which I think is true of all the currencies in that category except coins. Coins used to be listed separately under a "tradeable" heading--I'm curious why this was changed? --Felbryn (talk) 18:42, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Every use of "account-based" on the wiki has referred to elements that are based on the account and contrasted with character-based. I don't see how it can imply otherwise. We can change it to account bound if clarity is required.--Relyk ~ talk < 18:51, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

My point is that coins are NOT account-bound. Items can be either soulbound, account bound, or unbound; of the currencies listed on this page, some are soulbound, some are account bound, and coins are neither. --Felbryn (talk) 19:02, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Relyk's point is that account-based is not account bound. But I guess the list could use some restructuring or rewording. Mediggo (talk) 19:11, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Sorry, I thought Relyk was suggesting that replacing the term "account-based" with "account bound" would be a "clarification" (i.e. not change the intended meaning).

I just think the fact that coins are tradeable and other wallet currencies are not is a distinction that ought to be drawn somewhere on the page, and I was surprised because once upon a time it was, but it seems to have been removed without explanation. --Felbryn (talk) 19:41, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Account bound can refer to something being account-based or the property associated with items. It's still account bound in that it's shared between characters. Arguing about semantics is going anywhere: Coin should have its own section so it doesn't get grouped with currency that can't be traded.--Relyk ~ talk < 19:54, 2 November 2013 (UTC)

Real World Value.

What is a unit of gold? Is it like a Liberty Coin? Or is it some set mass? Does it have a real world analog?

Suggestion: Shorten or merge with Wallet currencies

I would suggest a brief overview, and group a few currencies together, with the Wallet page explaining everything in detail we don't need everything doubled on this page too. Or the second possibility, a merge. ~ Tiavor (talk) 20:50, 20 November 2015 (UTC)

Currency IDs

Name	Currency ID	Item ID
Coin	1	-
Karma	2	-
Laurel	3	-
Gem	4	-
Ascalonian Tear	5	16982
Shard of Zhaitan	6	17272
Fractal Relic	7	38022
Seal of Beetletun	9	17274
Manifesto of the Moletariate	10	17270
Deadly Bloom	11	17273
Symbol of Koda	12	17277
Flame Legion Charr Carving	13	17275
Knowledge Crystal	14	17276
Badge of Honor	15	35510
Guild Commendation	16	39695
Transmutation Charge	18	64736,64737
Airship Part	19	74494
Ley Line Crystal	20	-
Lump of Aurillium	22	75012
Spirit Shard	23	69910
Pristine Fractal Relic	24	39078
Geode	25	66593,69812
WvW Tournament Claim Ticket	26	66352
Bandit Crest	27	67787,69985
Magnetite Shard	28	77378
Provisioner Token	29	-
PvP League Ticket	30	-

Note: Currency IDs from https://api.guildwars2.com/v2/currencies; Item IDs from https://api.guildwars2.com/v2/items --BryghtShadow (talk) 02:05, 5 December 2015 (UTC)

Uniformity

• Some pages have the icon on the left, such as Spirit Shard, some pages have the icon on the right, such as Laurel.
• The page on karma mentions that it is non-tradeable, other pages do not, as far as I've seen. Is there any currency other than coin that is tradeable? Otherwise it seems redundant to mention this on any page.
• Some pages have a list of items that can be bought, such as Pristine Fractal Relic, some pages have only a list of merchants, such as Guild Commendation.

In each case, what is the preferred way? It seems useful to me to have either one thing or the other, as this would make it more clear where you can expect to find things. --Paw (talk) 11:28, 17 December 2016 (UTC)

For the third point, some currencies don't have very many items that can be bought with them, so listing what can be bought isn't a huge deal, whereas others (karma and coin in particular, obviously) have an enormous number of items, so listing vendors is better --Gimmethegepgun (talk) 12:53, 17 December 2016 (UTC)

Feedback 2019/05/23

there is some unknow currency in wallet. it use some lower tuning crystal icon. Naryk (talk) 15:16, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Oh wow there is! It doesn't sort with any of the other currency categories. I wonder if it's a placeholder icon for something they changed last minute for Dragonfall?--Rain Spell (talk) 17:50, 23 May 2019 (UTC)