Rewards for job performance

[Nnystyxx]

there is also the fact that if you have anything other than your sad boring normal name, alt/gimmick roles have NO MONEY due to no bank account
is there any way to assign an id a bank account???

[Sundance]

I think the real problem is that the people who would use the money the most (staff assistants looking for nifty gear/chems/whatever) are also the ones with the least amount to spend. And the 1% can't be bothered to provide jobs for them to do in exchange for cash.

More vendors would help, but there just seems to be a general apathy towards money.

Eh, the former point is moot because there's plenty of ways as a staff assistant to actually make money, their slave wage is just to keep their account active. Protip: Don't roll staff assistant if you're looking to actually live off your wage. So yeah I feel that side of things is fine as is.
The main money maker would be the slot machine.. BUT then the reward:challenge ratio is literally zilch. I feel nothing should be changed on the slot machine, but the losing could roll a chance of something bad happening, like the machine decking you in the face, injecting you with something, or a small chance of removing a limb. It's more exciting that way.
One armed Billy Jean finally wins the jackpot, but rolls again and critically fails, costing him his other arm. In his defenceless state his ID and all his money is then stolen by a faceless greyshirt, forever cursing him to his own hubris.

BUT.. then when you have a lot of money, the market is too unbalanced. With a hefty sack of billz you can buy literally almost everything, or one expensive af gimmick item, there's little inbetween. The issue is also doubled by the fact that there's not much items that would help someone at actually doing their job.

So yeah, the MAJOR issue is the lack of items and the issue of money being superfluous. The issue is clearly multifaceted. 
More traders, more items that traders have and a more intricate way of people interacting with QM.

Side thought: Perhaps the AI could step in with people ordering shit from QM? The simple solution would be that people can contact traders too, but by paying with their own card or by requesting funds from QM. This is already pretty much in place but with the caveat that now the AI can hear requests and function as a QM if there is not one in place.

[Roomba]

The AI can already order stuff if people yell orders over the radio. Not sure if it receives cargo requests via PDA, though if it can't it would be a relatively simple change. It's mostly limited to ordering stuff though - it's hard to route crates to their desired areas with just an AI shell. The bigger issue is there's not all that much people actually want to order from QM and most people forget it exists as a result. If there was a quicker way for people to see what the randomized traders were selling, and if they carried more exotic goods, that might help.

As for money, my main beef with it is that the major money-spinning enterprises are solitary activities. Rolling a slot machine over and over, holing up and playing the stock market, farming space treasures to sell, etc...if you actually want to get rich via any of these methods, the best way to do so is to isolate yourself from the station as much as possible and spin your gold in peace. You aren't going to see a barman get rich from making drinks, or a doctor from healing people. Which isn't so bad now when money is functionally pointless, but sucks the fun out of the game if most of the fun stuff is locked behind money.

[The Grim Sleeper]

So yeah, the MAJOR issue is the lack of items and the issue of money being superfluous.

Lack of items TO BUY, while lots of good stuff is available for free. Tool storage and Emergency Storage B are freely accesable to anyone with maintenance access, and contain some 5 toolboxes, 5 electical boxes, 5 multi-tools, 2 toolbelts, 2 Engi-EVA suits (with helmets that have both flashlight and welding shielding), several hull-breach carts full of materials, welding fuel tanks, etc. These are supposed to used patch up the station and not let every single explosion be a round ender. But people are way to fucking lazy to patch a hole; the shuttle gets called at the drop of a hat.
Limiting the number of cool stuff, like belts (and maybe fanny packs), multitools and those nifty helmets and putting them behind a (low) paywall could kickstart a 'need for cash'. Job related supplies should still given for free to those with the right access, but the same machines could also sell this stuff to the less fortunate. Consider a greyshirt making some scratch and buying a flash to protect his earnings.

As for money, my main beef with it is that the major money-spinning enterprises are solitary activities. ... want to get rich ... the best way to do so is to isolate yourself from the station as much as possible and spin your gold in peace. You aren't  going to see a barman get rich from making drinks, or a doctor from healing people. Which isn't so bad now when money is functionally pointless, but sucks the fun out of the game if most of the fun stuff is locked behind money.

This ^. Although the most reliable ways to earn steady bucks (while still having other kinds of fun) are still Mining and Botany (PTL is a bit of a special case), these affect the whole station with their side-businesses.
There is a similar problem with genetics: they sit in their special lab, making not money but superpowers, and don't leave until the shuttle is called, when the ubarmenschen leave their booth, leap/smash/telephase over to the Escape Sector, and secure it for themselves, rarely sharing their godpowers with the few peasants stuggling to stay alive till the timer runs out.
If only there was some way to cancel one problem with the other...

[Erik]

re: money & no lack of things.

Just make better tools and items that can be bought with $$$ which do things slightly faster.

golden screwdrivers, platinum crowbars.

[Superlagg]

Overheard some IRC banter about how it cost money to clone someone. While that's a terrible idea that apparently lasted less than a day, what about an option to spend a massive chunk of the Research budget to scan or clone some people who normally couldn't? Braindead people would come back braindead or with an NPC AI, maybe with a small chance of pulling in multiple ghosts to fight over control of the body. Puritan folk would clone braindead or as a meatcube or swarm of bees. Something like that, where money could be used to make your department work better/differently.