Buying Zen

arcanaxe · June 2014

I've been trying to buy Zen for 4 days now, and still nothing. My listing has been there since the 14/06 and I am still waiting so see any Zen. This is really disappointing. Can't buy a repec token, cause you need Zen for it. Can't get Zen because there is none, and how long do you have to wait on your listing before you can get. This is becoming ridiculous. Hope they do something about this in the future.

ripyourlipsoff · June 2014

Ah you are trading for zen, buying zen is done in the market through paypal.

sedaiyus · June 2014

Ive experienced a bug today with buying zen, dunno if its related. I spent $10 for 1000 zen via web browser using the direct credit card method. It not only didn't give me zen, it deducted zen as in instead of getting 1000 I got -1000. I tried agian through arc platform via paypal this time and even though my balance was 0 the 1000 zen I bought through paypal went through and then was immediately deducted -1000 leaving 0 once again. So there is a issue I believe.

rgladiato · June 2014

sedaiyus wrote: »

Ive experienced a bug today with buying zen, dunno if its related. I spent $10 for 1000 zen via web browser using the direct credit card method. It not only didn't give me zen, it deducted zen as in instead of getting 1000 I got -1000. I tried agian through arc platform via paypal this time and even though my balance was 0 the 1000 zen I bought through paypal went through and then was immediately deducted -1000 leaving 0 once again. So there is a issue I believe.

You need to contact customer support. No one here can help you with this.

akemnos · June 2014

arcanaxe wrote: »

I've been trying to buy Zen for 4 days now, and still nothing. My listing has been there since the 14/06 and I am still waiting so see any Zen. This is really disappointing. Can't buy a repec token, cause you need Zen for it. Can't get Zen because there is none, and how long do you have to wait on your listing before you can get. This is becoming ridiculous. Hope they do something about this in the future.

If you are trying to buy zen using the AD exchance there is a huge backlog of orders right now. The exchange is other players selling the zen and not PWE. Also unless you are offering 500 AD for 1 zen than you are unlikely to get any as that is the best bet for the zen sellers currently.

arcanaxe · June 2014

But that's the thing I am buying Zen at 500. But ill give a day more so see what happens. The back log is just really bad at the moment. Is not encouraging people to buy Zen at all. I mean if you are waiting 4 days or more just to exchange your AD into Zen what is the point of it.

akemnos · June 2014

the problem is right now there is not enough in game that is worth the AD cost to buy, while conversely there is a large amount of items that are beneficial for Zen. Also there is a lot of people hoarding zen in the off chance that the cap is raised and/or hoping MOD 4 will bring another reason to buy zen. Eventually the price will come back down to a normal amount.

query523 · June 2014

To understand the problem you have to realize that while there are many ways to create AD there is one way to create zen. Cash. Now if we look at the AH we see coals approaching 1/2MAD which is 10$ which is the cost of a coal ward. So if you buy zen there becomes no incentive to convert it into AD. Keys are currently at 71900 which means if for some reason you wanted to turn zen into AD you would not put it on the ZAX as you get a higher exchange rate by simply buying keys and selling them on the AH. Or alternately Preservation wards that are currently at 7280. So if you were to spend money on the game the ZAX is one of the worst places to spend your zen.

query523 · June 2014

This makes an interesting choke-point because it means that the only way to retrain is to spend cash. If they made a BoE re-training token they could actually improve PWE revenue because they would command a high price on the AH.

angrysprite · June 2014

There is only one problem with the whole Zen Exchange backlog of sell orders: everyone wants their Zen NOW, DAMMIT!

The answer is: Either spend real cash to buy Zen if you want it so badly right now, or trade your AD for Zen *BEFORE* you want to spend that Zen so badly. It doesn't hurt to just leave it sitting in your account until you actually want to spend it (I personally always keep at least 3500Z sitting around in case they release a Killer Mount or something).

Think ahead, trade your AD for Zen ahead of time. Right now all the complaints sound like people with a flat tire in the middle of the desert who never ensured they have a spare. As for the backlog of AD Sell Orders, I just helped you all out with another 5000z trade. It's definitely a Zen Seller's market right now. As for everyone waiting to have their sell orders filled: be patient or refer to the answer explained above.

beckylunatic · June 2014

I remembered to check on my experimental listing to buy one Zen, and it was filled in under 24 hours. Just now, I re-sold that single Zen instantly.

You can buy Zen with AD, you just have to wait for the orders ahead of you to be filled first. It's not that you can't retrain or get your pres wards or whatever, just that you have to wait, and not panic when your order doesn't get filled instantly.

angrysprite · June 2014

beckylunatic wrote: »

I remembered to check on my experimental listing to buy one Zen, and it was filled in under 24 hours. Just now, I re-sold that single Zen instantly.

You can buy Zen with AD, you just have to wait for the orders ahead of you to be filled first. It's not that you can't retrain or get your pres wards or whatever, just that you have to wait, and not panic when your order doesn't get filled instantly.

^This. And also do note: AD sell orders are queued - they are filled in the order received. So if there are sell orders totaling 1000AD ahead of you and you put your sell order for 10AD - you are number 1010. Only after the first 1000AD is sold will your 10 AD then sell. This is why it can take awhile for your sell orders to be filled.

query523 · June 2014

I wasn't complaining. Just pointing out that putting zen on the ZAX is a poor investment right now. Really the only reason to do it is because someone feels that they absolutely have to have their AD just this instant. Otherwise it has a better exchange rate on the AH. Well and I am a general econ nerd so the interaction between capital goods and currency values is just interesting to me.

beckylunatic · June 2014

The one thing that's an issue right now is those expiring coupon drops. Since they're only good for an hour, if you get one that you'd like to take advantage of and you didn't already have the Zen for it and don't do the real-money thing, you're SOL.

I'd prefer to see that addressed by making the coupons last at least a few days, since they are rare drops and can be discarded if you don't want them. I really dislike the high-pressure sales technique of making them only good for an extremely short time.

angrysprite · June 2014

beckylunatic wrote: »

'd prefer to see that addressed by making the coupons last at least a few days, since they are rare drops and can be discarded if you don't want them. I really dislike the high-pressure sales technique of making them only good for an extremely short time.

OR - you could sell AD NOW, be patient for the sale to go through in a couple days, then leave that Zen there so that when you do get a Sale Coupon you like the Zen Points will *already be there* waiting to be spent on that sale item.

Just a thought. Some would say common sense, but I stand by my assertion that it's just a thought.

gerbilhurdler · June 2014

arcanaxe wrote: »

I've been trying to buy Zen for 4 days now, and still nothing. My listing has been there since the 14/06 and I am still waiting so see any Zen. This is really disappointing. Can't buy a repec token, cause you need Zen for it. Can't get Zen because there is none, and how long do you have to wait on your listing before you can get. This is becoming ridiculous. Hope they do something about this in the future.

I put in an order for 1500 zen the night before last at 500 AD per and my order was filled last night at 1am or so.

maroon89 · June 2014

The problem will never go away if people keep putting in orders at 500 ad per zen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

beckylunatic · June 2014

angrysprite wrote: »

OR - you could sell AD NOW, be patient for the sale to go through in a couple days, then leave that Zen there so that when you do get a Sale Coupon you like the Zen Points will *already be there* waiting to be spent on that sale item.

Just a thought. Some would say common sense, but I stand by my assertion that it's just a thought.

I personally would just use real money. I still dislike the coupons ticking down in an hour, as they are very obviously designed to pressure people into panic-buying, and I find it shady and objectionable.

lewstelamon01 · June 2014

maroon89 wrote: »

The problem will never go away if people keep putting in orders at 500 ad per zen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't see a problem there. People are going to charge the price they think they can reasonably get for their ZEN, within the limits in place. High demand = high price.

Supply and demand 101.

akemnos · June 2014

thats the thing though those who are complaining about the 500/1 ratio right now should not be submitting request to buy AD at that range. If people stop posting those requests than to actually sell Zen the sellers would have to lower their sell offers.

Less demand means the supply grows and will decrease in price.

maroon89 · June 2014

akemnos wrote: »

thats the thing though those who are complaining about the 500/1 ratio right now should not be submitting request to buy AD at that range. If people stop posting those requests than to actually sell Zen the sellers would have to lower their sell offers.

Less demand means the supply grows and will decrease in price.

^THIS^ and they gripe about the turnaround on their orders, but keep putting orders in for 500/1. Well duh!

angrysprite · June 2014

beckylunatic wrote: »

I personally would just use real money. I still dislike the coupons ticking down in an hour, as they are very obviously designed to pressure people into panic-buying, and I find it shady and objectionable.

And you know what? I concur with you 100%
I think the only time I've actually used one of those was for a Dye Kit at 33% off or something. Every single other one: Umm, no. Oh, and they aren;t as rare as some may think: I've gotten one in almost ever Purple and Blue Leadership box in Professions crafting. _Yikes_

angrysprite · June 2014

akemnos wrote: »

thats the thing though those who are complaining about the 500/1 ratio right now should not be submitting request to buy AD at that range. If people stop posting those requests than to actually sell Zen the sellers would have to lower their sell offers.

Less demand means the supply grows and will decrease in price.

You are correct, but explaining it in a misnomer: Currently the offers are to buy Zen. The Zen sellers can only sell at whatever the buyers offer. Zen buyers (AD Sellers) do not have to put up a buy offer at 500/1. They can put it up for anything they want (hence the example of 50/1 for AD Transferring to alts).

Technically so can Zen Sellers - but the system will automatically sell at the highest rate: if I offer Zen at 400/1 it will sell at 500/1 to nibble away at that large pool of AD selling at that rate. (And I could be mistaken - it might actually sell at 400/1 but it still comes out of that 500/1 pool I think.) I'm not sure because I only sell Zen (I never buy it through ZAX) and I always sell at the highest rate I can get (I might be dumb, but I'm not stupid).

The problem is the impatience of people. They want to sell their AD for Zen *right now*. If you put up a sell offer at, say 450/1 it could be a long while before that AD actually get sold and very, very few have that kind of patience - but that's what it's going to take. Zen Sellers can only sell at whatever the Zen Buyers are willing to buy for. The AD Sellers (Zen buyers) have *ALL* the power to control the exchange rate, not the Zen Sellers. The problem is the mass-attitude if "I want it now".

What is needed is a must-have item that sells for Astral Diamonds to increase AD value and cause more people to want AD. The Mysterious Egg item was a good one, but only temporary. There needs to be more of those and more variety of items of that caliber that can be purchased for AD.

Right now all the stuff everyone wants is sold in the Zen Market; hence the mad rush to sell off your AD for Zen.

But this is just a rehash of what everyone already knows and acknowledges (at least privately, if not publicly).

serowforsaken · June 2014

You can always use real cash. A retraining token isn't that expensive.

degraafination · June 2014

angrysprite wrote: »

You are correct, but explaining it in a misnomer: Currently the offers are to buy Zen. The Zen sellers can only sell at whatever the buyers offer. Zen buyers (AD Sellers) do not have to put up a buy offer at 500/1. They can put it up for anything they want (hence the example of 50/1 for AD Transferring to alts).

Technically so can Zen Sellers - but the system will automatically sell at the highest rate: if I offer Zen at 400/1 it will sell at 500/1 to nibble away at that large pool of AD selling at that rate. (And I could be mistaken - it might actually sell at 400/1 but it still comes out of that 500/1 pool I think.) I'm not sure because I only sell Zen (I never buy it through ZAX) and I always sell at the highest rate I can get (I might be dumb, but I'm not stupid).

The problem is the impatience of people. They want to sell their AD for Zen *right now*. If you put up a sell offer at, say 450/1 it could be a long while before that AD actually get sold and very, very few have that kind of patience - but that's what it's going to take. Zen Sellers can only sell at whatever the Zen Buyers are willing to buy for. The AD Sellers (Zen buyers) have *ALL* the power to control the exchange rate, not the Zen Sellers. The problem is the mass-attitude if "I want it now".

What is needed is a must-have item that sells for Astral Diamonds to increase AD value and cause more people to want AD. The Mysterious Egg item was a good one, but only temporary. There needs to be more of those and more variety of items of that caliber that can be purchased for AD.

Right now all the stuff everyone wants is sold in the Zen Market; hence the mad rush to sell off your AD for Zen.

But this is just a rehash of what everyone already knows and acknowledges (at least privately, if not publicly).

This is all very true and accurate. However, it's not in Cryptic's best interest to promote another AD sink. The game's economy is right where they want it: You either buy ZEN with real cash now, or wait a couple of days by putting an order in the ZAX.

rollingonit · June 2014

degraafination wrote: »

This is all very true and accurate. However, it's not in Cryptic's best interest to promote another AD sink. The game's economy is right where they want it: You either buy ZEN with real cash now, or wait a couple of days by putting an order in the ZAX.

Bingo. The best interest for Cryptic is to keep it exactly like it is.

jasonf247 · June 2014

Back to the OP's actual problem, there's no way an order has been sitting unfilled at 500/1 for 4 days. I've placed an order and had it filled since then. Have you checked your unfilled orders to make sure that the order got placed correctly? Did you forget that to get the zen into the game you have to withdraw it from the exchange? Those are 2 big "I can't believe I didn't check" things that are most likely the cause of your 4 day wait.

And it still amuses me that Cryptic's spell checker doesn't recognize zen. Or Cryptic's apparently.

spongebob56 · June 2014

jasonf247 wrote: »

Back to the OP's actual problem, there's no way an order has been sitting unfilled at 500/1 for 4 days. I've placed an order and had it filled since then.

Orders are not fullfilled in any order like they pop off some queue or something. You can get lucky and fulfill in a day or...not.

Edit: this was sarcasm btw.

jasonf247 · June 2014

spongebob56 wrote: »

Orders are not fullfilled in any order like they pop off some queue or something. You can get lucky and fulfill in a day or...not.

they are in a queue. it's not luck. the orders at 500/1 are filled in the order they are placed. the orders at 499/1 are filled in the order they are placed if there are no orders at 500/1 and so on. you get in line and wait your turn. the orders that I placed last night have been filled already. make sure you are looking at your exchange balance and not a specific character's balance.

psychaos999 · June 2014

Maybe it's time you became part of the solution and not part of the problem: BUY ZEN! Maybe?
With real money....maybe?

ryugasirius · June 2014

arcanaxe wrote: »

I've been trying to buy Zen for 4 days now, and still nothing. My listing has been there since the 14/06 and I am still waiting so see any Zen. This is really disappointing. Can't buy a repec token, cause you need Zen for it. Can't get Zen because there is none, and how long do you have to wait on your listing before you can get. This is becoming ridiculous. Hope they do something about this in the future.

That seems impossible.

17 Jun 2014 17:22 14 Purchased 100 (ZEN) for 500 (AD) each.
16 Jun 2014 21:14 14 Ryuga Von Rhaiden offered to buy 100 (ZEN) for 500 (AD) each.

Since the exchange enforces a FIFO policy (first-in first-out), if you had any orders before mine, at the same exchange rate, your order would come first.

Did you actually check your "wallet" in the exchange? You have to manually withdraw the Zen, they won't simply appear in your account balance.

Buying Zen

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