Speaking about the economy. I think there's some serious market manipulation going on. A moment ago there were as much as 6 (!!) master keys listed on the exchange. The cheapest sells for 6,4m EC, the most expensive one for 100m EC. It is highly unusual that the price of master keys would rise this high without having a release of a brand new lockbox on the very same day. As a matter of fact, I've never before seen Master Keys being this expensive.
Speaking about the economy. I think there's some serious market manipulation going on. A moment ago there were as much as 6 (!!) master keys listed on the exchange. The cheapest sells for 6,4m EC, the most expensive one for 100m EC. It is highly unusual that the price of master keys would rise this high without having a release of a brand new lockbox on the very same day. As a matter of fact, I've never before seen Master Keys being this expensive.
It's hovering around 6mill. Also probably some precog knowledge. Or some such lol...
Don't panic.
Speaking about the economy. I think there's some serious market manipulation going on. A moment ago there were as much as 6 (!!) master keys listed on the exchange. The cheapest sells for 6,4m EC, the most expensive one for 100m EC. It is highly unusual that the price of master keys would rise this high without having a release of a brand new lockbox on the very same day. As a matter of fact, I've never before seen Master Keys being this expensive.
It's hovering around 6mill. Also probably some precog knowledge. Or some such lol...
Don't panic.
So we've gone from 4mil to 6mil for keys within a week's time? Yeah there is some serious exploitation going on.
Speaking about the economy. I think there's some serious market manipulation going on. A moment ago there were as much as 6 (!!) master keys listed on the exchange. The cheapest sells for 6,4m EC, the most expensive one for 100m EC. It is highly unusual that the price of master keys would rise this high without having a release of a brand new lockbox on the very same day. As a matter of fact, I've never before seen Master Keys being this expensive.
It's hovering around 6mill. Also probably some precog knowledge. Or some such lol...
Don't panic.
I'm not panicking... I'm fascinated. It seems like some sort of group action. I was wondering if some people know something other players don't.
Speaking about the economy. I think there's some serious market manipulation going on. A moment ago there were as much as 6 (!!) master keys listed on the exchange. The cheapest sells for 6,4m EC, the most expensive one for 100m EC. It is highly unusual that the price of master keys would rise this high without having a release of a brand new lockbox on the very same day. As a matter of fact, I've never before seen Master Keys being this expensive.
It's hovering around 6mill. Also probably some precog knowledge. Or some such lol...
Don't panic.
I'm not panicking... I'm fascinated. It seems like some sort of group action. I was wondering if some people know something other players don't.
Pretty sure some wealthy player is playing prank on the exchange. But if you're patient enough you could see it's already 5.4mill.
So no need to panic.
Speaking about the economy. I think there's some serious market manipulation going on. A moment ago there were as much as 6 (!!) master keys listed on the exchange. The cheapest sells for 6,4m EC, the most expensive one for 100m EC. It is highly unusual that the price of master keys would rise this high without having a release of a brand new lockbox on the very same day. As a matter of fact, I've never before seen Master Keys being this expensive.
It's hovering around 6mill. Also probably some precog knowledge. Or some such lol...
Don't panic.
I'm not panicking... I'm fascinated. It seems like some sort of group action. I was wondering if some people know something other players don't.
More likely some people have found an exploit that will allow them to rack up lots of EC quickly and are simply buying every key available, thus driving the price sky high.
Something similar happened a while ago with relation to new characters, foundry missions and the dil exchange. Some people got banned for that one too.
I buy 10 keys (when on sale) for each new lockbox just 'cause. I use them, get jack-squat and a few lobi, and then have zero desire to buy any more. I spend money in STO to buy things in the C-store, but not to gamble. I want results for my payment. If keys were cheaper, I'd probably spend the same $9.56, but get more keys. Works for me. If I actually got a cool thing out of the extra chances... I cannot say I'd not be tempted to buy more; after feeling I had 'beat the house' on the initial cool item.
If you got stacks of disposable cash to gamble with in STO, go for it. I'm sure PWE appreciates you. Well actually, they don't give a flying rat's TRIBBLE about you.
I find it sad that the best way for a new player in sto to get access to high end ships, traits, doffs, weapons, etc is to STOP playing their main character
Actually, stop playing altogether. After 6months Cryptic will send you a code for a Free top level ship and a pile of spec points to come back.
I keep seeing some people try to define a "whale" as someone who has made a fortune on the exchange, but hasn't spent money on the game. This is far from the actual meaning of the word.
Whales are the highest spenders in the game. Google "whale MMO" and you'll see that it has become a term used by the industry to mean exactly that. They actually borrowed the terminology from casinos, where whales are the big spenders, and are highly sought after and catered to.
So, those of you claiming whales don't spend money, you're wrong. Find yourself a new term for the Robber Exchange Barons. Hey, there's one for you. Call 'em REBs.
"Logic is a little tweeting bird chirping in a meadow. Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers which smell BAD." - Spock
Don't blame the "Whales", whales are the ones spending real life money, and hunt for the latest shinys.
Their goal is not to amass 20 leetchs to sell for exorbitant prices.
(Yes they will take them, if the draw ends up that way) But Whales are the ones looking for new items "TO USE" IE; new ships, traits etc.
They aren't spending money to hoard items (at least not the majority of them).
These are people with money to blow, why would they want to hoard items, they can open as many boxes as they want to get what they want.
The problem (inflation) arises (or worsens if you prefer) when groups of players "WHO DONT SPEND RL MONEY" sit at the exchange and hunt for "BUY LOW - SELL HIGH OPPURTUNITY'S".
When these groups of players have the "POWER of UNLIMITED EC" (or near unlimited) behind them, they can manipulate "certain items or aspects" of the market "unimpeded, and with no consequence".
There's no stopping them when they have the power of unlimited EC, they will buy up a commodity, and hoard it.
They aren't buying items for personal use, they're buying items to hoard, and sell later at higher prices.
THESE are the people ruining it for everyone.
These are true leetches (not the universal console - the blood sucking kind).
Whales spend the RL money.
Exchange Ferengi don't. They watch the exchange to corner easily cornered markets.
My solution ??? Cut off their purchasing power at the knees. Exhange limits. No more then 5 sales and 5 purchases per day
This will immediately stop any players from farming the exchange for buy low - sell high opportunity's.
IMO, if you're spending more time at the exchange then actually playing the game, then you are the problem player. This type of "gaming" (Exchange hunting - with no gameplay time) should be banned and looked down upon by all of the community.
These are the leetches who are putting inflation into overdrive.
And there are a few of these kinds of players (exchange ferengi) within this very thread who will not like the limit on exchange sales, but it is the only true solution.
It's either that or impose a daily time limit for exchange use.
5 mins buying or selling per day.
Done deal, Exchange ferengi cut off at the knees, and eradicated, their cancer on STO washed away in one fell swoop.
Don't hate the Whales ! Hate the organized groups (who don't spend RL money in game/but have Enormous EC reserves) and who spend their time logged into STO at exchange terminals, working vigorously and furiously to buy up any cornerable market commodities, in an attempt to control the market and convolute the going prices for said items.
Those are the cancer's of STO. Not the Whales.
The Exchange Ferengi/ Ship flipper's are the ones who wish to play middle men. Those are the vermin that need to eradicated from STO.
1) Take a new account
2) make as many toons as possible, mostly KDF
3) Spend a month levelling them
4) Marauding and Contra for a month whilst grinding out rep gear
5) convert di-li to zen, buy keys sell!
6) Profit!
Yes say what you want, but any newbie can do this, and it works!
4 Months, you are no longer space poor, yes it takes time, but what do you expect for starting an MMO that's been going for 5 years already!
There is no content, literally no content that cannot be done on MKXII Rep Stuff or free stuff from episodes, T6 ships are handed out throughout the year and you have literally no need for any of the shinies, what a great game that lets you play literally every single piece of content without having to spend a dime, or worry about being gated by gear!
Your argument is flawed, in so many ways.
As for Buying low and Selling high, what the hell is wrong with that! Why on earth should I give up a method of making EC from an open exchange? Don't like my price, don't buy, and as for hoarding stuff, very few do as it is a recipe for losing not gaining in an active market, you have got to judge right!
Not many can successfully hold a whole corner of market, unless you are looking at uber rare shinies, which in that case, who the hell cares any-ways, buy it, or not! It will not make the game better one tiny little iota!
STO is one of the easiest games to make Virtual Currency in, including Di-lithium, Zen and EC, but hey I still buy Zen because well, I want to support STO in staying alive!
My solution ??? Cut off their purchasing power at the knees. Exhange limits. No more then 5 sales and 5 purchases per day
That's a horrible idea. I often sell 5+ batteries/day, and buy 5+ major components at less that 1000 ec. (Yeah, it's low profit, but I can't help myself.) Heck, yesterday I sold 6 warp theorists on one of my characters.
My solution ??? Cut off their purchasing power at the knees. Exhange limits. No more then 5 sales and 5 purchases per day
That's a horrible idea. I often sell 5+ batteries/day, and buy 5+ major components at less that 1000 ec. (Yeah, it's low profit, but I can't help myself.) Heck, yesterday I sold 6 warp theorists on one of my characters.
You'll live without the meager EC profit from selling 5+ batteries. That's not even pocket change in the grand scheme of all things STO.
Or you'll be smart about your exchange postings, like posting a stack of 5 batts, or waiting until you can post a 20 stack.
Or if you want the higher price for posting 1 at a time (as is often seen), then you got 5 a day to post. Or 4 + 1 Stack. Or 5 stacks. Many ways you can get around this, if you must sell batteries.
Besides, the limit would be a small nuisance/inconvenience, necessary in order to counter the "Middle Man" economy.
Not many can successfully hold a whole corner of market, unless you are looking at uber rare shinies, which in that case, who the hell cares any-ways, buy it, or not! It will not make the game better one tiny little iota!
And therein lies the problem, "Not many can successfully hold a whole corner of a market". BUT...
"Many working together CAN successfully hold a whole corner of the market" And are doing so as we speak.
News flash, in most cases, it's not an "individual" who will attempt to corner a market.
It is Organized groups (and there are only a few) with near Unlimited EC bank rolls that can, and do, successfully corner certain segments of the economy.
Wouldn't be surprised to hear if some of these Organized groups are actually funneling funds to EC seller sites, on the side. It would make sense.
Where does all that EC come from ?
Tell you one thing, it's not coming from battery sales.
Its coming from the hot commodity market, IE: Keys, Lockbox traits, New Lockbox ships, and anything that will fetch a healthy return on sale.
They need to corner the big ticket items in order to fuel their EC seller websites on the side.
Otherwise, where is all this EC coming from ?
The seller site can't just "make it up out of thin air"
They are in collusion with some of the biggest Gold Farming fleets in the game.
I'd go even further and say they are created by the biggest gold farming fleets in the game.
as of the personal attack, "special snowflake", "entitlement", etc, etc
I run 10 toons a day, I clear over 80k dil without breaking a sweat, contraband, 60+ ships a toon admiralty system, 9 in the summer event ship set up as solid- farming- beam boats
I pissed away over 300 mil last week getting dmgx3 pen antiprotons to gold...
I also got the traits, got the gear, blah- blah- blah cause I have played for five years and pvped for four and a half of them
simply put? I am not one suggesting a change to the system because I can not work the current system... I am suggesting a change to the system because I can SEE that its broken and is not working for the bulk of the player population
empathy
you should try it sometime,
try giving a TRIBBLE about your fellow players complaints instead of being a self absorbed idiot
heres the other pro tip I can give you,
next time before you type out some acid response filled with attacks,
instead of assuming the other person is the worst case scenario..
assume they are the best case scenario
you will make more friends that way[/quote]
You know, I try not to judge others posts' without giving some thought to my responses first but on these forums, I don't know why I should even care. I'm sick and tired of people whining that they can't get this thing or that, but when given ideas to help them solve their problem, they don't like that idea either. See, that is entitlement and socialism at it's worst. You want to take away from somebody who did some work(honestly, playing the market for an hour a day isn't really work)to get the things they want. That's what I'm seeing from most of these kinds of posts.
I do have empathy towards my fellow players, or at least the ones who try anyway. It's the ones who just want the stuff without doing anything at all that anger me. This game is time-intensive and people should realize that coming in. Without a credit card it will take quite some time to get the shiny stuff that you don't even NEED to play the game. The key word is NEED. You don't NEED Supremacy,40 million EC doffs, a plasmonic leech or the other high priced shinies to play the game effectively. You can get everything you NEED to play at a high level of effectiveness, without resorting to the exchange. This is a case of WANT, which is something way different than NEED. I WANTED some of those things, so I found a way to get them ingame, instead of complaining on the forums. See, here's the difference: you NEED food and water to survive, you don't NEED a $100,000 car to live. Do you WANT one? That's different and if so, find a way through work or investing intelligently in products that have a high resale value.
I do one thing at the exchange. I only sell goods, I don't hoard anything or buy up lesser priced items and then re-sell them later. I spent alot of time working on one aspect of my toon to get to the point where I could actually get some EC for the things I WANT. Did I NEED them to play? Of course not. Maybe you should stop worrying about what everyone else has, and just do your own thing.
And here's a pro tip for you in return: Since everyone in this game is pretty much anonymous and faceless(unless it's someone you know in RL) you should always assume the worst about them. With all the crazy things going on around us, I'd rather be safe than sorry. As far as making friends, I don't really care about that anymore. At least in RL anyway.
That being said, I don't like having to pay the asking prices for the things on the exchange that I WANT, but Cryptic has given us this F2P model to play and I appreciate that, glitches, lag and all. This is the price we pay to allow free access to the entire fracking game, which wouldn't even be here anymore for us to complain about had they not gone that route. Seems to me that instead of complaining about prices on the exchange, you should just be glad there's a Star Trek game to play at all.
I've read five pages of this topic and I don't think I have become any more knowledgeable about the economics of this game then when I started. I know the whole grinding and gambling aspect of it. If I were to buy 10 keys and sell them on the market, I would end up with quite a substantial amount of energy credits but that's not to say that the amount I get back would be the amount needed to buy items so I would need to keep on getting keys. Now from what I understand here is that I can also sell crafting materials and whatnot and get energy credits from that as well which would mean doing certain missions (and it seems that certain klingon missions would provide that). Or I could just buy keys and gamble on me getting some ship or component that I was aiming for in the first place or open enough lockboxes for lobi and get the ship or some consoles.
It seems this is the same pattern with the crafting aspect of the game. You have to grind to get the materials or buy them and then you have to .... gamble again. Because even if you spend the dilithium to start the crafting process, there is no guarantee you'll get the desired results so you could either waste dilithium in four or five bad attempts or you just grind away to get energy credits to get the weapon or component you want from someone who was just luckier than you at crafting. Honestly I think of the two the crafting part is total TRIBBLE that you have to gamble that. I haven't played in game for a year now and I am soon to get back, since I have a LTS I can imagine I have quite a bit of cryptic points but the point is I do not have a solution for the topic of this thread. I can only say is that I am not going to try for epic and just get my UR MK XIV and hope that will be enough. I'll be grinding for the stuff I need and hopefully I'll get some fleet help for anything else but I really don't want to play this game like I am some stockbroker and the exchange became Wall Street. Despite all this I am very anxious to return and become more knowledgeable about the economics of this game and hopefully have alot of fun while I do that.
"There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life." - Ten Bears (Will Sampson)
Lowering prices is something this game desperately needs. Master keys simply are worth getting for their prices, lowering the price to a quarter will greatly increase the amount of people who buy them, in which Cryptic could easily earn more money. And especially the incredibly high prices of lobi ships, they arent even worth it in the end. And the biggest issue is the C-Store ships, they might not seem like much now. But wait until we start getting tier 7s, and possibly t8 or t9. A $5 increase between tiers may not seem much, but it adds up, and cryptic will probably increase that increase between tiers one day. And there is one more thing we need (dare I say it)........ Economy (Exchange) control. Prices are rapidly rising, making it increasingly harder for a new player. A couple months ago I started a new Rom char, and I was baffled at how hard it is to start compared to when I first started in January. And I see so many players go "Oh, the game is easy for me, been pIaying for 3+ years, have 10+ toons, all max level with epic gear. We don't need lower prices, it's easy for me to get everything." and it's all selfishness and greed. While they raise the prices of items, it becomes harder and harder for players who can't buy toon slots, and can't transfer millions from another character. And it's sickening. Every games needs economy control after a while to keep everything balanced. And it's overdue. I have to keep feeding ec from my main toon to my new toons so I can get decent gear for them. Because exchange prices are sky high. It's ridiculous.
as of the personal attack, "special snowflake", "entitlement", etc, etc
I run 10 toons a day, I clear over 80k dil without breaking a sweat, contraband, 60+ ships a toon admiralty system, 9 in the summer event ship set up as solid- farming- beam boats
I pissed away over 300 mil last week getting dmgx3 pen antiprotons to gold...
I also got the traits, got the gear, blah- blah- blah cause I have played for five years and pvped for four and a half of them
simply put? I am not one suggesting a change to the system because I can not work the current system... I am suggesting a change to the system because I can SEE that its broken and is not working for the bulk of the player population
empathy
What the hell are you talking about? I have played this game for WAY less then you, have way less toons, play way less and I have everything I really want and now working on kinda want stuff. I'm sorry, but to say that new players can't get everything they want is pure BS...unless these people have unreasonable wants...like every single ship in the game. Then it should cost an unreasonable amount of money and or time. The game pretty much GIVES you what you NEED to begin. The only thing you really need is the shared bank and EC upgrade. Both of which are easy enough to grind out for as they are not that pricey items. And yes, I have pissed away a rather large chunk of money for various things...like 40 mil for a doff I no longer use...but hey, I can afford these things now.
Have you bothered making a new toon lately? Yes, the game might give you the bare minimum of what you need, but it's come to the point that you can barely afford anything better than the bare minimum. You are supposed to be able to get on your feet after a little while of using the bare minimum, and be able to buy better gear. But many players keep wanting MORE and MORE and MORE, to the point where someone new can't buy anything. I started in Jan, my main toon is a lvl 60 fed, have a lvl 50 rom, and starting another fed. My main toon has 3 t6 ships (Concorde, fleet Guardian, and Nandi, primarily fly the Concorde), uses rep sets, mk xiii gear for my space, and has generous fleet members. But I still struggle, only push out 4-6k dil a day on my main, and usually barely makes 300k ec a day, mostly from admiralty and foundry. So before you start spouting about how easy the game is, you should open your eyes.
Comments
It's hovering around 6mill. Also probably some precog knowledge. Or some such lol...
Don't panic.
So we've gone from 4mil to 6mil for keys within a week's time? Yeah there is some serious exploitation going on.
I'm not panicking... I'm fascinated. It seems like some sort of group action. I was wondering if some people know something other players don't.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
Pretty sure some wealthy player is playing prank on the exchange. But if you're patient enough you could see it's already 5.4mill.
So no need to panic.
More likely some people have found an exploit that will allow them to rack up lots of EC quickly and are simply buying every key available, thus driving the price sky high.
Something similar happened a while ago with relation to new characters, foundry missions and the dil exchange. Some people got banned for that one too.
If you got stacks of disposable cash to gamble with in STO, go for it. I'm sure PWE appreciates you. Well actually, they don't give a flying rat's TRIBBLE about you.
Actually, stop playing altogether. After 6months Cryptic will send you a code for a Free top level ship and a pile of spec points to come back.
Whales are the highest spenders in the game. Google "whale MMO" and you'll see that it has become a term used by the industry to mean exactly that. They actually borrowed the terminology from casinos, where whales are the big spenders, and are highly sought after and catered to.
So, those of you claiming whales don't spend money, you're wrong. Find yourself a new term for the Robber Exchange Barons. Hey, there's one for you. Call 'em REBs.
Their goal is not to amass 20 leetchs to sell for exorbitant prices.
(Yes they will take them, if the draw ends up that way) But Whales are the ones looking for new items "TO USE" IE; new ships, traits etc.
They aren't spending money to hoard items (at least not the majority of them).
These are people with money to blow, why would they want to hoard items, they can open as many boxes as they want to get what they want.
The problem (inflation) arises (or worsens if you prefer) when groups of players "WHO DONT SPEND RL MONEY" sit at the exchange and hunt for "BUY LOW - SELL HIGH OPPURTUNITY'S".
When these groups of players have the "POWER of UNLIMITED EC" (or near unlimited) behind them, they can manipulate "certain items or aspects" of the market "unimpeded, and with no consequence".
There's no stopping them when they have the power of unlimited EC, they will buy up a commodity, and hoard it.
They aren't buying items for personal use, they're buying items to hoard, and sell later at higher prices.
THESE are the people ruining it for everyone.
These are true leetches (not the universal console - the blood sucking kind).
Whales spend the RL money.
Exchange Ferengi don't. They watch the exchange to corner easily cornered markets.
My solution ??? Cut off their purchasing power at the knees. Exhange limits. No more then 5 sales and 5 purchases per day
This will immediately stop any players from farming the exchange for buy low - sell high opportunity's.
IMO, if you're spending more time at the exchange then actually playing the game, then you are the problem player. This type of "gaming" (Exchange hunting - with no gameplay time) should be banned and looked down upon by all of the community.
These are the leetches who are putting inflation into overdrive.
And there are a few of these kinds of players (exchange ferengi) within this very thread who will not like the limit on exchange sales, but it is the only true solution.
It's either that or impose a daily time limit for exchange use.
5 mins buying or selling per day.
Done deal, Exchange ferengi cut off at the knees, and eradicated, their cancer on STO washed away in one fell swoop.
Don't hate the Whales ! Hate the organized groups (who don't spend RL money in game/but have Enormous EC reserves) and who spend their time logged into STO at exchange terminals, working vigorously and furiously to buy up any cornerable market commodities, in an attempt to control the market and convolute the going prices for said items.
Those are the cancer's of STO. Not the Whales.
The Exchange Ferengi/ Ship flipper's are the ones who wish to play middle men. Those are the vermin that need to eradicated from STO.
2) make as many toons as possible, mostly KDF
3) Spend a month levelling them
4) Marauding and Contra for a month whilst grinding out rep gear
5) convert di-li to zen, buy keys sell!
6) Profit!
Yes say what you want, but any newbie can do this, and it works!
4 Months, you are no longer space poor, yes it takes time, but what do you expect for starting an MMO that's been going for 5 years already!
There is no content, literally no content that cannot be done on MKXII Rep Stuff or free stuff from episodes, T6 ships are handed out throughout the year and you have literally no need for any of the shinies, what a great game that lets you play literally every single piece of content without having to spend a dime, or worry about being gated by gear!
Your argument is flawed, in so many ways.
As for Buying low and Selling high, what the hell is wrong with that! Why on earth should I give up a method of making EC from an open exchange? Don't like my price, don't buy, and as for hoarding stuff, very few do as it is a recipe for losing not gaining in an active market, you have got to judge right!
Not many can successfully hold a whole corner of market, unless you are looking at uber rare shinies, which in that case, who the hell cares any-ways, buy it, or not! It will not make the game better one tiny little iota!
STO is one of the easiest games to make Virtual Currency in, including Di-lithium, Zen and EC, but hey I still buy Zen because well, I want to support STO in staying alive!
That's a horrible idea. I often sell 5+ batteries/day, and buy 5+ major components at less that 1000 ec. (Yeah, it's low profit, but I can't help myself.) Heck, yesterday I sold 6 warp theorists on one of my characters.
You'll live without the meager EC profit from selling 5+ batteries. That's not even pocket change in the grand scheme of all things STO.
Or you'll be smart about your exchange postings, like posting a stack of 5 batts, or waiting until you can post a 20 stack.
Or if you want the higher price for posting 1 at a time (as is often seen), then you got 5 a day to post. Or 4 + 1 Stack. Or 5 stacks. Many ways you can get around this, if you must sell batteries.
Besides, the limit would be a small nuisance/inconvenience, necessary in order to counter the "Middle Man" economy.
And therein lies the problem, "Not many can successfully hold a whole corner of a market".
BUT...
"Many working together CAN successfully hold a whole corner of the market" And are doing so as we speak.
News flash, in most cases, it's not an "individual" who will attempt to corner a market.
It is Organized groups (and there are only a few) with near Unlimited EC bank rolls that can, and do, successfully corner certain segments of the economy.
Wouldn't be surprised to hear if some of these Organized groups are actually funneling funds to EC seller sites, on the side. It would make sense.
Where does all that EC come from ?
Tell you one thing, it's not coming from battery sales.
Its coming from the hot commodity market, IE: Keys, Lockbox traits, New Lockbox ships, and anything that will fetch a healthy return on sale.
They need to corner the big ticket items in order to fuel their EC seller websites on the side.
Otherwise, where is all this EC coming from ?
The seller site can't just "make it up out of thin air"
They are in collusion with some of the biggest Gold Farming fleets in the game.
I'd go even further and say they are created by the biggest gold farming fleets in the game.
as of the personal attack, "special snowflake", "entitlement", etc, etc
I run 10 toons a day, I clear over 80k dil without breaking a sweat, contraband, 60+ ships a toon admiralty system, 9 in the summer event ship set up as solid- farming- beam boats
I pissed away over 300 mil last week getting dmgx3 pen antiprotons to gold...
I also got the traits, got the gear, blah- blah- blah cause I have played for five years and pvped for four and a half of them
simply put? I am not one suggesting a change to the system because I can not work the current system... I am suggesting a change to the system because I can SEE that its broken and is not working for the bulk of the player population
empathy
you should try it sometime,
try giving a TRIBBLE about your fellow players complaints instead of being a self absorbed idiot
heres the other pro tip I can give you,
next time before you type out some acid response filled with attacks,
instead of assuming the other person is the worst case scenario..
assume they are the best case scenario
you will make more friends that way[/quote]
You know, I try not to judge others posts' without giving some thought to my responses first but on these forums, I don't know why I should even care. I'm sick and tired of people whining that they can't get this thing or that, but when given ideas to help them solve their problem, they don't like that idea either. See, that is entitlement and socialism at it's worst. You want to take away from somebody who did some work(honestly, playing the market for an hour a day isn't really work)to get the things they want. That's what I'm seeing from most of these kinds of posts.
I do have empathy towards my fellow players, or at least the ones who try anyway. It's the ones who just want the stuff without doing anything at all that anger me. This game is time-intensive and people should realize that coming in. Without a credit card it will take quite some time to get the shiny stuff that you don't even NEED to play the game. The key word is NEED. You don't NEED Supremacy,40 million EC doffs, a plasmonic leech or the other high priced shinies to play the game effectively. You can get everything you NEED to play at a high level of effectiveness, without resorting to the exchange. This is a case of WANT, which is something way different than NEED. I WANTED some of those things, so I found a way to get them ingame, instead of complaining on the forums. See, here's the difference: you NEED food and water to survive, you don't NEED a $100,000 car to live. Do you WANT one? That's different and if so, find a way through work or investing intelligently in products that have a high resale value.
I do one thing at the exchange. I only sell goods, I don't hoard anything or buy up lesser priced items and then re-sell them later. I spent alot of time working on one aspect of my toon to get to the point where I could actually get some EC for the things I WANT. Did I NEED them to play? Of course not. Maybe you should stop worrying about what everyone else has, and just do your own thing.
And here's a pro tip for you in return: Since everyone in this game is pretty much anonymous and faceless(unless it's someone you know in RL) you should always assume the worst about them. With all the crazy things going on around us, I'd rather be safe than sorry. As far as making friends, I don't really care about that anymore. At least in RL anyway.
That being said, I don't like having to pay the asking prices for the things on the exchange that I WANT, but Cryptic has given us this F2P model to play and I appreciate that, glitches, lag and all. This is the price we pay to allow free access to the entire fracking game, which wouldn't even be here anymore for us to complain about had they not gone that route. Seems to me that instead of complaining about prices on the exchange, you should just be glad there's a Star Trek game to play at all.
It seems this is the same pattern with the crafting aspect of the game. You have to grind to get the materials or buy them and then you have to .... gamble again. Because even if you spend the dilithium to start the crafting process, there is no guarantee you'll get the desired results so you could either waste dilithium in four or five bad attempts or you just grind away to get energy credits to get the weapon or component you want from someone who was just luckier than you at crafting. Honestly I think of the two the crafting part is total TRIBBLE that you have to gamble that. I haven't played in game for a year now and I am soon to get back, since I have a LTS I can imagine I have quite a bit of cryptic points but the point is I do not have a solution for the topic of this thread. I can only say is that I am not going to try for epic and just get my UR MK XIV and hope that will be enough. I'll be grinding for the stuff I need and hopefully I'll get some fleet help for anything else but I really don't want to play this game like I am some stockbroker and the exchange became Wall Street. Despite all this I am very anxious to return and become more knowledgeable about the economics of this game and hopefully have alot of fun while I do that.
Have you bothered making a new toon lately? Yes, the game might give you the bare minimum of what you need, but it's come to the point that you can barely afford anything better than the bare minimum. You are supposed to be able to get on your feet after a little while of using the bare minimum, and be able to buy better gear. But many players keep wanting MORE and MORE and MORE, to the point where someone new can't buy anything. I started in Jan, my main toon is a lvl 60 fed, have a lvl 50 rom, and starting another fed. My main toon has 3 t6 ships (Concorde, fleet Guardian, and Nandi, primarily fly the Concorde), uses rep sets, mk xiii gear for my space, and has generous fleet members. But I still struggle, only push out 4-6k dil a day on my main, and usually barely makes 300k ec a day, mostly from admiralty and foundry. So before you start spouting about how easy the game is, you should open your eyes.