Guild Wars 2

Wow. Reading this thread, the mind just boggles… who’d have thought that players finding an amusing way of getting one of their dailies would elicit such rude responses.

Let’s see – apparently only “KIDS” do this. I’m in my 40s – I’d have done it if I’d thought of it. Kudos to those smart enough to come up with a creative way to meet this particular daily. I suspect the atmosphere among those suiciding/rezzing was probably much like the day about 150 of us spontaneously began jumping to our deaths in Wayfarer Foothills during the Beta Finale. Sorry I missed it.

What else? Oh yes – this daily is apparently making people play the game in a way ANet didn’t intend. Strange, I could have sworn that ANet was designing a game players could play their own way. Not whatever way you find acceptable, appropriate, fun, enjoyable (or whatever) for THEM to play. Why on earth do you care how someone else is spending their in-game time? If they’re finding it more fun to take turns suiciding and rezzing, or to wait for NPCs to die, why does this matter to you? I mean, I’d have told the one guy to go fly a kite if he’d complained that I ‘saved’ the NPC he was going to farm for rez’s… but otherwise, WHY are you so concerned with how someone else meets their daily requirement?

People are having fun… they’re not exploiting the game… they’re playing it in a manner they enjoy.

I typically run around either Queensdale or Wayfarer Foothills with my lvl80 ele to get my dailies. Why? Because of my personality type… or maybe my OCD… or maybe a combination of the two. Having those “in progress” is a major distraction for me. I know they’re there, I know they’re in a state of “undoneness,” and I know that I can knock them out in about 15 minutes if I just pop into a starter area. Then they’re done, and I’m not getting a somewhat stressful zing every time the little announcement pops up on the right letting me know I’ve progressed a bit more. It’s my game that I paid for… getting those out of the way allows me to then resume my normal game play and enjoy myself without feeling like they’re hanging over my head. That’s the choice I’ve made for what is the best use of MY time when playing MY game.

Why should how someone else chooses to allocate their playing time be so problematic for some of you?

We should get off the precious metals system and adopt potatoes as our currency. At the end of the day potatoes are worth more than gold. Stranded on a desert island with a sack of gold and it’s worthless, but a sack of potatoes is lunch.

A bold claim, but hear me out.

Supply vs demand; Isn’t undercutting just competion?

Absolutely not. Competition requires one of two things- product differentiation where quality can influence purchasing decisions or price differentials where consumers simply purchase the cheapest available option of the same product.

1c undercutting is price differentiation, isn’t it?

Only in the most technical sense, and in reality- not unless the item is worth more than 1 silver.

Why? Because price differentiation is based on consumer value. To the consumer a Dawn selling for 400g 20s 1c is practically the same as one selling for 400g 20s 2c. Yes, the 1c undercut one is cheaper, and the buyer will always choose the cheaper one, but the buyer is not sufficiently better off after the transaction to be noticeable.

Then how should it work?

Currently in the market for Dawns you have 4 different types of buyers and sellers. One seller gets to the market first and chooses a sale price, and one seller gets to the market second and chooses either:

• the minimum they would take for the item (assuming that minimum is above the current lowest sale price, or significantly below the current sale price if the seller believes that price unreasonable)
• 1c below the current sale price

the system, as it is, rewards the second comer simply for coming to the market later by allowing them to list the item at the 1c undercut and get their item sold before the first seller.

Why couldn’t the first seller just list their item 2c lower to begin with?

The 1c undercutting isn’t random. Regardless of what the first seller lists the item the second person always has the option of listing 1c lower and 1c is 0.00001% of the sale price.

Why can’t the first person just relist the item 2c lower once they see the undercutting?

The listing fee of 5%. But let’s assume there is no listing fee, is there still a problem? Once relisted the first seller only has until the undercutter sees the relisting and undercuts again. Leading to an endless war that results in no real gain to buyers (who only gain 30c on a 400g purchase) and ends up rewarding those who are lucky, or who play the most instead of a true profit cutter.

So what’s the solution?

Competition is supposed to be about lowering prices and increasing supply.

So the only real solution is to charge a 5% fee to anyone attempting to list an item for sale at less than a 5% discount to the current lowest sale price. (eg. selling an item for 950g when the next lowest is 1000g is uneffected, selling at item for 999g99s99c is charged an additional 50g listing fee). This number is in no way necessary, make it 2%, 1%, 10%. Just make it more than the 0.000001% that is currently in place.

This would lead sellers to make an important decision when listing at item: Do I want to sell my item faster for less profit, or wait a bit more for more profit. As opposed to now where that question is not truly being asked and undercutters are simply jumping the queue.

This idea is not revolutionary, or even unheard of.

Go to any stock exchange and ask to bid $200.01 on a $201 stock and they’ll laugh at you. As stocks rise so to do the allowed bidding units. Penny stocks (0.01-0.10) allow half cent bids, while dollar stocks allow 1c bids. $50 stocks allow 5c bids and so on- and so on.

Because stocks exchanges realised, long ago, that efficient systems require limits that don’t encourage destructive behavior.

My brother-in-law is tall. He can easily cover about a yard in a single stride. My young nephew takes three steps to cover the same distance, because his legs are shorter.

Every race in GW2 moves at exactly the same speed. Asura are much shorter than Norn, so the animators had to compensate by making it look like Asura take more steps. In other words, Asura are sprinting while Norn are out for a leisurely jog precisely because the races are equal in terms of unbuffed movement speed. (Although if you consider racials, Norn can actually be faster in short bursts.)

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Profanity should not be bannable just because it is “dirty words”.

Words are just words.

However, if someone uses profanity to harass someone else, I believe that is already a bannable offense if the victim reports it.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.