Just because the idea isn\'t \"original\" does not necessarily mean the idea isn\'t good. Hit Points and Mana Points aren\'t original ideas either, but they seem to work OK. PS does try to be \"different\" from most other MMORPGs, but that doesn\'t mean that every game concept has to be unique.
Now, about the idea at hand...
In order for this to work, we would need some sort of \"reputation\" system. The game would have to know (based on some sort of algorithm) whether you are \"good\" or \"evil\". I have gone on record (in another thread) that I don\'t think this is a good idea. I don\'t think we can count on the AI being intelligent enough to understand our characters\' motivations.
The only other way to implement reputations would be to have a system in which players \"rated\" each others\' characters. I would reject this idea for two reasons: a) the potential for abuse, and b) a character\'s reputation would need to be made visible to all players, which would further detract from RP. In the real world, you can\'t tell whether a person is good or evil just by looking at them; they don\'t have a special color, or unique icon over their head.
Assuming the whole concept of player-based economy gets going, this should become a moot point anyway. Personally, I would much rather go to a player-owned store to buy my gear that have to get it from Harnquist. Hopefully, I will be able to obtain most items I need from other members of my guild, or from merchants with whom the guild has developed a relationship. I might even get a discount from the merchant due to a purchasing contract between the guild and the merchant. Or I might need to obtain a rare item, available only from some of the \"shadier\" elements of society, and need to pay a higher price due to my not being in the proper guild. So there we have the potential for flexible pricing, bargaining, and bartering, totally within the confines of RP, and without needing to alter the game code.
