Even though I know who the Trader GM's are, I'm not entirely sure who the person in charge of the Economy of Elanthia is. So this question is directed to anyone who might be remotely connected to it.

Will gemstone values and appraisals ever be reviewed/fixed/modified etc. ? I wouldn't expect gemstones in DR to have similiar value as their RL counterparts (for example things like small topazes might be upped a few bronze and rock crystals would be slightly lowered) but I would think rarity would play a more important role (in DR).

For example: The other day I found a medium emerald that apped 8.5p+. That's great! It's rare, and a great price. Of course, you don't know if it is a chunk of emerald or a faceted emerald, but discarding that knowledge, an emerald is an emerald and 8.5p is a nice price.

But then you get into thinks like these two items I found today:

a lump of glittering goldstone
a circle of milky moonstone

These items aren't as rare as a medium emerald, nor are they as plentiful as a rock crystal or a small topaz. If you hunt rock trolls or critters of similiar economic background, you might find 1 in 10 yet...

You ask the Dwarf to appraise a lump of glittering goldstone.
The Dwarf examines the glittering goldstone carefully, then whispers, "I'll pay 31 Kronars for it."

You ask the Dwarf to appraise a circle of milky moonstone.
The Dwarf examines the milky moonstone carefully, then whispers, "I'll pay 75 Kronars for it."

Now, the nice thing about these items is that we know that they are lumps and circles and won't be as expensive as their carved or cabbed forms. In the chain of hardness, clarity, chemical makeup, and all the other wonderful factors that go into gemstone appraising, these guys aren't on the top of the food chain. Yet the goldstone should be equal to the rock crystals at least in price if not the topazes. Because you never know..it may be a really eye dirty topaz. If you add in the rarity factor (In Game that is), then goldstone and moonstone aren't as plentiful as topazes and rock crystals and definitely should at least be a silver or two more.

I think the overall values of gemstones should be looked into and adjusted. Some of the tweaks I see needed are only a few bronze, which seems petty to squabble over that. I don't think all gemstone prices need to be raise. On the contrary, I think some should be raised while others should be lowered. I think if it were tweaked some it might help if (gasp - wishful thinking) future creation systems involving gemstones were created.

Thanks

--Ros and Syreh, the Gorbesh Girls--

<<A lot of things about gems will be looked at when gems are converted to be inline with the new alchemy system. I'm sure value will be among the things looked at.>>

And that will bring about the next big questions. Will the Gem Shops pay more for pre-cut stones, or will they prefer uncut stones? Will we have to find other buyers for the stones we cut, polish, and prep for settings? I can envision a much wider assortment of places to sell cut gems, Contracts from the various jewlers around Elanthia for a certain amount of gems cut to thier specific needs, mebbe the Royal family(ies) will commision some pieces to add to the Family Jewels, commision sets of medals to be made, where we combine with the Smithers who make the medal itself, we adorn it with gems and inscribe them. Oh..wait..you cant answer all that yet<grins> Sorry Godrich, can you tell Im really looking forward to gem-cutting?

Canten

>Even though I know who the Trader GM's are, I'm not entirely sure who the person in charge of the Economy of Elanthia is. So this question is directed to anyone who might be remotely connected to it.<

That would be me, at least, I'm the one who you address that sort of question to, anyhow.<g>


There will be a lot more factors that will determine value of a gem in the future.

I don't want to get into this in too much detail in the moment, especially since this isn't something (gem cutting) that I want you guys to be hanging on to expect to happen anytime soon, and also because the process itself is not our area.

However, I can promise that you won't have any more rough uncut diamonds 5 times as much as polished diamonds, oversized gems, etc etc. after the fix. Basically, it'll all make a lot more sense than the system we have now.


And that's all I have to say about that.

GM-Equity

>on a related note.. can the gem stores start selling some of the "rare" gems that are sold to them? At a significant mark up of course, but what does the Appraiser do with them?<


That's an interesting idea. Maybe? I'll think about it.


Equity