Architect Archive

I've worked with some architects on my server (Radiant) to create some normalization of prices from real architects (the Smuggler selling a small house for 3k cause he got a large one? can't be helped...)

I have fairly low prices. I won't share them here because I think I'll get a lot of grief. I do, however, make a profit. My customers also typically wait 3-4 days for anything they order.

The thing is, most of my customers are repeats and so on, so I've been a little easy on price increases. It's a little hard to tell someone who just bought something from you last week for 70k that you charge 100k for it now, especially when they've been buying from you since you sat around Dearic spamming small houses for 10-12k.

Eventually, because I'm working up merchant, I hope people will simply come to my vendor. At that point I might raise prices a little, I might not, it depends how comfortable I feel with my business.

My advice to most of you architects trying to fix the market is... give up on it. It's just not going to work. I was with you guys in the beginning of the game and I was slapped around by other architects going behind my back. Now, unfortunately, I guess a few bad apples have gotten a few architects on my server angry at me.

You know, the customer who says "100k! But Airety makes it for 75k!!!! pmg u suk!"

I then get a tell from an angry architect saying that I'm ruining the market, and that I'm destroying the fun in the game for all the other architects, and blah blah and blah blah.

I try to explain to this architect that I might charge 75k, but the guy wouldn't order from me because I told him it would take 5-6 days. However, he's just delighting in calling me names and telling me that he might as well "quit and send you my customer list because somehow you want to ruin this game for everyone." He then offers to buy 20 of the above mentioned items at 75k. I tell him sure, I'll do that if he's willing to wait 3 months for me to make them. To this he says "ha you can't take a little heat?"

I kind of ripped into him because of this, and I think it finally made it click to him that not many architects are really out there trying to screw each other. I currently operate as a "wait-time" architect, as I like to think of it. My prices might be good, but you spend a good time waiting for the product. I HAVE refferred customers to architects I know make things in less than 12 hours, and I will continue to do so. To some people, an extra 25k is nothing compared to what that structure can do for them today.

There's more flexibility in the architect market than you think. Lately, of all things, I've been bombarded with furniture orders. Believe me, I'm amazed. I stock furniture on my vendor, I'm talking 60 pieces a night are sold, on top of furniture orders I get through e-mail. Architects are selling medium and large houses without plugging the fact that they can make you furniture for the house too (either that or these architects are all Home Designers and don't have Interior Designer like I do ) Furniture is a HIGH MARGIN item... I'll tell you right now you don't have to sell furniture at 3cr/per.

So why doesn't anyone bundle furniture with a house? Beats me.

I've just given you three ways that you can control your prices even more than you think you can:

Immediate delivery
Backordered Structures
Structures w/furniture (or harvesters with Waypoints... people actually love this )

I'm really laughing... i'm not writing this post because i'm not making money! Because the architect market is broke... yes it will eventually stabilize itself, the processus already started on Starsider ,many many architects are quitting because they can make money faster and more easily in almost any other profession, exemption of Droid engi and Bio-engi... both are needing fixes before being able to sell we don't ... What I was proposing is too try fixing it faster... you think it won't work i guess you're right... I just hope they put something for architect for the one that will remain after all player have they're large house ( most that wanted them can already afford them because of the exploits on Jax missions... ) I should stop bothering at all the way the economy works it completly broke since it's related to xp... never should had been that way, that's the main weakness of SWG the grinding in the economy.

We have the only items not decaying in the game and they cost to maintain but they're also the ultimate sign of success for a character, a large decorated house that's the goal for many player... The problem right now for architect is that most people are selling for so low, i mean master crafted large house... that's going to take hours to harvest all the ressources to sell at a near non profit margin... Look at how a weaponsmith make of money compared to you and it was easier to get weapsmith under 20k of general xp...

I make profit because I harvest myself my ressources and I've built my installations myself and I sell at max volume... I get in my money, but if i was buying my ressources on the market ( like many other crafters are doing and still getting enormous profits ) i would go bankrupt in 2 hours...

Btw I do have fast delivery and a wait service... depends on how much you care too pay, I get player referred to me by most of my buyer, they're always satisfied and I make a bit of profits... It's just not enough for the amount of work the architects are doing... I like the architect profession but if it stays like that much longer there's no real point in being one... I could hunt and pay a PA hall in a week without even powergaming and not using exploits... How much time does it takes you to make one? and really how much profit are you making on it ? I've seen some fore 175k on my server is that normal??? I've seen med harverster and small houses at 5k... medium under 50k... large house below 80k and delivered really fast... you're giving your work away like you didn't want to make money but just xp... well once you get your master you won't be able to sell anything...

You know, I was pissed about the price sink that has been going on until I sat down and did some calculations on just how much it costs to build these things. I figured that if you take a Wind Gen anda Personal Mineral Harvester (the least efficient of all the res collection methods) and stick them both in a 50% res spot, it costs .67 cred/unit. Ok, not bad, but what if you suck and can only manage to get a 25% of each? Then the cost is still only 1.67 cred/unit (costs take into account wind and min harvester maintence and the percent of power required by the min harvester to run assumes you run at with maximum number of harvesters supported by the wind gen). Small houses (which seem to have the lowest prices per resource) only require ~3500 resources to make. So if you were to even charge 2 cred/unit and sell for 7k, you'd still make a profit. I think the fact that people charge 4-5 units per res unit is just absolutely ridiculous. True we're not making as much profit per unit as weaponsmiths or armorsmiths, but what does anyone really need millions of creds for anyway? By the time space (even vehicles)comes out everyone and theyre brother will be able to buy anything in the game.

I think the best way to manage this kind of deflation is by information. Simply by stating your prices, and maybe why they are that way, we are showing the newbs that they are losing a lot of money selling cheaply. In these online economies I think that is the stongest force influencing prices.

As for weaponsmith, they are going to have their own problems. Soon there will be a few people making the best weapons on each server. They will be in demand, and most other weaponsmiths will wonder why they can't sell anything. Customization is a doube-edged sword.

Ok, if you want to ignore my case fine.But someone show me how anyone is losing any money selling a medium house for 35k or a small house for 8k?Do you all buy your resources from the inflated miner prices?

Create functions for time spent running to harvesters, time spent crafting, times spent hawking wares looking for a buyer (might be negligible in your example), and possibilities of failure.

Then repost.

It's simply a matter of taking the base cost of materials. A small house costs 3k materials. 3k materials are worth 9-12k on the open market.How much is your time worth putting the house together?? 10 blocks and a light power core and a small structual storage thing i believe...about 12-13 combines right?? takes you maybe 5-10 minutes to craft it tops. How much is your time worth per hour? Could you make 10k running missions in an hour?? 20??Notice I didn't give a specific on how much I charge for small houses, but according to my logic, how much do you think would be a fair price based on the things i've said?

Takes me about 10 minutes to craft a small house. Takes me an hour a day to do my harvester run, which is enough for a couple houses. I never LOST money selling smalls at 10K, but I agree it's certainly not comparable to what the weaponsmiths get.

I think it's important to remember though, we're not customizing.

If I buy a piece of meat and some vegetables at the grocery store, I pay a couple bucks. If I got to Emeril Lagasse's restaurant and get the same meat and vegetables, I pay a LOT more bucks. Architects don't customize, we deal in large volumes of resources and large volumes of sales. We're the grocers, not the gourmet chef.

Just my 2 credits...

Ummm all you architects that sell you stuff for rock bottem prices are helped out and you know it .. When you get 3 crits on medium harvs thats what sets you back ..

Don't know how you can just not pay attention to the critical failure of things . I use the best hand made spec tools in the game and a great personal crafting station . I still Crit .

If you have 10 people or crap even 5 people helping you with harvestor holes then you have the extra resources incoming . Architects that have very littel to no help , will suffer the most and struggle to maintain that price

I have help sell for 3-5 credits and make a good amount of money , so much so that even with the help I get , I'm still backordered until this weekend ..

Here's and idea for you guys that want to sell for more profit , like someone said before in this thread ..Package your houses with a few pieces of furniture .

Ive also lost plenty of business , who cares theres so much more . Someone says they can get it cheaper please lord be my guest . I will not slave over them while making 2-3 credits and have one or two key crits amke me lose money .

I only did this for one reason to make PA halls .Which btw this weekend it will be going up . When this is over I will get to actually play the game LOL