Two alternate systems to reduce the impact of Astral on the economy:

1) Commodity trade
No Astral mobs drop gold. Instead, they drop tainted hearts (or something) which can be traded with various mobs around the place for items or commodities. For instance, give a woodcutter tainted hearts and he gives you lumber. Give a monk enough tainted hearts and he will give you a a robe that allows you to influence undead.

Benefits: No overly excess amounts of gold flooding the economy. Bashing benefits (offering, karma) unaffected. Chance for more RP and RP items, as well as broadening the currency away from just gold.

2) Gold or Karma?
No Astral mobs drop gold. Instead, their corpses can be traded in for 75 gold each to organizational mobs around the place.

Benefits: Reduces excess gold by forcing bashers to choose either offering & karma or gold.

sounds like you've been playing too much guildwars.

I have still yet to see proof that Astral has any influence on the economy.

Especially with Gorgogs and Catacombs now being worth plenty.

Its had an effect on the economy - Celest players don't have a huge source of income now.

Having finally got easier access to Astral, I am amazed at how much money could be made if the nodes were active. I can easily make around 7,500 gold a run.

As an alchemist, bashing (which provides gold, experience and karma) is actually more profitable than my tradeskill. I would need to sell nearly 130 health refills to equal one Astral run.

I thought these ideas might make it more possible for the nodes to return without the problem of excess gold coming into it.

And I don't think I've ever played any guildwars games.

Yeah but... all tradeskills suck compared to bashing, i mean, Cooking and Alchemy might be the only needed ones, well for everywhere except Magnagora.

Erm.. 7,500g.. isn't exactly much for -one- run.. I can easily make more. 20k+ for one run through the catacombs. Give it up, Astral is dead it produces no gold anymore anyway. Magnagora got the best gold income now.

If you do Merians and Gorgogs, you can get around 10k

How does Magnagora have the best gold income? If the Catacombs produce the most gold, then Magnagora doesn't have the best gold income.

Goldwise catacombs are the best bashing grounds right now simply because gorgogs and grey moores are usually bashed out so not much to make there (though it would have the potential to be good).

And it's Magnagora having the best bashing grounds because.. well they like to claim places and say it belongs to them? The got the biggest army to back up such claims and the gods don't mind anymore if anyone claims a place. (I still remember when someone else wanted to claim a plane for their org.. can't remember who or which plane or which god replied to that but it wasn't a 'yes we approve of that'. It's apparently ok now though to do that ).

Magnagora could as well claim the Gorgogs, the Merians, the Astral planes, Oleanvir Valley, every river, all the mountains and your momma's backyard, that doesn't make it theirs.

Saying Magnagora 'has' anything but their city and the villages under its influence, is rubbish. Magnagora does not have the Catacombs, nor do they have any advantage there, nor do they have more reason to claim it than anyone else (cleansing undead anyone?).

They do though, Thorgal. I only say what's fact, I don't really care about it (anymore) either way. Nothing we can do to permanently change it but battling Mags there from time to time sure is fun. Also, having Magnagora claim the catacombs and thus monolithing them sets me up with all my commodity needs.

Is there *any* link for say Serenwilde or the Moondancers to the Catacombs? No. Is there to Magnagora and the Ur'guard? Yes.


Big difference.

There is a hardcoded link between the Celestines and the Catacombs, radiance and their hatred of the taint.

There is a roleplayed link between Serenwilde and the Catacombs, their intense hatred of anything undead and tainted, especially the Moondancers.

There is a whole hoste of reasons for Celest or Serenwilde to claim the Catacombs and destroy everything in it, cleansing it of undead and taint, and preventing orcs from ever being released into the villages. They sure as hell have more reasons to claim and bash it than Magnagora has ever had.

Magnagora does not have, any more reason than anyone else, to claim the Catacombs. Now this is a fact, Aesyra.. just think logical and objective for a while, instead of pointing fingers in spite because your city is too weak to do the same and claim it.

Actually, I think there are only three real problems with the catacombs:

1) That they are located on etheral and that you can make rifts into them right to the bottom. That somewhat circumvents the point of the quest to get there if you ask me.

2) That you can seek/unite right to the bottom.

3) That you can have a demesne there spanning two planes and apparently several levels in the catacombs that are usually not connected either.

Yes, and those options are available equally to everyone.

Agreed (with Shadow).

It isn't a matter that everyone has the same options. The fact that you can potentially do (and I have) the Catacombs Quest in say under 5 minutes is just wrong.

I have never said we couldn't come up with an RP reason to claim the catacombs. And yes it's also fact that we could not to it because we don't have enough people willing to constantly battle Mags over it.

All I have said is that 1) Magnagora claims them, 2) They have a big enough fighting force to back up those claims and 3) that whereas gods seemed to mind 'claiming' places once, they do not anymore.

I never pointed fingers. I never said what I actually think about this situation.

No, because a Seren/Glom/Celestian could not make a demesne spanning two planes in the catacombs and having it unbreakable through linking it back to their Nexus. Only Magnagora is close enough to allow that.

As for the rest.. yes everyone could and I still don't agree with it.