Guild Wars 2

I’m slowly but surely mad at the economy system and RNG you use.

I can farm hours for hours and make no money. Ectos drop down to zero, rares drop down ridicolously cuz of the overspammed group events. Everything sinks, how should we make money? We even get DR to take us the whole fun and make us gain nothing from farming. If you don’t want us to farm, why do u make legendaries so expensive? Do you want us to buy gems to convert? It seems like it…

This game doesn’t reward the players that work on something and are online a lot. It rewards only them with luck. I’m unsatisfied with that and hope on an official answer.

EthanLightheart.9168:

…

If you don’t want us to farm, why do u make legendaries so expensive? Do you want us to buy gems to convert? It seems like it…

ANet doesn’t set BLTC prices, players do.

By your logic, if all farmed items are falling price, it would therefore be the case that the purchaseble items for the legendary would fall in price as well. Isn’t that what you want?

Think you might be suffering from a case of misdirected blame.

Well your partially right but if anet made new ways to spend ectos or now dumped materials the market wouldn’t be so very disadvantaging for 90% of the people.
I find it a serious problem if a casual player or regular farmer can’t make any money, just because the setting is like that, that most of the materials get almost useless. I think it’s anet’s turn to stop such a fossilization of the market by implementing something that makes it work again.
And no the materials don’t need to fall, BUT there should be viable ways to make money and not just pure randomness.

EthanLightheart.9168:

Well your partially right but if anet made new ways to spend ectos or now dumped materials the market wouldn’t be so very disadvantaging for 90% of the people.
I find it a serious problem if a casual player or regular farmer can’t make any money, just because the setting is like that, that most of the materials get almost useless. I think it’s anet’s turn to stop such a fossilization of the market by implementing something that makes it work again.
And no the materials don’t need to fall, BUT there should be viable ways to make money and not just pure randomness.

You are more than likely farming the wrong way if you aren’t making money. There are events out there that can be farmed for +7g an hour. And if you don’t like DR, then do Cof1 farm.

EthanLightheart.9168:

Well your partially right but if anet made new ways to spend ectos or now dumped materials the market wouldn’t be so very disadvantaging for 90% of the people.
I find it a serious problem if a casual player or regular farmer can’t make any money, just because the setting is like that, that most of the materials get almost useless. I think it’s anet’s turn to stop such a fossilization of the market by implementing something that makes it work again.
And no the materials don’t need to fall, BUT there should be viable ways to make money and not just pure randomness.

So what you’re saying is that you want a way for casual players to make money without effort? Part 1 of farming is to know where to farm. Part 2 of farming is to actually have time to do it. Part 3 of farming is getting lucky with the RNG. So the more kills you have, the more chances RNG will work in your favor. Each kill generates drop from the loot table. Kill one monster, you have one shot with the RNG. Kill ten monsters, and you have ten individual shots with RNG (note – that still doesn’t guarantee a rare or better drop, just more chances to get it).

All games have some RNG to it. Killing a Risen doesn’t guarantee you “X item” drops each time. If a single monster or boss always dropped something good, and it was sellable to a merchant or on the TP, players would do nothing but kill that one target (and that item would devalue within minutes). Stuff is valuable because of its rarity and usefulness. Usually the people who complain otherwise are the ones who feel entitled to free stuff.

Oh geez, here we go with the “entitlement” comments crap again. That’s getting about as old as the “L2P” comments others like to throw out at other people. Or “noob” or “epic” as a term. They are so overly abused that they are losing value.

Anyways, @OP, I consider myself a casual player and I make money just fine, so speak for yourself. Now its not like what Vol suggested, but I do make some gold, which is contrary to what you’re saying.

@Vol, we gotta have a chat sometime

At some point there will be the next “sure fire way to earn gold” method publicized and the masses will move away from ecto harvesting and prices should recover.

It’s funny that OP points out that he wants casuals to have a way to make money. Sure, if you do that, then the farmers will make even more (by farming whatever the casuals are doing) and brings us back to the beginning. You’re not going to make a difference. Not to mention the inflation that would occur..

The only way to make a difference is to reward casuals and farmers at the same rate, which is impossible in MMOs and frankly hopeless/pointless

I really don’t get how people cannot grasp the basic concept that market value is driven by the players themselves.

The very fact that tens of thousands of players are farming the same few things is why the prices of the said “things”; such as ecto – is falling (Supply outstripping demand), and the same tens of thousands of players chasing the same few things in limited demand is why the price in other areas is rising (ie. precursors).

No conspiracies, no malevolent develops, no market manipulators; just thousands of people all desperate to buy and sell the same item

With ectos it’s more supply is catching up with demand. If supply actually outstrips demand the price will fall a lot more and supply will explode before anyone really notices that nobody is buying anymore.

Ryuujin.8236:

No conspiracies, no malevolent develops, no market manipulators; just thousands of people all desperate to buy and sell the same item

^ this x one MILLION dollars

Mourningcry.9428:

EthanLightheart.9168:

…

If you don’t want us to farm, why do u make legendaries so expensive? Do you want us to buy gems to convert? It seems like it…

ANet doesn’t set BLTC prices, players do.

That is like saying China have a free economy.

The change in ecto price already showed Anet can change the price of any item to anything they want. What more proof you need?

Now, I’m not saying legendary should be cheap. I’m saying the conversation about players set price is moot.

The players do ultimately set the price of item. But I’m pretty sure Anet already knows what the price will be because they control it.

laokoko.7403:

That is like saying China have a free economy.

The change in ecto price already showed Anet can change the price of any item to anything they want. What more proof you need?

Now, I’m not saying legendary should be cheap. I’m saying the conversation about players set price is moot.

The players do ultimately set the price of item. But I’m pretty sure Anet already knows what the price will be because they control it.

From the tone of your post, I do believe you’re serious about this.

ANet has the ability to control supply and demand to some degree through various mechanisms (drop rates, recipes, etc.). They do not, however, have any say with respect to pricing policies for non-gemstore items. This is entirely player driven.

Simply put, if sellers were to agree upon a floor price, nothing ANet could do would drop that floor without directly participating in the market. However, there will always be sellers who don’t mind receiving less for an item in exchange for a quicker sale, or who value the item less then those before them. Conversely, there’ll always be someone who’ll be willing to pay a little more to get an item faster than someone else because they value it more.

ANet doesn’t have to do a thing to directly influence pricing. Players ultimately decide how they participate in the market in response to changes in supply and demand.

And unless you have some proof of ANet directly participating in the market to manipulate prices, you’re just spewing more of the same nonsense seen often enough in these forums.

Edit: Here’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/Trading-Post-initial-cost/first#post1975018

Please explain to me how ANet controlled the price causing the OP’s situation. I’m presuming since the time he listed the item and the time of this post, there have been no changes to precursor drops. What happened is exactly what I said.

Vol.5241:

EthanLightheart.9168:

Well your partially right but if anet made new ways to spend ectos or now dumped materials the market wouldn’t be so very disadvantaging for 90% of the people.
I find it a serious problem if a casual player or regular farmer can’t make any money, just because the setting is like that, that most of the materials get almost useless. I think it’s anet’s turn to stop such a fossilization of the market by implementing something that makes it work again.
And no the materials don’t need to fall, BUT there should be viable ways to make money and not just pure randomness.

You are more than likely farming the wrong way if you aren’t making money. There are events out there that can be farmed for +7g an hour. And if you don’t like DR, then do Cof1 farm.

+7g per hour? I was lucky enough to only get 5g in about 8 hours of playing and that was my best day. I’d love to know what events get you that much in an hour because I’ve never seen them.

laokoko.7403:

That is like saying China have a free economy.

The change in ecto price already showed Anet can change the price of any item to anything they want. What more proof you need?

Now, I’m not saying legendary should be cheap. I’m saying the conversation about players set price is moot.

The players do ultimately set the price of item. But I’m pretty sure Anet already knows what the price will be because they control it.

You said Anet controls the price, then you said players do, then go back to saying Anet does. /confused

Smooth Penguin.5294:

You said Anet controls the price, then you said players do, then go back to saying Anet does. /confused

That means players do indeed set the price. But price is really set base on the difficulty to get, usefulness of item, prestage of item, and market anticipation.

Those criteria are controlled and regulated by Anet.

Even in the real world, goverment can regulate the economy to a certain extand. That is expecially true in a mmorpg world where Anet can set item drop rate to anything they want.

Ecto price flunk because Anet make it more easy to get and they didn’t create new use for ecto. The players dont’ control that?

Mourningcry.9428:

From the tone of your post, I do believe you’re serious about this.

ANet has the ability to control supply and demand to some degree through various mechanisms (drop rates, recipes, etc.). They do not, however, have any say with respect to pricing policies for non-gemstore items. This is entirely player driven.

Completely agree. A player driven economy. I’m just pin point the part, Anet has the ability to control supply and demand to some degree through various mechanisms.

Ecto price was like 35 silver a while ago? A simple desicison to make rare drop in world chest and guild event make it flunk to 20 silver. Amazing eih?

laokoko.7403:

Ecto price was like 35 silver a while ago? A simple desicison to make rare drop in world chest and guild event make it flunk to 20 silver. Amazing eih?

Anet doesn’t even need to make a concrete change. The announcement that boss chests are per account instead per character jumped ecto prices from 25 to 30s for a while. The way the player base reacts is pretty cool.

People buy ectos?

I generally just farm up my own, neither buying nor selling. I figure the rate I can do so is a pretty good fit to the rate I’m supposed to be getting them. For a while that rate was punishingly low, but since I shook off the permanent DR on world drops and have been able to run Maw and Fire Elemental once a day pretty much at my leisure, I’ve had enough ecto in my vault to keep me largely content that I’m moving toward my goals. My main has Ascended in all 6 slots that can be Ascended. Now I’m back to working towards Infinite Light – 75 Lodestones out of 250 so far.

Legendary weapons can go suck eggs until they provide a non-random, non-PvP (aka the trading post) way of acquiring a precursor. I’m not farming my brains out to hand the money over to another player – I’d pay 500g to a vendor without hesitation, but I’m not pumping that money into the TP churn. I’ve done my share of CoF 1 runs and they just aren’t that interesting. I find dinking around with my lower level alts for about an hour each day to get a laurel far more entertaining and ultimately more rewarding in terms of game-mechanical advantage.

Ursan.7846:

laokoko.7403:

Ecto price was like 35 silver a while ago? A simple desicison to make rare drop in world chest and guild event make it flunk to 20 silver. Amazing eih?

Anet doesn’t even need to make a concrete change. The announcement that boss chests are per account instead per character jumped ecto prices from 25 to 30s for a while. The way the player base reacts is pretty cool.

Exactly my quote: “But price is really set base on the difficulty to get, usefulness of item, prestage of item, and market anticipation.”

I even include market anticipation.

Everything you said is true laokoko, however impacts like the guarantee rare from event bosses are hard to predict, at least all the fallout from it.

Using GW2Spidy lets look back.

Feb 15th – Ecto 39-40s Supply: 6,800 Demand: 89,000 – word gets out about the rare chests

It appears that players started to liquidate they Ecto holdings since the general opinion is of a price crash

Feb 26th – Ecto 35-36s Supply: 26,000 Demand: 82,000 – patch is released

Mar 18th – Ecto 25-26s Supply: 38,000 Demand: 90,000
Mar 19th – Ecto 30-31s Supply: 31,000 Demand: 96,000 – word comes out about the changes to the rare chest. Players expecting supply to drop due to the change start hording ectos again.

Mar 26th – Ecto 29-30s Supply: 30,000 Demand: 97,000 – patch is released

But supply didn’t go down. It kept growing while demand started to shrink.

Apr 30th – Ecto 22s Supply: 61,000 Demand: 91,000 – next monthly patch released.

May 7th – Ecto 20-21s Supply: 67,000 Demand 77,000

So why did the fix didn’t? Maybe it was overestimated how many players rotated through their characters to get more than one rare from the same events every day. Maybe the threads about it caught the eye of players who weren’t event hopping at all and they started. Maybe all the quick gold threads pointed to the MSK Vs BLSK thread and convinced a lot of players that buying BLSKs for salvaging ectos wasn’t necessary to earn “good” money. Now everyone is skimming off the cheap armor/weapons as salvage mats from the TP.

And it’s not just the price of ectos that have been affected. Mithril ore has dropped from 40c to under 30c since the April 30th patch (any ideas? new generation of farm bots? nerf to CoF).

Mithril Ore might have dropped in price since April 30 because of the Molten Facility dungeon. There are 5 Mithril Ores (relatively) easily available at the start of the dungeon, and there appear to be lots of players running the dungeon every day. All of those excess Mithril probably get dumped on the TP.

Mithril dropped because of the molten pick axe. Mining doesn’t cost money anymore, it’s no hassle. Just go there, enjoy the pretty graphics. For many people that resulted in huge amounts of ore.

Same happened in lower level zones. Getting gatherer in Queensdale now doesn’t lose you money anymore with ori picks so doing the entire daily there becomes feasible.

laokoko.7403:

Completely agree. A player driven economy. I’m just pin point the part, Anet has the ability to control supply and demand to some degree through various mechanisms.

Yes, but you left out the important part : “They do not, however, have any say with respect to pricing policies for non-gemstore items. This is entirely player driven.”

laokoko.7403:

That means players do indeed set the price. But price is really set base on the difficulty to get, usefulness of item, prestage of item, and market anticipation.

Those criteria are controlled and regulated by Anet.

Actually, those factors are not controlled and regulated by ANet. They are factors of player behavior.

- “difficulty to obtain” is just as much a factor of a player’s ability, and willingness to obtain. Regardless of drop rate, if no one is willing to farm it, or is unable to (level/zone limitations), drop rate is irrelevant. For example, acquiring a Legendary is arguably easier now then a few months ago (exploits aside). However, price changes of precursors, let alone the Legendaries themselves, over the same period, taken in isolation, would indicate otherwise.

- “usefulness of item” utility, may in a general sense apply to all players, however, some builds, or play styles may derive more utility then others. Player choice often is a bigger determinant to utility then simple item attributes. Call it a factor of the meta-game (ie, COF Berserker groups, or previous WvW condition builds). Various crafted items are examples of this.

- “prestige” is entirely a factor of player attitude and behavior. The “wow” factor is intangible and therefore entirely determined by players. The example I posted above is a clear example of this. A player being undercut on an expensive item by someone else inherently shows that one player values an item less than another – supply and demand fluctuations are secondary in this. Purely a case of personal valuation, or mis-valuation if you will.

- “market anticipation” is inherently a player behavioral factor. Reactions to news is a reflection of the player perception of what is may happen. Speculation. This is not to say it’s irrational, rather, it may be biased.

Understanding player behavior, their reactions to game conditions, can often be a valuable indicator of market fluctuations. Everything you listed comes back to how players react to both game conditions, as well as to factors outside of game conditions (prestige is inherently subjective).

Edit: Ursan’s observation and Nike’s and Behallagh’s analysis are good examples of player behavior. As Ursan pointed out, upon initial release of the news, the market anticipated a potential decrease in supply, increasing valuation. However, as Behallagh showed, supply actually continued to increase – indicating that overall players were acquiring, and selling more ectos despite the introduced limitation. I.e. players changed their behavior, either more players participated in the events, increased the number of events they previously did, or in some other way increased their access to salvaging. And as Nike pointed out, the choice of players meeting their own demand independent of the market. Completely the opposite of the what the initial market reaction would have indicated and what the depressed price would warrant. Player behavior.

marnick.4305:

Mithril dropped because of the molten pick axe. Mining doesn’t cost money anymore, it’s no hassle. Just go there, enjoy the pretty graphics. For many people that resulted in huge amounts of ore.

Same happened in lower level zones. Getting gatherer in Queensdale now doesn’t lose you money anymore with ori picks so doing the entire daily there becomes feasible.

Really? I only use ori tools in zones that may require them, everywhere else I use mithril. A mithril pick costs a whole 1.6c per swing. I can’t believe players didn’t bother to gather simply because they felt it’s not worth it financially. Even silver is profitable at 3.5s per 100 and it has the cheapest “instant sell” price.

Mourningcry.9428:

Actually, those factors are not controlled and regulated by ANet. They are factors of player behavior.

I understand what you are trying to say. But you can’t change human behavior.

You can’t creat a weapon that do more damage or a skin that looks really good, and don’t anticipate people want it.

That look more like the “fix factor” of the equation. So why are we spend so much time talking about something you can’t change. Instead we should be talking about the things we can change which is drop rate, gold sink, material sink etc.

Behellagh.1468:

marnick.4305:

Mithril dropped because of the molten pick axe. Mining doesn’t cost money anymore, it’s no hassle. Just go there, enjoy the pretty graphics. For many people that resulted in huge amounts of ore.

Same happened in lower level zones. Getting gatherer in Queensdale now doesn’t lose you money anymore with ori picks so doing the entire daily there becomes feasible.

Really? I only use ori tools in zones that may require them, everywhere else I use mithril. A mithril pick costs a whole 1.6c per swing. I can’t believe players didn’t bother to gather simply because they felt it’s not worth it financially. Even silver is profitable at 3.5s per 100 and it has the cheapest “instant sell” price.

And yet it’s a factor. It means that all ore could drop by 1.6c a piece without cutting in the profit margins of people with molten axes. In the big picture, that’s quite a lot.

laokoko.7403:

…
That look more like the “fix factor” of the equation. So why are we spend so much time talking about something you can’t change. Instead we should be talking about the things we can change which is drop rate, gold sink, material sink etc.

It definitely is part of the equation, but it’s far from fixed. We’re spending so much time about it because you originally brought them up as mechanics used by ANet to affect price, which they’re not. Further, these behavioral factors are far from fixed. I’ll go over the example from the other thread I’ve referenced multiple times already, and which you’ve chosen to ignore. I only do so, because it’s such a clear example of typical player thinking when dealing with the BLTC. Here’s the original post:

Pillows.1306:

I found a precursor awhile ago and I put it up on trading post. Since then there have been 7 other people that posted prices below mine and now it seems that the item will never sell I want to re-post but if i take it off I will lose the initial 30 gold it took to post int the first place. Is there anyway to change the price without taking it off the trading post? Or is it possible to get the money back from posting it the first time?

So, his initial thinking probably went something like this.
I think this precursor is worth a lot. Not as much as some fool who listed it for 700, but still a lot, 600g. Definitely some buyer will snap it up at 600. So, it’s worth my 30g to list it.
Low and behold, not only were there no buyers in the time it took a likeminded person to undercut him, but 6 other guys thought it was worth even less. This doesn’t even take into account the ones that sold to buy offers directly.

Now, he not only realizes his valuation was way off the mark, but he won’t just relist it, or sell it outright because he’s worried about the 30g sunk cost (which is bad in itself), which, at the time was well worth it. Complete 180 in thinking.

Now, apply this thinking to ectos. One guy thinks it’s worth 1c less then the guy before him. Now tack on hundreds and thousands of those guys. This doesn’t even take into account the guys who will sell it for even less to buy offers directly. Thousands of likeminded sellers.

In both cases, zero changes to the game mechanics and conditions by ANet, yet siginificant market changes. All player behavior driven – and not at a fixed rate.

laokoko.7403:

Instead we should be talking about the things we can change which is drop rate, gold sink, material sink etc.

And no, we can’t change any of that. Just like we can’t change behavior. We can, however, try to understand it, and leverage it.

marnick.4305:

Behellagh.1468:

marnick.4305:

Mithril dropped because of the molten pick axe. Mining doesn’t cost money anymore, it’s no hassle. Just go there, enjoy the pretty graphics. For many people that resulted in huge amounts of ore.

Same happened in lower level zones. Getting gatherer in Queensdale now doesn’t lose you money anymore with ori picks so doing the entire daily there becomes feasible.

Really? I only use ori tools in zones that may require them, everywhere else I use mithril. A mithril pick costs a whole 1.6c per swing. I can’t believe players didn’t bother to gather simply because they felt it’s not worth it financially. Even silver is profitable at 3.5s per 100 and it has the cheapest “instant sell” price.

And yet it’s a factor. It means that all ore could drop by 1.6c a piece without cutting in the profit margins of people with molten axes. In the big picture, that’s quite a lot.

Except you ignore the fact that the molten pickaxe did cost them 800 gems. $10 or roughly 24-26g for it. Sure actual cost per use is near 0 since it can be used infinite times.

GW2Spidy supports the theory that it’s the new dungeon since mithril supply spiked from 1.08 million before the April 30th patch to 1.47 million after. Just before the molten pickaxe was released the supply was at 1 million.

laokoko.7403:

Mourningcry.9428:

Actually, those factors are not controlled and regulated by ANet. They are factors of player behavior.

I understand what you are trying to say. But you can’t change human behavior.

You can’t creat a weapon that do more damage or a skin that looks really good, and don’t anticipate people want it.

That look more like the “fix factor” of the equation. So why are we spend so much time talking about something you can’t change. Instead we should be talking about the things we can change which is drop rate, gold sink, material sink etc.

This is sounding more like “entitlement”. You want to have an easier time to get something that is rare. But realize that if Anet gives a rare item a drop rate increase, it no longer becomes rare.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

This is sounding more like “entitlement”. You want to have an easier time to get something that is rare. But realize that if Anet gives a rare item a drop rate increase, it no longer becomes rare.

I didn’t even say there’s anything wrong with legendary being expensive. A few of my friend stop playing after they get their legendary. Maybe Anet did the right thing.

I just think people is a bit naive when they say Anet dont’ have anything to do with the GW2 economy. Even the US economy isn’t completely free. If it is, we should have a recession right now. The government obviously have influence on it.

Why bother hier economist, monitor item price, cashshop manager if Anet can’t influence item price or gem price.

Ultimately, legendary is expensive is because Anet want players to farm. It have nothing to do supply/demand, or player setting the price right?

laokoko.7403:

Ultimately, legendary is expensive is because Anet want players to farm. It have nothing to do supply/demand, or player setting the price right?

Wow. Just… wow. Part of me thinks that you just don’t understand how markets work. I’ll leave it at that.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

laokoko.7403:

Ultimately, legendary is expensive is because Anet want players to farm. It have nothing to do supply/demand, or player setting the price right?

Wow. Just… wow. Part of me thinks that you just don’t understand how markets work. I’ll leave it at that.

Why are we even talking about market, economy or whatever.

Anet want to keep players playing that is why they make goals so unreachable. That is all it is. It is same as every mmorpg. Try to read your own signature, “I swung a sword, I swung a sword again…”

The buttom line is mmorpg are grindy. That’s it. What does that have anything to do with the market. Legendary is grindy because Anet want it to be grindy, so they can keep people playing without running out of goals.

Behellagh.1468:

marnick.4305:

Behellagh.1468:

marnick.4305:

Mithril dropped because of the molten pick axe. Mining doesn’t cost money anymore, it’s no hassle. Just go there, enjoy the pretty graphics. For many people that resulted in huge amounts of ore.

Same happened in lower level zones. Getting gatherer in Queensdale now doesn’t lose you money anymore with ori picks so doing the entire daily there becomes feasible.

Really? I only use ori tools in zones that may require them, everywhere else I use mithril. A mithril pick costs a whole 1.6c per swing. I can’t believe players didn’t bother to gather simply because they felt it’s not worth it financially. Even silver is profitable at 3.5s per 100 and it has the cheapest “instant sell” price.

And yet it’s a factor. It means that all ore could drop by 1.6c a piece without cutting in the profit margins of people with molten axes. In the big picture, that’s quite a lot.

Except you ignore the fact that the molten pickaxe did cost them 800 gems. $10 or roughly 24-26g for it. Sure actual cost per use is near 0 since it can be used infinite times.

GW2Spidy supports the theory that it’s the new dungeon since mithril supply spiked from 1.08 million before the April 30th patch to 1.47 million after. Just before the molten pickaxe was released the supply was at 1 million.

That fact is not relevant for people who bought the axe with €. The gold equivalent really doesn’t matter.

Furthermore, 800 gold is barely 18g by today’s conversion rate, not 24-26.

The dungeon obviously has something to do with it too. Both matter, neither stands alone.

800 gems or $10 (or euro). I did mention the cash cost in the post of mine you quoted.

To buy 800 gems with gold it will cost you 26g.
8 × 3.25g@100 gems is 26g.

If it was the pickaxe, why didn’t the mithril supply spike when the pickaxe was introduced? Why mithril supply spike by 30% only after this last patch?

Behellagh.1468:

800 gems or $10 (or euro). I did mention the cash cost in the post of mine you quoted.

To buy 800 gems with gold it will cost you 26g.
8 × 3.25g@100 gems is 26g.

If it was the pickaxe, why didn’t the mithril supply spike when the pickaxe was introduced? Why mithril supply spike by 30% only after this last patch?

800 gems sell for 18g = 8×2.30s. It depends on perspecitve.

But really, it didn’t cost me a single copper, because I don’t convert gems to gold. The rising cost for gems seems to indicate a lot of people act like that, leading to a decreasing gem supply.
Please don’t act like gold>gem is the only consideration for the people who bought the axe. Most people merely want to spend hard earned money on their afterwork hobby … I bought it because I wanted it not because I needed it. I didn’t do any gold/gem calculations because they’re not relevant to me. With the equivalent of 1 work week I could buy out the entire dusk supply if I wanted. I don’t because that’d kill the game for me but you catch my drift … I’m not even particularly rich IRL so I presume most players are on my side of the debate.

Furthermore, mithril supply didn’t need to spike for it to drop 2c in value. Given equal profit margins, that could happen overnight regardless of any changes in supply/demand. This decision wasn’t influenced by any gold concerns for most people who bought the molten axe.

I do not ignore the results of the dungeon, but you should not ignore the effects of the axe either.

It’s not a matter of perspective. 800 gems may be worth 18g if you sold them on the exchange but the point I’m making is the cost of a molten pickaxe.

If I want one I will have to pay 800 gems. I can only get 800 gems by spending $10 or by converting around 26 gold at current rates. You can not take 18 gold and through the exchange trade them for 800 gems.

Basic tenants of supply and demand on a free and open market is if supply increases independent of demand, prices drop. Before this patch mithril ore had a supply of 1.11 million and a demand of 430K. Today the supply is 1.48 million and a demand of 400K. Now what again should happen to the price of an item when its supply goes up while demand goes down?

I don’t know if it’s the new dungeon or not but what is clear is both the price drop and the supply spike happened after the Apr 30th patch and not when the pickaxe was introduced two weeks before. Draw whatever conclusions you want from that data.

Lastly it dropped 9c, over 20% of it’s pre-patch price, not 2c.

Personally I noticed a distinct drop in the value of low ores such as copper and iron back when the pick axe launched.