14 DAY TRIAL // Star Trek: The Next Generation saw no money changing hands between members of the Enterprise crew, and from time to time Captain Picard would explain to a backwater alien that the Federation was able to move past material needs and create a better society where everyone had their needs taken care of.
In Redshirt, despite the science fiction theme, money is crucial because any orbital space dweller has needs, the most basic of which is food.
Once sustenance is assured, a robocat might be a good companion or you might want to try and get something that’s actually live to keep you company, like a frog.
But the S.H.O.P. only offers items that give some sort of bonus for seven days and repair costs are pretty big, which means that a gamer needs to try to get a good job in order to get the money he needs to maintain a lavish lifestyle.
On top of items, all activities cost money and it’s really bad to be stuck with under 100 credits on a free day, unable to do anything social with friends or co-workers.
The first two promotions in Redshirt are pretty easy to achieve but after that a character needs to master his current job before advancing on the career path.
This is when the game suggests that a shortcut might be possible, with a better job pretty much secured by all those who can friend their bosses and then reach the maximum level of positive relations with them.
So I organized events that cater to their interests and then posted on their Spacebook pages and then liked their weird statuses about music and photos, both of which I hate.
And, after spending a lot of my salary and dealing with the trauma of seeing three colleagues killed during an Away Mission, I am finally able to click the career track and see that my boss was ready to overlook my skills in order to promote me.
I never went out with him again.