Business And Economy Archive

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Milgram wrote:

It defenently takes some time to get into the high end crafting biz....

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ALeoNN wrote:

Very well articulated. Also there are more competitors in the market compared to before, though.

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Liet_Kynes wrote:

Whaattt 5 or 6 examples, and you think that qualifes as an arguement??

There DEFINITLY is inflation and it's mostly based in the unique and rare trading good industry. Prices rise ever higher because people keep trying to get the best dollar for the whatever they found and nobody wants to back off. As new items are added, prices only rise. Because theres a wide range for these goods as long as you shop around, no one looks at this is a real problem. But everyone here knows that they themselves sold some loot they stumbled upon for waaay above a fitting price.

And its leaked into other industries as well, especially weapons and armorsmith, because they share the same customer pool. This continues to damage the swg economy immensly and helps make the game that much more difficult for newbies.

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Liet_Kynes wrote:

Whaattt 5 or 6 examples, and you think that qualifes as an arguement??

There DEFINITLY is inflation and it's mostly based in the unique and rare trading good industry. Prices rise ever higher because people keep trying to get the best dollar [why shouldn't they?]for the whatever they found and nobody wants to back off. As new items are added, prices only rise. Because theres a wide range for these goods as long as you shop around, no one looks at this is a real problem. But everyone here knows that they themselves sold some loot they stumbled upon for waaay above a fitting price.

And its leaked into other industries as well, especially weapons and armorsmith, because they share the same customer pool. This continues to damage the swg economy immensly and helps make the game that much more difficult for newbies.

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Milgram Said:

"Base goods have maintained their cost despite a huge influx of credits. This is because harvesters have cost the same to maintain since launch. Looted goods, on the other hand, are always going to follow supply and demand. Pearls were once useless because there were no jedi. There was a weaponsmith on our server who had a fancy for them. Any time you looted one, you would drop it on his vendor for 200k and think "what a sucker" as you walked away. Now, there is a HUGE demand, so (we will stick to pre publish 13 since everything went hay-wire after that) a looter can sell a premium pearl or crystal for 4 million because there are a lot of players willing to pay that much. You need to remember that before publish 13, getting pearls and crystals was not a noob job. You had to have a very specialized skill set (go solo an elder with a carbineer and you will see what I mean), and be willing to drive around for a couple hours and find nothing. You had to be willing to get screwed by a kill stealing rifleman or Jedi.

Keep in mind, a pair of sandals costs about 10,000 times less than a car, but I don't see Ford going out of buiseness because everyone starts walking. High end loot is the same way. I could make do with a 60k hammer 150-600 (buy 4, keep the highest damage slice). However, i just paid 12 million for a 400-900 hammer.My12 millionhammer isn't even twice as good as a base hammer. Why is it so valuable? The reason is because 400-900 hammers are so rare that it takes 12 million to coax one out of hiding. If I had told the guy selling it "I paid 60k formy basehammer, and yours isn't even twice as good as mine. I will give you 120k for it," do you think he would have sold it to me? Of course not.

The moral of the story is common goods are stable, and will most likely remain so. Luxury Items are expensive and fadish. They always have been, always will be, and are in the real world. Tickle Me Elmo anyone?"

I could have gone down the line and listed every single weaponsmith weapon, and listed all 6 doctor buffs seperately, not to mention 9 seperate pieces of armor. However, i chose instead to treat each area as a whole instead of trying to "flood" everyone with evidence.

Additional evidence:

• Clothing: 1-10k after launch, 1-10k right now.


• Resources freshly harvested by a mining company: 3-4 cpu after launch, 2-3 cpu right now (lower price thanks to higher BERs on harvesters).


• Energy: 1-2 cpu after launch, 1-1.5 cpu now.


• 2h Speed: During the height of the fad: 2 million for +3-+6, 3 million per point for +7 up. Now, it is 1 million per point if you are lucky, and if it is under +5, blah.


• DXR-6b Schematic: 500k-1 million right after the geo cave was introduced. Now, "No thanks, i will go get my own for free.

Why isn't this phrased as "everyone has paid waaaaaayyy more than an item is worth"? Why is it ALWAYSthe sellers fault? What is the absolute value of a premium pearl to me? Absolutely nothing. I am not a jedi, so i have no use for them. So why don't I sell them for 500k (to compensate me for my armor, food, and weapons)? Because I know if i put them up on my vendor for 500k each, anyone could come by, buy them all, and sell them ALL the SAME DAY for 3 million each. How I judge a fitting price for selling is "can the dude who buys this from me immediately sell it for more than what i am offering?" I deal in high end, fadish merchandise, so i need to constantly monitor the going rate of roundies. Since roundies are fadish and unnecessary, i need to monitor my price to make sure that they aren't so high that the jedi says, "Hmmm, maybe i am doing ok with my 2 -9's and 2 -7's, it defenently isn't worth it to shell for this guy."

Weapons and armor are specificaly addressed in my post. In order to disagree, you will need topresent some contradictory data that clearly shows that base weapons and armor have increaced in price. Otherwise you are just blowing hot air.

You still have not presented specific evidence for what you feel is inflation. Please do so, and i can address these items directly.

Nice post. A couple of points to add....

I was one of those who thought that prices generally were increasing in SWG (primarily due to excessive income from mission terminals). Then in April of 2004, SWG's lead designer Raph Koster posted an Economy Stats essay(in the Astromech Stats section of the main site)that changed my mind.

Based on those economic stats (and Raph's explanation of them), I was forced to conclude that the supply of money allowed to enter the SWG economy and the amount of money exiting the economy are very close to even. That being the case means we don't have either inflation or deflation. (Stagnancy, perhaps, given that it's not possible to create new wealth through the application of intellectual capital, but that's a rant for another thread. )

The point is sound: that certain "fad" objects fetch high prices doesn't imply inflation. It just means that some people with a lot of money are willing to spend a lot of that money for things they want. The fact that this prices these items out of reach of the many players who don't have that kind of cash doesn't mean there's inflation -- it just means some players have a lot more money than other players.

Which is exactlyas it should bein a capitalist economy, because that's how you inspire people to work (which ultimately benefits all participants in the economy).

The sky is not falling.

--Flatfingers

It's up to the moderators, of course, but perhaps this thread could be stickied here in Business and Economy?

It comes up a lot....

--Flatfingers

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Flatfingers wrote:

It's up to the moderators, of course, but perhaps this thread could be stickied here in Business and Economy?

It comes up a lot....

--Flatfingers

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