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<blockquote data-quote="Benjamin Olson" data-source="post: 8372313" data-attributes="member: 6988941">Diamonds are not exactly &quot;exceptionally common&quot;. They are far more common than certain other gemstones, but most things in the universe are. But yes, they do have an inflated value because the De Beers cartel both monopolized production and advertised heavily in the 20th century to convince everyone that they both needed a diamond specifically to get married and had to keep all their family's existing diamonds as heirlooms forever, lest they re-enter circulation and spoil the monopoly. That monopoly instead fell apart in the 1990s as more diamond mines began to become exploited and the De Beers Group were not able to buy or merge with all the new competitors.It is clearly a direct grafting of our own cultural preoccupations that led to diamonds being so important in D&amp;D, which isn't &quot;weird&quot;, just the expected result of worldbuilding done without a high level of sophistication in a particular subject. Nevertheless the resulting mechanics make the value actually make a lot more sense in a D&amp;D setting. The diamonds are both actually necessary for what, to most ordinary people, would be the most important spells, the ones that undo premature death, and actually consumed rather than being a durable good that people have to be convinced to hang on to. The fantasy equivalent of the De Beers Group would actually have a far more straightforward and lucrative business, given that, as much as real people will pay through the nose to conform to a bourgeois tradition invented by 1920s ad men in the service of an international cartel, it pales in comparison to what they will pay to bring a loved one back to life, and you don't need to advertise to convince them that they need that product, people have been desperate for it as long as there has been people.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Benjamin Olson, post: 8372313, member: 6988941"] Diamonds are not exactly "exceptionally common". They are far more common than certain other gemstones, but most things in the universe are. But yes, they do have an inflated value because the De Beers cartel both monopolized production and advertised heavily in the 20th century to convince everyone that they both needed a diamond specifically to get married and had to keep all their family's existing diamonds as heirlooms forever, lest they re-enter circulation and spoil the monopoly. That monopoly instead fell apart in the 1990s as more diamond mines began to become exploited and the De Beers Group were not able to buy or merge with all the new competitors. It is clearly a direct grafting of our own cultural preoccupations that led to diamonds being so important in D&D, which isn't "weird", just the expected result of worldbuilding done without a high level of sophistication in a particular subject. Nevertheless the resulting mechanics make the value actually make a lot more sense in a D&D setting. The diamonds are both actually necessary for what, to most ordinary people, would be the most important spells, the ones that undo premature death, and actually consumed rather than being a durable good that people have to be convinced to hang on to. The fantasy equivalent of the De Beers Group would actually have a far more straightforward and lucrative business, given that, as much as real people will pay through the nose to conform to a bourgeois tradition invented by 1920s ad men in the service of an international cartel, it pales in comparison to what they will pay to bring a loved one back to life, and you don't need to advertise to convince them that they need that product, people have been desperate for it as long as there has been people. [/QUOTE]

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