Merchant Archive

I did Armorsmithon Valcyn for 6 months , I cannot speak for other servers but at least on mine there was no other Armorsmith that hindered my business.

Valcyn went from 3 "big AS" in oct of last year to prob around 20+ (andan unknown amount of others who are successful in their own right)this year even while the server population has declined.

I started AS, a highy competitive fieldwith 3mil cr which I turned into a few hundred million in the matter of a few months, all the while charging less then most AS on my server. This was not difficult, it mearly took effort.

I started by collecting reosurces with my earnings, harvested my own hides or had friends help me until I could afford the forum prices. Then I worked on skill tapes, all the while learning my trade and getting better at finding my own niche.

I when I quit I had become a decently well known AS on the server, stat-wise and sales wise..but those were not my biggest achievements,

Now most those people I helped didnt last.... why... becuase they thought AS would = a quick buck. Wrong, the investment for a successful AS is time and effort. I imagine it is the same for most craftering proffessions. People who jump into AS and think they can make 100mil in a week are barking up the wrong tree and after they see the amount of work/time it takes to be in a position to start profiting they turn to other easier tasks.

As a master Carbineer I can go spend a few hours running around endor/lok/yavin/ or dath and make more money every AS I know do in the same time. I can run missions, collect loot, harvest the FOTM hides/meats etc that sell for 40-200cpu on the forums etc... and turn a few hours into a few million cr...PROFIT.

As an AS I didnt just magically create good armor out of thin air....It took resources, some of which I had to pay 200+ cpu for, time and effort. And what about my sales...most monies I recieved for the 1st few months went right back into buying more resources... so while I prob had 100mil in sales in the 1st two months...I still had only about 5mil in cash...why because I re-invested.

It wasnt until later that I had sufficient resoruces stocked up that I actually started turning the sales into profit.

Now if I could have spent the same amount of time running around like I mentioned above collecting loot, hides etc... even if I only made 1mil cr a day (very conservative), buffed everyday, and burned through a suit of armor and weapons once a week, I could have easily outstriped the amount of money I made as an AS for the 1st few months I was in the proffession.

The issue is not amount money we make, rahterits amount enjoyment we recieve by playing. I enjoyed AS crafting, I enjoyed trying to gain a market share and competing against others, I enjoyed helping others enjoy the game, crafters and combatants alike.

There are more well know Armorsmiths, Weaponsmiths, Chefs, Doc's etc... now on my server then ever before.... this would not be possible if monopolies existed.

Using the word oligopolies is not appropriate either. If by oligopolies you mean groups of players independantly controling a large marketshare, that will always be the case as long as crafters can produce different qualities of goods at different prices. There is no way to make all crafters equel unless you do away with resource stats and have the dev's set the price of goods.

Varnax Despin

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Ingame Names: Sif @ Bria, Chilastra, Flurry, Naritus, Starsider | Hiordis @ Kettemoor | Freya @ Tempest
Quotable: It's pretty freaking underwhelming when the story turns out to be you, alone, in a field, for two weeks, punching toads. | At least SOE lasted a year before they went Turbine on us.