Guild Wars 2

let me start by saying,if there are any typos please ignore them, it’s been a long day at work.
i also want to say, i am a big fan of the guild wars series.
i think the team should be congratulated in progresing the way mmorpg’s are played and i really hope they read this.
there are some key issues which need to be addressed.
this isn’t a rant about pvp or dungeons or general gameplay, i love the game.
however, every game like this is dependant on an economy. now i’m not talking about karma which i think is a nice idea in the game even if it does cause you to grind a lot for these items.
i’m talking about the cash economy. now i know some people have made silly money, i’m not sure how as i’m poor but i think there are some things that need to be changed before it collaspses.
a lot of things cost gold and i don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to making it as, like a lot of other people, i work. one of the best ways to make money in a game like this is through crafting. now the problem with gw2 is that everyone gets 2 crafting professions. it doesn’t take a scientist to see that with 4 of your character slots taking up 2 professions each you can cover every profession. there’s no need for you to pay someone else to craft something for you, you just change to your alt and he’ll do it for you.
now this has had a knock on effect on the ah as ,as soon as you craft something to sell and put it on the ah at a loss as there are already so many items on there, you’ve been undercut by someone else who also wants to level their craft. within 24 hours your stuff is still there unsold and there are another 500-1000 and they’re all cheaper than yours which means you have to sell at a further loss.
the fact that recipes can be discovered and bought with karma means that everyone can do the same thing if they chose so noone has anything that they specialise in which might make them a profit.
on top of this, the fact every single player can farm every single tree, plant and mine every node has meant the prices of items have plummeted. level 80 items and level 400 crafting mats are going for pittance. you can buy level 80 gear cheaper than level 10-20 crafteed gear. every day the price drops down more because people have levelled their crafting up, don’t need the mats and don’t make anythig with them because it’ll be at a loss. it can only get worse. it’s going to become clogged by useless mats and items.
another thing, not really critical, just annoying that needs changing is people putting items on the ah for 1c more than merch just to empty their bags. it clogs it up and prevents items being sold for profit. this is easy to fix though, add a sell to merch button where you get the merchant price for the item and the space clears.
i think the way to save the economy of this game is to limit players to one crafting item per character. make the nodes only farmable by the crafters who can use that mat as well as making more crafter specific trees/mines/food etc which can be worked to create items used for all professions. so an artificier farms a new tree that only arts can use but after he makes planks he can make something with that plank that all profesions can use but no other can make and have this for every level. i’m not saying this is the greatest solution, just a possible one.
there need to be non discovery/non purchase recipes so people can make items others can’t so we can finally make a profit.
i love this game and i don’t want to see it fail, i want it to become the game it should be.

one of the best ways to make money in a game like this is through crafting

The problem is that in GW2 crafting is not meant to be a cash cow by itself. It wasn’t designed to be like other MMOs so conventional concepts can not apply.

Crafting can be profitable but its a mostly a low margin affair so selling in bulk is needed. Do know that you WILL lose money if you are doing:

1. you are buying mats from the TP to craft and sell a finished product.
2. you are trying to profit from selling the items you made to level crafting.

I’m not saying your ideas are invalid but bear in mind that to the devs the crafting is working as intended: as a mean to make you self sufficient regarding top armor and weapons.

Its not impossible to profit though. I have leveled armor smith and tailor from 125 to 400 and break even (lost money on some items and profited from others) but I had to research the market to figure it out.

i know that but the point of crafting was to use it as a way to make money. people are losing money making things with their craft which makes what could be a fun and vital part of the game redundant.
you’ve missed the pont by saying that people shouldn’t expect to make money from crafting. yes you should expect to make money from it. i didn’t do it as a way to help levelling. as you just proved, it’s point in the game is becoming redundant.
i wasn’t saying i buy from ah for mats i’m saying it’s becoming clogged by mats getting cheaper and cheaper as people have no use for them which is pushing the price of mats down further and making them a pointless drop. mats for top level craftng should command more than approx 40 copper, price today

I dont know about you but i buy all my resources off the AH. Craft exotic armor and sell it everyday. I do about 7 to 10 pieces each day. Profit is usually 16 to 30 silver a piece. Easy money. Dont expect it to be a cash cow. It takes effort and should. This is the first game Ive played in a long time that actually has a moving economy. Its because of the cross server AH. Use GW2spidy for quick craft to profit ratios. Put a few things on the AH, run the RIGHT DE chains, couple dungeons etc. The money starts flowing.

you can buy level 80 gear cheaper than level 10-20 crafteed gear.

Lies. Lvl 80 gear costs ~1,8-3g a piece, whereas level 10-20 gear costs 1-5s a piece.

I’m pretty sure that crafting only makes money at max level, and that’s for all MMOs. Crafting is a gold sink while leveling, easily making you more money selling the mats rather than the crafted goods. At high levels tho, you can make some great items that may sell for a profit on the TP.

Crafting in this game is how you powerlevel at 60+, no joke. Have gold to burn? Craft your way to 80.

whosyadaddy.7941:

i know that but the point of crafting was to use it as a way to make money.

Is there anything from the developers of this game, Guild Wars 2, to support this idea?

you can buy level 80 gear for 2s, i’m not talking bout legendary stuff but the stuff i craft low level sells for more than the greens i bought for 80 other day, 2s.
also, peope are mising the biggest point which is about the nodes and everyone being able to farm them. it’s going to cause huge problems.

reply to kozai, it wouldn’t be in the game if it was just a way to make money. as with all mmorpgs crafting is supposed to inceas wealth

Exotic gear of a similar level has much better stats than a masterwork. So exotic (true top end) 80 gear does go for a few gold a piece, where as highest level 10-20 gear wouldn’t. I don’t know if the “adjusted” price would be less, equal, or higher though (adjusted here will mean “items price vs. expected amount of money a character of that level would have”).

Crafting can net you a profit at all levels, and with people in MMOs constantly rolling alts or joining the game, there will always be people wanting to buy mats, crafting components, and finished products. You’ll just have to find the right things to make for profit.

Each individual can also learn all 8 crafting trades, making the crafting leveling procces s 4-8 fold, and many people will become lazy and would rather spend the money on parts instead of spending the effort on all 8. (remember, the different crafts affect what legendaries you can craft, among a few other things, so there is incentive to learn all.

I wonder if it would be better to make the trading post on gear only possible through black lion traders and simply increase the amount of them around the area.

Sorry I didn’t get back to you earlier.

You keep saying that crafting should make money, because that is how it works in other games.

i know that but the point of crafting was to use it as a way to make money.

To this I already answered that the point of crafting, in this game, is not to make money, you can make money if you do your research but its a low margin affair. The point of crafting in GW2 is to allow you a way to get exotic armor/weapon by yourself.

Yes, devs can change a lot of things to make crafting profitable, some of your suggestion would indeed make crafting profitable The point that you are missing is that the current system is how the devs want it to be, its meant to be this way.

I’m not really missing you point, I understand what you are saying but you keep ignoring the fact this game is different from other MMOs.

Crafting is working as intended: as a means to make you self sufficient regarding top armor and weapons.