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Why no EC price cap?
killjoy
Member Posts: 40 Arc User
If the prices for items and ships in the exchange are so overly inflated and such a problem, as is the opinion of literally everyone I've talked to. Why is there no cap on how much you can list an item over its given value? Never made much sense to me. How much more enjoyable this game would be if it didnt cost millions or hundreds of millions of EC for just 1 item.
Let the toxic smart TRIBBLE answers ensue
Let the toxic smart TRIBBLE answers ensue
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Well, if you're going to be like that....Supply and Demand. It drives the economy. If it was 'price-capped' by 'system-value' there would be no point in acquiring items to sell on the exchange.
As in my example, ironically diamonds are one of if not THE most plentiful gemstone on the planet...and yet cost the most? Why? Because limited supply (controlled by a few people) and inflated demand. And everybody's happy with that arrangement so it works.
= "I'm greedy as all get out and I'm going to charge what I damn well feel like. So deal with it."
Items are being sold on the exchange for the exact amount the player base values them at.
If they are listed over the value the player base has established, they don't sell. The only thing that determines exchange price is the collective demand for the item.. nothing more.
If you call it 'greedy' to sell items at their fair market value then the problem is yours. There is nothing greedy about getting fair value for an item.
Rather or not you personally agree with the term 'fair' is irrelevant.
They aren't, and it isn't. Problem solved?
It costs 250 lock box keys on average to produce one lock box ship, and 100 R&D packs to produce one promo ship. That's the supply cost.
You can buy a lock box ship for a lot less than $250 worth of keys on the exchange. That's because the sellers also make money from all the consolation prizes in the infinity packs.
For promo ships. a lot of the R&D pack contents (all the mats) are basically worthless so the price is much higher.
Demand also figures into it, but there is no Evil Price-Fixing Cartel keeping all prices artificially high.
Please don't confuse "I don't want to pay X for Y" with "Y's price is inflated."
If something sells for a price, that is its value. If something doesn't sell for that price, someone else will offer it for less until it achieves its value. Competition drives prices down, but demand drives prices up. The economy in STO is pure Adam Smith, and the Ferengi in me loves it.
If I was greedy, I wouldn't sell items below whatever the current price is on the market. Having been a F2P player for a few years before I went LTS, I learned how to make the most of my time in-game creating and upgrading items etc for EC.....simple economics. I balk at the mere mention of the 'gimme-now' attitude of some players. Earn your way!
We get it. You don't like not being able to get the things you want. And that's ok.
But this isn't going to change just because some new player doesn't like expensive things.
Instead of complaining, ask people what is the best way to earn EC. Then you can actually get the thing you want instead of just feeling sorry for yourself.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
The Exchange prices? All you'd do with a price cap is remove them from the exchange.
Like I said above, the pack contents are mostly worthless so the income from selling everything from the failed packs is much lower than with lock boxes that contain something useful.
Unless they tweak the %'s there I can see the promo packs being less and less popular until the more hyped up ships will get put into them rather than the gambleboxes.
Endeavors, advanced queues and admiralty have wiped out the value of the very rare mats, and doffing adds to the oversupply of common-to-rare mats.
Mix in Omega and Phoenix upgrades lowering the need for Super upgrade crafting, driving down the value of VR mats even more.
Cryptic really needs to re-work the R&D pack contents to give less worthless mats and more of the tech modifiers.
As others have said, supply and demand. You want a ship from a lockbox or R&D pack that might have cost someone more than $200 in real world currency, be prepared to pay the price they want for it. Or come up with your own $200 and gamble you have the same luck they did. And for those lucky players who maybe get one of those ships on their first try, why should they sell for less than what the other person is selling for?
At the end of the day, if enough players pay 1.5 billion EC for a certain ship, that becomes the standard price to expect other to sell for as well. Will someone perhaps put one up cheaper from time to time? I'm sure it's happened, but really, don't expect it to happen often.
Losing faith in humanity, one person at a time.
Star Trek Online volunteer Community Moderator