gems for gold and visa versa
Yeah, the ratio depends on the exchanges. Whenever they release anything cool in the gem store prices shoot way up. And I still remember back when it was a much more accessible 3 gold → 100 gems. New players are pretty much hosed if they want to get all of their rewards in game.
Personally, I think it shouldn’t have been allowed to go any higher than 10g → 100 gems.
It is simply supply and demand. There are simply not enough people that trade gems for gold in order to keep the price down.
ArenaNet shouldn’t artificially (directly) change that ratio.
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Piken Square
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Piken Square
Fun with math … using the numbers shown in the OP’s attachment…
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Currency_exchange
Gems for gold
Input 1706 gems
-15% Fee = 1450.1 gems
1450.1 / 250 = 5.8004
Thus, buying one gold costs 5.8004 gems
Gold for gems
Input 243.5006 gold
-15% fee = 206.9755
1200 / 206.9755 = 5.7978
Thus, 1 gold buys 5.7978 gems
Good enough for government work… working as intended.
(edited by IndigoSundown.5419)
- Around Halloween last year, the rate was as high as 20g/100 gems.
- The price dropped around Wintersday (people getting gem cards as gifts, probably). I advised people to buy at 15g/100.
- As late as February this year, I recommended 14g/100 and was able to pick up some for as low as < 13g/100.
- In March, prices spiked and then dropped.
- Since then, the rate has been unsteadily increasing. During that time, a lot of new items have been available in the gem shop. Also: popular returning items. Also: improved BL chest drops (always a popular item; changes to it always affect the gem rate).
tl;dr the only surprising thing IMO is that the rate was so low for so long. Plus, the higher the rate, the better it is for people who buy gems with cash, wanting to convert to gold and the harder it is for gold farmers to profit.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
It is simply supply and demand. There are simply not enough people that trade gems for gold in order to keep the price down.
ArenaNet shouldn’t artificially (directly) change that ratio.
See this is the problem I have with that. You see, they directly changed the ratio of people receiving items in game to affect the gold rate, what’s wrong with them limiting or putting a cap on what you can charge for the ratio? Why is one not an issue in these forums but the other is? smh
It’s not simply supply and demand when you have such a heavily influenced (aka regulated) gold system in the game. If it were at all a free market so to speak then there would be exactly 0 restrictions on loot but that’s not the case.
OP this is exactly what happens when you lose too many players, when one system is regulated but not the other, and when you have a system that gives such a huge advantage to whales rather than those who’ve actually spent the time earning their keep.
It becomes a huge imbalanced mess.
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First, ignore the values on the GW2Spidy charts, they have been wrong since last August.
The Gems to Gold is always near 72.25% of the Gold to Gems value.
From your screenshot.
Gems to Gold – 1706 gems buys you 250 gold. 1 gem is worth 0.1465 gold.
Gold to Gems – 2000 gems cost you 405.7769 gold. 1 gem is worth 0.2029 gold.
(250/1706)/(405.7769/2000) = 0.7223
Close enough for government work.
As for tigirius’s point the exchange is solely based on player activity. Yes ANet can influence that by introducing, removing or returning much sought after items at the gem shop and when they do it. I would not be surprised if the timing was based on the gold reserves of active players and using the rush to convert to gems as a means to sink/sequester that gold out of the general economy. The rate shoots up and now it’s more attractive to those with cash to by gems to convert to gold which brings the rate back down.
If what you are suggesting is true then the game has lost players who spend cash on gems while keeping or expanding the number of players who don’t. Capping or lowering that rate won’t bring back those buying gems with cash, just the opposite.
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RIP City of Heroes
It is simply supply and demand. There are simply not enough people that trade gems for gold in order to keep the price down.
ArenaNet shouldn’t artificially (directly) change that ratio.
See this is the problem I have with that. You see, they directly changed the ratio of people receiving items in game to affect the gold rate, what’s wrong with them limiting or putting a cap on what you can charge for the ratio? Why is one not an issue in these forums but the other is? smh
It’s not simply supply and demand when you have such a heavily influenced (aka regulated) gold system in the game. If it were at all a free market so to speak then there would be exactly 0 restrictions on loot but that’s not the case.
OP this is exactly what happens when you lose too many players, when one system is regulated but not the other, and when you have a system that gives such a huge advantage to whales rather than those who’ve actually spent the time earning their keep.
It becomes a huge imbalanced mess.
What do you mean by “whales” vs “those who…spent …time earning their keep?” What do you mean by “they directly changed the ratio of people receiving items in game to affect the gold rate”? What do you mean that “one system is regulating but not the other?” What do you mean by “this is what happens when you lose too many players?”
Everything you do in this game, aside from chatting, adds to your wealth. There are very, very few limits on earning gold. John Smith has stated time and again that the 1%ers (those with the most wealth) don’t have much influence on prices and what influence the have is transient and applies almost only to high-priced luxuries.
If the economy were as big a mess as you say, then there would be very little variation in prices. Instead, the value of T6 mats has been dropping (or at worst holding steady) for months; ecto prices are down; gem conversion rates dropped as low as 13g/100 gems or less; and the rate today isn’t any different from its peak in November of last year.
Further, people who spend RL cash on gems, intending to buy gold almost always think they are getting too little value for their dollars or euros, while those trying to get gem shop items without spending cash think the prices have been too high.
I don’t see any evidence that there is a problem with current rates, other than one of perspective: people remember how cheap it used to be, without remembering that it was more difficult to earn gold.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
I’m going to post this in a way that can be understood clearly by people who keep making these same threads complainng about buying gems.
You are getting something for free (as in, time investment only) from an in-game, premium cash shop while most games force you to pay real money for it.
… while most games force you to pay real money for it.
… pay real money for it.
Consider that very carefully for a moment.
Did you know that people complain over in the living world subforum that they have to buy living world season 2 even though it costs less than 40 gold per episode? That amount of gold takes about two hours in Silverwastes to make.
People in GW2 do not understand how lucky they are. If you have ever played other MMOs where you have to shell out 5 USD just for one “Transmutation Charge” and similar overpriced scams and cannot convert gold to premium currency (thus screwing over people who have no PayPal, credit card, etc.) then you would understand just how wonderful this game is in that regard.
The currency exchange also greatly cuts down on gold sellers! Because it gives people a legitimate way to buy gold that also benefits other players by lowering the exchange rate every time someone shells out 400 USD for a legendary.
Furthermore, people in some foreign countries only make 60 USD for an entire week’s salary, but the prices in online game cash shops do not change for them. They are forced to chose between buying a few days worth of food or some XP boosters. No joke. The currency exchange also helps to keep these people playing the game…
It is not a scam. ArenaNet is not trying to rip you off. They are not fixing prices.
The only thing I hate is that the black lion weapon skins are horrible RNG and they cannot be bought directly off the gemstore like alll other items. Although they end up stimulating the market as a result so I guess it works out.
Daisuki [SUKI] LGBT-Friendly Guild Leader | NA – Jade Quarry
I’m usually really sweet… but this an internet forum and you know how it has to be.
/i’m a lesbiab… lesbiam… less bien… GIRLS/
I’m usually really sweet… but this an internet forum and you know how it has to be.
/i’m a lesbiab… lesbiam… less bien… GIRLS/
(edited by Hannelore.8153)
Well, for starters we’re not exactly ‘lucky’. MMOs need as many players as they can get. If GW2 was less friendly to the ‘time rich, cash strapped’ crowd it’d probably just bleed players over time, go completely F2P and the remaining players would have a much worse experience. It is a good thing that this game was designed in such a way as to cater to a large audience, but I don’t think the current situation is idea.
I think the issue at hand is one of consistency. As the game ages it has become significantly harder to buy gems with gold, and I think that is the problem.