So here’s an idea. What if there was a Loan company in-game? Call it the White Shark Loan Company. Players can use their gold as a loan to other players. The company would work like this:
- Player A wants to get a loan
- Player A goes to a White Shark Loan Officer and puts up a collateral
- The collateral could be Armor, Weapons, Crafting Materials and Mini-Pets. Cannot be Account Bound or Soulbound.
- The collateral will be locked in WSLC’s vault, and the loan value is based on the collateral.
- The collateral value is based on the current Buy Offers in the TP. The loan value is fixed at the time of request. Any future fluctuations in the collateral’s inherent value will not adjust the loan value.*
- Player A waits for the loan to be fulfilled
And then…
- Player B wants to loan his gold
- Player B checks WSLC for some loan offerings, and he can see what kind of collateral is placed
- Player B picks Player A’s Loan Request
- Player B places the gold, and WSLC sends the gold to Player A
- The terms are detailed in the mail. Terms are dependent on how much gold was loaned.
So here are the scenarios regarding loan payment
- If Player A defaults and does not pay the loan, Player A’s collateral is immediately transferred to Player B
- If Player A pays on the due date or within the grace period, Player A receives his collateral back, but pays full interest to WSLC. WSLC will then split the interest profit with Player B.
- If Player A pays before the due date, Player A receives his collateral back, but pays partial interest and penalty to WSLC. WSLC will then split the interest profit with Player B.
- If, by any means, Player A cannot pay the interest and/or penalty, his loan is still outstanding.
Initial thought is, why put up collateral for a loan when you can sell the materials anyway? You can do that, but what if you wanted to keep those materials for future use, like Legendaries or Exotics or whatever new seasonal stuff ANet throws at us? Also, selling the materials would take time unless you want to fulfill a Buy Order instead. So instead of selling them at Buy Order prices, you can just have it as a collateral for a loan. You would pay the loan eventually by doing events, dungeons, dailies, or trading in the TP.
Why would anyone loan gold? If you want a precursor but is short of 10g or 20g, you can ask for a loan.
Thoughts? If this is implemented, how would you think it would affect the TP or the economy in general?
EDIT:
- added clarification denoted by *
