Illusionary Ally [TFD]
Devona’s Rest
This post isn’t a rant about crafting and how you can’t make money at it, it’s entirely about how crafting raw material into an item and that item selling for less than the same amount of raw material would sell. This is not about the trading post, but about the selling to actual vendors.
Whenever you look at other games crafting systems one thing is clearly noticed, you can make money by crafting. While most of their systems do not actually increase adventuring experience I don’t see how that is enough to make up the sheer fact that if you do actually craft you are loosing money.
The flaw that clearly shows is:
Example:
For a working crafting economy you must at least be able to craft an item and get the same price for the item as the number of raw materials as it takes to put into the item. Right now clearly this isn’t the case, I gave two very clear examples as to how its not.
What prices should be:
This isn’t about nit picking or about taking cheap shots at the developers it is to point out the mistake so that we can get it resolved. Discuss.
Its really quite simple:
In other games, you cant use crafting as the sole means to get to lvl 80.
This is what happens in GW2, many people dont want to level their alts by questing so they craft to get the exp, causing a huge demand for all the mats but in return this causes an over supply of completed pieces that nobody wants to buy besides to salvage into more materials. The price of these completed pieces is usually directly equal to the price of the mats you can salvage from it.
When Anet decided to add the amount of exp they did to crafting and the fact that anyone can learn any craft and master it easily, they effectively made it almost impossible to make money from crafting unless you find the right market, which no one in their right mind will say for fear of losing profits. Is it flawed? I wouldnt say so, Anet just didnt want people to be making money off it I guess.
Making money off crafting always seemed weird to me. That means you coul just buy mats from the TP and instantly turn them into more money you had to begin with. It takes almost no effort on your part.
The only way such a system can work is if crafting was very difficult to max out(or if certain recipes were rare) or if the actual process of crafting involved a certain amount of time and effort, maybe like a minigame.
But it seems pretty logical to me that you can’t make money by clicking buy, clicking craft and then clicking sell.
This post isn’t a rant about crafting and how you can’t make money at it…
Whenever you look at other games crafting systems one thing is clearly noticed, you can make money by crafting.
This reply isn’t about how your OP was contradictory, but the one thing that is clear is that you contradicted yourself in your post.
But in all seriousness, they never meant for it to be profitable. It’s just another source to get max gear stats. If you don’t like RNG, dungeons, or WvW, you can craft and get the same gear stat wise.
Also, Anet does not set the prices. The set the drop rates which in turn set the prices. Saying what prices should be doesn’t really do anything. It’s up to us, as a free market (aside from minimum selling prices) to set the prices.
As a previous poster mentioned, it has to do with people using crafting to level. If there weren’t anybody purely buying raw mats, making gear, and selling gear, then you would have more mats available and less gear.
The effort to turn raw materials into finished products must have a cost associated with it if crafting is to be profitable.
Since the goal is to raise the gold value of the finished product, incurring a goldbased cost is irrelevant. Similarly, any other currency is equally useless. You need either specialization or time to produce a non-gold based value.
I don’t see a viable solution, as the value added to raw materials by the act of crafting is really non-existant, given how common crafters are.
Also, Anet does not set the prices. The set the drop rates which in turn set the prices. Saying what prices should be doesn’t really do anything. It’s up to us, as a free market (aside from minimum selling prices) to set the prices.
I’m pretty sure he’s talking about vendor prices, not TP prices. Which is easily explained with exp gain anyway….
Also, Anet does not set the prices. The set the drop rates which in turn set the prices. Saying what prices should be doesn’t really do anything. It’s up to us, as a free market (aside from minimum selling prices) to set the prices.
I’m pretty sure he’s talking about vendor prices, not TP prices. Which is easily explained with exp gain anyway….
If vendor prices were adjusted, the player market would move in stride. You will not see profitability result from price floors created by increased vendor offerings, you’ll just see higher prices, as players are now prevented from selling below that price.
Shifting prices is nothing that routine inflation doesn’t already do.
Edit: To clarify, the vendor price of raw materials is irrelevant, only the player-market price (where they can actually be purchased for use) is relevant. Items either have a non-trivial value, or are valued at approximately the vendor rate (the trivial case). Changing the vendor rate only shifts the trivial point, but does not increase teh value of the consumed product.
If the cost of generated products were based on the vendor rates of the component products, you would actually encourage more people to pursue the crafts, driving up the prices of raw materials even more. If I can’t convince people to buy weak potions for 4c each, why should I expect people to pay 45c? When the value is already trivial and I am only making it for skill, this trivial price point is what prevents me from creating an overabundant supply, while forcing me to lose enough coin that I cannot just sit and craft constantly.
(edited by Fildydarie.1496)
This post isn’t a rant about crafting and how you can’t make money at it…
Whenever you look at other games crafting systems one thing is clearly noticed, you can make money by crafting.This reply isn’t about how your OP was contradictory, but the one thing that is clear is that you contradicted yourself in your post.
I didn’t contradicted myself, I never stated that we should make money off crafting. I was just wondering the concept behind why whenever you craft an item with raw material you can sell that raw material to a VENDOR for more than the finished product.
This about gaining experience stuff, is just lame. No person in their right mind in real life or in any fantasy land would create an item just to sell the finished product for less than they could get out of raw materials.
This about gaining experience stuff, is just lame. No person in their right mind in real life or in any fantasy land would create an item just to sell the finished product for less than they could get out of raw materials.
You dont seem to understand, with the amount of exp thats given, youre not supposed to make money off of it. Did you think they wanted you to be able to level to 80 AND make profit? That doesnt make sense at all.
Find a niche that will make you money or forget about crafting for money, its as simple as that.
Edit: To clarify, the vendor price of raw materials is irrelevant, only the player-market price (where they can actually be purchased for use) is relevant. Items either have a non-trivial value, or are valued at approximately the vendor rate (the trivial case). Changing the vendor rate only shifts the trivial point, but does not increase the value of the consumed product.
When the value is already trivial and I am only making it for skill, this trivial price point is what prevents me from creating an overabundant supply, while forcing me to lose enough coin that I cannot just sit and craft constantly.
The bold section of this is inaccurate. You wouldn’t be able to constantly craft but, a few items. Once you out leveled the items you would be in the same boat as everyone else, you have two choices you either harvest your resources or you buy them off the trading post.
At this moment in time crafting is not worth it in any aspect unless you are searching for legendaries, in which case I am not. I don’t care about having the best of the best gear, I enjoy playing my own way which is experiencing every bit of the game so why should I be punished by crafting versus killing creatures. I can do both just as effectively, but I lose money one way but, make money another….just doesn’t add up.
As a hobby, I make armor.
We’re talking real-life armorsmith/leatherworking/tailoring.
I’m not very good at it, and it can be very expensive (until I can justify the cost of a CNC plasma cutter, I’m not going to be working on plate armor).
Most of all, I do this because it is fun—I enjoy working with my hands, and I love the act of creating something that will bring joy to another.
I sell some of what I produce. I charge primarily for raw materials, but given how inefficiently I use the cloth and leather I have, and the number of botched attempts at some pieces, I charge below my cost.
So, yes, I craft things in real-life and sell them below cost, to subsidize the cost of increasing my skill while simutaneously enjoying the basic actions. And I am in my right mind.
@GamerToukotsu.4219: Once I out-level one item, I move on to the next. Raw materials, in case you hadn’t noticed, tend to be very cheap. Many sell at the trivial point, and we’re talking the baseline materials form which it is proposed other materials be priced. I can buy plenty of these effortlessly and use them to skill up (look at artificer, especially). The finished product from these is worth 10c to a vendor currently (5×2c). I lose money doing this. A lot. But I gain skill. If the finished product could be sold at cost, I would have skilled up much faster.
I don’t see how there is a design flaw when I gained something (experience, finished product) for a cost (raw materials). The finished product is valueless in most cases, and can jsut be cut from the cost of the raw materials since it will just be sold. As the coin value of the result approaches the cost, the cost to gain that experience drops. If potions were worth more, I would have 5 400-level artificers, rest assured of that. Ditto for cooking.
This about gaining experience stuff, is just lame. No person in their right mind in real life or in any fantasy land would create an item just to sell the finished product for less than they could get out of raw materials.
How is it lame and not in the right mind to save hours upon hours of grinding?
This about gaining experience stuff, is just lame. No person in their right mind in real life or in any fantasy land would create an item just to sell the finished product for less than they could get out of raw materials.
How is it lame and not in the right mind to save hours upon hours of grinding?
Not the fact that you gain experience but, the fact that gaining the experience reduces the amount of money you get from vendors, is what I was talking about.
Not the fact that you gain experience but, the fact that gaining the experience reduces the amount of money you get from vendors, is what I was talking about.
Its an extremely good trade-off and well worth it in my opinion. There are tons of ways to get gold in this game but crafting is the only way of leveling extremely fast and efficiently.
This about gaining experience stuff, is just lame. No person in their right mind in real life or in any fantasy land would create an item just to sell the finished product for less than they could get out of raw materials.
Oh, the real life. Well, then play real life. Seriously. /imply logic If you could sell the finished item for the same price as the raw materials, you would literally be getting exp for free. Right not the difference in price is basically what you pay to level up. You don’t like it? Easy, don;t do it. But it makes perfect sense.
You can make money crafting up. It’s not even hard, but it’s also not formulaic. You see, you are competing with everyone else who is trying to make money (except the people who are just grinding up).
Here’s my very long answer to this thread, in a similar thread: http://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/game/crafting/How-can-crafting-be-made-profitable/first#post672289
You can make money crafting up. It’s not even hard, but it’s also not formulaic. You see, you are competing with everyone else who is trying to make money (except the people who are just grinding up).
Here’s my very long answer to this thread, in a similar thread: http://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/game/crafting/How-can-crafting-be-made-profitable/first#post672289
The topic is still about vendoring items and not player trades.
The topic is still about vendoring items and not player trades.
Buried somewhere towards the end of that post was a comment on why they’re not going to remove the XP gain from crafting — it will force the people who want to just craft into PvE or PvP. Being able to level up from just crafting was one of the selling points of the game, so it won’t get removed.
If they’re not going to remove XP, then they have to balance PvP, PvE, and crafting for rewards/time. Crafting is pretty fast, they would have to slow crafting down in order to balance an increase in the gold reward, since they are not going to lower xp.
Unless they do something clever, like turning crafting into minigames, increasing time will just make it a lot more boring and grindy. That goes against their whole design philosophy and one of the major selling points. It’s not gonna happen.
All this type of XP and the Trading Post, yet very little as to why vendor prices are messed up. The OP is simply saying that one ingot should vend for the same amount as two ore should vend (with a couple ingots could be more due to them needing a vendor mat to be made). There’s no “crafting for profit” in this. I should be able to gather 500 ore and vend it for the same as if I took that 500 ore and made 250 ingots. If the Trading Post truly matched the vendor pricing, then the ingots would be less than the ore needed to make them. But the ingots are more, and if they sell well (I’ve never tried), you could actually make minor profit. Case and point, TP Orichalcum: Ore = 2.97, Ingot = 6.10, profit = 16 copper! Vendor: Ore and Ingot = 8 copper, loss = 8 copper! If you’re doing crafting for the XP, those ingots (pre orichalcum obviously) would then be all (or mostly) used up for crafting the other parts needed to level the craft. And most crafting for profit are aiming at end products, so again the ore gets used. So all-in-all the vendor price of said crafted part is kind of null as you wouldn’t (shouldn’t) be vendoring it anyway. Only time I see it slightly annoying is if you’ve made too many sigils/runes and want to just vend them to break even (but even then the TP often yields more).
So all-in-all the vendor price of said crafted part is kind of null as you wouldn’t (shouldn’t) be vendoring it anyway. Only time I see it slightly annoying is if you’ve made too many sigils/runes and want to just vend them to break even (but even then the TP often yields more).
Another scenario is if you need a quick few silver/gold and all you have are the second components, not the raws.
This post has nothing to do with the trading post, which everyone seems to think should be the center of attention. The trading post will adapt to the vendor prices, if you have vendor prices out of whack; the trading post will be out of whack. As for all the items on the trading post that aren’t selling, there is a simple answer to that—there is no demand for those items, which is different than what I am talking about.
If you could get the exact crafting price from a vendor for secondary mats that it cost to make the item, you have essentially gotten free xp which is what folks are trying to explain. It’s small scale in the line of logs, but if you buy 300 logs, make them into planks, and then sell them for the same 9s that you spent, you have just gotten xp and 20 crafting levels for free.
This post isn’t a rant about crafting and how you can’t make money at it…
Whenever you look at other games crafting systems one thing is clearly noticed, you can make money by crafting.This reply isn’t about how your OP was contradictory, but the one thing that is clear is that you contradicted yourself in your post.
I didn’t contradicted myself, I never stated that we should make money off crafting. I was just wondering the concept behind why whenever you craft an item with raw material you can sell that raw material to a VENDOR for more than the finished product.
This about gaining experience stuff, is just lame. No person in their right mind in real life or in any fantasy land would create an item just to sell the finished product for less than they could get out of raw materials.
Are you suggesting that we should be able to profit by selling finished items to an NPC vendor? Surely you see the problem with that idea. The sheer volume of currency generated from thin air would be poison to the economy. Why would you do anything but craft and sell to vendors all day until everyone had piles of gold the size of Mt. Everest?
As for selling on the TP, if a given item has so little value that it’s selling for less than the value of its materials, then you should not be crafting that item in the first place.
This post isn’t a rant about crafting and how you can’t make money at it…
Whenever you look at other games crafting systems one thing is clearly noticed, you can make money by crafting.This reply isn’t about how your OP was contradictory, but the one thing that is clear is that you contradicted yourself in your post.
I didn’t contradicted myself, I never stated that we should make money off crafting. I was just wondering the concept behind why whenever you craft an item with raw material you can sell that raw material to a VENDOR for more than the finished product.
This about gaining experience stuff, is just lame. No person in their right mind in real life or in any fantasy land would create an item just to sell the finished product for less than they could get out of raw materials.
Are you suggesting that we should be able to profit by selling finished items to an NPC vendor? Surely you see the problem with that idea. The sheer volume of currency generated from thin air would be poison to the economy. Why would you do anything but craft and sell to vendors all day until everyone had piles of gold the size of Mt. Everest?
As for selling on the TP, if a given item has so little value that it’s selling for less than the value of its materials, then you should not be crafting that item in the first place.
No, he’s not suggesting that. Read the beep topic before you beep post. It was explained 10 times by now. Seriously…
No, he’s not suggesting that. Read the beep topic before you beep post. It was explained 10 times by now. Seriously…
And yet…
OP“it’s entirely about how crafting raw material into an item and that item selling for less than the same amount of raw material would sell. This is not about the trading post, but about the selling to actual vendors.”
OP“I was just wondering the concept behind why whenever you craft an item with raw material you can sell that raw material to a VENDOR for more than the finished product.”
Seriously, it seems pretty clear what he’s saying. Perhaps you posted your reply to the wrong thread?
To be clear, selling crafted items to the vendor must be done at a loss. If you broke even then it would be free xp, and if you profited it would be horribly broken.
(edited by TravisTrout.6803)
If you could sell the finished item for the same price as the raw materials, you would literally be getting exp for free. Right now the difference in price is basically what you pay to level up.
This is the best answer yet.
Crafting is purely a means of getting experience, and a way to get top level gear without having to grind for it. I understand why you think you should be able to sell a finished product for at the very least the cost of the materials, and I would agree if there wasn’t the added benefit of the experience you get from crafting.
Think of it this way:
If you get experience by grind-killing mobs, your expense is time.
If you get experience by exploration, your expense is time.
If you level up by crafting, your expense is the cost difference between the raw materials and the finished product. If you could sell the finished product for the same price as the cost of materials, you would break even cost-wise. Without the loss of money, there would be virtually no cost associated with leveling up.
No, he’s not suggesting that. Read the beep topic before you beep post. It was explained 10 times by now. Seriously…
And yet…
OP“it’s entirely about how crafting raw material into an item and that item selling for less than the same amount of raw material would sell. This is not about the trading post, but about the selling to actual vendors.”
OP“I was just wondering the concept behind why whenever you craft an item with raw material you can sell that raw material to a VENDOR for more than the finished product.”
Seriously, it seems pretty clear what he’s saying. Perhaps you posted your reply to the wrong thread?
To be clear, selling crafted items to the vendor must be done at a loss. If you broke even then it would be free xp, and if you profited it would be horribly broken.
Yes, it is pretty clear. Not to you, obviously. So, I’ll make it simpler.
Ore A vendors for 5c.
2 x Ore A gives you Ingot A.
Ingot A vendors for 5c.
OP is asking how come Ingot A doesn’t vendor for 10c.
It was already explained(about 10 times) exactly what he means and exactly why he’s wrong. Yet, you decided to hop on the misunderstanding bandwagon with a “gold out of thin air” theory.
Now, keep reading this until it sinks in. Got it? Good.
snip
Yes, it is pretty clear. Not to you, obviously. So, I’ll make it simpler.
Ore A vendors for 5c.
2 x Ore A gives you Ingot A.
Ingot A vendors for 5c.
OP is asking how come Ingot A doesn’t vendor for 10c.It was already explained(about 10 times) exactly what he means and exactly why he’s wrong. Yet, you decided to hop on the misunderstanding bandwagon with a “gold out of thin air” theory.
Now, keep reading this until it sinks in. Got it? Good.
To make the point clearer, since lots of people still don’t get it.
Ore A vendors for 5c.
Demand for Ore A is low, so the price drops to 6c on the TP.
Buy Ore A for 6c, sell resulting ingot for 10c.
Nearly free XP, really fast, hurray!
Has this sunk in yet?
P.S., I remember buying a lot of Iron Ore for 3 or 4c off the TP, shortly after launch. It vendors for 3c, good thing the ingot didn’t go for 6c!
(edited by Daulnay.4971)
You get four things out of crafting:
But even if you discount the importance of the three things that aren’t the vendor/tp price, the main reason vendor prices are so low (relative to the opportunity costs of the inputs) is that it reduces inflation. If crafting always increased the value of the output goods, even by a small amount, the supply of gold in the game would increase even faster than it already does. And in the end, that’s bad for everyone (more so for new players, but also long-term players who don’t aim for maximum economic efficiency).
To make the point clearer, since lots of people still don’t get it.
Ore A vendors for 5c.
Demand for Ore A is low, so the price drops to 6c on the TP.
Buy Ore A for 6c, sell resulting ingot for 10c.
Nearly free XP, really fast, hurray!Has this sunk in yet?
P.S., I remember buying a lot of Iron Ore for 3 or 4c off the TP, shortly after launch. It vendors for 3c, good thing the ingot didn’t go for 6c!
So, basically, you buy smth for 12c and then vendor it for 10c. Yeah, that’’s economically sound in every way possible. Also, how selling 2 ores for 10c is in any way different from selling 1 ingot for 10c is beyond me.
The exp part was already fully discussed by those who didn’t fail at reading comprehension. It’s the “gold out of thin air”-part that makes you look stupid.
And, yes, your lack of basic understanding has become more than apparent.
It’s the XP per ingot, at a cost of 2c, that is the problem. If you craft ingots for xp, we want them to stay in the economy, not put on the vendor.
No, he’s not suggesting that. Read the beep topic before you beep post. It was explained 10 times by now. Seriously…
And yet…
OP“it’s entirely about how crafting raw material into an item and that item selling for less than the same amount of raw material would sell. This is not about the trading post, but about the selling to actual vendors.”
OP“I was just wondering the concept behind why whenever you craft an item with raw material you can sell that raw material to a VENDOR for more than the finished product.”
Seriously, it seems pretty clear what he’s saying. Perhaps you posted your reply to the wrong thread?
To be clear, selling crafted items to the vendor must be done at a loss. If you broke even then it would be free xp, and if you profited it would be horribly broken.
Yes, it is pretty clear. Not to you, obviously. So, I’ll make it simpler.
Ore A vendors for 5c.
2 x Ore A gives you Ingot A.
Ingot A vendors for 5c.
OP is asking how come Ingot A doesn’t vendor for 10c.It was already explained(about 10 times) exactly what he means and exactly why he’s wrong. Yet, you decided to hop on the misunderstanding bandwagon with a “gold out of thin air” theory.
Now, keep reading this until it sinks in. Got it? Good.
You’re using the ore to combine into an ingot and GAIN EXPERIENCE from it. In your example, you are paying 5c for a set amount of xp. If vendor prices were to follow in your example, you’re saying that the xp you gain from crafting is free.
This is why on the TP sometimes the ingot sells for around 2xOre-10%. People know that there is inherit value in the ore by way of extra XP.
This is why on the TP sometimes the ingot sells for around 2xOre-10%. People know that there is inherit value in the ore by way of extra XP.
To expand on this, why would I ever make and sell iron ingots?
Either I need the ingots or I don’t. If I need the ingots, I’ll use them. If I don’t need them, why would I make them in the first place. Doing so prevents exploration of alternate uses (iron ore is used to make steel and some potions, for example). There is an inherent flexibility in the raw material that creates value the refined materials lack. Right here we’ve established that refined products are generally worth less than raw materials due to the reduction in demand. We’re not talking a player-market demand, we’re talking about actual value of a good based on its properties. The raw materials, beign flexible, have values the finished product lacks. The vendor price is a control intended to reflect this.
For whatever reason, lets assume I have a stockpile of refined materials. Maybe I produced the material to save space, or I miscalculated my needs, or whatever. The vendor establishes a price floor. The reason that people keep bringing up the player market is because if there was any appreciable demand for these goods, the free market would dictate that non-trivial price. All the vendor does is fix the rate at a minimum in the absence of any real value.
If raw materials ever dropped in value enough to hit the vendor rate, if this idea were to be implemented the combination of low cost of materials and guaranteed break-even point would cause a large rush of practicioners looking for free experience.
when you factor in the player market, where prices are already higher, you’ll see that supply far outstrips demand for these materials, which is why the value is inherently low. Yes, I pay for the ability to raise my skill, to help keep my armor current, and at 400 armorsmithing, I can finally make items that have value aside from that which is forced by market controls.
You’re using the ore to combine into an ingot and GAIN EXPERIENCE from it. In your example, you are paying 5c for a set amount of xp. If vendor prices were to follow in your example, you’re saying that the xp you gain from crafting is free.
This is why on the TP sometimes the ingot sells for around 2xOre-10%. People know that there is inherit value in the ore by way of extra XP.
And, again, read the beep topic before you beep post. Not just 1 post, the whole thing.
You’re using the ore to combine into an ingot and GAIN EXPERIENCE from it. In your example, you are paying 5c for a set amount of xp. If vendor prices were to follow in your example, you’re saying that the xp you gain from crafting is free.
This is why on the TP sometimes the ingot sells for around 2xOre-10%. People know that there is inherit value in the ore by way of extra XP.
And, again, read the beep topic before you beep post. Not just 1 post, the whole thing.
Aww, somebody is mad. I’ve read the whole post and disagree with almost everything you and OP have said. I’m not going to apologize for letting the conversation zone in on something.
It is Anet’s decision that crafting isn’t meant to be profitable, and is mainly a source of XP along with an additional source for exotics.
Seems the majority of players like it that way
Aww, somebody is mad. I’ve read the whole post and disagree with almost everything you and OP have said. I’m not going to apologize for letting the conversation zone in on something.
It is Anet’s decision that crafting isn’t meant to be profitable, and is mainly a source of XP along with an additional source for exotics.
Seems the majority of players like it that way
Awww, somebody can’t read. How sad. And you disagree with what I said? So, you disagree that:
- the price difference is because of the exp gain
- if the price difference didn’t exist, vendoring ingots wouldn’t generate more gold than vendoring the raw materials.
You must know the game very good and have a degree in economics to reach such conclusion.
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