If you’re a gamer you’re familiar with the need to have strong weapons and armour on your character. If that reflected your assets and liabilities, what is good or bad? In the second instalment of our Money Management Role-Playing Game (MM-RPG), we’ll be exploring our Equipment! Let’s continue our quest.

PS: if the above is gibberish to you, have a quick look at the introduction article. There I’ve outlined the most important parts of a Role-Playing Game (RPG).

How your Equipment works

Every piece of equipment we get in life come with certain traits.

• They have a certain value. Think base stats like “damage output” or “defence rating”.
• They might have a certain amount of debt, or future payments required to keep it. Think negative buffs like “damage or defence reductions”.

There are also many other subtle factors we need to keep in mind, so let’s explore those.

The basic truths of your Equipment

• Reductions always impact the net effectiveness of your weapons or armour. Net effectiveness is more important than high base stats.
  • Is a sword with 500 damage output (asset value) and a 300 reduction (debt) better than one with 300 and no reduction? Probably not. 
  • Next time you want to buy a car or house, consider that debt reduces your net asset value. This isn’t necessarily a good thing.
• The type and features should suit your needs.
  • When facing hordes you might prefer a weapon with a high area of effect damage. For boss fights, you need one with high direct damage. So make sure you’re using the one that suits the circumstances!
  • As pretty as the sporty vehicle or latest high-end tablet might be, you need to ask yourself if it is suitable. All that engine power is useless in a 60km zone, especially when you need more space for your kids and shopping.
• Often you really don’t need more than 1, because you can only use 1 at a time!
  • Does it help to carry 3 swords around if you can only use 1 at a time? Probably not, unless there are important differences. Like increased effectiveness against different enemy types.
  • Do you really need 3 cars? Or laptops? Or mobile phones? Often we horde because we can, not because we need to.
• Some items lose their base stats quicker than others.
  • If a sword loses 2 base stats per hit, and another only 1, which would you prefer on your long quest? Especially when the reductions don’t change as much, which would have a good damage output for longer?
  • Assets depreciate, and some do it quicker than others. This is especially important to remember when you still owe debt on it. You don’t want a scenario where the debt is more than what the asset is worth.

In summary, remember the following picture

Thanks for your time,

Francis

PS: if you would like to read about the similarities between your HP bar (Health Points Bar) and your income and expenses, click here.

Image source: Battleheart Legacy (Mika Mobile)