Business And Economy Archive
Thread: I SAY FOR A QUICK FIX FOR THE ECONOMY IS TO
XStarbracer wrote:
We dont need crafters, and SOE is realizing this, so i dont need to go anywhere, its only a matter of time, and thank god.
Much as I hate the idea of this it sometimes makes me wonder if what you are saying is true.
Just as you believe the game doesn't need crafters I am sure there are just as many crafters that wish the game wasn't turning into more of a combat game than a diverse game. Personally myself as usual I am on the fence. Fighting can be fun, but business can be interesting and in some ways educational. For some that can be classed as fun.
I also see the game is catering for what seems to be the growing trend of violence (even if cartoony) but as long as us crafters are not severely affected by the changes I'm personally not worried.
I have 3 out of 4 (soon to be 5) characters that are crafters and my partner has2 out of 5 characters that is a crafter. We enjoy playing the game and have been playing for almost a year now with the different choices of character gameplay. We have 2 types of fighting .. ranged and melee (okay melee seems to be not the cool fighting it used to be) and several non fighting roles (scout, ranger, merchant, politician, medic, doctorand entertainer) and several crafting roles (artisan based). More than enough to make the game interesting.
XStarbracer wrote:
We dont need crafters, and SOE is realizing this, so i dont need to go anywhere, its only a matter of time, and thank god.
oops double posted .. laggy internet .. grovels apologetically 
Message Edited by Xrystal on 05-25-2005 09:13 PM
Market Research
Once my Droid Engineer was Mastered I did a search for the main vendor sellers on the planet I planned to sell on. My theory was if they were paying for planetwide advertising then they were worth investigating. At that time I was selling a lot of space droid related items and wanted to make sure I wasn't underselling too badly. There were only 3 or so droid vendors on Tatooine and I went to each and everyone and compared their prices to mine. They were almost identical so one way or another we managed to sell at a set price range.
Need and Demand
The way I dealt with this is to make 1 droid of each type I think could be sellable (ie I would think of buying it if I was so and so profession). I have a spreadsheet page I use to note what modules and chassis to use and what price to charge and what sales I have made so that I can replace within a few days what has been bought. Droids or tools that are mostly sold in multiples are stocked in singles, 5s, 10s etc with a few of each type. I watch for sales and notice what seem to sell and which don't. Things that sell are made more to keep the vendor stocked and things that don't aren't made until they hit their minimum stock balance. It would be a good thing though to be able to pull up a screen listing the base items you are making for your occupation and see when an item (or the droid containing the module) was last sold and on what planet.
Recommended Selling Price
It would be cool to have a base value to base prices on but the best we can have is to check the new feature of vendor location (not your fault if someone hasn't activated their vendor to list there) and see what prices people are selling for and the location of their vendor compared to yours from the same location. Work out the rough average price for the item you are looking at and work around that value for your own. Or look at the highest and lowest and price accordingly.
Resources Dealer
I assume you are not talking planetary resources but items being sold and their value as a whole. Another good idea to have some record of what has sold and what hasn't across the planet/server etc. Again this could be covered yourself already with a bit of leg work.
Stock Control
It would be a cool idea if once you hit merchant you get the option of using a special stock control screenin game with perhaps a link to a special code you associate or the game associates to an item created and placed on a vendor. Then at a glance you could track, if you chose to get into the business side of the game, your top sellers and buyers and cater for their market and see what hasnt been selling and find out why. Of course this can be done out of game if you're that way inclined. *hides spreadsheet pages*
MercHalton wrote:
I have just recently taken on merchant skills with one of my characters, he is purely set up to make and sell.
Something I think that could help the economy is a publication thru the game of Need and Demand.
I produce good quality equipment but cant sell it at all because obviously there is no need for it! But how do I know that .... in real life you would research your market. Look as the stock exchange ...see what rescources are shifting. There is something in this and it could open a new character line (in merchant) - resources dealer/broker.
Also - the system should NOT let you under sell an item. It should set a minimum based on cost per unit of recource and quality/complexity of the produced item.
Under cutting the price should levy a Galactic Tax on your bank to cover the difference.
Message Edited by Xrystal on 05-25-2005 09:14 PM