Dungeons And Dragons Online: DDO News: Spell Components

In a doubly informative post, Xundau talks a bit about the spell component system, and using it as a money sink:

There are two types of spell components in DDO -- generic components and specific spell components. Generic components are all that are needed for most spells. These aren't individualized per specific spell, only per spell level. So instead of needing sulphur for fireball and fur for lightning bolt, you'll just need "generic level three components" for both (don't worry, we'll come up with a better name than that). These generic components can be bought from magic vendors in town.

Why don't we just assume that a character has any generic components that they need, like in PnP D&D? Simply put, generic components in DDO are necessary in order to balance the game economy and prevent rampant inflation. (Characters that fight with melee or ranged weapons will have money sinks of their own, BTW.)

Before you're scared off, you should know that they want to avoid micromanagement and will be watching throughout the course of beta. Read the full post here for more information[/a].