Guild Wars 2

I think I see what you did, Mr Smith..
By informing us of the change in usefulness of these items as early as you did, many of us ran out to get these items at a low price with the plan to sell when the demand rose for an inflated price. But there were enough of us that it created a hidden stockpile that kept the market stable though this change, and prevented the inflation we were expecting.. Everything went up a bit, but not nearly as much as it should have and not nearly as long as it could have. It all re-stabilized rather quickly.

So on to the point of my post. You planned this, didn’t you? You manipulated us in to controlling the inflation our selves.

I assume you’re referring to the inflation that can be seen here (http://www.gw2spidy.com/item/19725 = Ancient Wood Log):

Mystic.5934:

I assume you’re referring to the inflation that can be seen here (http://www.gw2spidy.com/item/19725 = Ancient Wood Log):

Ive noticed that these went up too. But its still amazing that Orichalcum, Ecto’s and alot of T6’s didnt hyper inflate with that.

People have been stockpiling bags and items for the patch, this means that they have a lot of ecto and mats from that. I expect that the prices will slowly creep up over the coming week.

Lol I feel dumb, i knew this would happen but not this high.
Bought few k for 2-3s each and sold them for like 4.6s xD still profit but this would make me a lot more ._.

John is the all-seeing eye of Guild Wars…

I don’t if I should bother commenting anymore seeing as everything has become a sink of a sink. And rather insulting.

Don’t fixate on selling at the absolute peak of a market. Take what profit you decide is worthwhile at the time and don’t Monday morning quarterback yourself. Take some happiness at the knowledge that you didn’t buy at a peak. Life is a lot more relaxing that way.

You know what’s really brilliant though?

Introducing a gold sink in disguise by encouraging people to use or TP blues/greens rather than vendor them.

Way more brilliant than the dust/ecto salvage fix.

Vol.5241:

You know what’s really brilliant though?

Introducing a gold sink in disguise by encouraging people to use or TP blues/greens rather than vendor them.

Way more brilliant than the dust/ecto salvage fix.

Ive played a lot of MMO’s, but never one where the economy is as well controlled as it is on here.

Kallist.5917:

Vol.5241:

You know what’s really brilliant though?

Introducing a gold sink in disguise by encouraging people to use or TP blues/greens rather than vendor them.

Way more brilliant than the dust/ecto salvage fix.

Ive played a lot of MMO’s, but never one where the economy is as well controlled as it is on here.

That’s because the “other” MMOs don’t understand basic economics.

well, i bought 9 stack of ectoes long ago back when it was 19s, tried to sell it when it went to 27 for a brief before it went down again to 18s, so i had my ectoes selling price locked at 27s.. recently it went up and sold for that price…

i could have made more now had i not sold them at 27s, but well, some you win, some you lose, in the end i still make profit….

I knew logs and ore were the building blocks for weps. So when they announced ascended weps I bought 8k+ ancient logs. I paid around 90c each. I had so many stacks though i couldn’t store them, so i decided to list them on the trading post as a way to store them for later/sell for top price. I didn’t want to pick a ridiculous price because i’d have to pay 5% of whatever i listed them for. I ended up choosing 4s, i figured they would prob go that high and would likely be close to the highest point, and i never expected them to go to 16s, 4 times my estimated high point. I can’t believe they went so high, and the amount of profit i missed. O-well it was still a great investment. I still have 1k ancient wood in my personal guild storage, for personal use.

If he was a clever man the precursors wouldn’t be 1000 gold.

Kallist.5917:

Mystic.5934:

I assume you’re referring to the inflation that can be seen here (http://www.gw2spidy.com/item/19725 = Ancient Wood Log):

Ive noticed that these went up too. But its still amazing that Orichalcum, Ecto’s and alot of T6’s didnt hyper inflate with that.

For good reason. One hardly needs Ori, Ecto and T6 for an ascended item. Whereas you need over a thousand iron or platinum, you can make do with less than 20 Ecto and Ori.

Which merely shows what a brilliant economist John Smith really is. The prices for worthless items got fixed and the ones that were more or less priced correctly are not involved in Ascended gear.

To mitigate even further, people have been salvaging greens and ascended like crazy since yesterday. Guess what those generate … Ori, Ecto, T6. More than enough to offset increased demand.

Mystic.5934:

I assume you’re referring to the inflation that can be seen here (http://www.gw2spidy.com/item/19725 = Ancient Wood Log):

That has nothing to do with inflation. It’s a simple offer/demand mechanic. However in a few days/weeks, will see a price stabilization both taking inflation and Offer/Demand Mechanics into consideration!

Facts:
- At the moment the patch will go live and the trading post is working, players will literally eat the new content as if there is no tomorrow. This highly increase the demand of the said items increases it’s overall price.

- After the initial rush, as the cost of gold haven’t risen(there was no added content , except the Champion farming to highly add large sums of money), the item prices will stabilize at a lower value than the spiked, but still a higher than the pre-patch values.

- Inflation may occur, due to the same item, now gives extra functionality, creating a higher interest on the item and therefor, increasing the amount of gold players are willing to pay for the item.

- John Smith is a good economist. Small changes and bam… that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

/cheers

marnick.4305:

Kallist.5917:

Mystic.5934:

I assume you’re referring to the inflation that can be seen here (http://www.gw2spidy.com/item/19725 = Ancient Wood Log):

Ive noticed that these went up too. But its still amazing that Orichalcum, Ecto’s and alot of T6’s didnt hyper inflate with that.

For good reason. One hardly needs Ori, Ecto and T6 for an ascended item. Whereas you need over a thousand iron or platinum, you can make do with less than 20 Ecto and Ori.

Which merely shows what a brilliant economist John Smith really is. The prices for worthless items got fixed and the ones that were more or less priced correctly are not involved in Ascended gear.

To mitigate even further, people have been salvaging greens and ascended like crazy since yesterday. Guess what those generate … Ori, Ecto, T6. More than enough to offset increased demand.

You would be right if not for the fact that you have to level up to 450 before you can even start working on Ascended items. In those, Ore, Ecto’s and T6’s are very important, as they will get you leveled up the cheapest with Discovery.

Mystic.5934:

I assume you’re referring to the inflation that can be seen here (http://www.gw2spidy.com/item/19725 = Ancient Wood Log):

What you’re seeing here is not inflation, it’s supply shock.

Gasoline.2570:

If he was a clever man the precursors wouldn’t be 1000 gold.

Luxury items aren’t meant for poor people in real life

Just as luxury items in a game aren’t meant for poor players

Vol.5241:

Gasoline.2570:

If he was a clever man the precursors wouldn’t be 1000 gold.

Luxury items aren’t meant for poor people in real life

Just as luxury items in a game aren’t meant for poor players

Yeah, as a rule most people log into a videogame to get fed the exact same crap they get in real life.

Oh wait…

MagnusLL.8473:

Vol.5241:

Gasoline.2570:

If he was a clever man the precursors wouldn’t be 1000 gold.

Luxury items aren’t meant for poor people in real life

Just as luxury items in a game aren’t meant for poor players

Yeah, as a rule most people log into a videogame to get fed the exact same crap they get in real life.

Oh wait…

Why play a game if everything is handed to you the moment you install the game and log-in? You want a legendary in your mail?

Vol.5241:

Why play a game if everything is handed to you the moment you install the game and log-in? You want a legendary in your mail?

First of all, there’s more than the binary state between “handed immediately” and “requiring 100 years to get”.

Second, we weren’t talking about time to get reward but how this game mirrors the (incredibly lousy IMO) real life situation of people having more money being able to get more stuff.

Besides that… in my specific case, yeah, I’d actually love an MMO which instantly gives me completely maxxed out characters with the click of a button (sorta like what happens in PvP here). My enjoyment of the game mostly stems from checking out how the various combinations of race/class/build/gear work at max level both against the mobs and against other players. This implies that to me any time spent reaching that point is wasted time.

I hoped GW2 could be this kind of game (the manifesto and all that) but it clearly changed the design fundamentals along the way. What annoys me the most is that this just makes it like the other 63248032800592843 grind-based MMOs out there, while I can’t for the life of me find ONE MMO designed the way I’d like it. And if you just look at the amount of complaints about grinds, I’m pretty sure there IS a market out there for players like me…

MagnusLL.8473:

Vol.5241:

Why play a game if everything is handed to you the moment you install the game and log-in? You want a legendary in your mail?

First of all, there’s more than the binary state between “handed immediately” and “requiring 100 years to get”.

Second, we weren’t talking about time to get reward but how this game mirrors the (incredibly lousy IMO) real life situation of people having more money being able to get more stuff.

Besides that… in my specific case, yeah, I’d actually love an MMO which instantly gives me completely maxxed out characters with the click of a button (sorta like what happens in PvP here). My enjoyment of the game mostly stems from checking out how the various combinations of race/class/build/gear work at max level both against the mobs and against other players. This implies that to me any time spent reaching that point is wasted time.

I hoped GW2 could be this kind of game (the manifesto and all that) but it clearly changed the design fundamentals along the way. What annoys me the most is that this just makes it like the other 63248032800592843 grind-based MMOs out there, while I can’t for the life of me find ONE MMO designed the way I’d like it. And if you just look at the amount of complaints about grinds, I’m pretty sure there IS a market out there for players like me…

Let me get this right, you bought a game know for his way of telling histories and you think any time spent playing the game you bought is wasted time? If you read/watch the manifesto you can clearly see the game was not meant for you, this game was build to apeal to more casual/mature RPGMMO crowd who can’t spent all their time playing but can play a little everyday.
There is a market for people who likes to PVP for the sake of PVP but before you buy a game research about that game or at least stop QQ in the forums because the game wasn’t designed for you.
Sorry for the bad english i hopeyou guys can understand it.

MagnusLL.8473:

Vol.5241:

Why play a game if everything is handed to you the moment you install the game and log-in? You want a legendary in your mail?

First of all, there’s more than the binary state between “handed immediately” and “requiring 100 years to get”

I’ve made 6 legendaries in the year of the game’s existence. Truth is it takes 4 months to craft a legendary, assuming you target one of the expensive ones AND take your time going about it. I don’t assume people are going to play at my level and get theirs in two months, but 4-6 months for a legendary is doable even for a casual.

MagnusLL.8473:

Vol.5241:

Why play a game if everything is handed to you the moment you install the game and log-in? You want a legendary in your mail?

First of all, there’s more than the binary state between “handed immediately” and “requiring 100 years to get”.

Second, we weren’t talking about time to get reward but how this game mirrors the (incredibly lousy IMO) real life situation of people having more money being able to get more stuff.

Besides that… in my specific case, yeah, I’d actually love an MMO which instantly gives me completely maxxed out characters with the click of a button (sorta like what happens in PvP here). My enjoyment of the game mostly stems from checking out how the various combinations of race/class/build/gear work at max level both against the mobs and against other players. This implies that to me any time spent reaching that point is wasted time.

I hoped GW2 could be this kind of game (the manifesto and all that) but it clearly changed the design fundamentals along the way. What annoys me the most is that this just makes it like the other 63248032800592843 grind-based MMOs out there, while I can’t for the life of me find ONE MMO designed the way I’d like it. And if you just look at the amount of complaints about grinds, I’m pretty sure there IS a market out there for players like me…

You are playing an MMO genre. What that genre has almost always includes the following:
-gear
-skills
-levels/exp
-a progression system

So let’s talk about progression.
You have gear on one side of the spectrum ( basic) for players who don’t want to pay kitten. That kind of gear is very easy to acquire.

Then you have gear on the opposite side of the spectrum (ascended/legendary) for players who want to pay up. That gear is hard to acquire and is only reserved for a small % of players. It’s gear meant for players who are willing and dedicated enough to spend the gold and time to acquire it.

So you won’t have sympathy from me when you want to pursue the highest tier of gear but don’t want to pay for it. in time and/or gold. You just don’t deserve it.

You don’t want to pay 1000G for a precursor? Fine. But you have a great alternative in stats in terms of ascended mats. Right now it’ll cost you about 400G (at inflated prices). Seems reasonable, yes?

And let’s talk about your comment about “grind”. You know why you have yet to find an MMO designed the way you like it? Because your expectations for an MMO are unreasonably absurd and ridiculous.

The concept of a “grindless” MMO, I presume, is an MMO where you can do one activity and never have to do it again. Have you taken a step back and realized how absurd that is? MMO’s cost money and development costs time. There will never be an MMO where grinding is NOT an option. You WILL have to do things several times over and over because that’s the realistic nature of games.

Vol.5241:

The concept of a “grindless” MMO, I presume, is an MMO where you can do one activity and never have to do it again. Have you taken a step back and realized how absurd that is? MMO’s cost money and development costs time. There will never be an MMO where grinding is NOT an option. You WILL have to do things several times over and over because that’s the realistic nature of games.

I will skip the petty personal insults [quite pointless in my case btw, I have >800g on my account plus a few hundred more in investments, I could craft a Twilight in the next 2 days if I so wanted], and just focus on this last part.

MMOs are nothing new in the videogame department. They are, almost point for point, a 3d graphic version of the old textual MUDs.
Basically just about every current MMO is based on Dikumuds – a family of muds based on combat, statistics, and D&D-derivative systems.

The difference between MUDs and MMOs is that MUDs evolved quite quickly in a lot of different directions – Dikus were certainly among the most popular but you also had stuff like Tinymuds, LPmuds etc. which were quite divergent from Dikus. Hell, even between Dikus themselves you could find a much broader variation of what you can find between MMOs.

MMOs are much more stagnant simply because there’s lots of money involved, and that makes people nervous of trying to go off the beaten path. But, albeit at a much slower pace, they will evolve, too.

Up until a few years ago, you’d be brutally penalized for dying in the (then current) MMOs. It was a point of design which was considered obvious and non-negotiable; after all, if death’s penalty is minimal, what’s the point of even playing at all? No risk, no adrenaline rush, right?
Then MMOs started taking an hint from some of their textual predecessors (which saw a similar evolution) and nowadays most of the triple-A titles wouldn’t even DREAM of making you lose all your gear AND set you in the hole for millions of XPs whenever you die.

The “grind is non negotiable in MMO” tenet will end up the same way. It might take several more years, but it WILL happen. The fact you cannot fathom how such a game can work, doesn’t mean it’s not possible; not only it’s perfectly possible, it has already been done (albeit in non graphical form) DECADES ago.

Calae.1738:

Kallist.5917:

Vol.5241:

You know what’s really brilliant though?

Introducing a gold sink in disguise by encouraging people to use or TP blues/greens rather than vendor them.

Way more brilliant than the dust/ecto salvage fix.

Ive played a lot of MMO’s, but never one where the economy is as well controlled as it is on here.

That’s because the “other” MMOs don’t understand basic economics.

Those “other” MMOs also don’t tie stings to your hands and feet and scream “Move puppet! Move over here now!”

John Smith.4610:

Isaiah Cartwright and Linsey Murdock put a lot of work into this and they are the ones that deserve your praise.

I’m happy that you are liking the new content!

Would you provide us some data to substantiate those claims?

Just kidding

Thanks all around & the efforts appreciated.

Nike Porphyrogenita.8137:

I’ve made 6 legendaries in the year of the game’s existence. Truth is it takes 4 months to craft a legendary, assuming you target one of the expensive ones AND take your time going about it. I don’t assume people are going to play at my level and get theirs in two months, but 4-6 months for a legendary is doable even for a casual.

Kallist.5917:

Vol.5241:

You know what’s really brilliant though?

Introducing a gold sink in disguise by encouraging people to use or TP blues/greens rather than vendor them.

Way more brilliant than the dust/ecto salvage fix.

Ive played a lot of MMO’s, but never one where the economy is as well controlled as it is on here.

I’m sorry but I do not agree, the economy of Guild Wars 2 is pretty simple, and I struggle to define well-controlled an economy that create a monstrous inflation in one night. Among others things, the new crafting system creates a strong and irrational discrimination between players. You use sword and staff? Good luck, you have to raise two crafting skill; you use sword and greatsword? Is you lucky day, Linsey Murdock decided that you can save a lot of money).

However, if you want to see a game with a well done economic system just buy Eve Online, since it is even the subject of university studies.

Nike Porphyrogenita.8137:

I’ve made 6 legendaries in the year of the game’s existence. Truth is it takes 4 months to craft a legendary, assuming you target one of the expensive ones AND take your time going about it. I don’t assume people are going to play at my level and get theirs in two months, but 4-6 months for a legendary is doable even for a casual.

Yep. I made each of my first two in three months each, and the third looks to be on track for the same, though I am acquiring my t6 mats more prudently, this time around.

1. Dreamer
2. Twilight
3. Kudzu

Allisa Wonderland.8192:

Nike Porphyrogenita.8137:

I’ve made 6 legendaries in the year of the game’s existence. Truth is it takes 4 months to craft a legendary, assuming you target one of the expensive ones AND take your time going about it. I don’t assume people are going to play at my level and get theirs in two months, but 4-6 months for a legendary is doable even for a casual.

Yep. I made each of my first two in three months each, and the third looks to be on track for the same, though I am acquiring my t6 mats more prudently, this time around.

1. Dreamer
2. Twilight
3. Kudzu

It’s all about how ones goes about it. If they have starting capitol and play the tp it could possibly take very little time. If they want to directly farm everything themselves and don’t have luck on their side it can possibly never happen. I was closer to the latter until I broke down and bought a precursor after almost 4k hours and countless forge attempts/world bosses/dungeons/fractals trying to get one.

That was something that I really disliked. That if I wanted a legendary I had to use the trading post. I am still throwing things into the forge to no avail. Considering it a valid option would be like assuming I’d win the lottery……it’s not a realistic option.

This game pushes players towards the trading post. If one wants rewards actual game play plays second fiddle to it. That direction is a mistake imo.

Edeor.9720:

Kallist.5917:

Vol.5241:

You know what’s really brilliant though?

Introducing a gold sink in disguise by encouraging people to use or TP blues/greens rather than vendor them.

Way more brilliant than the dust/ecto salvage fix.

Ive played a lot of MMO’s, but never one where the economy is as well controlled as it is on here.

I’m sorry but I do not agree, the economy of Guild Wars 2 is pretty simple, and I struggle to define well-controlled an economy that create a monstrous inflation in one night. Among others things, the new crafting system creates a strong and irrational discrimination between players. You use sword and staff? Good luck, you have to raise two crafting skill; you use sword and greatsword? Is you lucky day, Linsey Murdock decided that you can save a lot of money).

However, if you want to see a game with a well done economic system just buy Eve Online, since it is even the subject of university studies.

The economy is essentially bunk without the ability to buy BIS weapons on the BLTC.

John Smith.4610:

Isaiah Cartwright and Linsey Murdock put a lot of work into this and they are the ones that deserve your praise.

I’m happy that you are liking the new content!

And he even spreads around the glory while cleverly covering himself in case something goes wrong. Genius XD

Vol.5241:

You know what’s really brilliant though?

Introducing a gold sink in disguise by encouraging people to use or TP blues/greens rather than vendor them.

Way more brilliant than the dust/ecto salvage fix.

in the long run it will even out once people get more magic find

could i question an economy in wich cutting a tree that won t attack back gets you more profit than fractal 79?

economy is fine only if you don t look at the game, oterwyse its just a mess.

morrolan.9608:

The economy is essentially bunk without the ability to buy BIS weapons on the BLTC.

Plenty of legendaries for sale on the BLTC if you’re so inclined.

LordByron.8369:

could i question an economy in wich cutting a tree that won t attack back gets you more profit than fractal 79?

economy is fine only if you don t look at the game, oterwyse its just a mess.

That’s a very interesting point.

LordByron.8369:

could i question an economy in wich cutting a tree that won t attack back gets you more profit than fractal 79?

economy is fine only if you don t look at the game, oterwyse its just a mess.

Yeah, T6 trees on your map are basically “push a button and gain 30+ silver” but even low tier stuff can make nice coin since its so plentiful. Gummo trees can give like 5-10s each and theyre everywhere. It makes 1g dungeon rewards even more laughable.

These prices won’t last but I don’t see them dropping too far especially during SAB.

Dromar.1027:

Vol.5241:

You know what’s really brilliant though?

Introducing a gold sink in disguise by encouraging people to use or TP blues/greens rather than vendor them.

Way more brilliant than the dust/ecto salvage fix.

in the long run it will even out once people get more magic find

I very much doubt that. There will always be demand for blue/greens and as such it’ll be better to sell on TP than vendor.

LordByron.8369:

could i question an economy in wich cutting a tree that won t attack back gets you more profit than fractal 79?

Apparently that’s the price it needs to be to get people out of fractals to go cut down trees.

Hey, people wanted to farm, so now they can farm… and mine…

Kallist.5917:

I think I see what you did, Mr Smith..
By informing us of the change in usefulness of these items as early as you did, many of us ran out to get these items at a low price with the plan to sell when the demand rose for an inflated price. But there were enough of us that it created a hidden stockpile that kept the market stable though this change, and prevented the inflation we were expecting.. Everything went up a bit, but not nearly as much as it should have and not nearly as long as it could have. It all re-stabilized rather quickly.

So on to the point of my post. You planned this, didn’t you? You manipulated us in to controlling the inflation our selves.

No. This would have happened even without the blog post. This scenario always happens when it involves updates like this.

Ensign.2189:

LordByron.8369:

could i question an economy in wich cutting a tree that won t attack back gets you more profit than fractal 79?

Apparently that’s the price it needs to be to get people out of fractals to go cut down trees.

Who got benefit from this course of events:

- speculators
- lumberjacks

Who got damaged
- Fractal runners
- WWW players

Dear Mr John will you someday consider that normal players who plays the game are paying NOT only all the price of deflation, but also a huge margin that will end in the speculator s pocket.

Fractal players are forced to pay the toll to get back to what they “like to play” (citation).

I think you should find something more fair to keep deflation in check and ecourage less speculators…as its now despite global economy may work, if you look who pays the deflation is a mess

Thank you.

LordByron.8369:

I think you should find something more fair to keep deflation in check and ecourage less speculators…as its now despite global economy may work, if you look who pays the deflation is a mess

Thank you.

You’re talking to the wrong guy, you should be addressing it to Colin Johanson or Mike O’Brien. John Smith is only doing the job he is paid to do.

The issue is with the game design of having a sandbox style TP in a theme park game. The aims of the 2 are contradictory as can be seen every time anet intervenes and manipulates or affects the game economy.

LordByron.8369:

Ensign.2189:

LordByron.8369:

could i question an economy in wich cutting a tree that won t attack back gets you more profit than fractal 79?

Apparently that’s the price it needs to be to get people out of fractals to go cut down trees.

Who got benefit from this course of events:

- speculators
- lumberjacks

Who got damaged
- Fractal runners
- WWW players

Dear Mr John will you someday consider that normal players who plays the game are paying NOT only all the price of deflation, but also a huge margin that will end in the speculator s pocket.

Fractal players are forced to pay the toll to get back to what they “like to play” (citation).

I think you should find something more fair to keep deflation in check and ecourage less speculators…as its now despite global economy may work, if you look who pays the deflation is a mess

Thank you.

There are more people than that getting damaged by this hyper-inflated economy.

BilboBaggins.5620:

There are more people than that getting damaged by this hyper-inflated economy.

Keeping in check inflation is a good thing

Keeping in check inflation feeding speculators is a huge damage to the game worse than gold inflation.

The systen they are using to keep inflation in check is making few people absurdely rich and most people too poor.

preventing inflation is not enough…..the first thing to do to keep a mmorpg economy fair is leveling somehow wealth.
Too much stuff is getting out of range of normal players…..while few rich ones that doesn t even play tha game have many.

tolunart.2095:

Hey, people wanted to farm, so now they can farm… and mine…

Now, queue up Monty Pythons’s song, “I’m a Lumberjack, and that’s ok”
Lol!

LordByron.8369:

Who got benefit from this course of events:

- speculators
- lumberjacks

Who got damaged
- Fractal runners
- WWW players

Dear Mr John will you someday consider that normal players who plays the game are paying NOT only all the price of deflation, but also a huge margin that will end in the speculator s pocket.

Fractal players are forced to pay the toll to get back to what they “like to play” (citation).

I think you should find something more fair to keep deflation in check and ecourage less speculators…as its now despite global economy may work, if you look who pays the deflation is a mess

Please, tell me who are the normal players ??

Fractals was introduced to give you gear grinders something to do. Imo, fractal players are far from the normal players in this game.

Not sure who WvW was designed for but the current version is deathly boring. Some seem to enjoy this, however I do not consider these as normal players.

I only play PvE. I have harvested my kitten off since game launch while playing the PvE content with all the crappy nerfed drops, DR, RNG, etc.

Now, finally, my efforts are being rewarded and you are complaining because your game choices are not paying off??

Sorry, but I have no sympathy for you.