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Survey: Energy Credits/STO Economy

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Edit: Results posted here: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=122878


Hello everyone,

I have noticed what I think are some trends in the game's economy (the Exchange) lately, but before I write a big post about them, I'd like to make sure that I have data that bears it out. So, I have created a little forum survey here. If you would please take the time to fill it out, it will be helpful for people giving feedback to the developers about the game's economy.

(If you have multiple characters, please answer for just one character at a time)
1. What rank/grade is your character currently?


2. How many energy credits does that character have?


3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?


4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)


5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?



Thanks in advance! Assuming that there's enough responses, I will post a summary this weekend so that people intereted in the data can see the results.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Here is one of my characters, to hopefully give an example of how to answer:

    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    - Lieutenant Commander 10

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    34000 energy credits

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    No

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    Missions/Loot

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    No
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010

    (If you have multiple characters, please answer for just one character at a time)
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?

    Captain 5


    2. How many energy credits does that character have?

    350K


    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?

    YES


    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)

    MISSION LOOT (have bought one or two expensive items from exchange)


    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?

    NO
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?

    Admiral lvl 5.


    2. How many energy credits does that character have?

    1.5 million

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?

    No, things are overrated, not worth it.

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)

    NPC in the start, then exploration mark X items, and sicne the relese of the daily quest i use those badges for items


    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?

    No, nor i have i ever put something on sale there. Basicly with ****** crafting system and ZERO economy money is worthless, so why hustle
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?

    Admiral lvl 2 or 3?.


    2. How many energy credits does that character have?

    Roughly 1million

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?

    Yes

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)

    Combinations of Missions / Loot / Vendors and Badges/medals
    basically whatever I can get my hands on


    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price

    No, But originally I did try to sell stuff at reasonable prices with a very small Mark up, for example if Cannons were worth 4k EC I would sell them for 6 or 7.5k, However this was clearly a mistake as it left me slightly short on cash when wanting to purchase from the exchange therefore I had to raise the price to match other inflated prices
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?

    Captain 4

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?

    300k or so

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?

    Yes

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)

    Mainly missions/loot with a couple of specific Exchange items

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?

    No.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Rear Admiral 1

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    ~1mil

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    Sure did.

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    Exchange. I want the good equipment for each new ship; Exchange is the way to get it.

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    Yeah.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?

    Commander 9

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?

    1 mil, give or take

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?

    yes

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)

    pvp/exploration - exchange is used to fill holes

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?

    yep, if I see an item that is obviously out of whack, such as an "efficient" trait Bridge Officer listed by some poor chump for 1k I will buy it and either add it to my crew or relist it for 50k less than the current lowest one.

    I then use the resulting income to support my tribble habit, which is very expensive, as the foods (Tranya and Osol Twist) needed to breed the top end tribbles run for 100 to 200k each. And if I see those foods for less I buy them and use them myself.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Capt 5

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    +800.000

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    NO

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    90% Exploration 10% Missions/Loot

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    NO
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    RA3.

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    Around 1mil.

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    Only a couple of EPS consoles I resold.

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    Exploration badges. I only bought a few EPS consoles from the exchange as there are none to be had for the badges before tier 4.

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    Yes, but only a few times while I was waiting for a certain level of EPS console to appear for a decent price, and another lower level console happened to be posted for an unusually low price.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010

    (If you have multiple characters, please answer for just one character at a time)
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Lt Cmd 7
    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    appx 300,000
    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    Yes, quite active exchange trader.
    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    Mix - probably about 60% missions 40% exchange.
    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    Yes, as said above Im an active exchange trader. Spend about 25% of my game time doing this.
    Thanks in advance! Assuming that there's enough responses, I will post a summary this weekend so that people intereted in the data can see the results.

    Interested to see the information you gleam from this.

    -Kanid
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Commander 2

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    Around 150000

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    Yes, many times.

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    Missions/Loot(most) and Exchange(some) + NPC (rarely)

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    No.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Thanks for the responses so far everyone! Pushing this back up to the top to keep it visible :) I plan on compiling the responses this weekend and posting a summary of the results of the survey.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Commander 7

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    122k

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    No.

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)

    Missions and loot drops.

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?

    Never. I dislike the exchange UI, so rarely use it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    One question that might (have) be(en) of interest as well: How many credits have you spent on the Exchange buying stuff only for yourself and not for resale? In my case around 2mil.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Commander 5

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    900k, give or take a smidge.

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    Yes.

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    Mix of quest rewards and exchange.

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    All the time, yes.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Commander 5

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    ca. 150K

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    No.

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    Missions/Loot, 2 or 3 items for exploration badges

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    No.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Ensign

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    approx 1 million

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    Yes (It is all this one does)

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    The Exchange

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    Yes
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Relk wrote: »
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Ensign

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    approx 1 million

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    Yes (It is all this one does)

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    The Exchange

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    Yes

    My hero :D I had thought about doing that. Looking forward to my first mil earned.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Bumping it back up to the top :) Thanks everyone that's taken the time to respond!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?

    Captain, Rank 8

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?

    500K ish

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?

    No

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)

    Exploration Badge Loot

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price
    ?

    No
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Brig Gen 45

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    <100k

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    no.

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    exp/pvp medals and exchange equally. (Most recently bought a mk x cov shield rare from exhcnage for 1mill because the pvp medal vendor for that lvl stuff is broken.)

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    no.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?

    Captain 2

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?

    ~950k

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?

    All the time

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)

    Exchange is where I get most of my gear

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?

    That's my primary income source.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Lt. Comdr. 6


    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    I have 100,200 ec currently


    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    No, I've never used the exchange.


    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)

    Loot from missions mostly. I used the NPC(credit) vendor at the Sol station a couple times early on. I bought one item I didn't even need from Romaine at MA thinking maybe it would unlock other NPC's.(I still don't understand that place) I don't care for PVP so I've no intention of using that station or visiting it again. I may have bought some ground equipment from a ferengi merchant out in sector space once.

    Other than that, I have no idea what to use energy credits for or decent NPC's to visit. I don't really see the need to buy my next ship as it'll be given to me anyway.


    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?

    I have no idea how the exchange works. I get the principal but I've yet to figure it out. I just sell my TRIBBLE to the NPC at Sol and go back to shooting things.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?
    Cmdr 2

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    200k

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    Yes

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    All pretty evenly, except for PVP

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?
    Yes

    It seems like most people have an instinct for collecting in-game money as much as possible, but as of yet I have no idea why it is needed in this game. Sure, I can buy a rifle for 1k, "craft" it to a blue and sell it for 75k just 5 minutes later, but what am I going to do with 75k that would be better than the blue rifle I just sold?

    I too am curious what you are doing with this info.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?

    Commander 7.

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?

    400k-ish right now but I've spent a lot recently on Mk VI gear to switch my setup.

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?

    Yeah, I try to always keep 20 items on there.

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship?

    Episode Missions & Random Drops.

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?

    Nah, I have enought trouble as it is to get rid of my own loot.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Not that I'm dodging your questions, I just don't have access my character at the moment, so I don't remember.

    But for me the confusing point about the economy is that there's more than one, non-convertable, form of "cash" circulating. I wander up to a vendor, see that he has a console I want, but he's charging 200... what? Not energy credits, but merit, or honor, or...

    I can see some form of additional exchange on high level gear, but to have your ship components priced out in two or three different currencies is irritating.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?

    Rear Admiral 1


    2. How many energy credits does that character have?

    1,000,000 Energy Credits, roughly


    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?

    Yes.


    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)

    Primarily Missions, but the Exchange in a single case when I hit Admiral. I had 3,000,000 credits and figured I'd outfit my ship and Admiral with some nice gear.


    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?

    No. I don't enjoy merchanting.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    (If you have multiple characters, please answer for just one character at a time)
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?Commander


    2. How many energy credits does that character have?
    900,000

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?
    yes
    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)
    missions but i made a killing on the exchange when MA was fixed/made worrkable

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?yes once a epic for 75000 and sold for 150000
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Great responses so far, thank you all! Bumping this up for more :)

    @Devilstower - it *is* confusing, isn't it? For this survey I really am only asking about energy credits though as that's the only "currency" type that can be transferred among players via the Exchange (I think).
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    1. What rank/grade is your character currently?

    Captain 5.

    2. How many energy credits does that character have?

    About 480k

    3. Have you ever sold items on the exchange with that character?

    Frequently. I often fill it up to the max 20 items.

    4. What source have you primarily used for equipment for that character and their ship? (Missions/Loot, Exchange, Exploration/PVP medals, or NPC (credit) vendors)

    Mostly missions/loot. I only occasionally buy an item, and only when I have something specific in mind that I want, like a particular console, or some green even-numbered quantum torpedoes, etc.

    5. Have you ever purchased items on the exchange for the purpose of relisting them at a higher price?

    Yes, when I happen to notice something is drastically under-priced. I've done this maybe twice. One of them sold within minutes.
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