Just saying hello! I'm new. Happy to be here!

Thank you!

Demogorgon

I think this is a fantastic idea. It could make the lives of explorers a lot easier and more fun, that's for sure. Bars, too. Being able to sit down for a drink from a bartender who can actually hold a conversation would be nice. I hope those both end up on the list of things we're likely to see in the future.

I think it would be awesome to not only be able to write books, but sell books written by others, as well. We could form a book club! Ahhh! I'm way too excited about this now!

I second this emotion.

I'm so glad you suggested this. Even if it never happens (as is extremely likely), I'm just soooo glad someone put it out there. Maybe it's just the former Second Life junkie in me talking, but Identity seems to me to have the potential to be everything SL or Entropia have tried but ultimately failed to be. Providing players with a real world career/playtime incentive like currency conversion would not only encourage greater dedication to their jobs or roles within the world, but also guarantee a more consistent presence from more (for lack of a better word) mature roleplayers who might otherwise be unable to spend a lot of time in-game due to RL responsibilities. If a player wants to publish books in-game and puts forth a lot of time and effort to write and sell them, currency conversion connects both the author and their readers in a way that not only feels but acts like a career. A cash economy could also increase the rental/purchase of private servers exponentially if the renters/moderators of those servers were able to charge rent for homes or shops from players looking for the freedom to live out their virtual lives in relative peace. Alternatively, interested players could create niche roleplaying servers for crime, career, fun, etc. and simply charge a monthly or weekly fee from players wanting to live or play there. It all comes down to transcendent incentive. Games that allow/invite players to LIVE within them can often put people at risk of losing their RL jobs, as so many MMOs have taught us in the past. Turning the game INTO a job does away with that danger all but entirely. I definitely realize something like this might be virtually impossible (no pun intended) to incorporate without a complete and possibly damning overhaul of certain features, especially in a game so heavily riding the "crime and punishment" angle. Maybe there could be dedicated "career RP" servers with a finite crime limit? For players who are both hardcore roleplayers AND interested in a life of crime? Or maybe just put into effect a kind of currency filter which prevents players from converting cash they didn't earn? The latter would probably be one of the only ways to make it work, in my opinion. Again, I know this wouldn't be an easy thing to bring to pass, but my god... If it were possible, it could be amazing.