Slots

[Hambone]

     For v3 I suggest a slot machine. Pop in 25 gold or whatever is appropriate for the v3 economy and three little wheels spin 'round. If you line them up, the item pops out of the machine It'd be a fun little money sink/diversion. Maybe there could be different machines with different items according to the area in which you find the machine. It's pretty simple so I guess I don't have much more to say. Thoughts?

[Chaos]

     For v3 I suggest a slot machine. Pop in 25 gold or whatever is appropriate for the v3 economy and three little wheels spin 'round. If you line them up, the item pops out of the machine It'd be a fun little money sink/diversion. Maybe there could be different machines with different items according to the area in which you find the machine. It's pretty simple so I guess I don't have much more to say. Thoughts?

Casino building.

[Mr Pwnage]

The newspaper man's new franchise!!! He was an Indian after all!

[Mystery]

The problem I have with this is that it makes it possible for some very very VERY lucky newb to get an incredible drop through sheer luckiness, without which would happen eventually. I suggest a level limit to enter, say, the newspaper man or whoever would not let you in unless you were above level 30 or so; otherwise he could call you 'riffraff' or something and dismiss you.

[Mr Pwnage]

The problem I have with this is that it makes it possible for some very very VERY lucky newb to get an incredible drop through sheer luckiness, without which would happen eventually. I suggest a level limit to enter, say, the newspaper man or whoever would not let you in unless you were above level 30 or so; otherwise he could call you 'riffraff' or something and dismiss you.

Who said the best gear in the game would be in the slot machine?

[Lucifer]

The problem I have with this is that it makes it possible for some very very VERY lucky newb to get an incredible drop through sheer luckiness, without which would happen eventually. I suggest a level limit to enter, say, the newspaper man or whoever would not let you in unless you were above level 30 or so; otherwise he could call you 'riffraff' or something and dismiss you.

I'm sorry but, isn't this the purpose of slot machines? Think about it this way, every time you kill a monster it's like spinning a slot machine. In that sense, playing the slots would simply be paying for a monster kill. Assuming gold won't be utterly useless in SOv3, lower level characters should be focusing on spending their beginning money on low level items they aren't achieving as drops, not spending it on the slots. Basically what I'm saying is, don't assume the economy will be as broken as it is in SOv2, there should be many different ways of spending money that would be much more productive than at a slot machine. If there aren't, a slot machine would seem to me like a cop-out for the entire economy system.

As for my opinion on the idea, I dunno. I could maybe see myself using it if it were extremely simple, walk up to it, press ctrl to pay and spin, results are displayed quickly, and I'm on my merry way. If this concept was taken a step further, like, if we went with the casino building and you could actually play games like Texas Hold'em against other players, I'd be a bit more ecstatic. Perhaps the slot machines could be platforms, and you could jump around and PvP on them like an arena.

__  _ _                      ___ ___
|   ||   | ___________  |   ||   |
|__||__||                 ||__||__|

Like that, the rectangles being the slot machines, the middle part being a giant poker table, and the entire thing could be called the casino arena. *shrug*, just an idea, a fancy place for players to hang out.

*edit*
Just to touch further on the slot machine concept, I'd think there should be different kinds of slot machines, and the prizes shouldn't just be items, I mean this is gambling after all! There could be penny/nickel/quarter slots with the prizes being low amounts of gold and/or low level equipment, (gold slot machines and equipment slot machines could be different) maybe a wheel of fortune type thing with different gold prizes and different levels of equipment, then maybe the higher level slots with higher costs and higher risks. Those are just some basic examples, I've never been to a casino, I don't know much about them haha. I really love the idea of being able to play mini-games against other players though, in another small game like this, Shadowcraft, they had implemented Chess and Checkers for players to bet money and compete against eachother, and I think that's an awesome concept for a community based game like this.