Business And Economy Archive

Thread: ECONOMY REBALANCE PROPOSAL: NPC Merchants & Central Markets

Yterbium
Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:43 pm
#1


Personally, I think that the obnoxious and absurd server economies have gone on long enough, and I would like to see an actual effort made to fix them.


I am sure this topic has been beaten like the proverbial horse, but I would like to propose a simple solution, and I welcome feedback.


Activate the in-game NPC vendors to not only buy junk, but buy normal gear and sell it as well.


Remove individual vendors and base all public market on the bazarre.


Now, admittedly, this may seem drastic, but don't panic yet. It isn't as bad as it seems. The NPC vendors would offer average or below average gear at fair market prices. This would rebalance the economy almost immediately, as players would finally be able to say, "Forget that! Why would I pay a QUARTER OF A MILLION CREDITS for armor that will be torn up and useless in a week of heavy use?"


And the change from local vendors to centralized markets would promote a REAL economy with actual consumer response and competitive pricing. No more wandering ALL OVER A DAMN PLANET looking for a suit of armor for HOURS, and then finally paying THRE QUARTERS OF A MILLION CREDITS for an average suit of armor because you are so sick of looking.


So anyway, that is what I think needs to be done.



-=Yterbium=-

Active Since June 26th, 2003
Saddly Addicted Player (S. A. P.) since Day One!
Individuality...heh. Enjoyment...heh. A dev craves not these things.
Slysix
Fri Apr 08, 2005 1:17 am
#2

With the new vendor search it's not so bad.


You just have to go to the differentplanets and do planetary searches though to reduce the head ache.


Mind you they have to refine the filters to reduce the number of pages (maybe a settable price cap).


So if they do an economy rebalace what would the official name be?

Base Economy Rebalance Project...or BERP for short.

Virtuell
Fri Apr 08, 2005 1:23 am
#3






Yterbium wrote:


Why would I pay a QUARTER OF A MILLION CREDITS for armor that will be torn up and useless in a week of heavy use?"


No more wandering ALL OVER A DAMN PLANET looking for a suit of armor for HOURS, and then finally paying THRE QUARTERS OF A MILLION CREDITS for an average suit of armor because you are so sick of looking.


Now, admittedly, this may seem drastic, but don't panic yet. It isn't as bad as it seems. The NPC vendors would offer average or below average gear at fair market prices.





You have reaaly expensive AS on your server it seems (unless it is good sliced wares). I usually charge far less than that on the server I am playing (average price from me is 12K/segment used in an armor part).


Why wander all over, you can always send /tell to armorsmiths? I usally get some tells in the beginning but after a while most of my customers know the pricing.


What will happen to the Merchant profession if such a thing would go live?





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Emotemaster
Fri Apr 08, 2005 5:24 am
#4

What's wrong with it now?

We have to competitivly price in order to sell items still.

Maybe you're not a crafter/merchant and just want your armor and goods cheaper, from NPC merchants?





ÎVا§?
-X-
Yterbium
Fri Apr 08, 2005 7:34 am
#5






Virtuell wrote:





Yterbium wrote:


Why would I pay a QUARTER OF A MILLION CREDITS for armor that will be torn up and useless in a week of heavy use?"


No more wandering ALL OVER A DAMN PLANET looking for a suit of armor for HOURS, and then finally paying THRE QUARTERS OF A MILLION CREDITS for an average suit of armor because you are so sick of looking.


Now, admittedly, this may seem drastic, but don't panic yet. It isn't as bad as it seems. The NPC vendors would offer average or below average gear at fair market prices.





You have reaaly expensive AS on your server it seems (unless it is good sliced wares). I usually charge far less than that on the server I am playing (average price from me is 12K/segment used in an armor part).


Why wander all over, you can always send /tell to armorsmiths? I usally get some tells in the beginning but after a while most of my customers know the pricing.


What will happen to the Merchant profession if such a thing would go live?









Yes, everything on Bria is horrible expensive., and that 250k credits is for unsliced comp right off the assembly line.


The problem we seem to run into on Bria is that the AS seems to be a profession full of smarmy buttheads incapable of being civil to people. It is rare that you can find someone who will talk to you, and then when you do they are charging 500k for kinetic padded!


If this change were made, the Merchant profession would revolve around the wares instead of the vendors. Heck, I would even say DUMP the merchant profession altogether, and put the bot spam commands and such in Artisan!




-=Yterbium=-

Active Since June 26th, 2003
Saddly Addicted Player (S. A. P.) since Day One!
Individuality...heh. Enjoyment...heh. A dev craves not these things.
Yterbium
Fri Apr 08, 2005 7:35 am
#6






Emotemaster wrote:

What's wrong with it now?

We have to competitivly price in order to sell items still.

Maybe you're not a crafter/merchant and just want your armor and goods cheaper, from NPC merchants?






Actually, I have mastered Armor, Weapons and Droids in my time, and I made a point of never charging that much. Additionally, on Bria at least, the tendency is to charge whatever you feel like, because the next crafter in your profession is probably on the other side of the planet, if he can be found at all.



-=Yterbium=-

Active Since June 26th, 2003
Saddly Addicted Player (S. A. P.) since Day One!
Individuality...heh. Enjoyment...heh. A dev craves not these things.
EdOWar
Fri Apr 08, 2005 9:48 am
#7

If I want to go play WoW, I'll go play WoW. The player-based economy is what makes SWG unique, so let's keep it that way.


Slim Vargo, Corbantis
Little-Green-Guy
Fri Apr 08, 2005 1:17 pm
#8

your a moron..alternatively, your playing the incorrect game.


here's a good one for you.. 'mario kart'





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Yterbium
Fri Apr 08, 2005 4:59 pm
#9






Little-Green-Guy wrote:

your a moron..alternatively, your playing the incorrect game.


here's a good one for you.. 'mario kart'









Hmmm...well, I guess we know whose opinion wont be heeded in the future, seeing as how he has the maturity level of of a 9yo.


To the others who commented, I think you are not taking into account the issues of geography and availability that a real economy, even in virtual terms, has to deal with. I think, however, that if the vendor search thing works out right, it may solve the availability problem altogether.




-=Yterbium=-

Active Since June 26th, 2003
Saddly Addicted Player (S. A. P.) since Day One!
Individuality...heh. Enjoyment...heh. A dev craves not these things.
Pawlin
Sat Apr 09, 2005 12:49 am
#10






EdOWar wrote:

If I want to go play WoW, I'll go play WoW. The player-based economy is what makes SWG unique, so let's keep it that way.


Slim Vargo, Corbantis






Agree 100%


The system is not broken. Supply and demand drive prices. This is capitalism.


If something is actually too expensive then you won't buy it and there is no problem. If you do buy an item then it must not be too expensive so there is no problem.





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AriesBH
Sat Apr 09, 2005 10:29 am
#11

I think npcs selling stuff would kill crafting proffs - however, npcs buying crafted items for relatively low prices could be a very good idea.


Maybe around 200 for a Mabari chest plate for instance (that way a run of 1000, which takes a lot of time and resources would yield 200k) or less maybe... in this way, perhaps crafters would actually sell items to other players for less and so reduce prices overall since they would not be forced torely onplayers for their income.


Having said that, the new bazaar vendor search will probably solve most of the economy problems except for the over reliance on loot selling that seems to be part of the game (and another reason crafters charge so much).


I have an Armorsmith character and combatcharacter btw, so can see both sides of this argument.





Aries Montana : Master Bounty Hunter
Tarantio : Master Armorsmith (RIS Certified)
______________________________________


Diaso
Sat Apr 09, 2005 6:42 pm
#12

Horrible Idea... I played WoW for a month and quit because in the back of my head I needed the SWG Player Based Economy. Adding NPC merchants would kill the economy more. I also thing the economy is taking enough of a beating considering the new GWVS, CU, and horrible Resource Spawns. Economy should be left alone. Right now any more changes will make it even more unstable in some server. Our economy is stable but some others are bad especially small servers.



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bluejanus
Sat Apr 09, 2005 9:33 pm
#13






Yterbium wrote:


Personally, I think that the obnoxious and absurd server economies have gone on long enough, and I would like to see an actual effort made to fix them.


I am sure this topic has been beaten like the proverbial horse, but I would like to propose a simple solution, and I welcome feedback.


Activate the in-game NPC vendors to not only buy junk, but buy normal gear and sell it as well.


Remove individual vendors and base all public market on the bazarre.


Now, admittedly, this may seem drastic, but don't panic yet. It isn't as bad as it seems. The NPC vendors would offer average or below average gear at fair market prices. This would rebalance the economy almost immediately, as players would finally be able to say, "Forget that! Why would I pay a QUARTER OF A MILLION CREDITS for armor that will be torn up and useless in a week of heavy use?"


And the change from local vendors to centralized markets would promote a REAL economy with actual consumer response and competitive pricing. No more wandering ALL OVER A DAMN PLANET looking for a suit of armor for HOURS, and then finally paying THRE QUARTERS OF A MILLION CREDITS for an average suit of armor because you are so sick of looking.


So anyway, that is what I think needs to be done.





What does the term "fair market pricing" mean? The prices for items varies somewhat server to server. Is the fair market price the lowest price on Kettemoor? Or the midrange price on Bria?


For the NPC vendors to have any value, they would have to sell products that are at least competitive with some of the products that crafters make which is quite damaging to the crafting profession and crafting economy.


I don't see how fixed priced NPC shops that are always stocked and have endless amounts of credits to buy/sell goods is somehow an attribute of a "REAL economy". In the real world, consumers and sellers do not have endless capacity for buying or selling. Your proposal is simply your disgust at not being able to find a product for a low price. In your view, the economy is messed up because prices aren't low enough for you, so the whole system must be redone so you can spend the littlest amount that you can.





Isander Aperin - Kettemoor Master Architect (home: Serenity, Naboo)
Structures vendor in the HorkCo Shop near Coronet, Corellia (CLOSED)
Structures vendors in the Mos Mesric Mall near Mos Espa, Tatooine (CLOSED)
Structures, jedi kit, crafting station and resource vendors in Serenity near Kaadara, Naboo (CLOSED)
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