Commando Archive

You haven't made friends with a master weaponsmith?

/boggle

I mean, I look at grenades like crack and my friendly weaponsmith as my dealer.

He's already aware of what's coming and is anxious to finally make products that don't suck.

He knows I'm going to be camping his store to get my hands on the new toys.

I get disturbed thinking about what I m gonn aget chjarged for the upgraded weapons. Its definately going to be a lot. Very likely will get charged on the quality of the weapon not the resources used to make it. Has been some contraversy on Valcyn lately about price fixing.....which is another story that was just plain funny.

I'm guessing if a 248 dmg pre patch flamer cost 60k I dare to think what an 800 dmg post patch flamer will cost me, either way I still need a new Acid Rifle/Flame Thrower soon as the patch lands

I agree with Ivoni. Just make sure you get in good with one weaponsmith you feel comfortable dealing with. I buy all my weapons from one weaponsmith and do get a discount on their prices. Even before I started dealing with this weaponsmith, I bought every commando weapon, except for the rocket launcher for 80k combined. I don't care how good the Rocket Launcher or the cannons will be, I will not pay anything over 30k for them ever. They are consumable and it is just not feasible for that kind of expenditure to be coming on a regular basis. That said, I will payfor high quality flamethrowers and acid rifles since they degrade like standard weapons and will be used much more frequently than the cannons or rocket launcher. I still won't pay over 15-20k for one of these though.

Look. I posted all the info because of what is coming and commando's need to be aware of it.

Currently, weaponsmiths are justified with their pricing. Making any of the commando guns is a huge pain. We are talking about 3 or 4 named components to make the basic model. This isn't counting using the named components for the advanced pieces.

So they are justified in their 40k prices. The T-21 is just a pain to create as well.

HOWEVER

What is coming in the changes means that it is EASY to make them.

CAKEWALK.

If you have ever crafted you will understand how easy it is to make something when it says 55 metal required. What metal? Doesn't matter. Any will do.

SO

Don't accept a con job. 10k max for ANY average commando weapon short of the Rocket Launcher.

What is average? Well, we don't know that yet.

But if they want more, they had better had searched the schematics and used resources to make them better. Used advanced components. Added in the optional components.

I don't know what average is, but thhat's why I've made friends with a master weaponsmith. He's curious to get the new data as well.

He's doing backflips at the upcoming changes. Imagine being a crafter who can't make anything because you are missing 1 type of specific metal. Or worse, only one week of cubirian steel has spawn and it had a quality of 250. Yeah. That really helps make a good gun, NOT.

In the end this is a good thing. Those who specialize in making the best of the best, can actually do so now with commando guns.

Those who just want to make commando guns can now do so as well.

I'm just trying to point out what the price point should be for the average market.

Best of the best is completely different. They can charge whatever they want.

I've already dumped two weaponsmiths because I keep finding better and cheaper. The last one I found even has an inhouse slicer(master smuggler)who is there most of the time it seems, and when he's not he's more than happy to meet up on any planet.

I was paying ~30 K for a LP, then a few more thousand on a slice job, once I found a master smuggler, or in some cases, someone who claimed to have slicing 4. Now I pay less than half the previous price and get a slice and some pixie right there.

There are simply more weaponsmiths than there use to be. I refuse to pay outrageous prices anymore and in fact refuse to ever go back to those who once charged outrageous prices. They lost me as a customer forever andI buy a LOT of weapons.The market is now competitive and there is no reason to allow a weaponsmith to overcharge, just shop around. I've already got word that my new weaponsmith fully intends on making rocket launchers as soon as the patch goes through. I can't wait. I'll probably buy 2-3.

Another note is that I've found myself buying more weapons than I did before I found weaponsmiths with equal quality and lower prices. Last week I bought like 5 pistols and got them all sliced, easy, conventient, and for a fair price.

What you people who are bitching about prices fail to realize is the cost of running harvesters, chasing ore around the galaxy(tickets prices), etc.

You prolly saying, "Bah, it cost me under 6k to run my harvs a day"...wrong...WS uses medium and heavy harvs to start, those are not left to be destroyed when they play out, we have to redeed them. I am currently using mediums and paying 3k per to redeed. I, and most ws, also use other people building spots in addition to our own, so figure 16 harvs at 3k a day (either moved or maintained) and you looking in the neighborhood of 50k a day for someone with medium harvs and a few heavy harvs.

We also have to constantly travel to EVERY planet and moon hunting and mainting harvs, thats about 40k per day if you were to go to all of them including moons,(ie. Endor is 4k round trip), but this is usually cut down some with other people helping you look.

All said and done, After all the travel, maint, redeed, house cost, vendor maint, factory main, etc, can easily run 100k a day. So many other factors involved, you guys need to play a weaponsmith to understand really. I charge on average 25k a weapon that is of quality, but will lower prices once I become rich enough not to have to worry about making enough sales to keep my harvs going.

CommandoGoose

You can spin it any way you like, but thecold hardtruth is that there are weaponsmiths out there who seem to make a profit they're happy with by charging WAY less than other weaponsmiths who have equal quality.

Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice, wait, that doesn't happen because I don't give them the opportunity.

I heard one of the weaponsmiths I use to go to lowered his prices dramatically and I haven't even bothered to go look and I never will. His price gouging has easily cost him a 100K from me alone in just a few weeks and that number will continue to rise.

Ahh...I love the "justification" posts. Thanks btw. I made a bet with a friend how fast one would show up. I get a free soda!

Anyway, while I will agree with the initial costs to getting any vendor profession up and running, after two months the point comes in to up and running.

All your tools are paid for. Done. You don't have to buy any more. Last I checked houses don't deteriorate, nor do factories (which would suck)

House/storage/factories/vendor fees/etc = weekly maintenance

My master weaponsmith put it to me this way. He's not trying hard, just making the best average guns he can, and has...5 million credits.

He casually puts 100k into his stuff for maintenance fees.

Yes, admittedly there are losses to be had if resources shift and you just moved your harvestors.

But good grief. Don't make me go pull in the math of just exactly what guns should sell for and still clear a net profit of 500k a week.

The only exceptions which are plainly obvious and I leave alone are the high end makers.
They hunt every resource pop for the best resources on the 12 planets = travel costs.
They pay people to mine for them = employee costs.
They hunt down Krayt dragons to get tissues.= time costs.

Point is, they are putting in effort to make the best possible guns. They can command premium price.

5 to 10k for flamethrowers?
HAHA on Radiant FWG5 go for 15-20k. Laser Carbine are 20k. Of course the quality are going up on them but they still require the same number of resources to make as they always did. And they still buy thier resources for 2cr/resource. I already expecting to pay 25k to 35k for a flamethower. Not much I can do but take it in the shorts by weaponsmiths. Maybe they will be nice use some lub.

Well to give you an idea of what I plan to charge on Tarquinas:

• Flamethrower-15k


• Heavy Acid Rifle-15k


• Rocket Launcher-30k(even with thegeneric resources it takes alot to make those, I was leaning more towards 50k, but it is only 30 shots or so)


• Launcher Pistol-unchanged still 8k for standard, +credits for advanced components


• All cannons will be 10k


• Grenades-I'm probably still not going to make these. Factories are just too slow. I can make 100 guns in the time it takes to make 100 grenades. That's 100 guns for 100 people, where as for the grenades, all 100 are bought by one guy and for much lower prices.

That's just what I plan to charge so far. I will say my prices will not go up. The only guns that I sell for more than 15k with standard components are the T21 and RocketLaunchers because they take so much work to make.

And to be brutally honest, the weaponsmiths most likely to want to rip you a new one on prices will be the newer Master Weaponsmiths. Those of us who've been around awhile have more money than we can ever spend already.

Ivoni, those prices are based off of my own pricing guide.

• Intermediate Weapons 6k


• Advanced Weapons 7k


• Expert Weapons 8k


• Master Tree Weapons 10k


• Master Weaponsmith 15k (exception is the T21, RL, also thePower Hammer that is 10k)


• T21 and Rocket Launcher 30k


• +3000 credits per Adv Power handler, Adv. Projectile Feed Mechanism, Adv Blaster Rifle barrel, Adv Blaster Pistol Barrel and Adv Projectile Rifle Barrel


• +2000 credits per Adv Proj. Pistol Barrel

I always use the absolute best resources for my weapons. Do I travel around to all 12 planets? No, I pay other players for that. I bring money in, and I send it back out to other players who tell me when something new shows up and then harvests it for me. So in essence, I pay more than credits but save more time, so the oppurtunity costs stay pretty much the same.

I do not make junk or average weapons. I've refused to make many weapons simply because they suck. Prior to the Power Hammer fix, I wouldn't make them. I also haven't made any Cannons, Flamers, HARs or Grenades for 2 or 3 weeks now. And when I did make them it was just to help BH's advance and to give the commandos their toys.

As far as prices. Yes, you're going to probably find people selling less than me. I've been a master since about week 4 of the game. I'm fairly popular on Tarquinas and I have to do very little advertising to draw in people. Word of mouth handles most of that. The newer master weaponsmiths want in the business though, and the best way to spread word of mouth is to cut profits to a minimum to sell items at a much reduced rate. Consider it a month long grand opening sale. Or look at the difference between a Nike shoe and your local generic Walmart brand. Pretty much the same shoe, but name recognition allows for a higher price.

My prices have gone up over time, but they went up when my skill went up and capped at their current prices when I hit master.

Why is the ratio of resources used to price so much larger than other professions? Well to be brutally honest, because we can. Weapons have the highest demand of all craftable items in the game. You can live without armor, clothes, droids, pets, food or houses, but everyone needs a weapon and they're going to want the best they can use. Demand dictates price, consider it the Invisible Hand of the SWG economy. Also some professions are just screwed up price wise, Architects are the worst. Their prices have been way out of whack for ages. If this was the real world most architects would have declared bankruptcy long ago.

With all that said and done, I might very well lower the prices on some things. Based primarily on demand.

And your comparison to a scout blaster is not completely accurate. In the time it would take (using all factory made sub components) 25 Flamethrowers you could have made 100 scout blasters. Why? The Flamethrowers require Identical Blaster Power Handlers. Scout requires just one. It takes a factory over six hours to make 100 blaster power handlers. So in a given day, just basing off the power handlers, a weaponsmith could make almost 200 flamethrowers or 800 scout blasters.

I'm sure this doesn't ease any of your grumblings over weapon pricing. As the consumer you're going to complain about prices being to high. To be honest, my profits aren't really what they used to be as I flesh out my resource purchasing system. I'm pretty much holding steady at five million, whereas when I was going out to find it all myself I was gaining nearly a million a week. Granted, demand has gone down as more weaponsmiths reach master, but resources also cost more when you pay someone for them than if you harvested them yourselves. The good side of this? I get more time to enjoy this game and not running around always harvesting or crafting. My resources are delivered, I can turn on the factories and then go play my Commando on Starsider.

Sorry, I know there is more I could say, but clock says it's almost time for work. Feel free to debate with me, I'm open to hearing the side of the consumer. I do know what's like, I have no connections on starsider, and the prices there are typically higher than what I charge on Tarquinas. It's a rough struggle to get the credits for all the weapons I want and for things such as travel, a house, clothes(being rich got me spoiled on clothes, I got too many suits already) and other things I want, but I manage and have fun doing it. My commando has roughly broke even on everything so far, but I did spend time doing all the Emperor's Retreat and Jabba Theme Park missions, so that was alot of time not making any money at all.

LOL. Yeah they've tried to fix the factory bug a couple times and it didn't work IIRC. Supposedly it is fixed on TC right now.

Solstise, that's a wonderful pricing guide. I just makes ever so much sense. I so thorougly like it. Thanks for the quick reply.

Also, thanks for correcting me about the time to crank things through the factory. I forgot about that part. The definitely changes the aspect on the pricing.

I wish more weaponsmiths were like you.

I would say that it looks like you are an above average weaponsmith. I would imagine though that you would be the one worth spending a little more for on your server.

Pity you aren't on my server. LOL.