Regional Economy Idea

[The Eltran]

Let's take a small break from Constitutional debates (more on this coming very soon) to discuss an idea that came up yesterday: reintroducing a regional economy.

For the unaware, the region used a Discord bot to have an economy of sorts (based on a fictional currency) in 2020. I'll break down the simple pros and cons of the system *as it existed then*. 

• Pros: It generated a lot of activity for the server, people seemed to generally find it fun, arguably added some degree of culture/flavor to the region
  
• Cons: People were generally corrupt, it caused a few fights here and there, and the system it ran off of wasn't well defined so it went off the rails (see Kanjuura's comments about loan sharking, etc).
  

If we reintroduce it, I think we can combat most of the cons above by (a) the region being generally more mature than it was 4 years ago and (b) an actual system/regulation method.

The idea, if implemented, would revolve around a few things,

• A base salary of this fictional currency for people in roles to benefit the region (recruiter, LDF member, etc).
  
• Payouts for participation (recruitment telegrams sent, LDF ops attended, roleplay contests won).
  
• Minigames playable with this current (blackjack, etc).
  
• Purchaseable items (a Discord role color or icon, things of that sort?).
  
• A degree of regulation to prevent abuse of the system/people being taken advantage of in it.
  

So basically, with all of that in mind, I have a few questions I would like the Council Delegates to answer (in this thread, please).

1. Are you interested in seeing this implemented?
   
2. Do you like the way its outlined above? What would you change or add?
   
3. Do you think this would help incentivize/drive regional activity and participation, or not really?
   

1a.  For myself, maybe a little interested, to make sure I don't end up with a role color I don't like again.

1b.  For the region, more interested than that, because I think it would add to the region.

2a.  Bullet points #1, #2, #4, and #5 I all strongly agree with.  More specifically, I agree with the comments that we should use it to incentivize recruiting, and I disagree with the comment that we shouldn't use it to reward defending.  We recruit on our defending, it's what we're most known for as a region.  If we have a reward system, we should absolutely reward people for participating in defending.  Also, as someone who drifts increasingly leftward by the day, I strongly agree with regulating any economy.

2b.  Bullet point #3 I'm indifferent to, but if minigames have been popular in the past, then I also strongly agree with it.

2c.  To add to the ideas for purchasable items, custom Discord emoticons?  Assuming that is practical.

3.  I think it would strongly incentivize activity for a few people who get super interested in it, and somewhat increase engagement from a lot of people who are also already at least somewhat engaged.  But that's just a prediction from someone who hasn't done one of these before, what is it really worth?

If we decide running it is a strain, maybe we can appoint a person who is genuinely interested in the concept to help manage it.

I was really hoping I would get to suggest this.  I totally agree.