Zen or AD

diskoduro · May 2015

Wondering what everyone thinks is better to have, Zen or AD. Currently I have around 400K AD and am trying to decide whether I should convert, or continue to farm and horde AD.

pentnoir · May 2015

Zen, since it's value will appreciate if you leave it in there long enough. Maybe a couple weeks for the Zen old buy price to reach the same value in sell price, otherwise, you'll lose money when withdrawing. Ad is subject to inflation as the Zen prices goes up, however, it does not matter in the short run.

I don't bother with storing ad as Zen though because I burn through ad much to quickly.

wanderingkyng · May 2015

diskoduro wrote: »

Wondering what everyone thinks is better to have, Zen or AD. Currently I have around 400K AD and am trying to decide whether I should convert, or continue to farm and horde AD.

If you're set on saving money, which I am personally incapable of doing in this game, I recommend saving it as Zen. They are both like stocks on the stock market and while they will both fluctuate due to certain market pressures (Zen will be cheapest on Friday mornings, don't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain), Zen will trend up in value over time while AD will trend down in value over time.

EDIT for fun info-text:

Ways Zen can enter the market: Purchase with real money.
Ways Zen can exit the market: Purchase of item from Zen market. Account with Zen becomes inactive.
Ways AD can enter the market: Game activities (dailies, prayer, events, chests, professions, etc.).
Ways AD can exit the market: Purchase of items from NPCs/The Wondrous Bazaar using AD. Various in-game AD fees, such as on the TTH. Account with AD becomes inactive.

If you think about it, all the Zen that exists in the game originally came from a credit card to enter the market. That doesn't mean you need one to get Zen, but the Zen you trade your AD for was born from a credit card. As a result the total amount of available Zen is tied directly to the amount of money people have invested in the game whereas the amount of available AD, which is born in many different ways tied to time invested in the game, is not restricted in this way. That is why over time the amount of available AD compared to the amount of available Zen will go up, causing the value (as seen on the exchange) for Zen to trend up over time - not necessarily because there is less Zen available, but because there is more AD available.

rhbunny · May 2015

Oh some good points here, thanks for this thread. I'm currently trying to farm AD (going very slow) for a cat. Will look at converting some into Zen tonight, seeing as I am trying to save it all.

diskoduro · May 2015

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and info everyone, really helpful. I think I'll be converting some currencies in the next couple of days.

That being said, I guess what I'm struggling with is that items you can buy with Zen seem to be cosmetic only and the actual game changing items are purchased with AD. Not saying this is a bad thing, it's a really good thing because it means the game is not pay to win. However, looking at it from a stock perspective, it makes sense to convert and then reconvert to double your diamonds.

Oh some good points here, thanks for this thread. I'm currently trying to farm AD (going very slow) for a cat. Will look at converting some into Zen tonight, seeing as I am trying to save it all.

The only money I threw at the game was $10 for some Zen to purchase extra alt slots specifically for farming AD (no plan on throwing more money towards the game.) I got lucky and caught them when they had a weekend sale. If you have the ability I would suggest doing the same.

wanderingkyng · May 2015

diskoduro wrote: »

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and info everyone, really helpful. I think I'll be converting some currencies in the next couple of days.

That being said, I guess what I'm struggling with is that items you can buy with Zen seem to be cosmetic only and the actual game changing items are purchased with AD. Not saying this is a bad thing, it's a really good thing because it means the game is not pay to win. However, looking at it from a stock perspective, it makes sense to convert and then reconvert to double your diamonds.

The only money I threw at the game was $10 for some Zen to purchase extra alt slots specifically for farming AD (no plan on throwing more money towards the game.) I got lucky and caught them when they had a weekend sale. If you have the ability I would suggest doing the same.

Right you are! Most items purchased with Zen are cosmetic or ancillary. Don't forget though that Zen is AD and AD is Zen! Many people who purchase Zen do so in order to sell it for AD to use in various ways. I like the pay structure in Neverwinter because it's definitely not pay-to-win or pay-to-play, it's more like... pay-to-hurry. The more AD you have the faster you can advance your character through certain purchases... but there's really no restriction on how much of that you can get through good olde-fashioned MMORPG grinding and farming. :-)

lorespade · May 2015

Things that give you bags for all your characters. Dragonborn pack. Mounts account wide. Zen has its uses. Heirloom pack. More characters to level and hold as auction slots. So much grinding

climb the leaderboards.

fun times. Personally i see a strong ingame economy right now despite the minor setbacks in the tradehouse. Gold is being used and proves usefull buy and sale for items.
Zen exchange rates will go up. But hopefully a slow climb with many ups and downs.

bkthomson · May 2015

So stupid question. What is the best way to get AD? I'm currently at 39th level CW, and may have amassed close to 75K in AD mostly through, Daily Dungeons, Prayer and Selling Blue Items at the Auction House. Its seems slow to me, but truth is I have no basis for that opinion. Maybe my 59 hours to 75K AD is a good rate, I just do not know. Is it more when you get up to 60th that you can collect more AD than at the base levels? Some opinions and personal experience would be great feedback.

lorespade · May 2015

Buy up stacks of items and resale them for more. As zen goes up so does the price of items. But the only way the item prices go up is by buying and reselling so for a healthy market someone needs to do it. But supply and competition keeps prices lower so sometimes you lose out but if you buy low often it offsets any losses overall.

rhbunny · May 2015

diskoduro wrote: »

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and info everyone, really helpful. I think I'll be converting some currencies in the next couple of days.

That being said, I guess what I'm struggling with is that items you can buy with Zen seem to be cosmetic only and the actual game changing items are purchased with AD. Not saying this is a bad thing, it's a really good thing because it means the game is not pay to win. However, looking at it from a stock perspective, it makes sense to convert and then reconvert to double your diamonds.

The only money I threw at the game was $10 for some Zen to purchase extra alt slots specifically for farming AD (no plan on throwing more money towards the game.) I got lucky and caught them when they had a weekend sale. If you have the ability I would suggest doing the same.

I have put about £40-£50 into the game, basically the price I would pay for a new game, figured it was worth it with the amount of hours I have put into Neverwinter. I have what I originally wanted to get (The heirloom pack and a few other bits). Now just trying to get the AD together to get my cat and I'll be sorted. Will get some more character slots and other bits when there is next a sale on.

@BKThomson - I try and run skirmishes with one of my alts when the Skirmish event is on, you get an extra 1000 for each skirmish and can do 3-4 in the hour, plus the AD you get for the daily skirmish from Rhix.

twinstripeuk · May 2015

diskoduro wrote: »

Wondering what everyone thinks is better to have, Zen or AD. Currently I have around 400K AD and am trying to decide whether I should convert, or continue to farm and horde AD.

Dumb answer, I know, but both! Keep hold of the AD and then buy Zen the next time it takes a dip. Spend that Zen on what you want (I'd recommend account wide packs and companions and maybe characters slots if you want more options) and then hold onto any remaining Zen until you can get AD cheaply.

Farm, rinse and repeat.

That way you get what you want from the game and keep feeding the in game economy.

As it stands, your AD puts you just shy of an SW or HR booster pack, or just north of the Heirloom pack (as and when they re-introduce it).

Zen or AD

Comments