Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: To DEs with thriving businesses
Straker_Atrella wrote:
Ok, just to make a comment in order to stop clearance sales and panicing.
My understanding is that you wont be able to place NEW items on a vendor the old stuff wont go away. So if your vendor is stocked now over the limit, you don't need to freak, it wont go away.
Correctly stated Straker.
I have a vendor with over 250 items on it at 2444 Merchant and all of the items are still on the vendor. The only problem that has popped is that I can't restock this vendor, but I can restock my other vendors still. I just haven't tested to see if I can restock all of the items possible for Man 4.
Handsnake wrote:
The point I wish to make is that unlike the droid HAM changes and the vehicle changes, this abortion of a nerf has already started a recession/depression with crafters forced to sell out their excess stock now, before this change is implemented, no matter what the final number will be on each vendor. If they fail to sell out, the big crafters like myself stand to lose millions in inventory. Better to make 1 credit on 100cr cost than to have zero return.
The fact is that this change, due to the length of time that sales will take, is already destroying businesses and destabilizing the economies of the servers.
I feel no sympathies for those that find it necessary to sell out their stock at the drop of a hat, after only a few days of this being on Test Center. It has already been stated that the numbers will be significantly changed before this goes Live. What I think is ironic about your above statement is that so many of those that I see arguing against this nerf state that this will lead to higher pricing and not loweredpricing that you are suggesting.
If you are correct, that merchants are selling at lower prices, isn't that a good thing? I've been spending most of my time on Test Center, where there isn't a bloated economy that has resulted in items going for 1 million credits plus. I'm slowly pushing .5 million credits on TC, with all structures paid for, for at least a month, and 2 full sets of rather nice armor. 500k on TC isabout the same as 3-6 million on a Live server, when you consider buying items. Are you tring to tell me that a reduction in Live pricing would be a bad thing?
TheRealTK421 wrote:
Hmmm...don't take this the wrong way, but perhaps you stock too much?
I'm asking respectfully and in all honesty. I don't know how your numbers break down.
Also, vendors aren't really meant for mass storage. That's a lot of where the issue behind this change comes from in the first place.
Again...I mean no offense by this but I'd say you make/stock too much stuff. It's classic supply and demand.
If you overproduce vs. the market, you're gonna get stuck cutting prices to move inventory. It works the same way here. Wouldn't you still be able to run a "good" business with, say, 2/3 of your current inventory totals?
Or half? I mean...if you're like me, you can make a mint just sitting around with factory crates knocking out custom droids at any busy starport (or better, the closest bank).
On this, you do have a point. I see inventory bloat (for a lot of items...not just ours) as one of the inevitable side effects of this change. If the numbers do change (likely) in a number that's less of a nerf that situation will abate some but how much? /sigh
If only I (or you) could know.
It's also SOE's multi-million dollar 'baby' and investment. Ultimately, if they see this as a good move to make, they will make it. Such is the way of a free market economy, 'eh?
And...you're not really actually forced to drop lines, per se. You might stock 4 of an item instead of 10, for example. That doesn't mean you can't have a good bit of product crated and stored off the vendor, right?
The devs came out and said we could and even encouraged it by supporting bags in vendors. They devs have never made any statements telling us what our max produtions should be but that is what this will translate too.
I make about anywhere from 10 to 100 of each kind of wpn that is aroun 1800 wpns or so. That is a so so selection of wpns some ppl keep even better stock then me on them. Not counting droids(200 w/ batts), BH droids(200 w/ bomb droids), a storage vendor for all the DE subcomps, WS subcomps, Resources...not to be negative but this move seems tailor(pun intended)made to drive multicrafters out of the market. this isnt a monpoly issue here, its a "your not allowed to sell as much" issue.
Fixes: Allow crate sales-ergo-selling crates and vendor sells any # of items from crates, makes it easier for us to restock and ppl to buy things.
Allow more storage in houses and maybe some kind of resource holding bag/device.
Allow subcomps to stack to larger sizes.
There are alot of ways to help this situation out and the consensus your saying is to just make less....there is always a balance until they announce the final # on this vendor cap issue we hanging.
I understand you are trying to soften the blow so to speak and want to keep a reasonable balance to these issues but i cant keep as positive an attitude about the lack of dev creativity in overcoming these obsticles(see suggestions from 1000's of other players on how to address these problems...)
Will i quit DE? no. Will i quit WS...probably if the #'s are too low it wont be worth my time to restock daily. (think 70 kinds of wpns....4 of each is almost 300..) and those poor tailors...wow.
Handsnake wrote:
1. It is not a "drop of a hat". It is an intended nerf with thousands of responses in dozens of threads - the largest which has been summarily deleted by SOE.
It wasn't deleted...it's just on 'hiatus'.
2. It is not 'ironic' as deflation is followed classically (after the 'bargain hunting' period is over) with stagnation and inflation, since supply is gone. Simple classical and historical economics.
Errr...I don't think I'd say that supply will be "gone". The consumables markets will still be healthy. Only the big ticket items will take a hit. This is, in a way, a perfect example of a situation for why DEs need droid decay. Most other items involved in any sell off will need to be replaced over time.
I see this primarily as a 'stock balance' change. It'll have a blip on the economics for each server on a macro scale but I fully expect that things will level out even just a few weeks after the change.
3. Not a good thing, since it heralds the shrinking of the supply (as well as the exit of crafters.)
See...I just don't see that happening. If any crafters actually do exit, there will always be some to step up and fill in the gaps. It always happens. Even if a server loses a Joe-Big-Time-Crafter, there will be a few Jane-Smaller-time-crafters that will gladly take that business and use the purchase to their advantage.
In the longer term, I'd say this change should make it easier for more crafters to get into any market segment.
Yes, widespread dumping (selling far below cost and far, far below a profit mark) is an extremely bad sign. In no way would any knowledgeable businessman view this as a 'good thing' in any economy.
Sell-offs happen. It doesn't mean the end, by any means, of any economy. The US markets took good sized hit the other day. Just behind that, they took a bounce as the bargain hunters took hold. The same thing will happen here, I suspect.
The big thing issue is how well each server's economy gets over 'the hump'.
By the way, alll....
I've forwarded this thread to TH. I would have posted a few comments/quotes to the Corr. board but there's too much good info to do just that.
I don't know if he will post here but I am pretty sure he will read it and/or pass it on. It's this kind of level-headed (non-rant) discussion that the Devs really need to assess how this will affect crafters and buyers alike.
/bow
Respectfully,
Mainly because of consumable goods.
I agree TK regarding what will happen when those change will happen : the market will adapt. It's something I've learn in other MMORPG, when big changes are announced, lots of people yell very loudly, when they hit the server, people just learn to live with the new rules, and adapt.
I'm not sure this thread is the right place for this, but I agree with AO concerning MA dependencies. This is a problem, even TH recognized it.
Fact is, every DE I know need more EMM and EGP than any other kind of resource. Stuff that are not at all in the skill path to their profession. It's not inter-dependancies, it's requirement, just because of the quantity needed.
AudioOrgana wrote:
Are we really gonna do the dance again where I try to make a comment and you jump all over me (just like you did with Drashk on a few occassions)?
You've seen me rail against our situation with MA already (many times). I know for a fact that you've read comments from me denouncing our relation to MA (both for me and for DEs). I've even made it a 19 Questions issue. I wasn't "defending" anything. I was stating that it appears that interdependence between crafters and Merchants appears to be going up to some degree. That alone sort of proves my point. Interdependence is going up, not down. It just can't happen to all professions magically in one shot...it'll take them time.
That being said....
- I've already let the Devs know what the DEs think of the MA issue (on several occassions too).
- The MAissue is something that Sintrosi couldn't get changed, Drashk couldn't get changed, I haven't been able to get changed (so far)......sensing a pattern here? I'm sorry that it hurts but it just doesn't have the profession-breaking importance that would make it a big-time item to get quick fixed (see further below).
- Guru and I (and others) have come up with the proposed workaround to move EGPs and EMMs to Eng. 4. It's unclear if the Devs will accept this has a solution but all that I've spoken with so far say that it would be okay (maybe not ideal...but workable).
- If we want to get this addressed, that's fine. We have to make it our number one (or very high) issue on the Top 5 list. Do you really want that, in lieu of some other important change? Note: Right now, the Top 5 poll is showing that issue being way down the list....like maybe number 13-15.
/bow
Respectfully,