Business And Economy Archive
Thread: Veteran rewards or a case of income redistribution?
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voortex
Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:41 pm
#1
Hey folks.
I haven't thought a lot about this, so don't flame me. Anyways, it seems that there is a growing pool of individuals with huge credit balances. Perhaps the gap between the haves vs. the have nots (as defined by your credit balance) is widening. Enter veteran rewards. Already thereare posts on the trade forums of people selling their rewards (which they have every right to do). However, some rewards like the anti-decay kits are selling for prices that would have payback periods of several years, which doesn't make much economic sense to me in a video game context. I understand there is an euphoria when new items enter the game, but could this be a way for the devs to balance the playing field? These rewards will be very rare and the devs have stressed that these can be bought and sold to other players. If you are not satisfied with your credit balance or are unable to buy the things you need, viola!, sell your veteran reward.
Any thoughts?
UmmonPrime
Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:15 pm
#2
People are just getting the most expensive resource they can with the 30k resource kits. It's crazy, the market is going to be flooded with Avian meat.
I really think people need to hold onto these things till after the CU, but if you can bank off it now, don't see any use in waiting. Make your money now and buy what you need after the CU.
It looks like the devs want everyone to have a chance at those resources that couldn't be obtained anymore because A) you weren't on the server yet or B) you ran out.
sciguyCO
Thu Feb 10, 2005 5:45 pm
#3
Meh, the same thing happened with the Life Day rewards. I figured that since everyone was getting one, that my Patriarch painting wouldn't be that big of a deal, and ended up selling it for 2 million (maybe I should've set the buyout higher 
).
). The "For the Field" items (self-powered harvester, 30k resource generator, anti-decay kit) are even more unique: one per reward level, per account, ever. At least the "For the Home" and "For Fun" items can be claimed multiple times, you just have to wait for the next reward milestone.
Some playstyles just aren't conducive to making a lot of in-game credits. Entertainers have limited income opportunities. If a musician wants to claim an anti-decay kit as their reward and sell it to a Jedi for 20 million, they're probably set for in-game life. It's not really income redistribution (since it's a one-time thing), but it's definitely a credit redistribution.
The only real issue I see, is that above a particular credit balance, it really doesn't matter. Once you have the equipment/supplies that you need, there's little real difference between having5 million and 500 million. That's probably why you're seeing such high offers for the rewards: people with a lot of credits literally have nothing better to spend them on.
Plus, assuming sufficient new subscriptions, veteran rewards are a "renewable resource", even the For the Field items.
Message Edited by sciguyCO on 02-10-2005 05:46 PM
Ford86
Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:53 pm
#4
more of a way to rake in income though i wont take part in it cause theres already to many greedy people in the game now
Kev0r
Fri Feb 11, 2005 3:53 am
#5
The big issue with this patch has been that the gifts affect the game in a huge way. The problem with SWG is that the rich affect the game in a very strong way; in other games money sinks are generally interesting decor and items, in SWG the sinks are stuff like high end SEAs, weapons and resources.
Let me paint a scenario. After the next few publishes, the GCW will actually mean something in terms of city and planetary influence, altering the game experience for every player. Jedi will be relied upon to lead the defence of their faction territory most probably.
Now introduce exceptional weapons into the mix; T21s that can strafe for 10k damage against a 10 man team wearing 40% resist armour. End result, they're all incapped very fast. With the ADK, this T21 will last forever, which in turn unbalances the GCW on that server.
I know that the CB may well nerf uber exceptional weapons, but giving one side a permanent advantage is only detrimental to the game.
bluejanus
Fri Feb 11, 2005 6:00 am
#6
I find the veteran rewards kind of disturbing. I'm not so bothered by the huge credit rewards from the sale of the rewards, but by some of the rewards. Being able to get any resource has led to lots of meat recalls. Since meat is a consumable, its affects will peter out. If the resource recalled is for something that wears out more slowly, it'll have a longer effect on the economy.
The anti-decay kit I think has one of the strongest effects. If I understand how it works, it'll slow the degradation of said armor or weapon. I'm betting it'll work better with exception items. The harvester kit is of limited benefit.
I hope the devs don't intend to cycle the resource recalls frequently. Since our economy is dependent on stores of resources and whims of the resource cycle, the devs frequently inject millions of the best resources ever into the economy sounds like a fast way to devalue resources in general and contribute to an inflationary trend.
The anti-decay kit I think has one of the strongest effects. If I understand how it works, it'll slow the degradation of said armor or weapon. I'm betting it'll work better with exception items. The harvester kit is of limited benefit.
I hope the devs don't intend to cycle the resource recalls frequently. Since our economy is dependent on stores of resources and whims of the resource cycle, the devs frequently inject millions of the best resources ever into the economy sounds like a fast way to devalue resources in general and contribute to an inflationary trend.
Kev0r
Fri Feb 11, 2005 6:08 am
#7
bluejanus wrote:
The anti-decay kit I think has one of the strongest effects. If I understand how it works, it'll slow the degradation of said armor or weapon. I'm betting it'll work better with exception items. The harvester kit is of limited benefit.
It works on ANY weapons, armour or clothing. So there are now "exceptional" T21s out there with 2591 max damage that will NEVER go away (this is a fact as I've seen the screenshots, I believe it's on Chimaera).
So some players will NEVER lose their advantage over everyone else. If Player X decides to go and steal the krayts from every hunt team on a server one night, nobody can stand in his way........EVER. If player X decides that nobody else will ever loot Lord Nyax for tapes again, then that's just what will happen. He can AFK there and go up against groups of swordsmen, jedi knights, and ALWAYS get loot rights. This is no overstatement; recently teams of 3 jedi and 2 or 3 swordsmen have been required to stop a solo AFKer from getting loot rights....is that even close to "fair and balanced gameplay"?
"Strongest effects" is not even close to how this item could affect the servers. It should have at least been limited to player crafted items, or even just to armour and clothing....
La-grange
Fri Feb 11, 2005 10:25 am
#8
Your forgeting that everyone has one to do with as they please. So while they might be running around with their best so am I. While a 3k damage T-21 is bad a 712damage disruptor is hard to ignore especially if im in a group.
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