Yeah just something that makes it easier for new people to understand just how much $ they have to spend. I think they are just looking at the amount next to their name or on their pfp and thinking that's the amount they have to spend. No one hovers over their profile to see how much $ they have except for veteran and seasoned characters who have been on the site for at least a year or more.

I agree about the overall "wealth" vs cash thing. I've often wondered why that number is important. After all, if I've got something that I can't sell, it isn't really of value in the usual sense of the word.

Also, as a 12 year old, I just don't really care how much all my books and brooms and things are theoretically worth. I'm really only interested in how many (or few!) galleons are in my Bagge of Numismatic Holding --- as that directly influences how many choco frogs I can buy or how long I have to save for a new broom.

guys… i just feel like it’s kind of common sense.
(disclaimer: @adelaide barlowe sent me these screenshots because i’m on mobile and therefore can’t fully see the profile that pops up next to your post.)
y’all are referring to this right?
the total wealth matches the same number on the inventory thing on your profile. this clarifies that this number is your spendable money AND your objects.
and if you hover over your profile, it shows a different number. from which one can infer that this is the spendable money. also, during the validation process, you can see the number getting lower while you buy the school supplies. it’s been a while but i’m assuming that’s how it worked.

i do feel like it isn’t too hard to figure it out.

It's not that it's hard to figure out. It's more that it's not really a useful number.

Example, if you move away to college and you've got your mom's car and brother's gaming machine, and your dorm mate says 'hey lets go out to the concert and pizza after!' Do you really need to know that your mom's car is worth $28493 and your brother's machine is worth $895, when you've actually got $44 in your wallet?

I mean, if there's a logical rationale for knowing how much all my stuff is worth, then okay! But i havent come across any need to know that particular number.

It's not hard to figure out for people that have been on HiO for awhile. I'm saying for new people it's obviously too hard to figure it out, without them being told that the amount you see when you hover over your profile is your spendable money. If it wasn't hard to figure out for new people, most of them wouldn't be posting threads to get a pet because they think they have enough money when they don't.

Back when I was a new person, I thought the amount listed on your profile and your pfp (total wealth) was the amount of money I had to spend and was trying to buy some chocolate frogs and it kept saying I didn't have enough money when I knew I had enough (the total wealth told me I had 20 galleons, when I actually only had 1 sickle, 3 knuts). So I asked a question about it and was told that I had to hover over my profile to see how much money I had. I did that and somehow I didn't see the amount listed there... I don't know how or why I just didn't see it. And I was so confused.

Someone (I think Noah) sent me a SS of where it was supposed to show how much money I had and I finally got it. But I was still confused as to why it said I had (let's say) 5 galleons when I didn't. So then it was further explained to me that it was the total wealth of all the things I owned plus the money I could spend. I was like 'Well, why do I need to know this? I only need to know the amount of money I can spend, not what my total wealth is. Why do I care about that? It's not like I need to know?

So yeah, I figure that's what the mindset of most new people would also be.

Also, Ivy yes I see how you might think it's common sense on how to find things etc... but you're a 4th year. Like I said before, for 2nd years and any years beyond that it's not a problem at all since we've been around for a time and know how to find and do and figure out everything. But new people who just joined will 100% get confused for awhile. So therefore, changing it to make things easier for new people is what my suggestion had been. This is not to say ALL first years have this problem. Some of them don't but lately a lot of them don't seem to understand how much money they have to spend.

personally when i was a first year it wasn't confusing for me at all. i think the words 'total wealth' make it obvious that it's your overall wealth and not the money you currently have, plus you need to use the dropdown a lot to sign out, go to your report card, trunk, profile etc. and you can clearly see that you have your current money there. it wasn't hard for me to figure it out, and i'm also pretty sure at validation they give you the money to buy your items and tell you where that money is but that was a while ago for me so i might be wrong.

i may have been around for a while but i still remember what it was like to be a first year and personally i didn’t find it tremendously difficult. i know i can’t speak for everyone but i genuinely don’t think its too difficult.
however, if this is really a concern of yours, i would suggest putting the info about spendable money vs total wealth in the welcoming owl. in my opinion i don’t think changing the money next to our names is really necessary.

Right, I’ll do so soon, thanks Ivy for reminding me to do so.

I think this discussion is nearing an end

i meant the official welcoming owl that goes to everyone as soon as they make a hio account

That's what I was originally saying in my first post, that there should be some kind of update to alert new people as to how to find out how much money they have to spend. The welcome owl that staff send each new person should include that information, that's a good idea Ivy! But then Noah had that idea about changing the total wealth to money available, which I thought was a great idea too!

But yeah, I'm just throwing out ideas here or suggestions!