One of the greatest aspects of ESO in comparison to other MMOs, for me, is the economy. It reminds me of old school World of Warcraft, in that having and getting gold is a big deal. For the average player in ESO, getting a Motif book is important for two reasons: One, they are rare so crafters always are looking for more racial styles, and two, Motif books are selling for a large amount. The average price of a Motif book right now is around 1,000 gold, either in zone chat or in one of the several trading organizations that have sprung up (another genius development of the economy that I will expand on later).
Now, 1,000 gold may not seem like a lot to those familiar with other MMOs. In terms of World of Warcraft, for instance, 1,000 gold in ESO is the equivalent of 10 silver in WoW, which is practically nothing. However, in ESO, due to the scarcity of gold and lack of high selling items, 1,000 gold could be 10% of a player’s total savings. 10% is a lot to add or subtract from ones stores. Beyond this, there are several things that cost a large amount of money, such as constant use of the wayshrines or buying a horse. In any case, I love the scarcity of currency in ESO.
Now more on the Trading Guilds. This is where the genius of ZeniMax becomes apparent. By not putting a global auction house into the game, and by allowing players to join multiple guilds, ZeniMax has put the power of the economy in various powerful Trading Guilds. These guilds allow anyone to join, and are there for the sole purpose to allow its members to buy and sell items in the guild store. This, in many ways, makes it a much more realistic microcosm of an economy, as you can only trade with a small number of players, but the economy overall stays stable, as players can join multiple trading guilds, and players can trade outside of those guilds as well, via zone chat.
In any case, I’ll end with a suggestion on how to make money: Provisioning. Specifically, crafting food items. The materials themselves are everywhere and a stack of 100 sells for 400 gold, which is relatively easy if you pick up one or two of the Chef passives. In this way, you can get several thousand gold in a few days, which could be the difference between getting that last Motif, or having to continue crafting that awful Bosmer gear.
