Bots stop at all campfires, even when their health is full. Most players ignore campfires, even when they are not at full health.
I stop at campfire. At least, I try to if it is on my way. Campfire gives you boost (all attributes +1) and reset the timer. Most people I know stop at campfire. If you are talking about Cloak tower, it is a different story.
Well, it's not only that bots stop at all campfires. There's a peculiarity to bot behaviour that makes it obviously different from player behaviour. I don't report for botting just because people stop at campfires. Seriously, once you've observed a couple of bots, you'll understand what I'm talking about here. Players, like you, might stop at all campfires, but they are not going to exhibit other behaviours that bots do, particularly when it comes to pathing. Spend some time paying attention to the behaviour of the other characters you're grouped with in random dungeons and you'll quickly be able to tell the players from the bots. I run 8 characters through random dungeons and, on average, I end up running with at least one bot per day.
The cap most definitely can be removed. It probably should be increased to 1000 even if it is just for a trial basis.
It is funny that when AD was around 200 then within a few days jumped to 300 people were saying that this would break the game. Same happened when it went from 400 to the 500 cap.
Very little would change if the cap was doubled as the ability of people to make relatively easy AD has significantly increased over the years.
Price moving up towards the cap is very different than doubling the cap after it has been backlogged for so long.
I've managed to exchange about 65% of my AD to Zen in the past 3 months. Ideally, I would like to be at 100% at the time of a cap doubling. Doesn't hurt me if it happens, but this would hurt a lot of people who have not managed to exchange most of their AD to Zen. It won't kill the game, but it will be unfair to some people.
Raising the enchanting rank to 14/Unparalleled and other upgrade cycles help to remove AD from the economy, BUT they're useless when there is a massive flaw in the AD rewards system. Case in point, I resisted making multiple characters throughout the "Leadership rAD Age" (had only 4 chars at max Leadership for the longest time, but I was making AD trading AH and the crazy price swings due to changes by devs.) I also did not make extra chars for the random queue (7 chars and 1 empty slot until I finally made an OP a few months ago). But after R14 released, I gradually doubled the number of chars and started to run daily skirmishes on all of them.
This is just a very modest use of the queue rewards. I can easily see people making 300k per day with 30 chars doing quick skirmishes. That's 30M in 100 days (a little over 3 months) and these random rewards have been around for some time. On top of that, invoking relieves the need to buy C/P wards.
The recently announced changes to random rewards is sorely needed, but it should have happened long ago. Hopefully they have thought this through and it can't be abused through multiple accounts instead of chars.
The cap most definitely can be removed. It probably should be increased to 1000 even if it is just for a trial basis.
Sorry, double post. My first previous reply disappeared, so I made this short one and now that one is back.
I have most of my AD in zen now, so this would be fine for me, but it would hurt a lot of people.
R14, Unparalleled, lots of new gear, those are all AD sinks, but they are USELESS when there is a massive flaw in the AD rewards system. The upcoming changes are desperately needed and hopefully well thought out. Should have happened long ago.
Post edited by utookmynick on
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plasticbatMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 12,223Arc User
The cap most definitely can be removed. It probably should be increased to 1000 even if it is just for a trial basis.
I have most of my AD in zen now, so this would be fine for me, but it would hurt a lot of people.
R14, Unparalleled, lots of new gear, those are all AD sinks, but they are USELESS when there is a massive flaw in the AD rewards system. The upcoming changes are desperately needed and hopefully well thought out. Should have happened long ago.
Those examples are mostly not AD sink. They may need a lot of AD but buying UES from AH is only 10% AD sink. Getting them from dungeon is not AD sink at all. Most RP are not AD sink. The UMOP from AD store is AD sink. Most new gears are not AD sink.
AD sink means the AD got destroyed. Buy stuff from AH is only 10% AD sink because 90% of AD is passed to another person.
*** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
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greywyndMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 7,095Arc User
That would break the AH faster than fixing the influx of AD.
I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too.
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adinosiiMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,294Arc User
That's a bit like getting rid of a disease by killing the patient.
Hoping for improvements...
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greywyndMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 7,095Arc User
What, exactly, is the problem with Zen? My understanding is the issue is the other side of the equation; AD.
I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too.
all zen in game are introduced with shop of real cash. with only this, the backlog in ZAX is hard to set down under 1:500.
i don't know if there are injection of zen on economy by cryptic (probable) but with the remove of arc quest (temporarily or permanent is a mistery) the problem is only more hard to solve.(this was only free system to gain zen without transaction)
My hope is a revision of all cost in zen shop to adapt to economy and stimulate all player to spend zen in sensate item. (companion selled at 1200 zen (600k AD) at blue quality that you can buy on AH at 15k AD is an optimal example)
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plasticbatMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 12,223Arc User
To fix the zen backlog make all the Zen wards bta and anything upgraded using these wards also bta.
It is not rocket science.
If you make all Zen wards bound to account, it means everyone has to get Zen and the backlog will be multiplied. Right now, the only unbound ward is from Zen store. If Zen wards is bound to account, it means all the ward are bound to account. It means you cannot buy it from AH. It means you have to buy it from Zen store. It means everyone has to buy that from Zen store unless you can get enough in game. It means everybody will try to get Zen from Zax.
*** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
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plasticbatMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 12,223Arc User
all zen in game are introduced with shop of real cash. with only this, the backlog in ZAX is hard to set down under 1:500.
i don't know if there are injection of zen on economy by cryptic (probable) but with the remove of arc quest (temporarily or permanent is a mistery) the problem is only more hard to solve.(this was only free system to gain zen without transaction)
My hope is a revision of all cost in zen shop to adapt to economy and stimulate all player to spend zen in sensate item. (companion selled at 1200 zen (600k AD) at blue quality that you can buy on AH at 15k AD is an optimal example)
If a lot of people quit like in mod 6, the Zax will be under 1:500. People quitting the game is the ultimate AD sink.
The more appealing the Zen store is, the bigger the Zax backlog is. I am not saying they should not improve Zen store though. i.e. I want companion A. Since it costs less in AH, I am not going to exchange for Zen to buy it from Zen store. If I don't have enough AD, I may use Zen to get AD to buy companion A. This lower the Zax backlog. However, if companion A is a better deal in Zen store, I would try to get the Zen to buy it from Zen store. This raise the Zax backlog.
Post edited by plasticbat on
*** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
you have reason @plasticbat Maybe a shift of some item (pres ward are best) on bazar create a very big AD sink that probably create an equilibrium without destroy all economy.
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plasticbatMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 12,223Arc User
you have reason @plasticbat Maybe a shift of some item (pres ward are best) on bazar create a very big AD sink that probably create an equilibrium without destroy all economy.
That is one of my suggestions in the preview thread. But it is not about improving Zen store but the improvement of Wondrous Bazaar.
*** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
Those examples are mostly not AD sink. They may need a lot of AD but buying UES from AH is only 10% AD sink. Getting them from dungeon is not AD sink at all. Most RP are not AD sink. The UMOP from AD store is AD sink. Most new gears are not AD sink.
Sigh... why do I need to explain everything explicitly? In GENERAL / OVERALL these causes reductions in AD in the economy because SOME people will spend in this way:
1) UMOPs from Bazaar
2) Cubes from Bazaar (NOT everyone, some) for new weapons
3) Higher demand for armor kits so more are made (100k AD each)
4) Even if they are buying on AH, there was extra activity driven by rank raise and gears and there is a 10% fee on those transactions.
I bought UMOPs, cubes and made armor kits for myself.
EDIT: Fixed error in regards to Zen store and AD.
Post edited by utookmynick on
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plasticbatMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 12,223Arc User
Those examples are mostly not AD sink. They may need a lot of AD but buying UES from AH is only 10% AD sink. Getting them from dungeon is not AD sink at all. Most RP are not AD sink. The UMOP from AD store is AD sink. Most new gears are not AD sink.
Sigh... why do I need to explain everything explicitly? In GENERAL / OVERALL these causes reductions in AD in the economy because SOME people will spend in this way:
1) UMOPs from Bazaar
2) Cubes from Bazaar (NOT everyone, some)
3) P/C wards from Zen store (NOT everyone, some)
4) Higher demand for armor kits so more are made (100k AD each)
5) Even if they are buying on AH, there was extra activity due driven by rank raise and gears and there is a 10% fee on those transactions.
Just because you didn't buy any C/P wards from Zen store during this upgrade cycle, doesn't mean that's the case for everyone. I know I bought p wards. I bought UMOPs, cubes and made armor kits for myself.
Buying from Zen store is NOT an AD sink. 0 AD is destroyed in this process. If you use Zax, your AD is passed to another person. AD is not destroyed. There is no AD reduced from the economy. If you buy Zen using money, no AD is destroyed because no AD is involved at all.
Buying from Bazaar is an AD sink. Buying from AH is 10% AD sink.
The other points you made is the same as what I said.
*** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
Another issue is that there's not really anything in the game worth getting that you can only get with AD. It's kinda weird that there's not been done anything about that. STO had a similar problem with its dilithium exchange (that game's version of AD) which was spiraling out of control. One of the things done to curb the rise in dil to Zen was to put thing in the game that's worthwhile to get, but can only be bought with dil. For one thing that meant putting a sizable chunk into the dil surplus STO was suffering from, it happened alongside a nerf in the ability to accumulate dil. And to have people be willing to exchange zen for dil, since grinding and refining the dil would take ages and many of these things are confined to short event periods.
So I'm frankly baffled that nothing similar is being attempted in Neverwinter.
GMOP, SMOP for trophy. RP too because the price of RP from Zen store is bad.
Yes true, the problem is that the usage of GMOPS, SMOPS,, UMOPS and RP is gated behind wards and the only viable way to get enough wards for your needs is through the ZEN store. A fairly active player that knows it's way around the game can generate enough AD to buy all this, but then it still needs wards to make use of it.
I cannot say for certain, but I'm pretty sure the problem is not that players dont buy ZEN, is just that players who buy ZEN don't exchange it for AD but end up using it directly in the ZEN store to buy wards. This is because as some other people already mentioned it, character progression at the moment is heavily gated by wards and not by stuff u can get just by playing.
I find myself in this place, have a decent amount of AD and RP flowing in, but then I need ZEN for wards, and with this last bump to the maximum rank of enchantments, the usage of these is really high.
Being very new to the game, I can express enough my frustration at this kind of blantant cash grabbing. Sick of progression being a cash or go home option.
There needs to be *something* in the wonderous bazaar that is needed for progression that does not come from zen items also(e.g. does come from lockbox pack drops). The various levels of marks of potency should be an AD sink but they aren’t really because the enchantment packs from lock boxes also drop them and as a result it is either cheaper to buy them on the AH from other players that got them as drops or roughly the same price between the bazaar and AH and this is with the rank 12 vip discount on the bazaar. For someone without vip the price is clearly in favor of the auction house.
If the item does drop from lock boxes then it needs to either drop rarely enough or be consumed in large enough quantities that it’s more cost effective to buy from the bazaar, e.i. significantly more are being consumed than are coming from any zen purchases in the economy.
Use of marks is also being bottlenecked by availability of wards which are a zen item. At the higher ranks you use far more value in wards than in marks, hence the huge backlog. Also players that have max enchantments are probably still chasing those legendary mount drops thus buying lockbox keys, getting enchantment pack drops, and introducing marks into the economy that they themselves won’t use, driving the need for other players to buy them from the bazaar down to non-existent.
Marks do become an AD sink during the bazaar sale event though. Aside from that event though they are only a mediocre AD sink because of mark drops from lock boxes. Simple put the bazaar needs more/better(more effective) AD sink items.
Buying from Zen store is NOT an AD sink. 0 AD is destroyed in this process.
You're right, I didn't think that through before typing out the reply. But the point I was making was in regards to my original post that releases like R14 and lots of gear, is an AD sink in general which you outright replied with "no, they mostly are not." I never said they mostly or they are 100% AD sinks. Just that big upgrade cycles causes much larger outflows of AD.
I don't have numbers to back that up, of course. Only Cryptic would have numbers on AD flows after R14 released.
> @utookmynick said: > Buying from Zen store is NOT an AD sink. 0 AD is destroyed in this process. > > You're right, I didn't think that through before typing out the reply. But the point I was making was in regards to my original post that releases like R14 and lots of gear, is an AD sink in general which you outright replied with no it is not.
For the most part it isn’t, see my post above about marks of potency and their existence as lockbox drops. I reckon more marks come from zen in the form of lockbox drops than comes from the wonderous bazaar. Further you need the zen item of wards to be able to actually use them so rank 14 also drove up demand for zen at least equally and based on the backlog by a greater amount than the demand/sink of AD.
For the most part it isn’t, see my post above about marks of potency and their existence as lockbox drops. I reckon more marks come from zen in the form of lockbox drops than comes from the wonderous bazaar. Further you need the zen item of wards to be able to actually use them so rank 14 also drove up demand for zen at least equally and based on the backlog by a greater amount than the demand/sink of AD.
Zomak, I understand your point, but it's very tiring to have to type out every detailed and carefully word everything because the point of my original post was not even about that. My main point was about flawed AD rewards system. I used R14 as an example because a lot of people complained about it. Also, I thought my previous post was deleted by mods, so I wrote a much more terse version. Maybe I should have said: Major upgrade cycles help to remove AD from the economy, but its effectiveness is greatly reduced when there are flaws in the AD creation side.
I guess it comes down to difference of opinion. I think the problem is mainly in AD creation. Some think the problem is not enough AD destruction (or making existing sinks more effective, like more SMOPs/UMOPs from bazaar instead of lockbox)
For the most part it isn’t, see my post above about marks of potency and their existence as lockbox drops. I reckon more marks come from zen in the form of lockbox drops than comes from the wonderous bazaar. Further you need the zen item of wards to be able to actually use them so rank 14 also drove up demand for zen at least equally and based on the backlog by a greater amount than the demand/sink of AD.
Zomak, I understand your point, but it's very tiring to have to type out every detailed and carefully word everything because the point of my original post was not even about that. My main point was about flawed AD rewards system. I used R14 as an example because a lot of people complained about it. Also, I thought my previous post was deleted by mods, so I wrote a much more terse version. Maybe I should have said: Major upgrade cycles help to remove AD from the economy, but its effectiveness is greatly reduced when there are flaws in the AD creation side.
I guess it comes down to difference of opinion. I think the problem is mainly in AD creation. Some think the problem is not enough AD destruction (or making existing sinks more effective, like more SMOPs/UMOPs from bazaar instead of lockbox)
Well I agree with your point also. AD creation is definitely an issue as well, especially when that creation is obviously automated by some, and even when it's not automated it's laughably easy for those who are choosing specifically to farm AD. AD should come from more difficult tasks than leveling dungeons for anyone level 70 or higher for instance. In fact it should probably scale with item level as well. Maybe give a small amount of AD for a level 70 doing a leveling dungeon but not 9k, unless they don't meet the item level requirements for any epic dungeon. Then give the good amount for tier 1 dungeons until they have the item level for tier two, then the good amount moves to tier 2 while tier 1s give some but not as much. Etc. If you don't want the amounts to drop on lower content as the player progresses then just make more difficult content give better AD rewards, up to a point anyway. This needs to be properly balanced though, we don't want a case of the rich getting richer while the poor stay poor or get poorer. Players should be able to make enough AD at each level of progression to allow for appropriate further progress at decent speed for that level of progress.
Maybe give a small amount of AD for a level 70 doing a leveling dungeon but not 9k
The issue is worse than that. A level 10 can do random skirmishes and a level 12 can random dungeons and earn the same amount as a level 70. Only difference is the amount of 50% AD bonus they can generate because invoking is scaled by level. With XP tomes, it takes 5 mins to go from char creation to start earning this. Just the thought of this is infuriating. Why the f* does this exist and for so long? The issue still exists on Preview, but now just one queue starting at level 12 for 8k rAD.
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greywyndMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 7,095Arc User
Why should character level be an impediment to earning AD for a player?
I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too.
For the most part it isn’t, see my post above about marks of potency and their existence as lockbox drops. I reckon more marks come from zen in the form of lockbox drops than comes from the wonderous bazaar. Further you need the zen item of wards to be able to actually use them so rank 14 also drove up demand for zen at least equally and based on the backlog by a greater amount than the demand/sink of AD.
Zomak, I understand your point, but it's very tiring to have to type out every detailed and carefully word everything because the point of my original post was not even about that. My main point was about flawed AD rewards system. I used R14 as an example because a lot of people complained about it. Also, I thought my previous post was deleted by mods, so I wrote a much more terse version. Maybe I should have said: Major upgrade cycles help to remove AD from the economy, but its effectiveness is greatly reduced when there are flaws in the AD creation side.
I guess it comes down to difference of opinion. I think the problem is mainly in AD creation. Some think the problem is not enough AD destruction (or making existing sinks more effective, like more SMOPs/UMOPs from bazaar instead of lockbox)
Well I agree with your point also. AD creation is definitely an issue as well, especially when that creation is obviously automated by some, and even when it's not automated it's laughably easy for those who are choosing specifically to farm AD. AD should come from more difficult tasks than leveling dungeons for anyone level 70 or higher for instance. In fact it should probably scale with item level as well. Maybe give a small amount of AD for a level 70 doing a leveling dungeon but not 9k, unless they don't meet the item level requirements for any epic dungeon. Then give the good amount for tier 1 dungeons until they have the item level for tier two, then the good amount moves to tier 2 while tier 1s give some but not as much. Etc. If you don't want the amounts to drop on lower content as the player progresses then just make more difficult content give better AD rewards, up to a point anyway. This needs to be properly balanced though, we don't want a case of the rich getting richer while the poor stay poor or get poorer. Players should be able to make enough AD at each level of progression to allow for appropriate further progress at decent speed for that level of progress.
How. exactly, does placing limits on low IL toons AD earnings prevent the poor from staying poor?
Why should character level be an impediment to earning AD for a player?
I've already stated why. Easier for people to abuse the system. It's better to find other rewards for legitimate players/characters.
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greywyndMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 7,095Arc User
So you don't think anyone playing the game deserves the same options as everyone else simply based on their character level and/or their item level?
I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too.
Well a scaling system would be better but has its own problems. And we already have an item level requirement to some extent as you need 11k to be able to do random epic. So let’s keep it simple, random dungeon and random epic should grant the same amount of AD but once you qualify for random epic you should no longer receive any AD from random leveling dungeon.
The point is that a character should have to do content that is on par with that character’s ability to make AD.
Also at lower levels of progress it takes less AD to make a noticeable improvement in the character. Eventually you hit a place of diminishing returns where you are spending huge amounts of AD for little improvements, see rank 14 enchantments.
If character’s earning potential went up with their power that would also encourage people to gear up all those alts which would also remove some AD from the game.
Right now the AD farm meta is having a billion low geared trash atls running leveling random and random skirmish and these alts aren’t removing any AD because there isn’t much reason to upgrade their gear unless the person wants to turn the character into a main or 2nd-main or such.
Maybe a better way is to limit the AD of low level and lower item level toons based on the most powerful toon on the account. This way new players aren’t punished, but alts of established players are.
So you don't think anyone playing the game deserves the same options as everyone else simply based on their character level and/or their item level?
Not at all and I didn't say item level. I think you are misunderstanding.
It's about finding a way to reward players without making abuse easy and therefore preventing it from becoming rampant. If I were a new player to NW, I wouldn't immediately know I should create 10 chars and just do randoms on them. I would make 1 char and play through the story. I wouldn't know I'm just falling behind as AD creation increases and price of things inflate (I'll skip writing a long explanation on that).
New players want to catch up on gear/item level and AD is the most flexible way, but it is only used to buy the stuff needed to achieve that end. If the rewards do not cause AD creation, you could give them something that is valued more than the AD it replaces.
We already know there is automation going. We see the bots in randoms. In the past, with spam bots, getting them banned was useless, since they just create new accounts. Reducing them didn't come about by creating a foolproof defense, but by making it more difficult and less profitable.
But I suspect Cryptic wants to create the illusion that low level queues are busy and active. Bringing back Cloak Tower is useless if a new player can't get a group when he queues for it.
Comments
I've managed to exchange about 65% of my AD to Zen in the past 3 months. Ideally, I would like to be at 100% at the time of a cap doubling. Doesn't hurt me if it happens, but this would hurt a lot of people who have not managed to exchange most of their AD to Zen. It won't kill the game, but it will be unfair to some people.
Raising the enchanting rank to 14/Unparalleled and other upgrade cycles help to remove AD from the economy, BUT they're useless when there is a massive flaw in the AD rewards system. Case in point, I resisted making multiple characters throughout the "Leadership rAD Age" (had only 4 chars at max Leadership for the longest time, but I was making AD trading AH and the crazy price swings due to changes by devs.) I also did not make extra chars for the random queue (7 chars and 1 empty slot until I finally made an OP a few months ago). But after R14 released, I gradually doubled the number of chars and started to run daily skirmishes on all of them.
This is just a very modest use of the queue rewards. I can easily see people making 300k per day with 30 chars doing quick skirmishes. That's 30M in 100 days (a little over 3 months) and these random rewards have been around for some time. On top of that, invoking relieves the need to buy C/P wards.
The recently announced changes to random rewards is sorely needed, but it should have happened long ago. Hopefully they have thought this through and it can't be abused through multiple accounts instead of chars.
I have most of my AD in zen now, so this would be fine for me, but it would hurt a lot of people.
R14, Unparalleled, lots of new gear, those are all AD sinks, but they are USELESS when there is a massive flaw in the AD rewards system. The upcoming changes are desperately needed and hopefully well thought out. Should have happened long ago.
AD sink means the AD got destroyed. Buy stuff from AH is only 10% AD sink because 90% of AD is passed to another person.
i don't know if there are injection of zen on economy by cryptic (probable) but with the remove of arc quest (temporarily or permanent is a mistery) the problem is only more hard to solve.(this was only free system to gain zen without transaction)
My hope is a revision of all cost in zen shop to adapt to economy and stimulate all player to spend zen in sensate item.
(companion selled at 1200 zen (600k AD) at blue quality that you can buy on AH at 15k AD is an optimal example)
Right now, the only unbound ward is from Zen store.
If Zen wards is bound to account, it means all the ward are bound to account. It means you cannot buy it from AH.
It means you have to buy it from Zen store. It means everyone has to buy that from Zen store unless you can get enough in game. It means everybody will try to get Zen from Zax.
The more appealing the Zen store is, the bigger the Zax backlog is. I am not saying they should not improve Zen store though.
i.e. I want companion A. Since it costs less in AH, I am not going to exchange for Zen to buy it from Zen store. If I don't have enough AD, I may use Zen to get AD to buy companion A. This lower the Zax backlog.
However, if companion A is a better deal in Zen store, I would try to get the Zen to buy it from Zen store. This raise the Zax backlog.
Maybe a shift of some item (pres ward are best) on bazar create a very big AD sink that probably create an equilibrium without destroy all economy.
1) UMOPs from Bazaar
2) Cubes from Bazaar (NOT everyone, some) for new weapons
3) Higher demand for armor kits so more are made (100k AD each)
4) Even if they are buying on AH, there was extra activity driven by rank raise and gears and there is a 10% fee on those transactions.
I bought UMOPs, cubes and made armor kits for myself.
EDIT: Fixed error in regards to Zen store and AD.
Buying from Bazaar is an AD sink. Buying from AH is 10% AD sink.
The other points you made is the same as what I said.
If the item does drop from lock boxes then it needs to either drop rarely enough or be consumed in large enough quantities that it’s more cost effective to buy from the bazaar, e.i. significantly more are being consumed than are coming from any zen purchases in the economy.
Use of marks is also being bottlenecked by availability of wards which are a zen item. At the higher ranks you use far more value in wards than in marks, hence the huge backlog. Also players that have max enchantments are probably still chasing those legendary mount drops thus buying lockbox keys, getting enchantment pack drops, and introducing marks into the economy that they themselves won’t use, driving the need for other players to buy them from the bazaar down to non-existent.
Marks do become an AD sink during the bazaar sale event though. Aside from that event though they are only a mediocre AD sink because of mark drops from lock boxes. Simple put the bazaar needs more/better(more effective) AD sink items.
I don't have numbers to back that up, of course. Only Cryptic would have numbers on AD flows after R14 released.
> Buying from Zen store is NOT an AD sink. 0 AD is destroyed in this process.
>
> You're right, I didn't think that through before typing out the reply. But the point I was making was in regards to my original post that releases like R14 and lots of gear, is an AD sink in general which you outright replied with no it is not.
For the most part it isn’t, see my post above about marks of potency and their existence as lockbox drops. I reckon more marks come from zen in the form of lockbox drops than comes from the wonderous bazaar. Further you need the zen item of wards to be able to actually use them so rank 14 also drove up demand for zen at least equally and based on the backlog by a greater amount than the demand/sink of AD.
I guess it comes down to difference of opinion. I think the problem is mainly in AD creation. Some think the problem is not enough AD destruction (or making existing sinks more effective, like more SMOPs/UMOPs from bazaar instead of lockbox)
The point is that a character should have to do content that is on par with that character’s ability to make AD.
Also at lower levels of progress it takes less AD to make a noticeable improvement in the character. Eventually you hit a place of diminishing returns where you are spending huge amounts of AD for little improvements, see rank 14 enchantments.
If character’s earning potential went up with their power that would also encourage people to gear up all those alts which would also remove some AD from the game.
Right now the AD farm meta is having a billion low geared trash atls running leveling random and random skirmish and these alts aren’t removing any AD because there isn’t much reason to upgrade their gear unless the person wants to turn the character into a main or 2nd-main or such.
Maybe a better way is to limit the AD of low level and lower item level toons based on the most powerful toon on the account. This way new players aren’t punished, but alts of established players are.
It's about finding a way to reward players without making abuse easy and therefore preventing it from becoming rampant. If I were a new player to NW, I wouldn't immediately know I should create 10 chars and just do randoms on them. I would make 1 char and play through the story. I wouldn't know I'm just falling behind as AD creation increases and price of things inflate (I'll skip writing a long explanation on that).
New players want to catch up on gear/item level and AD is the most flexible way, but it is only used to buy the stuff needed to achieve that end. If the rewards do not cause AD creation, you could give them something that is valued more than the AD it replaces.
We already know there is automation going. We see the bots in randoms. In the past, with spam bots, getting them banned was useless, since they just create new accounts. Reducing them didn't come about by creating a foolproof defense, but by making it more difficult and less profitable.
But I suspect Cryptic wants to create the illusion that low level queues are busy and active. Bringing back Cloak Tower is useless if a new player can't get a group when he queues for it.