A sadly under-explored aspect of Fallout: New Vegas is the economic impact of having three currencies circulating the wasteland. The entire game revolves around the conflict between the New California Republic (NCR) and Caesar’s Legion who are fighting for control of the Hoover Dam. Both groups have their own currency, the fiat NCR dollar and the silver or gold coins used by the Legion. The third currency is the humble bottle cap. It holds value because it is backed by a cartel of water merchants, one cap is worth a certain amount of water. Considering that water is the ultimate necessity, these water-backed bottle caps are accepted everywhere and act as a de facto reserve currency in the Fallout universe. There is a slight nod to the idea of exchange rates. NCR dollars are always worth 40% of their printed value in caps while Legion coins are worth much more being minted from precious metals. But unfortunately that is where it ends.
New Vegas is a role-playing game, not an economic simulator. Many players might get turned off if the different currencies had serious affects on game play. Needing to know which currency is accepted where is less fun than exploring dangerous vaults. But there are lots of cool mechanics that could be implemented in a game like New Vegas if the developers have the time and money.
Variable Quest Rewards. Working for different factions that produce their own currency should provide rewards in the appropriate currency. Why would the NCR pay for work in caps when they want their own dollars to be more accepted? Players should be given the opportunity to accept the NCR dollars or accept a lesser value in caps. It would be important that the caps be lesser in value since nobody would accept a random currency versus the reserve currency if both options had the same purchasing power. There should be a penalty to the player.
Licensed Merchants. Players need game play incentives to want less valuable currencies. The quickest solution would be to insert merchants with top-tier equipment and items that can only be purchased in certain currencies. In New Vegas, this would be an NCR army quartermaster selling military surplus hardware.
Persistent Currency Adoption. This would be the most difficult to develop, but perhaps the most interesting. As mentioned, the New Vegas plot involves two opposing factions looking to expand into a new territory. Players have the option with allying and opposing whomever. Actively working to strengthen a faction via quests or ambushing enemy patrols would shift the overall balance of power. In-game characters would acknowledge these shifts by increasing or decreasing the purchasing power of fiat currencies. “You heard the news? Three NCR rangers were caught and crucified by a Legion patrol. Looks like the Legion is making inroads around here so those NCR dollars aren’t worth as much as you think.”
Currency Weights. In New Vegas, caps and Legion coins are made of metal while NCR dollars are paper printed in different denominations. What better way to incentivize gamers to change their caps or gold coins for the less valuable NCR dollar than address the reality that a pocket full of caps weighs more than a fat stack of hundred dollar bills? Force players to choose between loot or money.
There are probably other cool ideas of how a fiat currency can be used in video games that have not yet been explored. Fallout: New Vegas is a bit unique by having multiple currencies reflect the different factions. Most games have one currency that is accepted by every merchant in every town on every continent. Different currencies can add a whole lot of world-building to a game as well as give developers fun economic systems to stretch their creativity.
The Keasy Depot 