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Price inflation on the exchange

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  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    edited May 2021
    I don’t think so @rattler2

    So far ec inflation is only a problem for some f2p dudes trying to get some very expensive ships by grinding alone. I buy those ships with RL money and they cost the same as they always did.

    I have yet to see any indications that cryptic is acknowledging any kind of problem here. For all we know things are exactly as they are supposed to be.

    Besides nobody around here „needs“ to provide any alternatives when pointing out that your suggested/favored solutions and/or those of that other mod are wrong! ;)
    Post edited by peterconnorfirst on
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  • rattler2rattler2 Member Posts: 57,973 Community Moderator
    This is still a discussion. And F2P players are just as important as those who spend money. And I hate to say it but... you basically just advocated the stance of "You can't be hungry, I have a sandwich" by stating that you have no problems getting ships. Some people don't have the option to spend real money on the game.

    I'm not advocating that everyone should be able to get one for dirt cheep. I'm just stating that there was a time when lockbox ships were cheeper, and more within reach of people to get with reasonable effort. 200-300 million was generally the average price for some lockbox ships back when keys were 4-5 mil a pop. Some of the more desireable ships maybe hit 500-600 mil. NORMAL lockbox ships. Not promo. Nowadays it seems like the price for a normal lockbox ship is MUCH higher. And I've seen a few normal lockbox ships in the 800 mil range. Ships like the Kelvin class, which is a Fed ship and as far as I know not as desirable as the Mirror Engle.

    Some of the price hike is probably due to supply and demand, with people preferring a lot of the newer stuff over older, but the issue still remains. Why has prices skyrocketed. I can understand a Temporal Connie being around a billion ECs. That's a promo ship, and a highly desireable one at that. But ships like the Kelvin, Xindi-Primate Dreadnought Cruiser, and other more common lockbox ships? Some of the prices are kinda high.
    Only thing that comes to mind is the fact that ECs are flooding the market. There's more to go around. Just because some players can get them a lot easier than others is beside the point. Its the fact that so much exists, and is being added to. We got nothing to act as a balance. Just add, add, add. This keeps up, even the more common, but less desirable lockbox ships might as well start hitting the 1 bil mark. And that is NOT healthy for the economy in ANY stretch of the word. We NEED something to balance the economy and keep things within reach of people who aren't space rich billionares.

    STO is one of the most generous F2P games I know, with the ability to actually get all those shiny things with enough time and effort. But there comes a point when you have to ask if the effort is worth it in the end, just like the example earlier about Battlefront taking 40 YEARS to grind out things. Yea you CAN grind it out... but its not practical or even DOABLE in any kind of reasonable amount of time. The bar was set TOO HIGH while still being "available". That is NOT reasonable. That's lip service. Saying its possible, while basically ensuring that someone HAS to open their wallet.

    We need a sink to act as a balance for the economy. Just like with the items being sold, supply and demand also works for currency. And right now EC supply is MASSIVE. And most of the pushback against even suggesting ideas on how to counter the influx of ECs has been either straight pushback without a counter proposal, basically fearmongering that it would just drive people into trade channels, or suggesting something that no one is willing to do.

    So the question remains: How could STO balance its economy in a way that is fair for all?
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  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    edited May 2021
    Lol yea @rattler2 those poor people not being able to pay for STO...

    Besides paying it might interest you that I also grind for 1.5 bil ec ships at least twice a year. What’s not practical about it?!

    Yea id rather have an 1.5 bil ec ship every month for grinding but I guess live is just too unfair to me because I can’t do it?!

    Ok what’s next? How about you suggest that not everybody is able to play STO as much as I am because of real live obligations or whatever. Of course we need a fair solution here as well right?

    Sorry dude. From what I can see this game does not need sinks, it just needs a few more paying customers or peeps that grind just a lil bit harder. ;)

    „Everybody is generating EC with Admiralty. That’s so unfair! If it would just be me I could get all my lock box ships a whole lot easier. The economy must be broken. “ lol
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  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    edited May 2021
    Sorry dude. From what I can see this game does not need sinks, it just needs a few more paying customers or peeps that grind just a lil bit harder. ;)

    You're probably right with this.. having some more 'whales' would definitely help things along, but speaking for myself, I just can't justify it.

    Don't get me wrong, I am the last person to ever tell anyone how to spend their money. If someone wants to dump hundreds of dollars a month into STO and they feel they are getting their moneys worth from it then great. Absolutely no problem with that, have fun.. enjoy.

    Personally.. I can afford to do it.. I just don't. Why? I don't get that type of value out of this game anymore. All the content lately feels like bland, time gated nonsense.. why would I want to spend money pumping myself up when the actual content I get to use the stuff for is so lacking? Even in things like Elites, sure.. I'll never have the output you have, but I think we all know I wouldn't anyway even if I spent a ton just because you're simply better at the game then I am. :smile:

    I know people will think you're being snarky or being some kind of elitist by saying 'more people should pay,' but rather any of us like it or not, it's actually a valid point. The increase in grind really does only effect the people that gather things without actual money, if you're spending money for things, the cost hasn't increased at all. The numbers have gone up, but in conversion to cash it all comes out the same.

    You're not wrong, the game needs more people willing to pay. I can only speak for myself though when I say that if they want me to be one of them, then they need to make something better for me to actually do once I spend the money. I can honestly say, probably the last half dozen or more queues they made are just time gated garbage.. that's not a way to get people to want to spend money. Not me anyway.

    I used to get things by about a 50/50 ratio of cash and grind. Over the course of the last 1-2 years though, I have decreased the cash side and now I am pretty much just 100% grind. The funny thing is, I still manage to get just about everything I want/need. It takes time, but I get it. :wink:
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  • meimeitoomeimeitoo Member Posts: 12,587 Arc User
    edited May 2021
    rattler2 wrote: »
    So the question remains: How could STO balance its economy in a way that is fair for all?

    The question is, should they? People -- P2W and F2P alike -- are all raking in more EC these days (from Admiralty alone). Consequently, ship prices go up about equally. Other than the numbers looking a bit odd (like when 1 loaf of bread would cost 1,000,000 Lire, back in the day), I don't see a real problem.
    Post edited by meimeitoo on
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  • mysonne1mysonne1 Member Posts: 74 Arc User
    Ive been playing since 2010's release and I still dont understand the economy in this game. If I really wanted to I would learn more about it, but when I want something I grind it out or take advantage of key sales. If you want something bad enough you will work for it, there is no use coming and crying about it on the forums.
  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    meimeitoo wrote: »
    rattler2 wrote: »
    So the question remains: How could STO balance its economy in a way that is fair for all?

    The question is, should they? People -- P2W and F2P alike -- are all raking in more EC these days (from Admiralty alone). Consequently, ship prices go up about equally. Other than the numbers looking a bit odd (like when 1 loaf of bread would cost 1,000,000 Lire, back in the day), I don't see a real problem.

    The only problem I currently have is the exchange cap. There are things I can't get either through grinding or by money because I don't have access to trade channels. But when you suggest that they raise the exchange cap again.. which they absolutely should.. people that don't understand the economy throw a fit.
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  • lianthelialianthelia Member Posts: 7,820 Arc User
    lianthelia wrote: »
    lianthelia wrote: »
    Well captainmarvelush you misread my posts then, I never asked Cryptic to fix this and I didn't blame them for it either lol

    But why would they? It benefits them greater because you're either going to open your wallet or spend more time grinding for it

    There is no incentive for them to step in and work on the problem

    One reason is to keep promo ships in the exchange instead of requiring in-person meetups for private trading. Whales might open less packs if there is an added hassle for selling the results.

    Why would anyone sell anything on the exchange ever if they were taxed for it?

    Your solution would not drive ships back to the exchange, it would drive everything to trade channels. The only way an exchange tax works is if you also disable the ability to trade items between players. Do you favor that solution as well? A half measure only makes the problem worse.

    Will many people really go through the effort of in-person trades just to keep an extra 4%?

    "Ain't nobody got time for that" is my own feeling, but you could be right.

    People are already used to doing it outside the exchange...4% may not sound like much but with promo ships we're near if not already at the point where that 4% could equal a 100 million credits.

    aside from a select few items, it's not very much at all

    Well not everyone who gets a LB/Promo ship is a whale...and the fact of the matter is even for whales it's hard to even break even unless you pull a ship or multiple ships. Unless you're a high level whale who can throw away hundreds of dollars and not care at all a 100 million can be something

    But either way who waste a 100 million when the alternative is free? You do know the rich do their best to evade taxes even when they can completely afford them lol
  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    edited May 2021
    Hey @seaofsorrows I think your elaboration as far as a return of value in STO for us players is concerned pretty much nails for the whole thread about inflation.

    I feel the same, perhaps I am still a bit more motivated to donate some cash or grind it hard but it’s nothing compared to as how it once was.

    I suspect many feel that way by now. We collectively generate ec with easy things like admiralty and thereby cause the inflation. It’s the only thing left worth doing besides AFKing through the latest event map. The second we need to invest a bit more however we immediately realize how beaten to death this title is thanks to lazy development at the gaming side.

    Still I’m trying. No idea for how long. That’s probably the main reason why I react so allergic if anybody wants me to fill any new sinks now.

    What for lol...
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  • foxrockssocksfoxrockssocks Member Posts: 2,482 Arc User
    rattler2 wrote: »
    @foxrockssocks
    I think we get it by now that you feel an Exchange Fee is not viable. But you have yet to provide a possible, viable solution to the problem at hand.
    We got EC flooding the market and no viable sinks, which is contributing to the exchange prices being high. So... what would you suggest as a possible way to bring Exchange prices down?

    So far we've had the strategy of an Exchange Fee, which is common practice in pretty much every MMO, and "just make new fleets", which no one is willing to do when they're already in an established fleet. I would also like to point out that ECs are not the major input for fleets. Its DOffs and Dilithium for the most part, so that pretty much doesn't make sense. Yea there are some projects with ECs as an input, but those aren't the primary.

    There is no evidence that currency inflation is the issue at hand. In fact after perusing the exchange the other day I'm even less inclined to believe there is a problem. The only complaint I'm seeing here is the sky high price of keys, as 9 mil per key is very out of line, as well as the always expensive ships. Well its true, keys are sky high, but nothing else is. Everything else looks normal, especially ships. That most definitely rules out currency based inflation if its only keys experiencing this huge price increase.

    So lets think about this logically. If keys are expensive then there is either a supply or demand problem compared to normalcy.

    A supply problem comes down to zen and people buying keys to sell on the market. We know there are economic problems around the world, but the dil/zen market isn't seeing any new changes itself. There's also a key sale and the sky high price of keys makes this a very good time to buy them, so if there is a supply problem I'd say its small in effect.

    So maybe its a demand problem instead. What are keys used for? Opening lockboxes, of course. Is there a new lockbox? Yes actually. Does it have a ship people want? Another fugly Crossfield...but its a MW ship. Yes, that is definitely going to be in demand. Does it have other stuff people want, like maybe an entirely new mechanic similar to pokemon stuff? Yes! And based on chatter, it seems that people very interested in stuff in this new box, the pokemon thing, and are actively chasing it. I think we found the key culprit here.

    If you doubt it, look at ship prices closely. If you can sell keys at 9m per, then 2 keychains, a mere $40, is going to get you any lobi ship you want, probably with plenty of change. Opening boxes with those keys is only going to get you maybe 2-300 lobi, which is a fraction of the price, even on sale. Five keychains for about $100 of zen is going to net you close to 1 bil in EC, letting you get a choice of most ships on the market. That's definitely below the odds of getting those ships. Basically if anyone wants a box ship, now's a great time to buy zen and sell keys.

    I do not buy the inflation argument, not the least because there is no evidence offered. Currency inflation is not something that massively affects one good at a time, nor does it have the kind of effect we see in key pricing where they seem to be going around 200% of their typical value. That would be hyperinflation which isn't even possible without a massive and sudden change to currency availability. Exploits, bugs, or a very poorly thought out change to currency generation could legitimately give us hyperinflation, but none of those have happened at all. It remains the same it always has, thus if there was any inflation it would be a small steady amount. Still, no one has developed an index to even pretend to track it.

    But what is happening with keys seems to clearly be a demand issue, so before crippling the game economy, it would first be a good idea to prove there is an actual problem, then we can discuss actual solutions.
  • gaevsmangaevsman Member Posts: 3,190 Arc User
    I think, as an idea for EC sink, we should be charged for changing appearences in the ship/char tailor... it's not essential, but everyone does that a lot.
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  • captainmarvelushcaptainmarvelush Member Posts: 134 Arc User
    You want to solve this? Increase supply. The problem with lock boxes is the extremely low probability of actually scoring one of these ships. Why waste EC or actual money gambling when you know your not going to get anything worthwhile? I'm speaking from experience here. I quit opening lock boxes years ago because I was just wasting my money.
    Increase the probability of actually scoring the big prize from the lock boxes. Increase the way to acquire the ships that the players want. The Temporal Light Cruiser is a perfect example. Nearly everyone would love to have this ship, as it is a hero ship from the movies that got many people into playing the game in the first place. Problem is, they are incredibly rare and when they do come up for sale, people are willing to pay astronomical prices to get one. If the supply was increased, the demand and the prices would fall. Same goes for any other ship.

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  • evilmark444evilmark444 Member Posts: 6,950 Arc User
    gaevsman wrote: »
    I think, as an idea for EC sink, we should be charged for changing appearences in the ship/char tailor... it's not essential, but everyone does that a lot.

    This is one of those things that I'm pretty sure DID have an EC cost at launch, but it was removed at some point. Adding it back would probably TRIBBLE a lot of people off even though it's the right thing to do.

    This problem has been going on for so long though that a bunch of small sinks isn't going to fix it at this point, we would need 1 or 2 high priced luxury EC items to reduce the current supply. Like a golden hull material or vanity shield for 1 Billion EC or something.
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  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,501 Arc User
    gaevsman wrote: »
    I think, as an idea for EC sink, we should be charged for changing appearences in the ship/char tailor... it's not essential, but everyone does that a lot.

    This is one of those things that I'm pretty sure DID have an EC cost at launch, but it was removed at some point. Adding it back would probably TRIBBLE a lot of people off even though it's the right thing to do.

    This problem has been going on for so long though that a bunch of small sinks isn't going to fix it at this point, we would need 1 or 2 high priced luxury EC items to reduce the current supply. Like a golden hull material or vanity shield for 1 Billion EC or something.

    Yes, as of 2012 it cost EC to use both the ship and people tailors, to rename a ship more than once, to transwarp. I forget when this minor EC sinks disappeared but I'd be fine with them coming back.
  • foxrockssocksfoxrockssocks Member Posts: 2,482 Arc User
    westmetals wrote: »
    I think fox may be correct that it's a supply and demand issue....

    But I think the problem is that demand has shifted. Pretty much everything that does not come from a lockbox, or from the Zen store, has either been devalued or superseded to the point that you used to be able to make a profit from the "value added by manufacture" in the R&D system and now you pretty much can't.

    With very very few exceptions - Exotic Particle Field Exciters with specific mods (and these are not re-engineerable), Conductive RCS consoles with specific mods (also not re-engineerable), sometimes omni beam weapons, and sometimes Particle Emission Plasma torpedoes - you pretty much can't sell anything from R&D for a profit anymore. Sometimes weapons with [Pen] mods will sell (also not re-engineerable).

    However with all those non-re-engineerable items, you have to mass produce to hit those, to the point that a profit is questionable. (For example: Exotic Particle Field Exciters and Conductive RCS with certain "bad" mods sell at significantly BELOW cost, and most non-omni weapons without [Pen] aren't even worth posting on the Exchange.)

    Superior Tech Upgrades used to sell for 4-5 times cost... but since Phoenix boxes were made permanent, the price on these has crashed (as Phoenix upgrades give 10-40% more progress per dilithium used, depending on your luck with higher level Phoenix tokens).

    Similarly, there's so many specialty BOFFs out there now, that if it was possible at one time to make money by finding BOFF recruiting DOFF assignments and then selling the BOFF candidates... you can't really do that either. With the MAYBE exception of Romulan BOFFs, and the market for those is small and often oversaturated.

    WHICH all that means, that even if the amount of EC out there is relatively flat, the demand for items outside of the categories I mentioned - meaning, generally, lockbox and lobi store items, and by extension, keys - is now a much larger piece of the pie than it used to be. With more people demanding those things, of course the price for them has gone up.

    To compare: my most-recent sales of omni weapons have been at prices one-third to half of what they went for say three years ago. Superior tech upgrades are currently one-third to half (and that after most crafters stopped creating them) of what they were prior to perma-Phoenix. The above-mentioned specific items (that are still profitable from R&D) are roughly the same prices as then. But lockbox keys, most lockbox and lobi items, etc, are much higher than they were at that time.

    I'd generally agree with this. There is way more value on box stuff than anything crafted or even drops. And who cares about a purple drop these days? Box gear, as it is generally superior, and the limited supply, as it is based on keys, does tend towards higher prices.

    Now, normal or crafted loot while it isn't in high demand, that lowers the price so that newbies without much EC can easier afford it. Certainly if this stuff was more relevant it would not only sell for a higher price, but it would lower the demand for box gear and thus lower prices there.
  • starcruiser#3423 starcruiser Member Posts: 1,184 Arc User
    edited May 2021
    Sorry dude. From what I can see this game does not need sinks, it just needs a few more paying customers or peeps that grind just a lil bit harder. ;)

    You're probably right with this.. having some more 'whales' would definitely help things along, but speaking for myself, I just can't justify it.

    Don't get me wrong, I am the last person to ever tell anyone how to spend their money. If someone wants to dump hundreds of dollars a month into STO and they feel they are getting their moneys worth from it then great. Absolutely no problem with that, have fun.. enjoy.

    Personally.. I can afford to do it.. I just don't. Why? I don't get that type of value out of this game anymore. All the content lately feels like bland, time gated nonsense.. why would I want to spend money pumping myself up when the actual content I get to use the stuff for is so lacking? Even in things like Elites, sure.. I'll never have the output you have, but I think we all know I wouldn't anyway even if I spent a ton just because you're simply better at the game then I am. :smile:

    I know people will think you're being snarky or being some kind of elitist by saying 'more people should pay,' but rather any of us like it or not, it's actually a valid point. The increase in grind really does only effect the people that gather things without actual money, if you're spending money for things, the cost hasn't increased at all. The numbers have gone up, but in conversion to cash it all comes out the same.

    You're not wrong, the game needs more people willing to pay. I can only speak for myself though when I say that if they want me to be one of them, then they need to make something better for me to actually do once I spend the money. I can honestly say, probably the last half dozen or more queues they made are just time gated garbage.. that's not a way to get people to want to spend money. Not me anyway.

    I used to get things by about a 50/50 ratio of cash and grind. Over the course of the last 1-2 years though, I have decreased the cash side and now I am pretty much just 100% grind. The funny thing is, I still manage to get just about everything I want/need. It takes time, but I get it. :wink:

    I agree with most of this on target.
    I have been here for a long while in STO and used to spend lots of real money on the game. The past few years PWE's STO business model changed and now we get little drops of content rather than what it used to be like LoR, ViL or similar ( I know debatable but just IMO). Lots of content that would attract more peeps into the game and more of my friends would be around playing it too. After all this is a social MMO. I would spend a TRIBBLE lot of money to keep up and get new ships.
    These days what's the motivation with no real added expansions and drips of content with same old same grind this to get this X shinie everytime?
    Most of my fleet/guildies moved on...not like before but just now more boring in a social level.
    Why get a new ship to play for just more grind and same old PvEs. I still have lots of money but sitting on it until there is a better outlook for this game and hope they do bring a few more content or new battlezones. I will not pay for just grind of the same....but just me.
  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    Fascinating!

    So instead of imagining more sinks to TRIBBLE of even more players a tiny bit of fun in game could repair the economy by encouraging us pay for STO again.

    Who would have thought it possible.
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  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    Fascinating!

    So instead of imagining more sinks to TRIBBLE of even more players a tiny bit of fun in game could repair the economy by encouraging us pay for STO again.

    Who would have thought it possible.

    I know it won't happen, but what they really should do is stand back and honestly look at how they can encourage people to want to spend in this game. Again, pipe dream.. it won't happen.. but what if you could get a promo ship for less then $300? Maybe that's a good place to start? There are people that play the game and enjoy it, but don't spend because the cost is just completely out of line with the enjoyment they receive.

    That's why I don't spend on this game anymore.. can I buy a promo ship for $300? I could.. but should I? Absolutely not. I realize this is nothing but my personal opinion of value, but if they look at their entire player base and see a very small percentage that's paying a very significant sum, then maybe it's time to look into how to encourage the rest to spend at least a little?

    If they could get a bunch of players to spend a little then it wouldn't be up to a few players to spend a ton. Sadly though, that's not how MMO's seem to work, no one cares about the person that just wants to spend a reasonable sum for a little entertainment. It's literally feast or famine and it's a poor business model overall.
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  • cirran1cirran1 Member Posts: 230 Arc User
    Personally if I want something I am going to give Cryptic the money for it. At least with them I help keep the game going. I have no desire to feed those that play the market, and literally do nothing for me.

    Cirran
  • aftulusaftulus Member Posts: 668 Arc User
    edited June 2021
    There is low supply or controlled supply(which is only possible with low supply) made to create high prices. The game does not have enough supply to keep prices lower. That is the real problem.

    That problem starts at the top.

    It has nothing to do with money sinks.

    Only the devs can fix this problem. Assuming they want to.

    I assume it needs either better chances to get items or some more complex gameplay to change the dynamics.
  • crm14916crm14916 Member Posts: 1,516 Arc User
    Well, I openly refuse to purchase a ship that is only unlocked for one character... So, I guess, in some small way, I'm helping drive down prices on the exchange, and helping the OP!

    😁

    CM
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  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    edited June 2021
    As usual it’s easy to agree with you @seaofsorrows :)

    As far as this lots of lil spender vs a few big spender is concerned I’m uncertain however.

    Could be that we actually do have lots of lil spender. Problem is just that they are not the ones flooding the exchange with super expensive items. They probably just open boxes if at all to get their ship for themselves and call it a day.

    For a healthy economy we do need to have enthusiast. And yep this game has a harder and harder time to keep those it once had.


    Also @aftulus thank you!

    Good post to explain what’s going on. You nailed it.
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  • hotfrostwormhotfrostworm Member Posts: 10 Arc User
    I get the general idea, but I didn't read each and every response on the 3 pages. Has anyone bothered to mention, as Covid-19 threat draws its final breaths in the US, we are all out having a good time? Every weekend, my wife and I are attending more backyard BBQ parties, people are enjoying life, and no longer sitting in darkened rooms playing on their PC. The local stores in my state no longer require masks and yet some people still wear them. I assume they have yet to get the vaccine.

    My point here is, the population has waned for the summer, sorry but this is normal. Fall and winter prices will drop as people return to the game and compete in these markets. Supply versus demand, it is the same in the real world. All this winter gasoline was below $2 per gallon, this Memorial Day weekend the gas jumped to $3 and this was not greed, it was in demand and supply dropped.

    Players are just making up for lost time outside, go enjoy the sun and warm weather.
  • kayajaykayajay Member Posts: 1,990 Arc User
    It ALL started with the energy cap unlock. I remember that someone once sold me a Reward Ship for a million, not a billion, because they said that the ship wasn't worth more than that. It was the most generous thing I've ever encountered in the game and I know that Cryptic is only in this for the money...I still say that it's the reason for buy-outs or arduous grinding of boring episodes and patrols, but where's the fun or what's the point in developing these things if no one gets to use them?
  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    aftulus wrote: »
    There is low supply or controlled supply(which is only possible with low supply) made to create high prices. The game does not have enough supply to keep prices lower. That is the real problem.

    That problem starts at the top.

    It has nothing to do with money sinks.

    Only the devs can fix this problem. Assuming they want to.

    I assume it needs either better chances to get items or some more complex gameplay to change the dynamics.

    While I don't agree with absolutely everything in this post, you are largely correct. The problem is indeed supply and that's very basic and obvious to many of us. Scarcity raises prices, this is nothing new, look at the current real world market for electronic items like Video Cards, they're selling at triple their MSRP right now because they're scarce. The scarcity can only be addressed by players introducing more supply unless Cryptic decides to regulate the market themselves by introducing supply themselves which is unlikely. Supply is the key, but the focus needs to be on how to encourage players to inflate that supply. We can't depend on Cryptic to just put a bunch of stuff on the exchange for cheap, they simply have no reason to do that. Even if they did, it would likely get all bought up and scalped anyway. :lol:

    I do think that some EC sinks would help, I just don't think that alone will be the fix.
    For a healthy economy we do need to have enthusiast. And yep this game has a harder and harder time to keep those it once had.

    Absolutely true. The idea that a few big spenders are carrying everyone else is not unique to STO at all, in fact it's how must MMO's actually work. Without the enthusiasts, there is no game which is why smart developers cater to those players even when the masses find that 'unfair.' The truth is, players like you are who they need to listen to most, you guys are keeping the lights on around here. :wink:
    westmetals wrote: »
    A decline in the population of the game (if in fact that is the case) would actually not have this effect, because it would equally impact supply and demand...

    Absolutely true. The exception is if all the whales were the ones to leave, then things would go sideways in a hurry. :lol:
    kayajay wrote: »
    It ALL started with the energy cap unlock.

    Disagreed, inflation is a part of every player driven economy across every game. Giving players the ability to have more money was a result of the inflation, not the cause.
    I remember that someone once sold me a Reward Ship for a million, not a billion, because they said that the ship wasn't worth more than that. It was the most generous thing I've ever encountered in the game

    That is indeed amazing and incredibly generous.
    I know that Cryptic is only in this for the money

    Is there something wrong with that? Last time I checked Cryptic wasn't a charity. Businesses exist to make money, we can debate the merits of how they make that money, but lets be clear that them 'making money' isn't nefarious or evil in any way.
    Insert witty signature line here.
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