Overview
Ashes of Creation intends to have a robust player driven economy and to facilitate that goal, one of the four Node types is specifically geared towards the economic aspects of the game: The Economic Node. From the choosing of the mayor to the unique building available only the Economic Nodes, everything about these centers of civilization revolves around the amount of coin that jingles in your purse. We are fortunate to have the Know Your Nodes Blog on the Economic Nodes which provides many details into what services are going to be offered.
Nodes will be identifiable as Economic Nodes beginning at level one as the transition from Wilderness to Expedition is marked by the arrival of NPC Merchants.
Government
Leadership of Economic Nodes is secured by purchasing the Officials' Seats for in game currency. It has been said that these seats can also be sold, which might indicate Economic Nodes do not operate on a monthly “election” cycle.
Unique Buildings
The unique building in Economic Nodes is a Building of Trade and Commerce. Beginning at Stage 3, Economic Nodes will be able to build a Market on one of the Mayoral constructible sites. It is important to note that both Markets and Marketplaces exist in Nodes, with Marketplaces being the economic center
- The four stages of the Economic Unique Building are:
- Village - Market
- Town - Exchange
- City - Galleria
- Metropolis - Emporium
As the game is still in active development and we are expecting many things to change during Alpha Testing, I am hesitant to detail out all the things these Unique Buildings can do. Instead, in the Additional Sources to your left I have linked the Know Your Nodes Blog on Economic Nodes so you can view the source material directly from Intrepid Studios. As design decisions about these Nodes are finalized, I will update this page with the things that we know are least likely to change.
Metropolis Super Powers
The Economic Node Metropolis Superpower is a Linked Economy.
While this does not sound like an amazing superpower, you must first realize there is no global auction house. To see what goods and services are available in a Node, you will need to travel to that Node. Additionally, to sell your goods in a remote Node, you must also travel to that location to list your wares.
The advantage of the Metropolis Superpower is that all the local markets under its ZOI would become linked; however, this will not function like it does in other games. Even though you will be able to see the goods and services available in a Node, and although in a linked economy you can buy and sell good remotely, there is no automatic delivery. To acquire your purchased items, you will need to travel to that location and pick up your goods. Right there we are 100% certain this applies to gatherables and processed goods and are fairly certain it applies to finished goods as well, although some game design decisions regarding the ability to access finished goods are yet to be finalized.
We know that two Economic Metropolis can be connected; however, we do not know what would happen in the unlikely event that three of the Metropolis ended up being Economic.