Hey all, I thought id start a discussion on a topic that has had me baffled since they showed up. "What are banks useful for? As far as i can tell, the intent was to allow loans in-game, but what is the appeal for the everyday Entropian? Has anyone taken a loan, and how does the process work? Is there a point other then the bank making money from interest?
I think the point is meant to be that you can temporarily get money from your items without having to sell them. I think it has a rather limited use unless you're an Uber with stacks of stuff that's worth a lot but that you don't use.
What would be nice is the ability to do a deposit while in-game, barring any security issues, but I'm sure that MA has all of that worked out.
What do you mean Kets? Deposit in to the banks? That would be neat. I'd pay money straight in to an account to gain interest and then withdraw it when I needed it :-)
Perhaps I should open up my own bank. Just give me your money and I'll hold it for a while, yea, I'll hold it then you can withdraw some, if , or when you can catch , uh, find me, then I might apply some interest, especially if you're looking for me, I'd be interested then, yes, Kets' Pilfering and Loan Sharking. I'll send my idea to MA right away.
Good question, and something I've been wondering myself. My guess is that the giving out of loans is just the tip of the iceberg. I don't believe that ppl who bought these banks will be relying only on loan repayments to make a profit in the long term. At an average total cost of approx' US$160,800 it will take them a long time to make a profit just on loan repayments. I've only been inside two of the banks so far; in argus and twin peaks, and they are vast inside. I think there will be alot of shops and stalls inside them in the future, for which the bank owners will charge considerable rents. This is how they might make most of their profit.
Bank seems a touch grandiose IMHO, I would prefer to call them Pawn Brokers, they should certainly have three balls hanging outside of them. A Soc. member did use one of these, all it managed to do was delay the day she had to deposit on. It certainly seems a strange concept, I for one have never walked into a real world bank with a gun and and expected to be able to get some money for it, arrested perhaps, shot possibly but paid never!
Pawn broking... Mmmm - I've heard this before about possible uses for banks, but what I've not understood about this, is why would a bank give you more for a weapon, etc, than what you could get via an auction or P-P trade. In rl pawnbokers only gave you lowest possible price so that they could make a profit, but where I am, traditional pawnbrokers are very rare now because ppl became wise to this - and again because you have alternatives like auctions and private trade...
I have gone to the banks a couple of times and they have never offered me more than the current value of the item(s) at auction, needless to say I did not take them up on their offers :)
That's correct - the banks aren't there to buy your stuff. If they offered you the same rates as at auction people would just not pay back the loan. What they are is a loan service to allow you to temporarily turn your items in to cash. When you repay that cash (plus a small fee) you get your item back. If you don't repay it the bank can sell that item on to cover their costs - which is why it has to be cheaper than the current auction prices. Erach.
