Architect Archive
Thread: Get a taste of the good life 10c per resource!
For anyone arguing that WS's net profit is roughly equivalent to Architects', come to Radiant and count the number of Master Weaponsmiths that have retired due to never needing credits again. Then count the number of Master Architects who have retired for the same reason. If you believe WS's make the same amount as Architects you're in for a really rude awakening.
-Atoner-
It comes down to being able to deliver to customers when they want it, going after the RIGHT kinds of customers, and charging enough to make it worth your while.
Yes, weaponsmith might make more money at master than Arch will. Guns are more useful than houses, period. They are selling a more valuable commodity. Ditto on AS.
If your server has very rich weaponsmiths, and very poor architects, it's because there's a)Too many Architects b)Too few weaponsmiths c)Arch were stupid and everyone sold for very low prices.
There are people on my server that sell heavy harvs for under 100k. I still have no problem getting rid of mine at 180k. Simply realize that the demand is there, and that a heavy harvester IS worth 180k+, because of what it returns to the customer. If you stick to your guns on prices, and meet your customer's needs, other architects will realize that they too can, and should be charging the same price for their goods.
If you're not satisfied with the profit you're making, by all means, take up weaponsmith & surrender your arch points, & do that instead. You may enjoy it more, but for me, there's something to be said for a profession where I only need to find any metal & any ore, drop 25 heavy harvesters in 2 spots, and put in 7 days of maint/power & empty every few days. Then I'll spend an hour crafting, sell a few heavy harvesters, and bam, I'm up several hundred thousand.
Sure, I'm not making quite as much as a weaponsmith, and I'll admit, it's kinda fun to play around with resources & experimentation to try & max out the power of a weapon, or armor, but relatively speaking, we have it pretty easy.
I understand that you were fortunate and already made all your money. How nice for you. What about the other 99% of Architects who didn't rake it in hand over fist and now have to try to survive in the current economy?
Rather than just write off Architect as a profession that can never make much money, wouldn't it be a better idea to see the devs actually BALANCE it against the other crafting professions? I know that since you're set, you don't care, but we are WAY behind the curve when it comes to cr/resource and there is absolutely no real reason why we HAVE to be. Just because our goods arent directly combat-related is NOT an excuse, if the devs have any sort of creativity whatsoever.
The way I see it, we're not a "pet" class of any of the devs (see: WS, CH, Entertainer) so no one is particularly concerned with balancing us. I see the devs scrambling all over themselves to make the other professions more rewarding while Archs get nothing. Yes, Urban Planner is coming up "someday", but wouldn't it make sense to balance the profession it requires first?
I say all this as a Master Architect and Expert Weaponsmith, BTW...
-Atoner-
What about the other 99% of Architects who didn't rake it in hand over fist and now have to try to survive in the current economy?
I still rake it in hand over fist. While we make less per resource, we deal with A LOT of resources. Because quality doesn't matter, it's relatively easy to get loads of what we need. We still can make a bucketload of cash, simply because we work with over 30k resources per heavy harv. Comparing our credit/res price to a weaponsmiths is foolish, and that's the angle I'm taking in this post. My point is, at the end of the day, I take in close to the same amount of NET PROFIT as some weaponsmiths. On average, yes, Master WS's will make 1.5-3 times more than I do, but I believe I'm doing less work, and it's still comparable.
If you're only making 3 cred/res on deeds, that is YOUR fault. YOU set your prices. Just because some other Arch sells at 2 cred/res doesn't mean you have to. There are architects on Bria that sell for about 2-2.5 cred/res. That doesn't stop me from selling at 6.5. I have customers that come to me because they know I'll get what they want quickly. Very similarly, we have some WS's that sell guns at under 10k, and a couple that sell at 25-40k per gun. The high priced WS's still do excellent business.
If there is so much supply on your server that it's impossible to sell at more than 3, then there's far too many architects on server. You have a choice of living with the prices as they are, or moving on to another profession. This is a PLAYER run economy. If there are too many players in any single crafting profession, prices will be low. You either stick it out, or leave. Nowhere was there a guarantee on the box that said whatever profession you choose, that it would be very successful & profitable. If you halved the number of deeds being produced daily on your server, prices WOULD go up.
SoE made Arch relatively easy to master, and this is the cost. Lots of Archs & lower prices. However, on almost every server out there, is IS possible to earn over 4.5 credits/resource. Set the trend. Sell structures at a good price, and be successful doing it, and other archs will raise their prices to be more in line with yours.
I agree that experimentation would be nice to have, but I don't see it having a material affect on the game. Is someone really going to pay 3k more for a house because it is 20 credits cheaper per day?
I think decay is a double edged sword.If houses and extractorsdecay we may be able to sell more, or sell repair packs. However, if houses cost more to maintain it will drive demand down. Plus, if extractors decay I think it hurts us most of all. We need the most extractors and resources. By adding decay to extractors you will be driving up our own costs. If houses ever serve more utility I can see adding decay. With what most people use them for now, decay would dry up the market not improve it.
You'll forgive me if your "I made my cash, everyone else be damned" attitude fails to convince me that you're right.
-Atoner-
Mkappus wrote:
I agree that experimentation would be nice to have, but I don't see it having a material affect on the game. Is someone really going to pay 3k more for a house because it is 20 credits cheaper per day?
You know, they could just increase the amount of benefit beyond 20cr/day. That's the beauty of balancing. They should try it on our profession sometime. 
-Atoner-
Atoner, how many weaponsmiths do you see really raking it in? On Intrepid there are probably 4 or 5 master weaponsmiths who make 80% of the money. Yes they charge outrageous prices for the best of the best. But the other 50 weaponsmiths sell at half the cost of the masters. As more folks get to master prices drop.
Architects where the quickest to get to master, and with only 2 skill trees maxed a non-master could make everything a master could. Architects never got that boom of being the first to master and having that uber item to sell.
Right now I make about 30k profit per day selling stuff. My biggest profit margin is on furniture. For some reason no one complains about paying 1000 credits for a couch, when they buy a house for 10k, makes no sense but oh well. I am happy making my 30k per day, and Im pretty sure just about anyone can do it. Adune says he is still making money, not that he has made it, screw the rest of us. Just cause you are struggling doesn't mean things are broken.
wow, I'll add a big ditto to what Mkappus just said. You completely twisted everything Adune said to match what you wanted to hear.
Adune is among the first people here to jump in and try to find ways to make things better for architects. He comes up with new ideas and has reasonable arguments for things he disagrees with and never flames anyone for their opinions. He may disagree, but he works thru the numbers to come to his conclusions.
You don't have to disagree with him, but to say his attitude is "screw the rest of us" is just plain wrong.
Adune is among the first people here to jump in and try to find ways to make things better for architects. He comes up with new ideas and has reasonable arguments for things he disagrees with and never flames anyone for their opinions. He may disagree, but he works thru the numbers to come to his conclusions.
I respectfully disagree. I'm among the first to flame someone who I think is shouting their ignorance from the rooftops. That said, I won't flame a disagreeing opinion if it's well thought out. I save that for the dim witted complainers.
/laugh
Ok, you got me.... those people usually deserve it though, I was talking about the normal poster who has a well thought out post.
Wow. What a sophisticated set of arguments. People doin' the math, probably with spreadsheets and the whole nine yards. Impressive operation. And I DO mean that sincerely.
Makes me feel like a total noob.
I don't use any extra harvester lots except my own. I don't sell cheap at all, except to my neighbors in the Village of Oz, who are a great bunch of people and deserve an Architect giving 'em a break. In fact, I built pretty much every structure in the village for them.
I don't advertise, I keep a bunch of deeds in my pack and I make the stuff I want to make, when I want to make it. I may sell several structures in a day or I may just sell one structure a week (retail sale, not counting our Village People). I usually still have plenty of money although I've never been rich (i.e. over 500,000 credits). Every now and then, I'll go to town and hawk a few of my wares. People sometimes laugh at the prices I charge (they're in line with what an Architect SHOULD charge, which is quite close to Adune's listed prices too) but I eventually will sell what I need to.
Sometimes I don't even craft for an entire week while I mine for large amounts of resources to make a particular factory run (e.g. 50 generator turbines).
So, I don't feel pressure to craft, I do pretty much whatever I want, I enjoy helping people get started, I'm rarely low on cash, and I do get a certain amount of amusement out of telling someone "No thank you, I don't feel like crafting a PA Hall, but you can go see [insert name] whomight craft you one."
In one particular case the person said, "But you CAN craft them, right?"
I said "Yes."
And he said "But you don't want to make one?"
I replied "That's correct."
He said "But I can give you the resources."
To which I replied "No thank you, I don't feel like crafting a PA Hall, but you can go see [insert name] whomight craft you one."
He couldn't believe it.
What am I doing wrong? Am I not playing the game correctly? 'Cause I sure as hell am enjoying myself already . . .