Architect Archive
Thread: Architech and that new idea for 10 use harvestors
I hear alot of crying from architechs that they dont make any money. Thats just nonsense. The idea of making harvestors 10 uses then burn up is crazy. You guys need to start seeing the big picture. Every architech I know has millions of credits. Furthermore, you have to understand that your top selling items can bring in such a large amount of money from 1 player that it makes up for no decay.
I have a small house cost me 8k. I then have 2 factories that cost 40k each. I have 5 Heavy harvestors that cost 120000 each. Thats 688000 I spent with an architech. I build armor and sell full suits of composite for around 100k. I would need a guy to come back and buy nearly 7 full composite armor suits to make the same money that architech made off me. If you have a composite suit you will notice they dont decay very fast.. I am sure a good suit will last months. If I was just a resource seller and had 4 more heavy harvestors instead of the factories I would have paid 1088000 to the architech. With a possible sale of that to each player why would anyone be crying the blues and want us to pay more money after 10 uses?
1 Million 88 thousand from 1 guy is pretty **edit** good. Who needs recurring sales when your initial sales are for that much? If the harvestors expired after 10 uses I would have to pay over 1 million credits every 2 and 1/2 months. Thats just crazy. What in the world are these Achitechs smoking who came up with that idea?
Please Mr. Correspondent think about this and dont get the Devs to do something so stupid. If the 10 uses got in I am certain that people would refuse to pay what they pay now for harvestors. You will be cutting everyones throat with that type of deal. Anyone who crafts depends on harvestors. Not everyone can afford 1 million credits every 2 and 1/2 months.
Think about it.
some server are different then others, like areas on my server the market is dead. but also every high level archy also has mass havesters and most more then the lots there allowed, i brun up 25k in fees a day. and i only work for my guild, i dont make much but due to not charge guild members. but when i was working for my self i had no trouble selling large houses, just put on your master archy title, and grab parts to make any thing, and walk in to a town like theed, with in 3 mins you will get a tell for a large house or havester.
i find it better just to sell that way, dont even worry about shouting out, just sit in the cantina waiting for a tell. and then you will have mroe orders then you can handle in a week with in 20 mins
I wish I had millions of credits...
Although I think the 10 use idea is crap, I still get plenty of business on Valcyn. Just try actually talking to your customers and not grunting at the trade window, they'll come back, especially if your prices are reasonable 
There is a limit to the usefulness of an architect. And some servers are approaching it.
What are the items that you as an architect are selling? Heavy Harvestors, factories, fusion generators, PA Halls?
We've been seeing a steady decrease in the sales of the lower tier items, why? because we've already filled, or near filled, that need, now we are replacing those mediums with Heavies, so what are the people upgrading to the Heavies, Fusions, PA Halls, doing with the Mediums, med House, solars, that they had up until the could buy the big boys? They are offloading them.
If I were to start out a crafter on a well established server, I wouldn't buy my small or medium house, ormedium harvestor from an architect, I would look for another crafter who is or recently has upgraded their harvestors/house(s) and buy from them for probably less than what I'd pay from an architect.
Nothing we make decays and so there is a thriving second hand market out there and it is part of the whole underselling issue.
In 3 to 6 months time there will besignificantly fewer master architects, thosewho stuck it out for some reason or another will fill any new demand for Heavies from new players skilling up, why? because in 3 to 6 months if I started on a mature server I would be able to find a glut of small to medium harvs (probably made in the first or second wave of architect crafting during the early days) being sold dirt cheap as no-one else wants them because everyone else now has their fleet of Heavies.
There is no long term future without some form of turnover.
Now I also realise this 10 uses idea is way out of whack, it is simply not a good solution. We need a properly balanced fair system of decay based on the usage of the items we build. For example, factories and Harvestors should "decay", for lack of a better word, slowly over time while they are turned on, and should remain perfectly fine in a turned off "mothballed" state. Now the amount of time that a factory or harvestor should be able to operate in a turned on state before it becomes so "decayed" that it no-longer functions, and needs to be replaced (NOT repaired)should be on the order of months based on the current cost of them (both price and in resources used to make them).
But they *should* decay! We need it to be an effective profession in the long term, and not just in the now while the galaxies are still young.
In 6 months time is being an architect going to be an attractive option for a brand new player on a mature server? In all honesty, I think the answer will be a big NO.
Quite frankly, it isn't all that fun now. I love crafting in this game, it is beautifully designed (if a little click heavy), but the fun of being an architect and making things is running out now I am a Master.Why? (I do like asking and answering questions don't I 
) Because we area cookie cutter crafting profession and there are a lot of us. What I make is exactly the same as what you make. Period.
Once you realise that all the niches in a quality/quanity counts system (such as had by the other crafting professions) aren't open for architects, then there is nothing to ultimately aim for other than supplying yourself (or your PA) with all the harvs you'll ever need, making as much money while there is still a market for the Big Boys (Heavies/Fusion/Halls), becoming predominantly and interior designer, or waiting to do the same thing over in Urban Planner (Don't get me started on the pit falls facing that professsion) .
This is one of the reasons why we are hurting in the price game, there is no reason someone should buy from me over someone who is selling for less. My wares are the same as hers, the only difference is timeliness and customer service (or the personal factor), and I have seen first hand that the personal touch, no matter how friendly/helpful, is more often than not, not worth an extra 5K on the price to the customer.
Welcome to the world of the SWG architect, sell low, have fun decorating houses/halls, churn out heavies, then in the end decide if you signed on to build structures and compete,or if you signed on to be an interior designer, if the former, then drop your skills and choose something else, if the latter, more power to you.
my *very long, and sidetracked at the end* 2 creds.
*sorry*
You can say that for every crafted item in the game. People are going to sell their old stuff. Thats how it is. I rarely sell lower armor unless its to a new player. Everyone wants the best. They all have credits to burn and they go for composite. Same for achitech. Everyone wants heavy harvestors. I dont think Sony expects nobody to buy the game after 6 months of being out. There will be new people constantly and you will be selling those harvestors and houses all the time. There is not going to be some magic day where everyone has everything. Think about it.. Your worried about something that has not even happened or will happen. We are not the only people that will ever join SWG. There will be new players everyday and thats whats going to keep every crafter going. If you guys want to complain about something try getting them to decrease the number of resources needed to build that stuff. I notice lots of achitechs have more lots than they are suppose to have. This cost them extra money. They do this so they can get more resources because it take so many to build stuff. Complain about that. But dont complain about your market drying up. Its all going to decrease over time as more and more people make master. Just make your money now and be glad you did. If it comes down to it you may give up crafting for fighting. Lots of people do that and sell their stuff then decide to go back to crafting and buy more stuff again.
Anything I have to pay daily to maintain better not decay. Talk about money sink. I have to pay and power this think on top of buying it. Then its going to expire on me and I have to buy it again? Thats a load of BS. I wouldnt expect people to pay daily to maintain their armor as it expires then have to come back and buy more. Thats why its not designed that way. We spend thousands per week powering and paying upkeep on those things. There is no reason why they should decay. Same for houses and factories.
sure wish i had a million credits. What you don't understand obviously is the THOUSANDS of resources that go into making those items. Of course they are going to expensive, not to mention that even if you pay 120k on a heavy the resources you sell on the bazaar from that heavy will have you making up the difference in less than a week. if people want harvestors then they will pay whatever the architects charge, just like they pay 75k for a gun every week or two.
120k sounds like alot, but when you take in consideration the fails and resources that go into making a heavy harvestor, chances are the architect isnt making very much profit if any.
My take on it, make harvs, factories, and houses have a usage based decay. Things wear out, just the way it goes. Add structure repair kits, structure gets repaired, loses some vitality. Vitality will affect maintenance costs and power usage.
Make experimentation worth something so that we can minimize power/maintenance costs up front.
Give architects the ability to customize buildings and installations.