Guild Wars 2

I used to get 1-3 silvers as a reward of doing a heart in level 60-80 zones when 100 gems was costing 2 golds. Today exchanging gold for 100 gems is almost 10 golds, but doing the same heart still gives 1-3 silvers. The same goes for dungeon or WvW or fractal rewards.
Just saying doing a heart in level 80 should at least give 50 silvers….

Merchant prices for goods like Salvage kits are the same since the game went live. So are prices for how much Gems costs. $50 still buys me 4,000 Gems. The Gem Exchange rate for Gold → Gems is due to player demand, so if you don’t like the high exchange costs, consider using your credit card instead.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Merchant prices for goods like Salvage kits are the same since the game went live. So are prices for how much Gems costs. $50 still buys me 4,000 Gems. The Gem Exchange rate for Gold -> Gems is due to player demand, so if you don’t like the high exchange costs, consider using your credit card instead.

I think you are missing the broader point. It’s not just about whether to buy gems with gold or with real money.

It’s about the concept of inflation in general. This game (like most MMOs) has a complex economy that is subject to inflation. The price of all kinds of items and materials are subject to inflation, not just gems.

And, if inflation runs rampant, but mission rewards stagnate… there is less incentive to actually complete those missions (from a financial perspective).

It’s like being stuck in a real world job that hasn’t given you a raise in 2 years, despite the cost of everything in your life steadily rising from inflation. Should you keep that job, or find one that pays more?

Same with in-game rewards. If they remain stagnant, while prices of good rise, are people going to keep doing them? Well, some are just for the fun of it, of course, but many others will just ignore those missions/events/etc because they just aren’t worth doing.

You brought up an interesting point about in-game vendor prices staying the same. What if some sort of algorithm was devised that calculated all in-game rewards and vendor prices, to stay commensurate with inflation?

Not that I have any idea how one would make such an algorithm, or if it is even possible. Just spit-balling.

This game’s gold rewards are based more on drops which get salvaged, then TP’d — not event rewards. Item drops are more prolific now than at launch — mostly due to Champion bags, but also world boss chests and even JP chests. Inflation also affects the gold you get for selling salvaged mats. That’s how the game keeps up with inflation. If you’re basing your gold gain solely on event rewards, you will fall behind.

While I do agree that getting 1 silver for an event in a high level zone feels a bit insulting, you’re also neglecting other sources of income. That new player starting out may only get 50 copper from an event or Heart, but he could also just stroll over to a tree, chop it down, and he’s just earned over 1 silver in less than 3 seconds. Prices have gone up, but so have prices for commodities, and the new player’s earning power has also vastly increased by way of being able to sell these commodities.

That is because increasing currency game rewards with inflation would just cause more inflation and you will be back where you started except on a larger scale.

if the heart’s reward get higher, people will have more gold to buy gem, which will increase gem’s price and tp’s stuff (law of supply and demand), in turn, getting the inflation worse, causing more QQ like this in forum. Anet trying to create gold sink to reduce or slow down inflation, and here you are, suggesting something completely the opposite.

On the other hand it is also easier to make cash now…..

I was speaking with a friend the other day who mentioned to me that I was lucky to buy my commander tag back in the day when it was only 100 gold now that it is 300.

I had to remind said friend it’s easier to make gold now, you get wvw lvl up chests now, as well as champ lootbags, PvP chests, go farm tier 5 trees for clusters, etc etc.

So as another mentioned, things in game are easier to buy (culture armour is a good example, remember how high 120 gold used to seem?) but when it comes to trading for gems that will always depend on supply/demand.

John Smith.4610:

Astraea.6075:

Another question for John:

What do you see as the main challenges/risks faced by MMO economies, and how well do you think GW2’s economy has fared against these?

The standard challenge is always hyper-inflation. I would argue that GW2 has tackled this challenge very, very successfully.

Second, a major risk is cartels controlling your economy(ies) and I would argue that we’ve done an excellent job there as well.