Guild Wars 2

I love it. I think it’s the way all MMO games should go. All the servers accessing one broker keeps the prices down low. No one seems to be cornering a market like in other games. I’ve played seven MMORPGs extensively and this is the first game I’ve played where I’m happy with the broker system. Making money is hard in this game – as it should be in every game. Diablo 3 is an example of a broken economy, reminiscent of Germany’s economy after WW2.

If you haven’t purchased the coin via a gems transfer and you’re wealthy in this game, I take my hat off to you.

I used to be wealthy. Then I got a legendary. Back down to under 100 gold. lol

Grats Vayne! which one?

@ OP- I like the economy too and I think it was really clever to make it world wide and not server bound, much less market fluctuation that way.
I do think that some GW2 tycoons are bordering on controlling some aspects of the market though.

I also rather like that it is fairly hard to earn gold- at least with my playstyle, it gives me small mini goals to work towards because I love cool stuff.
If I could just buy it outright all the time I think it wouldn’t give me nearly the amount of satisfaction it does now.

I love looking at my characters and see the effort I put into them and knowing that I earned it.

I am very poor ingame- I think my bank is at 8g atm

Morrigan.2809:

Grats Vayne! which one?

@ OP- I like the economy too and I think it was really clever to make it world wide and not server bound, much less market fluctuation that way.
I do think that some GW2 tycoons are bordering on controlling some aspects of the market though.

I also rather like that it is fairly hard to earn gold- at least with my playstyle, it gives me small mini goals to work towards because I love cool stuff.
If I could just buy it outright all the time I think it wouldn’t give me nearly the amount of satisfaction it does now.

I love looking at my characters and see the effort I put into them and knowing that I earned it.

I am very poor ingame- I think my bank is at 8g atm

Got the Predator just yesterday…put it on my engie, who was my first level 80. It’s pretty cool.

^ awesome man ^

let me add to that.

If you became wealthy with gem purchases, I take my hat off to you because you support the game.

Personally I only use my gem for gem purchases, but let’s not be hypocrites. This game needs money. Some people are willing to give it through gold purchases. One can only applaud the way it’s implemented without destroying the economy. In the end, someone farmed that money for you.

I think I like the economy. Although I have very little gold (only play open world PvE). I like that Anet provides multiple options for you to purchase items. You can purchase items with Gems, Gold, Karma and Laurels as well as crafting items. It’s also nice that the option exists for those to convert gems into gold.

Since I do not have a lot of gold, I am happy I can purchase items via Karma using those Jugs I get from doing dailies.

I read this article on the economy the other day and found it interesting. It’s a very long article covering pretty much all aspects of the economy so I won’t try to summarize it all here but here is one thing I found interesting:

With the exception of craft materials, the pre-endgame item economy is broken. As an example, I can buy a L39 coat of green (good, better than blue) quality level for 112 copper coins on the auction house. This is not a rare low sell. As I look at the auction house there are over 1000 items of this type selling at this price. I can sell the same item to a vendor for 111 copper coins. Over 1000 players took the time to sell this item on the auction house at a premium of 1 copper coin over what any npc vendor would pay them. Given that the auction house charges 5%, these players are actually losing at least 4% of the value of their goods by joining the economy. Goods are so badly flooded that it is much cheaper to just sell your equipment and buy new equipment instead of repairing it when it gets damaged.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130426/191346/Guild_Wars_2_Economy_Review.php

JustTrogdor.7892:

I read this article on the economy the other day and found it interesting. It’s a very long article covering pretty much all aspects of the economy so I won’t try to summarize it here.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130426/191346/Guild_Wars_2_Economy_Review.php

I read it too, but like most wannabe economists, he uses a lot of words to say nothing at all. That article contains no real information.

In reference to the article, the first thing you notice is that he didn’t exactly do his homework. You don’t just lose that first listing fee of 5% but you have to add a sales tax of 10% when the item sells. In total it costs 15% to sell an item on the Trading Post.
Having said that I don’t think the article was completely bogus. It had a lot of good points. And if you read the comments below the article, there is a really good discussion that is more informative.

Infernia.9847:

In reference to the article, the first thing you notice is that he didn’t exactly do his homework. You don’t just lose that first listing fee of 5% but you have to add a sales tax of 10% when the item sells. In total it costs 15% to sell an item on the Trading Post.
Having said that I don’t think the article was completely bogus. It had a lot of good points. And if you read the comments below the article, there is a really good discussion that is more informative.

I have yet to play an mmo without a bogus and wacky economy. Since they all have it I personally prefer one with a sub. That way I don’t get nickel and dimed for everything and only have to pay that fee and the virtual goods in the game are bought with virtual money.
There is no F2P game. Nothing is free.

This is my first MMO, so have no experience with other game economies.

As for this one, I don’t particularly like it There is market manipulation going on, both directly by players (at least they are trying to do this) and indirectly/directly by Anet. All you need to do is follow T6 mat prices and the gem-to-gold and gold-to-gem conversion rates.

As for players being poor in this game, I really do not understand this. Everything you do in this game, apart from standing around in LA, earns gold.

If I play my guardian in Cursed Shore for an hour, 2-3 gold earned, without selling any mats or bags. Running my ranger around doing daily, the 3 dragon events, maw, behemoth, there is another 1-2 gold. Doing this 2 days, 6-10 gold, three days, 9-15 gold ..

I find there just isn’t that much to spend gold on in this game, but then I don’t like most of the armour so no need to spend 100’s of gold on faction or T3 cultural sets for my toons

marnick.4305:

JustTrogdor.7892:

I read this article on the economy the other day and found it interesting. It’s a very long article covering pretty much all aspects of the economy so I won’t try to summarize it here.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130426/191346/Guild_Wars_2_Economy_Review.php

I read it too, but like most wannabe economists, he uses a lot of words to say nothing at all. That article contains no real information.

Considering the world economy is a huge ponzi scam (credit anyone) that could topple at any moment which economists aren’t wannabes?

bri.2359:

As for players being poor in this game, I really do not understand this. Everything you do in this game, apart from standing around in LA, earns gold.

If I play my guardian in Cursed Shore for an hour, 2-3 gold earned, without selling any mats or bags. Running my ranger around doing daily, the 3 dragon events, maw, behemoth, there is another 1-2 gold. Doing this 2 days, 6-10 gold, three days, 9-15 gold ..

I find there just isn’t that much to spend gold on in this game, but then I don’t like most of the armour so no need to spend 100’s of gold on faction or T3 cultural sets for my toons

Wow- the most gold I have ever had in the game is 18g and I was ecstatic.
I never go to LA so I don’t get the attraction of AFK in LA, which seems to be a thing.

Lets see: Cursed Shore: for an hour or two I’d be lucky to get 1g if I sell everything including mats and bags.

If I run world events I typically can fit in 3 a day, usually I hit up Behemoth, Shatterer and Tequila. this gets me a couple of ecto’s, sigils usually- in one week I make about 8g max.

Mostly I just run around the world doing De’s, completing maps, exploring, whatever takes my fancy really.
It is fun but doesn’t really make money- well about 1g a week.

As for stuff to spend it on, I haven’t even scratched the surface.
Well yes I have but I can think of so many things I would like to buy it is not even funny.
That is not even taking into account converting gold to gems.

So yes, I can’t really understand how some people are so rich :P

Infernia.9847:

Having said that I don’t think the article was completely bogus. It had a lot of good points. And if you read the comments below the article, there is a really good discussion that is more informative.

Yes, especially his comment about trade and how the current economy “discourages social interaction”:

Trade is the foundation of economics. Trade between players is one of the most powerful “glues” that binds committed players in large scale persistent universes. This was the realization that drove me to develop applied virtual economics in 2005. By requiring players to develop all of the craft skills necessary for the creation of end game gear themselves, this isolates the player. If the player’s only need for trade is through an anonymous AH screen on occasion, this further dilutes any social element that may have been present. You don’t know where that item came from, who made it, or how they made it.

The effect is to push the player increasingly towards a “Massively Single Player” experience as they advance through the game. It still looks multiplayer, but the model discourages social interaction. Thus, despite the gameplay being the best the industry can offer at the moment, the lack of social cohesion still makes the game get stale over time. This is an effect not seen so much in long running games like World of Warcraft and EVE Online because of the need for social cohesion in those games.

marnick.4305:

let me add to that.

If you became wealthy with gem purchases, I take my hat off to you because you support the game.

Personally I only use my gem for gem purchases, but let’s not be hypocrites. This game needs money. Some people are willing to give it through gold purchases. One can only applaud the way it’s implemented without destroying the economy. In the end, someone farmed that money for you.

Just about what I was about to say. I love this game economy as well.

My only complain lies within the fact that money is far more accessible for those who focus in PVE than those who enjoy the other aspects of the game, but hey other than that is quite close to perfect.

Drew you’re right, there are a lot of ways to make gold in this game, especially if you have two hours a day to do so.
I think the issue a lot of people have at present, is the disparity between the people that have a lot of time to spend versus those that don’t.
There are many people playing that are parents, working, attending college or all three. They don’t log on with the intent of using their sparse time to farm for gold. And those that do have the time are earning a lot of gold with little to spend it on. (not enough desirable gold sinks to take the gold back out of the economy).
Should one get rewarded for playing more, of course they should because they put in the time and effort. Yet at the same time the people that are logging in less because of RL situations actually try to catch up and hit DR or simply don’t get the drops unless they specifically focus on farming for them. They soon can’t afford to buy T6 mats to craft their gear, they can’t farm for specific mats. The prices rise on desirable gear and mats because those gold farmers can afford much higher prices.
Personally I crafted one piece of exotic gear at a time. It was all that I could afford to do. There’s nothing wrong with taking it slow. But frustration does mount when prices keep climbing, while making that kind of gold is limited to a few specific areas/playstyles. (CoF p1, Orr DE’s, multi Meta Boss farming,etc)

I like to do a combo of TP, farm, and gem purchasing for my money. I have a rule though. I won’t spend any more per month on the gem store than I would have in a P2P MMO. To craft a legendary takes gold, no way to avoid that, it is what it is. While I’m playing the TP and doing CoF runs or fotm, I will once a month buy $20.00 in gems then wait until they are at the peak to sell them for additional gold. I use that gold to invest more into TP.

Sometimes I blow the gems on actual purchases, which means no additional gold that month, but I have a decent income to allow for that.

I have no qualms with giving money to Anet. I thoroughly enjoy their F2P game, so I will reward them with $$. It’s like when I reeeeally like a particular artist. I will refuse to download their music for free but rather pay for it. It just feels right to me. They deserve something for the pleasure they give me.

Works the same with me and Anet. They make a game I like. They don’t ask me to pay money to play it. So I donate money to help them create more content and be successful.

I feel as though I am part of a large minority of players that do this which is essentially what keeps this game in the black.

So….you’re welcome for covering purchases for you guys who feel paying money for stuff is omg ridiculous. I can afford to carry you guys.

I got about 300g in gold and another 800g in investments and I’ve only done cof1 once. I’m a hardcore farmer but that doesn’t mean I spend so much time playing the game.

If you want to earn a lot of gold you need to play smarter, not harder.

An example is in tagging mobs. Back before the february patch, before all the changes to cursed shore, I would see players constantly focus on that one veteran mob while completely ignoring that wave of 8 mobs behind them.

Focusing on the vet and ignoring those mobs is not playing smart.

Another example to play smarter is when it comes to meta event daily chests. Let’s say you only had 3 hours to play a game at the start of your session, you had the opportunity to complete three metaevents occuring at the same time – fire elemental, golem and Jormag. A smart player would realize that Jormag is the best choice since the respawn timer for that is long and you will not have another opportunity to get the dragon, while the fire elemental and golem can pop up several times in the next 3 hours.

Vol.5241:

I got about 300g in gold and another 800g in investments and I’ve only done cof1 once. I’m a hardcore farmer but that doesn’t mean I spend so much time playing the game.

If you want to earn a lot of gold you need to play smarter, not harder.

An example is in tagging mobs. Back before the february patch, before all the changes to cursed shore, I would see players constantly focus on that one veteran mob while completely ignoring that wave of 8 mobs behind them.

Focusing on the vet and ignoring those mobs is not playing smart.

Another example to play smarter is when it comes to meta event daily chests. Let’s say you only had 3 hours to play a game at the start of your session, you had the opportunity to complete three metaevents occuring at the same time – fire elemental, golem and Jormag. A smart player would realize that Jormag is the best choice since the respawn timer for that is long and you will not have another opportunity to get the dragon, while the fire elemental and golem can pop up several times in the next 3 hours.

Yes I agree totally and I do realize all of this- yet I still have 8g in my bank.
So am I just the really unlucky one that balances the statistic?

By requiring players to develop all of the craft skills necessary for the creation of end game gear themselves, this isolates the player. If the player’s only need for trade is through an anonymous AH screen on occasion, this further dilutes any social element that may have been present. You don’t know where that item came from, who made it, or how they made it.

When everything is done through a trading post screen, the trader is isolated; when the most effective traders are effectively scripts and bots trolling through listings, the human element is ripped out of the game. This makes the trade part of the game less engaging and less fun on the whole, and as a result less drawn to your game.

On the flip side, relentless efficiency does improve economic outcomes. You get a better distribution of wealth, as players without the time to spend researching and advertising their sales are able to sell at much tighter spreads than they would otherwise. If you think low information players are getting raked by bid/ask spreads on the trading post, you have no idea what it’s like when trade is all done in a bazaar, dominated by reputation and who shouts the loudest.

Pushing everything through an exchange also makes it much easier to monitor and stabilize the economy. GW2’s trading post and underlying mechanics have kept prices remarkably stable over the evolution of the game. That stability breeds trust in the system, and encourages people to participate in a market that isn’t going to swing wildly overnight for reasons they do not understand.

Practically, this is a game, not a stock exchange where efficiency is king; a mixed approach that balances efficiency with a good gameplay experience is ideal. While I would agree that GW2 has overshot in its swing towards efficiency, it is the rare game to have done so; inefficiency and instability have been hallmarks of MMO economies since their inception. There’s a lot we can learn from GW2’s too-efficient market that will provide valuable lessons to the next generation of MMOs that can hopefully keep the most important parts of it while dialing it back a bit.

I read that article too but … I can’t help notice that the economy is separating the people that know how to use it to make money and those that don’t. I don’t really see why the state of the economy, good or bad is that important anyways. The market is just an option, just like farming is. You either decide to farm your mats or you farm the gold to buy em. The beautiful thing is that as things get more expensive, eventually farming the mats yourself becomes a more attractive option. There is a steady state in there somewhere.