no! lets do it my way… it makes less sense, and is much less productive or intuitive…
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That is a genius craftsman idea. The only issue I can find is that you would need a shopkeeper as a whole new job. Why not just have the craftsman sell the goods directly? The bonus of this setup is that by the time you can mint some currency you should have enough little dudes that a shopkeeper or two isn’t really a problem.
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Overall my two cents on the matter (hah, see what I did there?):
Generally when RTSs are concerned, the monetary system which could be used in the game, seems to be implemented as an implicit function. I have yet to come across a game which gave a player the choice to utilize, and alter a monetary system. As stated before SH seems to be an idealistic, “communist utopia”, wherein money is not present, but rather time (the most rudimentary unit we have in economic considerations) is the main component for trade. Goods, livelihood etc. are tied to effort, rather than an arbitrarily implemented rewards system, such as the one present in most capitalist (read: neoliberalist) societies. To get back from my segue there, essentially most games could have a money system in place. It would be fantastic to have the means to control the money supply, consistencies of coinage (i.e. how during the sterling silver standard, things were maintained), as it could work as a great weapon even against foes! Imagine incurring large inflation in the currency flow of another market due to trade etc., and then reaping the benefits of lower buying power and economic leverages?! As an “economist”, I’m drooling at the mouth due to the subsequent possibilities of such a system, but damn would it be hard to create in a realistic sense. One can still argue that, in their playstyle (and therefore in their personal stories involved in the games) there is money flowing, but it’s just not overt.
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Well said.
It should be noted that I am an accountant, and do have some professional knowledge of an economy. I’m also drooly over the possibilities here. I think the key to making this work is to look at it from a microeconomics perspective first. Once we establish what and how a stonehearthian spends his money, the macroeconomic effects should naturally occur. You should be able to mint additional coinage or raise interest rates to adjust inflation levels. If it doesn’t work properly, it will be very interesting to see the why and how of the malfunction.
On the note of consistency of coinage, I assume you mean the value of the coin? It will be hard to design this part because I can’t really peg the value to another currency.
I just realized I am going to have to create a real estate agency so my stonehearthians can have mortgages, and a bank where they can store their money to gain interest, although I guess the bank can handle that too. Economics is based on the perception of the public though. I will have to set up stonehearthian confidence in the monetary system. God help us from bank runs.
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These ideas are amazing, whilst I’m not sure if they ‘fit’ within the framework of the main game (unless of course it was a system you didn’t need to engage with but could if you desired), but all of these ideas sound brilliant.
It does however step into that city simulation-esque type of game, but I’m okay with that - might be a bit much to contend with a settlement financial meltdown and a squid titan assaulting your seawall.
Well, the craftsmen could sell the goods directly, until your settlement reaches a certain size that it becomes beneficial to house all goods under one roof?
Agree that you would need a “clerk” or “trader” job to handle this, it could also act as a hub for incoming trade caravans - I’m thinking some sort of grand bazaar style set up.
My thoughts exactly, chuck a few golems into goods handling and convert the worker or two they replace into shopkeepers!
great, now we have to contend with our citizens getting depressed because they’re underwater on their mortgages? feeling helpless, because they cant afford to send their children off to military camp, so they can learn self defense in the face of the ever present zombie hordes?
do you really want that sort of guilt on your conscience? 
but seriously… excellent ideas you’re tossing around here folks…
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Yeah, the value and consistency of the coinage (ratio of metals, both based on decisions, trade and available mining. Either way, I’m glad someone else can froth at the mouth over this. Moving into a deep city builder would be pretty devastating for the game, and would become pretty damn micro in management. Plus, as I am a Marxist in my writing (note: this does not mean I am a ‘communist’ or anything of the like), moving in a real estate market and a mortgage (rudimentary, or deep banking system), would absolutely undermine the whole socialist paradise that SH seems to be! Then again, so would coinage, so I’m not any different with my suggestion.
Regardless though, I’m more or less approaching this as a bit of a jest! I wouldn’t expect, nor even want, all of these to be implemented. A good game idea though, if someone wants deep micromanagement of minute details!
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That is the concern when you have something like this, unless it was something that you had very little actual control over outside of the larger decisions.
For example if you actually didn’t control money, but rather controlled the goods you had in stock (through harvesting/crafting), the shop space through ‘placing’ shops (shopkeepers would stock items dependent upon their personality/ demand?).
It’s the sort of thing that’s fun to discuss and dream about, we recognize it’s probably never going to happen, but that doesn’t mean we can’t discuss the possibilities!
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This is my intent from the beginning. The only controls you have as a player is the amount of currency in circulation and maybe interest rates. The only other control you have is making sure that good are available for purchase. This will hopefully keep the micromanagement to a minimum.
Failure is also an interesting twist. What happens when your economy fails and a stonehearthian can’t afford food. Will this even be fun for a player to manage? Maybe peddler will be a class. (That one’s a joke, the rest of this I am serious about. Gonna make it happen.)
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which certainly seems to be a design direction for the team… personally, i like having the option of going macro, until my OCD kicks in, and i need to micro some aspect of a game… which, it seems, the farming system will offer… 
I would really like this to be implemented. I feel like it would reinforce the feeling that our… stonehearthians… have their own little world, and less like they’re our minions… which they kind of are, but still…
Shouldn’t your hearthlings eventually have to use an ecomony amongst themselves? For example: at the start of the game, the population is smaller and everyone has to share in order to survive in this brutal world, but as your town improves, the population grows and hearthlings are able to take it a bit easier, not everything would be public. Eventually hearthlings would want to have houses, possessions, and things like that all to themselves! The solution would be economy. When you first introduce ecomony into your town, which will be at a certain point of your net worth increasing, hearthlings wouldn’t jump to it right away, but would rather begin to start getting money from you/your mint (blacksmith) as a reward for their goods production and services, with more unique services earning more money. Once you/ your blacksmith/ your townsfolk have decided they have enough money circulating through town, they would start to charge each other for things, such as services like building houses as well as buying personal/non-personal possesions. Ovbiously, hearthlings with better profesions would actually be happier, since in order to get them to work, you’d have to pay them more, thus they get more money and more stuff.
Tell me what you guys think in the comments, and please, help me refine the system!
Bumping this up reeeeeal quick!
Moved you over here @Sandwitch - as you can see there’s already a bit of discussion about, even if it is a year and a half old … but never mind!