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Post by Balthazar on Mar 11, 2011 1:32:23 GMT -5
I was thinking about currency in the MML world and something doesn't quite seem to track.
Refractors are not Rupies. They're not simply rare gems to be traded for goods, not when the monetary value of the world is 'Zenny' (which seems to be something of a constant in jap fantasy settings). Refractors are energy sources that directly power technology of the realm, and so get their worth. So.... Are refractors the money? Or are they, if one takes the MML world to a level of reality, exchanged for Zenny when a digger brings back enough oversized rainbow colored gems to power a third world country from a hole in the ground?
And if so... Paper media? Credit cards? Coins? What would zenny look like?
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Post by Pitch on Mar 11, 2011 1:43:36 GMT -5
There's an explanation of Refractors in the beginning of the first mission in Legends 1 that says they are in fact used as currency. That's about the closest thing I can think of to an official explanation in-game. AFTER BLASTING FIRST LARGE ZENNY BOX:
(Explanation: Quantum refractors are large crystals that provide energy formachines. They can also be used as currency. If you're really lucky, you might find an orange energy cube--grab it to recharge your Life Gauge!) There might be paper currency in Legends worth some value in “zenny,” but I'd imagine since Diggers deal so closely with the real thing, that's probably what they exchange for goods and services in the game. That's nothing more than a guess, though. |
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Post by Balthazar on Mar 11, 2011 1:54:44 GMT -5
But that's exactly what I'm saying. Diggers use refractors for money, sure. But does everyone exchange what is essentially batteries as money? I wouldn't think so. There wouldn't really be a point in them as power sources if they were used as nothing but money. Would pretty much just be a waste.
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Post by Dr. Jerk on Mar 11, 2011 2:10:02 GMT -5
(which seems to be something of a constant in jap fantasy settings). Actually, Zenny is a common name for currency in many Capcom games, including other Mega Man titles. They even made a reference to it in the Japanese version of Ace Attorney 3. And it's simple, Rectractor SHARDS are too small to be used for energy. Actual Quantum Refractors, the larger, fuller ones, are used for powering up things and alone may be sold for a lot of Zenny. You're basically confusing shards with unbroken Refractors. |
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Post by Balthazar on Mar 11, 2011 2:12:23 GMT -5
(which seems to be something of a constant in jap fantasy settings). Actually, Zenny is a common name for currency in many Capcom games, including other Mega Man titles. They even made a reference to it in the Japanese version of Ace Attorney 3. By that I particularly meant Dragonball Z. It may also be Capcom, but it just seems to be a popular scapegoat name for when you're making a world that isn't supposed to really be based in reality at all. Edit: ...That actually makes sense >_> |
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Post by Dr. Jerk on Mar 11, 2011 2:13:44 GMT -5
Um, since when are games supposed to be completely based on reality? You're expecting way too much from these titles.
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Post by Pitch on Mar 11, 2011 2:14:58 GMT -5
Well, I mean, the large, fully in-tact refractors work nicely as a power source, sure, but they're also shiny gems that are also ancient relics. So the refractor shards that explode out of reaverbots and can be found in the walls and treasure chests/etc are also very valuable -- even though they might not even be usable as “batteries.” But I get your question. I've wondered about it too. I'd imagine it's just because Capcom wanted to emphasize the fact that the world of Legends revolves so much around Diggers. I honestly don't think they've given it as much thought as you probably have.
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Post by Balthazar on Mar 11, 2011 2:16:05 GMT -5
Um, since when are games supposed to be completely based on reality? You're expecting way too much from these titles. I'm talking about the setting. When the world of the game isn't supposed to be earth as we know it (unique rules like being able to fire lazers out of your ass completely aside) the money seems to tend to be Zenny. |
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Post by Dr. Jerk on Mar 11, 2011 2:18:54 GMT -5
Again, it just sounds like you're expecting way too much.
Calm down. Games were created to be played for fun, that's always how it is.
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Post by Balthazar on Mar 11, 2011 2:20:37 GMT -5
>_> I am calm. The side comment on Zenny seeming to be a popular scapegoat currency had nothing to do with the topic in the first place. It was just an aside thought. You're the one that brought it up. It also has no bearing on how much I'm expecting from these games.
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Post by MegaTuga on Mar 11, 2011 4:22:11 GMT -5
Well I always thought that the refractors that the Reaverbots leave behind are too small to power up whatever it could be. So small refractors could only be used in large quantities I guess.
After all in MML2 you can sell the large refractors but you can't use them as currency. and My geuss is because their size is perfect to pwoer up machines.
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Post by Balthazar on Mar 11, 2011 5:01:12 GMT -5
Yeah, that point was made and it does make sense. That refractor shards from reaverbots are different from power core refractors.
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Post by Rockman Striker on Mar 12, 2011 0:18:43 GMT -5
Remember the machines powered by refractors are named "holon" they extract the energy by spinning the refractor, i guess that after the refractor has run out of energy it´s only an empty shell, maybe these ones, the empty refractors could be used as a currency, the material of the refractor could be valuable too.
If the refractor is full of energy then it´s not currency, is a valuable object, such as gems or something made of gold.
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Post by WhiteWindow on Mar 12, 2011 1:24:34 GMT -5
I always assumed that smaller Refractor Shards were simply called Zenny to distinguish them from large refractors, and was used as currency becasue there are diggers all over the world finding them, so they started using them to trade for things and the use of it just became common since printing money would require resources.
I guess it's also possible that you can "burn" shards for energy while whole refractors get a longer use, making them far more valuable.
In fact it's never really stated if Reaverbots run on the shards, or that destroying them makes the shards, given the different colors I'd say the former, but that is a game-play mechanic.
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Post by Raijin on Mar 12, 2011 15:01:50 GMT -5
I'm not sure why this would be such a matter of confusion, that refractors are used as currency in this world. It seems to be based on the preconception that money is an abstract thing, represented by coins and paper. Refractors are a fuel source, therefore they can't be money.
However, coins and paper money are just portable things we use to represent things of actual value that we cant always exchange directly. Refractors are pretty valuable on Terra, being presumably the sole energy source for everything from heating homes to moving vehicles to powering a toaster. Everyone needs refractors, so it makes sense the economy would be largely driven by the flow of refractors from the diggers to the shops to the banks to the people to machines, whatever.
And despite the shards blowing off from Reaverbots looking to be bigger than Volnutt's head most of the time, I think the idea is that they represent much, much smaller particles that can be carried around in large amounts, and be measured by weight or energy capacity at exchange points. So refractors work as portable currency as well as an actual resource.
As a side-note of trivia, the term "zenny" seems to be derived from the Japanese character 銭 - zen, meaning "coin" or a hundredth of a yen. That also happens to be Tron's kanji icon in MvC3.
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