silver to gems too expensive
Player driven, unfortunately. Players have to buy gems, and then sell them. Anet don’t actually sell gold.
Nope – you just need to get better at making coin in the game.
AN’s entire business model is based off selling gems in the cash shop. It SHOULD NOT be easy for the average player to make so much gold that they never want or need to buy gems with real money. If everyone opted out of that system, AN would have no revenue stream at all.
Now I really don’t mean to be a jerk here, but there are lots of players out there who are good enough at making gold in game that they don’t need to ever spend real money on gems. I’m one of them. And I’d spend money on gems if I needed to. I like this game and I don’t mind supporting a game I like. I’m just good enough at making money in game I have no reason to do so.
If you can’t make enough coin in game to buy the gems that you need, then fire up the credit card and spend $10. It won’t be the end of the world. I’m not saying you’re an inferior player or that I wouldn’t group with you. There are guildies I love who can’t make cash and spend real money for what they want all the time.
But let me ask you this. If you are bad at making money in game (and you are) and you still expect to be able to make enough that buying gems with gold feels painless to you and that’s where you get all you need … who is supposed to be spending real money again?
Good players can make more than enough gold for the gems that they need. By “good” I mean good at the market, or at otherwise earning gold in game. Average players probably won’t be, unless their expectations are modest. Weaker players, definitely not. The system needs to be designed that way.
If you want to be able to get all your gems via in-game gold, then get better. Or stop complaining. Because there are plenty of players who find it easy enough. You just aren’t one of them.
Player driven, unfortunately. Players have to buy gems, and then sell them. Anet don’t actually sell gold.
Allegedly player driven. Sure, the shifts do make sense if it was player driven. But the truth is that we have no idea how ANET’s pricing algorithm works. It might not be working as intended.
Yeah, well, Snoring – you are allegedly a real player. How do I know you aren’t actually a sentient computer that’s been built by birthers and subsequently confused ArenaNet with the democratic party, hence your ill-informed distrust of their credibility?
When you can say at the same time “these are the facts as presented” and “they make perfect sense based on observed reality” but still refuse to accept the truth of something only because it hasn’t been -proved- to you … what proof would you accept, anyway? Odds are, if they showed you exactly what they are doing in raw code you still wouldn’t understand it. And the very next fool who refuses to accept any evidence save what they have personally witnessed would be no more persuaded by you than you are persuaded by anyone else. You seriously want A-net to explain this to every player individually?
Serious discussion only, please. Until there’s some reason to not believe them, it’s based on player driven decisions. When players trade gold for gems, the cost goes up. When they trade gems for gold, the cost goes down. With a healthy spread for A-net’s bottom line, as there should be.
Player driven, unfortunately. Players have to buy gems, and then sell them. Anet don’t actually sell gold.
Allegedly player driven. Sure, the shifts do make sense if it was player driven. But the truth is that we have no idea how ANET’s pricing algorithm works. It might not be working as intended.
It’s true that we don’t really know how it works, but the pricing trends do match what one would expect if they are player driven.
I’m one of those people that plays the game for fun, rather than with a concentration on identifying and grinding the most efficient gold making activities. I do resent that Arenanet have seemed to have abandoned one of the original design principles, which was that they wanted people to play the game in a natural way and earn the money/loot they needed along the way. There was great emphasis on parity between different styles of play. However, the game is what it is and I’m still enjoying it, even if I do get frustrated at the low rate at which I can earn currency in the game. (On a good day, I might earn 50 SP/hour, when all is said and done).
At the same time I’m struggling a long, I know that a number of people are farming the most efficient methods of earning gold and can boast of sitting on over 100 Gold, in some cases a lot more than that. The people with an over abundance of gold would start looking to trade some gold for gems in order to buy upgrades or anything else they like in game. For month one, I’m sure very few people felt they had enough excess gold to buy gems, but now with a number of people confident in their ability to rake in gold, I’m sure that the gold for gems trade has skyrocketed.
The initial exchange on day one for trading gems for gold was 100 Gems for 30 SP. It dipped a fair bit below that in the opening weeks, but now, as demand for gems in the gold for gem market increases it makes sense that the exchange rates would climb. I can now trade 100 Gems for about 1 Gold fairly reliably by watching the trends. Good for someone having an issue earning gold in game; fair for those with plenty of gold to exchange for gems; but a fairly raw deal for newer players or those who always seem starved for gold, who might be looking to buy an upgrade or two sans $$$Cash.
I like to support the game. I’ve maxed my bank vault upgrades and have bought other items here and there, but most often I find that the $10 I “contribute” to the game every couple weeks, or so, ends up being converted to gold. Understandably, I’m glad that the exchange rate has increased and seems to be doing so at a faster rate than Trading Post inflation on rare and exotic gear. However, yeah, it does limit access to the other side of the exchange for a number of players who don’t have the coin or the cash to cover the gold to gems exchange.
As time goes on, you will either need to have disposable income n game or IRL if you want to buy things from the gem Store. People who are lacking in both will be at a disadvantage.
As time goes on, you will either need to have disposable income n game or IRL if you want to buy things from the gem Store. People who are lacking in both will be at a disadvantage.
Now this is an entirely true and valid point. And truthfully, as a competitive player who does make gold hand over fist, I don’t want my gameplay to become unbalanced. I enjoy a competitive game with other players on equal footing. So finding a good balance here, where the cash shop is meaningful but if a player lacks access to if that isn’t game-breaking … that’s part of the art of good game design.
I’m very pleased to say I haven’t found the advantages that can be bought with cash and/or excessive gold to be game-changing. I wouldn’t want them to be. Fun, convenient, and a way of showing off? Sure. But when it comes to hitting a dungeon or going WvW, I want to be on equal footing with “poor” players also. And I am.
So I share your concern. But thus far, I think A-Net is managing it well. Even the gross cash sink of legendary weapons in game … they’re only pixels. Stats-wise they are identical to much cheaper weapons. So you can’t buy power with gold or real cash. Not to any meaningful degree, anyway. As it should be.
Most players who buy gems would rather get more gold for them.
Most players who buy gems would rather get more gold for them.
Well of course they would.
That’s like asking someone whether they would like their money to be free or to cost 10% of its value per bill. “Good day sir. Would you like more money for your money today?”
Player driven, unfortunately. Players have to buy gems, and then sell them. Anet don’t actually sell gold.
That’s not true,; Anet sells gold.
When you buy gems for 40$ from TP, you buy from Anet.
When you sell your gems for 40 gold, you sell to Anet.
Net result:
- you are out of 40$.
- Anet has 40$.
- you have 40 gold.
That is pure gold selling, no matter how you look at it.
Tallis – Perpetual newbie – Tarnished Coast.
Always carries a towel – Never panics – Eats cookies.
Always carries a towel – Never panics – Eats cookies.
@Tallis – You don’t even know how the exchange works, but at least you asked. See your other thread for an explanation.
The exchange rate of gems to gold is player driven. But yes, A-Net sells gems which have a value in gold. It’s a variable value, determined by player exchange, but a gold value nonetheless.
You seem to think there’s something nefarious in this. There isn’t. It’s a game that needs revenue. Any other game like this I’d expect to pay a subscription. I’m perfectly fine with A-Net making their money this way. Most everyone else seems fine with it too.
@Tallis :
Anet does not sell gold. Anet sells Gems. You can then exchange you gems for gold of another player.
Or at least that’s suposed to be the idea, although I am not a great fan of the black box around Gem/Gold converstion. I think gems could have been just like any other TP good. But I guess it would allow the guy with a lemon of 3800 gold to control the market by himself and that would not be so good maybe…
@OP
If you truly felt silver to gems was expensive, you’d be getting gems with RMT and selling for silver.
Like many predicted back when the game started, there’s really no reason the price of gems in gold will ever really decrease on a wide level. There are dips from time to time (after spikes, usually) but there’s no reason when gold can be created infinitely that gem prices won’t also continue to rise infinitely.
The downside of this is that newer or more casual players enter a market that is impossible to use. Gold builds so slowly that by the time you can afford gems for what you want, gem prices have risen out of your reach again. It’s an infinite chase.
The plus side of this is that hardcore players are rewarded for their efforts. Making lots of gold and making it early affords a wide range of perks cheaply and more easily. Additionally, Anet makes money. If you’ll never get the amount of gems you want via in-game gold, you’re even more tempted to buy gems with real money.
I suppose the theory is that once gem prices get too high, enough people will buy gems with real money and use that to purchase gold and drive the price of gems back down. I don’t really see that happening, though, since you can always make gold in-game at a pretty slow but steady rate. Unless gold becomes more valuable (or scarce), gems will always rise in price. Either way hurts casuals and new players and favors the hardcore / already rich.
I just feel bad for those casuals who got into the game thinking, “I’ll never need to spend real money to get all the stuff I want!” It’s just not going to happen.