Guild Wars 2

Zaxares.5419:

So, John, you mentioned before in the past that during Halloween 2013, you guys “made the sinks too difficult to interact with”. Now that Halloween 2014 is drawing to a close, are you more satisfied with how the sinks have worked for this year?

My personal feeling as a player is “Yes”. Supply has been massively increased, while the sink costs have been lowered, leading to the impression that “grind” has been reduced to a much more manageable level. At the same time, due to the wide variety of stuff that can be bought from the vendors, there’s a much higher chance for any individual player to have something that interests them, resulting in greater participation and thus more overall use of the Halloween mats and the Trading Post (of people buying and selling said mats and goodies).

I’m just curious to know if your internal metrics are bearing my impression out.

I’m very pleased with this year’s Halloween, and I get the general impression that the players agree as well.

insanemaniac.2456:

the more i think about the candy corn gobbler, the more ingenious i think its design is. whos responsible for it? can you comment on it at all? i kinda have the feeling that specifics like its 2 tiers of use, its gem price, its intended audience, how much corn you estimate it will gobble in a year, and such are all things you cant really talk about but are really interesting… pls john pls

Gobbler was a group idea, with many brilliant people all contributing.
I haven’t checked any data on how much gobbling has occurred, it’s a bit too soon to tell anyway. There is a LOT of gobbling material available though so my gut reaction is a lot, how ever much you’re thinking multiply it times 10.

Wanze.8410:

Are you allowed to tell us the percentage of gold sunk out of the economy by trading post fees and taxes (relative to overall gold drained by all gold sinks)?

Ballpark figure would suffice.

I take a wild guess and say 60%.

I am not. I will tell you that it’s much more complicated that aggregating gains and spends.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

John, can you say whether or not you’ll do this again for any other undiscovered Mystic Forge recipes?

I can’t say for sure, this wasn’t really planned
We try to pay a lot of attention to our community here and elsewhere, so if you’d like to see more show your support for it. We’re always reading.

Titus.4285:

John Smith.4610:

I’m definitely not a professional writer, but I did write this myself. I just thought that was a harder clue.

For wiki-archiving purposes: do you have a title for your short story?

Let’s go with:
“The Reaper’s Bounty”

Sariel V.7024:

John Smith.4610:

I’m glad you guys liked it! You got the answer faster that I expected. That oasis clue would have taken me much longer.

Does this mean you didn’t write it yourself?

I’m definitely not a professional writer, but I did write this myself. I just thought that was a harder clue.

minfaer.2796:

John, please write an ending to the story of Lemark… of course, we know he gets it, but it feels so like a cliffhanger… maybe some surprise about why he wanted the reaper so desperately!

Lemark kicked in the door. “A WORM?!” he shouted, “NO… NO! A FREAKING 200 FOOT WORM!”
Zomorros was waiting for him, of course, a smirk on his smug face as he hovered at the end of the room. The whole place was lavishly decorated in a way that screamed wealth at anyone who entered. Zomorros wasn’t a being of subtlety… usually.
“My old friend,” Zomorros said lazily, his head tilted to one side as he examined Lemark’s battered appearance. “How are you? You don’t look so well, I’m sure I have something that can help that around here.”
“Save your gifts” Lemark spat, “I’ve no need for more chains”.
“Well, aren’t we dramatic today?” Zomorros replied with a smile as he continued to rummage through a chest of unorganized bottles.
Lemark began to walk deeper into the room. He rubbed a dirty hand across a tapestry that probably cost more than most Tyrians earned in their lifetime.
“I’ve come for what’s mine,” Lemark growled in what should have been an inaudible tone.
Zomorros turned with a scowl, all pretense of good humor evaporating. “There is a price for that”.
Lemark threw his pack across the room where it fell and slid into a wall beside Zomorros. The Djinn looked intently at the pack as it burst apart , the collected items hovering in air.
“No,” Zomorros almost sobbed, and Lemark was uncertain if it was a denial or disbelief.
“No,” Zomorros said again, more forcefully, “these are unacceptable!”
“They are not! The Contrac-”
“You do not want to hold the contract against me, child! This is mine and you cannot deserve it,” Zomorros said, visibly attempting to restrain his anger. “You don’t even know what it is.”
Lemark pulled a ratty parchment from his pocket and slammed it on the table in front of Zomorros. It glowed slightly in the Djinn’s presence.
Lemark put his hand on the parchment and stared directly into Zomorros’s eyes. “The contract,” he said slowly and precisely. The words echoed unnaturally around them.
A smile slowly transformed Zomorros’s features. The “skin” around his eyes tightened and his lips curled sadistically as looked up at Lemark from under his brow. “I am compelled,” Zomorros said slowly as a dagger bloomed from Lemark’s chest. The thief looked down in stunned disbelief. He legs went weak, but he caught himself with one arm on the table.
Lemark felt blood in his lungs; he held his breath and stood back up. Sheer stubbornness kept him on his feet as Zomorros moved in close.
Zomorros spoke softly, almost like a whisper, but every word was terribly clear and precise, “I never told you what this is”. He leaned in close enough that his face filled Lemark’s vision and wrapped his fingers around the hilt,
“It’s the reaper of souls.” He whispered as the dagger ripped free.

I’m glad you guys liked it! You got the answer faster that I expected. That oasis clue would have taken me much longer.

edit 8.5:
A Sylvari scientist, not what Lemark expected. He should have learned by now that there was nothing ordinary here.
Despite the science, this was a nice respite, he could get used to this. Something here was harmonious and relaxing, was that part of the plan?
A shriek echo’d all around. Lemark was surprised, he still hadn’t learned. Nothing about this place was ordinary.

edit 8.5:

A Sylvari scientist, not what Lemark expected. He should have learned by now that there was nothing ordinary here.

Despite the science, this was a nice respite, he could get used to this. Something here was harmonious and relaxing, was that part of the plan?

A shriek echo’d all around. Lemark was surprised, he still hadn’t learned. Nothing about this place was ordinary.

edit 8:
Lemark stared at his arms, at the half healed wounds that would soon serve as a permanent reminder of his last several months. Despite that he felt invigorated. All of that was behind him. He had gotten further than anyone else before – or so he supposed.
The final piece would be the hardest. He doubted he would have to fight some great monster, that wasn’t Zomorros’s style. He would have to do something harder; this journey wouldn’t end in a tremendous final battle. The ending would be more precise, more…scientific. He had only a single clue, contractually obligated from his last deal with the pseudo-deity.
He stood up from his table in the heart of Lion’s Arch and turned south.

edit 8:
Lemark stared at his arms, at the half healed wounds that would soon serve as a permanent reminder of his last several months. Despite that he felt invigorated. All of that was behind him. He had gotten further than anyone else before – or so he supposed.

The final piece would be the hardest. He doubted he would have to fight some great monster, that wasn’t Zomorros’s style. He would have to do something harder; this journey wouldn’t end in a tremendous final battle. The ending would be more precise, more…scientific. He had only a single clue, contractually obligated from his last deal with the pseudo-deity.

He stood up from his table in the heart of Lion’s Arch and turned south.

edit 7:
Lemark rested his back against the rocky wall.
“Deja vu,” he thought wearily. Even the thought had grown tiresome.
Two months he’d been here. Two whole months of combat. He had almost died so often that the novelty was wearing off.
“What does it say about a person when your imminent death is an uninteresting topic for pondering,” he thought to himself.
He was tired of everything – this place, the clinking noises he made everywhere he went, the shelled beasts, and especially tired of the never-ending bloodshed.
He leaned his head back, closed his eyes and tried to imagine being back home.
Instead he saw the smug face of Zomorros.
He had almost forgotten his hate for the being. It was exactly what he needed – a reminder of why he was here.
A slight rumbling forced his attention back to reality as one of the creatures noticed his intrusion. He stared directly at the charging beast. If he had to, he would wipe this entire species off the face of the planet.

edit 7:
Lemark rested his back against the rocky wall.
“Deja vu,” he thought wearily. Even the thought had grown tiresome.
Two months he’d been here. Two whole months of combat. He had almost died so often that the novelty was wearing off.
“What does it say about a person when your imminent death is an uninteresting topic for pondering,” he thought to himself.
He was tired of everything – this place, the clinking noises he made everywhere he went, the shelled beasts, and especially tired of the never-ending bloodshed.
He leaned his head back, closed his eyes and tried to imagine being back home.
Instead he saw the smug face of Zomorros.
He had almost forgotten his hate for the being. It was exactly what he needed – a reminder of why he was here.
A slight rumbling forced his attention back to reality as one of the creatures noticed his intrusion. He stared directly at the charging beast. If he had to, he would wipe this entire species off the face of the planet.

edit 6:
Lemark sat back against the rocky wall, brackish water rained down from one geyser or another. “What am I even doing here?” he thought for the thousandth time. He was exhausted, bloody and sore. “One of these alien curs is going to kill me before I’m done with this”, he grumbled to himself as he stood up and stretched. He needed a drink, but the day hadn’t grown cold yet, he still had time. His resolve hardened, one more attempt, he starred at yet another dulled blade, one more chance for results…this wasn’t going to be fun.

edit 6:
Lemark sat back against the rocky wall, brackish water rained down from one geyser or another. “What am I even doing here?” he thought for the thousandth time. He was exhausted, bloody and sore. “One of these alien curs is going to kill me before I’m done with this”, he grumbled to himself as he stood up and stretched. He needed a drink, but the day hadn’t grown cold yet, he still had time. His resolve hardened, one more attempt, he stared at yet another dulled blade, one more chance for results…this wasn’t going to be fun.

John Smith.4610:

edit 5:
Lemark was in high spirits, it had been a productive week. After a series of failures his luck had turned. He stared at his own reflection in the item, such a trivial thing by itself, but with many, there was power. Zomorros knew it as well, Lemark had seen the desire in his eyes before, this was one of his favorites.

Out of story hint: I’ve only referenced 2 of the components so far.

Out of story hint: I’ve only referenced 2 of the components so far.

edit 5:
Lemark was in high spirits, it had been a productive week. After a series of failures his luck had turned. He stared at his own reflection in the item, such a trivial thing by itself, but with many, there was power. Zomorros knew it as well, Lemark had seen the desire in his eyes before, this was one of his favorites.

edit 5:
Lemark was in high spirits, it had been a productive week. After a series of failures his luck had turned. He stared at his own reflection in the item, such a trivial thing by itself, but with many, there was power. Zomorros knew it as well, Lemark had seen the desire in his eyes before, this was one of his favorites.

3.5-4 Story continues:
(2 days later)
Lemark sprinted down the alleyway, an endeavor likely to leave one examining refuse closer than generally preferable, but this wasn’t his first time. He slowed for a moment to glance behind him, merchants still chasing with guards closely behind them. He was surprised they hadn’t given up, they must be very sensitive about their heritage here, the item itself was a bit too everyday to inspire this kind of rage. “Two more blocks”, he thought to himself, double-checking the sealed, cylindrical case he carried. His attempted thievery had failed, for today, but he wasn’t going to lose what he had to the muddy waters of the bay.

3.5-4 Story continues:
(2 days later)
Lemark sprinted down the alleyway, an endeavor likely to leave one examining refuse closer than generally preferable, but this wasn’t his first time. He slowed for a moment to glance behind him, merchants still chasing with guards closely behind them. He was surprised they hadn’t given up, they must be very sensitive about their heritage here, the item itself was a bit too everyday to inspire this kind of rage. “Two more blocks”, he thought to himself, double-checking the sealed, cylindrical case he carried. His attempted thievery had failed, for today, but he wasn’t going to lose what he had to the muddy waters of the bay.

Follow up: the mentioning of copper isn’t intended as additional information.

Follow up: the mentioning of copper isn’t intended as additional information.

Zaxares.5419:

We do know the following clues:

1. It’s something Zomorros has never had before, suggesting the output item is a completely new item or one that hasn’t been droppable before.

2. His “Lemark” clue suggests that one of the four input items is purchased from a merchant, and that it’s “ghostly”.

3. Minis are not part of the inputs.

Nice work, keep it up!

edit 3 (in story form): Lemark wasn’t much of a haggler. the merchant had taken almost every copper he owned, but it was worth it. He was positive this time, no more fakes, no more copies, forgeries or lies, this was it. He could feel it, sinister…ghostly, it felt weird to hold, but he didn’t care, his journey was one quarter complete.

edit 3 (in story form): Lemark wasn’t much of a haggler. the merchant had taken almost every copper he owned, but it was worth it. He was positive this time, no more fakes, no more copies, forgeries or lies, this was it. He could feel it, sinister…ghostly, it felt weird to hold, but he didn’t care, his journey was one quarter complete.

In case anyone wants to try to find the item without spoilers and just hints I’ll be keep a locked copy of the thread here where I’ll post the hints:

“Zommoros let me in on the fact that he expects to have an item he’s never had before to trade with tomorrow.

Edit 1: I’ll be checking for discovery and giving hints every once in awhile. First one is free The item has nothing to do with minis."

edit 2 is referencing this thread existing.

Edit 1: I’ll be checking for discovery and giving hints every once in awhile. First one is free The item has nothing to do with minis.

Essence Snow.3194:

John Smith.4610:

At the heart, there’s 3 basic options:
1. Mostly RNG
2. No RNG
3. Hyrbid RNG (where most games are)

starter concepts for cons of each system:

1. Many players can feel like they have “bad luck”, in fact players with standard to pretty good luck are still likely to feel bad because of how humans interpret data.

2. A completely predictable experience lacks moments when something fantastic happens.

3. You run the risk of getting the cons of both systems without very precise design

An important question may be to ask if a model is still a good concept and a great implementation just needs to be focused on or if the model doesn’t work fundamentally.

I really have to comment on leading in both this post and the OP. By all means post, but please, please, please leave the leading biases out if the intent is to have a productive honest discussion.

edit……I’ll give you an example of what I am referring

Which would you rather have
1) A savory treat which leaves you wanting more
2)A sweet treat which puts on the pounds
3)A sour treat which tests your bravado

The biases are in the 2nd and 3rd. The former being negative and the latter being positive. Given this leading most are apt to choose option 3 and less likely to admit to 2.

Both the OP and this post are reiterations of what’s been said already, I’m not adding new or personal content to the discussion yet.

Zommoros let me in on the fact that he expects to have an item he’s never had before to trade with tomorrow.

Edit 1: I’ll be checking for discovery and giving hints every once in awhile. First one is free The item has nothing to do with minis.

edit 2: This was a reference to the spoiler free thread that’s locked in this forum.

edit 3 (in story form): Lemark wasn’t much of a haggler. the merchant had taken almost every copper he owned, but it was worth it. He was positive this time, no more fakes, no more copies, forgeries or lies, this was it. He could feel it, sinister…ghostly, it felt weird to hold, but he didn’t care, his journey was one quarter complete.

3.5-4 Story continues:
(2 days later)
Lemark sprinted down the alleyway, an endeavor likely to leave one examining refuse closer than generally preferable, but this wasn’t his first time. He slowed for a moment to glance behind him, merchants still chasing with guards closely behind them. He was surprised they hadn’t given up, they must be very sensitive about their heritage here, the item itself was a bit too everyday to inspire this kind of rage. “Two more blocks”, he thought to himself, double-checking the sealed, cylindrical case he carried. His attempted thievery had failed, for today, but he wasn’t going to lose what he had to the muddy waters of the bay.

edit 5:
Lemark was in high spirits, it had been a productive week. After a series of failures his luck had turned. He stared at his own reflection in the item, such a trivial thing by itself, but with many, there was power. Zomorros knew it as well, Lemark had seen the desire in his eyes before, this was one of his favorites.

Out of story hint: I’ve only referenced 2 of the components so far.

edit 6:
Lemark sat back against the rocky wall, brackish water rained down from one geyser or another. “What am I even doing here?” he thought for the thousandth time. He was exhausted, bloody and sore. “One of these alien curs is going to kill me before I’m done with this”, he grumbled to himself as he stood up and stretched. He needed a drink, but the day hadn’t grown cold yet, he still had time. His resolve hardened, one more attempt, he stared at yet another dulled blade, one more chance for results…this wasn’t going to be fun.

edit 7:
Lemark rested his back against the rocky wall.
“Deja vu,” he thought wearily. Even the thought had grown tiresome.
Two months he’d been here. Two whole months of combat. He had almost died so often that the novelty was wearing off.
“What does it say about a person when your imminent death is an uninteresting topic for pondering,” he thought to himself.
He was tired of everything – this place, the clinking noises he made everywhere he went, the shelled beasts, and especially tired of the never-ending bloodshed.
He leaned his head back, closed his eyes and tried to imagine being back home.
Instead he saw the smug face of Zomorros.
He had almost forgotten his hate for the being. It was exactly what he needed – a reminder of why he was here.
A slight rumbling forced his attention back to reality as one of the creatures noticed his intrusion. He stared directly at the charging beast. If he had to, he would wipe this entire species off the face of the planet.

edit 8:
Lemark stared at his arms, at the half healed wounds that would soon serve as a permanent reminder of his last several months. Despite that he felt invigorated. All of that was behind him. He had gotten further than anyone else before – or so he supposed.
The final piece would be the hardest. He doubted he would have to fight some great monster, that wasn’t Zomorros’s style. He would have to do something harder; this journey wouldn’t end in a tremendous final battle. The ending would be more precise, more…scientific. He had only a single clue, contractually obligated from his last deal with the pseudo-deity.
He stood up from his table in the heart of Lion’s Arch and turned south.

edit 8.5:
A Sylvari scientist, not what Lemark expected. He should have learned by now that there was nothing ordinary here.
Despite the science, this was a nice respite, he could get used to this. Something here was harmonious and relaxing, was that part of the plan?
A shriek echo’d all around. Lemark was surprised, he still hadn’t learned. Nothing about this place was ordinary.

Marcus Greythorne.6843:

John Smith.4610:

The idea is to discuss RNG as a concept inside of games and reward systems. I think more discussion will lead to better understanding of the problems current systems may have, and the pros and cons of other possible systems.

John, could you give us a bit direction here? I’m not quite sure what specifics we could/should discuss… it seems pretty one-sided that many think RNG is bad and tokens could work.

At the heart, there’s 3 basic options:
1. Mostly RNG
2. No RNG
3. Hyrbid RNG (where most games are)

starter concepts for cons of each system:

1. Many players can feel like they have “bad luck”, in fact players with standard to pretty good luck are still likely to feel bad because of how humans interpret data.

2. A completely predictable experience lacks moments when something fantastic happens.

3. You run the risk of getting the cons of both systems without very precise design

An important question may be to ask if a model is still a good concept and a great implementation just needs to be focused on or if the model doesn’t work fundamentally.

Checking back in. This isn’t meant to be a discussion of just those three ideas that I posted, those were just a primer for options. The idea is to discuss RNG as a concept inside of games and reward systems. I think more discussion will lead to better understanding of the problems current systems may have, and the pros and cons of other possible systems.

That being said, this is not a discussion of how you should get a precursor. I’d prefer the discussion to be much more general, solving specific problems is easy once you have an excellent framework.

Afya.5842:

I feel like this is a dump question and I don’t even know if the answer of my question can be derived from previous answers. But it just pops up in my head so if anyone can answer or point me to the right direction, it’d be great.

Dungeon running is recognized as the current highest g/hr farming method and also one of the most popular one. However it rewards player mostly in straight gold instead of drops. Does this eventually leads to inflation? because that more people run dungeon instead of farming materials?

It doesn’t necessarily lead to inflation, but it is a major input of liquid currency into the economy.

Cakemeister.5792:

I just want magic find to make a difference.

Magic find makes a huge difference.

phys.7689:

Wanze.8410:

Nevets Crimsonwing.5271:

I’ve not read this whole thread so forgive me if this is answered elsewhere. I want to ask a few questions.

1. Is the loot system currently set up so people who play less are more likely to get an awesome RNG drop? There have been numerous posts like, “my friend logged on after 5 months and got X, Y, Z drop while I’ve been playing every day and got nothing!” I want to know if the way it works currently is that those who play lots get decreasing loot in proportion to playtime. Why would ANET do this? To keep people chasing the carrot.

John answered that question in a different thread, there arent any account modifiers.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/I-have-a-question-about-the-economy/page/15#post4487484

what he is speaking of wouldnt be an account modifier, and it probably does exist, mildy. There is Diminishing returns on drops and it decays pretty slowly. You will in fact see more drops in your first few hours after not having played for awhile.

They will never tell us exactly what is happening, but your friend who plays rarely will basically have no DR for almost all of their playtime.

Still catching up, but I wanted to stop to be clear. No to this. This doesn’t happen, it’s a cognitive bias. There’s virtually no DR active on any given day.

munkiman.3068:

phys.7689:

Brother Grimm.5176:

…
I’m pretty sure that nobody think there is special code about that.

But we’re a lot to rather think that RNG is bugged in some way, and that’s why, in addition to a “gauss distribution” as described in the previous post, some players are always lucky and some are always unlucky. As the RNG mechanism is all in all quite complex (modified by magic find ; depends on damage done by the player / by his group compared to damage done by other players ; special items with a different table loot ; …), there could be several bugs introduced in the system. Remember that the % of magic find displayed in the hero panel is wrong since months (but the real number is supposed to be correctly applyed), so it wouldn’t be surprising that there are some bugs in the loot mechanism itself.

There are CERTAINLY very vocal players that are convinced of the “secret LUCK stat”.

its not really relevant weather there is a secret luck stat or not. If a random works properly, there will be people who will, will seem lucky, or those who seem unlucky, when compared to the data. This is the normal expectation of the bell curve.

So whether it is a bug or not doesnt matter. The point is these people are bound to exist.

My take on RNG, isn’t that it exist or it’s broken, it’s just that it’s practically everywhere. Neither of those solutions would work anyway, since the game would have to predict what you’re after in the first place, then reward you for failure of what exactly? Do we put a merchant in the game that carries everything a player might want in exchange for a loser token?

This was the first problem I thought of as well. It’s simple to say failure and success, but that’s not an easily definable concept in real life.

This is a spinoff of the economy thread to talk about RNG tactics in games in a general form.
Here’s the premise. RNG is evenly distributed on aggregate. On an individual level this means that while almost everyone falls into a reasonable range in the middle, there are outliers on each side of the distribution that are either highly rewarded or not rewarded at all. These individuals become sample cases and spotlights for experiences that maybe shouldn’t exist.

We do need to be very careful about ideas that flatten the experience entirely as that quickly becomes not fun at all.

There are two concepts that have been discussed in the other thread that I’ll briefly summarize.

1. Use a specifically non-random NG. The NRNG functions similarly to a RNG, but has characteristics that either squish the distribution so that outliers exist much less or specifically manipulate a player’s experience for loot in a more complicated way that makes it feel rewarding.

2. Implement measures that counteract low-end outlier behavior inside of game design. This would be a system that is something like: If player hasn’t received a rare drop in X time send them Y tickets for random drops.

2.5: “Add secondary reward mechanisms (ie. token based system) alongside the primary RNG system; allow progress to be made even when you don’t get the result you want.”

Obviously these are hyper-simplified descriptions, but I don’t want this to get too long.

edit: added 2.5

I think the RNG as a concept might be a topic large enough to warrant a separate thread. I’m going to spin one up where we can discuss different theoretical tactics with dealing with the inherent problems in RNG.

wwwes.1398:

John Smith.4610:

There isn’t such thing is some accounts getting stuck lucky. Yes there’s an RNG, yes it’s random and there are streaks and outliers and an even aggregate distribution.

Can you confirm whether it is an RNG that uses some sort of value from the user’s account or whether it is purely random/session based? I have a friend who swears that smack-talking an anet dev during a beta weekend pvp match doomed his account to poor rng for life.

Absolutely it does not use anything to do with a user.

There isn’t such thing is some accounts getting stuck lucky. Yes there’s an RNG, yes it’s random and there are streaks and outliers and an even aggregate distribution.

tolunart.2095:

Leamas.5803:

The RNG acts very strangely with me and seems anything but random (Which I have reported to ANet couple times). Just can’t do it. I know people who have thrown in over 1000g worth of stuff to get nothing, while I know others who have gotten multiple pre drops with little effort from the forge.

This is the definition of “random.”

You might be referring to the clustering illusion. Wikipedia has a really cool gif:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clustering_illusion

Atreides.3709:

John, you said the following:

• Almost everything (I’m speaking generically) is done for some reason or purpose, that purpose isn’t always very clear at first.

While we are aware that such things are in the nature of game development—that you can’t speak of until it’s ready, I think we can all agree, especially with the creation of Gaile’s new position, that ANET has had room to improve regarding communicating with their players. My two cents on this is: Gaile wants us to be nice. It would be nice to not be condescended upon. Quoting theories of economic logic doesn’t play well with most people, we few Plebeians here.

I have a question, and I’m almost certain it’s too specific to warrant any kind of substantive answer from you, but I thought I would try. Can you comment on, or at least give a defense of, why it is healthy to have the Amberite weapon’s fossils be non-tradeable? I spent around 20 hours of game-time farming geodes, opening chests, and to no avail. That experience was neither fun, nor rewarding, and I have not been back to Dry Top since. This is an area where the economic choices in your game, for me specifically, caused the game to cease to be fun or enjoyable. I highly enjoyed the weapons’ look; however, with the limited time I have to play games, I will and have chosen to take my time elsewhere. I don’t want to play a game in hopes to get “X,” only to never know when that will happen. And so, from point “A” (me with no Ambrite weapon) to point “B” (my sweet precious) has no guarantees of length of grind; thus, I choose to play another game instead.

Thanks for any consideration.

I apologize if that previous post comes off condescending it isn’t intended to. I often use very specific language and long descriptions because I’ve been told that it’s often people don’t understand the point I’m trying to make. In an attempt to fix that problem I’ve begun writing more elaborate descriptions, but it appears that has a slightly pedantic quality. One day I will find the correct middle ground.

For your question it is a bit specific, I’ll need to chat with some individuals before I know whether it’s acceptable to answer.

Generically, we often make items non-tradeable so that players must participate in the content to receive the rewards or so the reward is some indicator of your status of participation.

Leamas.5803:

So, are you saying that you believe that even if the CE had not existed from the start of the game, rare items such as PCs and uber rare skins would still be approximately the same value as they are now? Do you think the negative affects (Negative from a player perspective) the wardrobe had on high end skins will recover back to “normal” prices? I think every time I get close to having enough money to buy a pre, something happens and it it goes way up again…3 times now it’s happened. I just can’t bring myself to play the mystic forge. I don’t have greatest luck in this game at the best of times and at what is it, about a 1:900 chance for a pre with four level 80 rares? The RNG acts very strangely with me and seems anything but random (Which I have reported to ANet couple times). Just can’t do it. I know people who have thrown in over 1000g worth of stuff to get nothing, while I know others who have gotten multiple pre drops with little effort from the forge. Personally, I think the pre supply needs to be increased to undo what the wardrobe has done. Demand was greatly increased on an already very limited supply.

The experience you’re describing would be exactly the same had the CE not existed since launch. Whether that experience SHOULD exist, is another topic entirely.

Leamas.5803:

sirsquishy.8531:

Etien.4601:

The answer is that a year ago or so there was a patch tha buffed the chest loot from dungeons. I remember because of that all were lfg in front of each one. And the drop was good. Exotic and rare items almost often. Obviously it was too much and got stealth nerfed as usual.
and don’t even get me started on fractal loot.

there is only 2 answers why they did that.

1. to stop gold inflation
2. to promote more gem sales to convert to gold.

I feel it was more to prohibit Gold Inflation.

But by limiting the stock too much, they’re causing massive price inflation on what’s already there. If they really wanted to control gold inflation they would kill the gem to gold conversion as a start. Another huge problem is the vendoring of items. Both create massive amounts of gold out of thin air and there simply are not enough gold sinks in the game (Or people have become bitter over those that do exist, such as the MF) as people sit on huge mounds of gold watching prices in the gem store inflate out of control as a result. Too much gold is already flowing in to the economy and not enough stock is flowing in to the TP to keep the prices down.

From a player perspective, one of the worst things that happened in this game is when they killed all the bots. The bots were bad for other reasons, hacked accounts and the such. But from a regular player perspective, bots kept prices down on the TP which was generally good for a majority of players. That said, the bots were putting so much in the TP that it was keeping prices down to a level that was casual friendly, but of course the hardcore burned through stuff like mad. Keep in mind, the game was advertized specifically to the casual player.

In the short, the economy is out of balance and there is no easy or good solution to fix it.

Rewards are definitely an issue that should be discussed, but I think you have a couple of incorrect assumptions above. The currency exchange and vendoring items are by no means huge economic issues. I also don’t believe that the economy is imbalanced in the manner you’re speaking of. I don’t want to derail this thread, so I encourage anyone who has any questions to post here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/I-have-a-question-about-the-economy/
it’s a stickied thread in the BLTC forums about economy questions. Or if you have something that doesn’t fit that thread’s theme, post it over in the BLTC forums.

Great discussions
We’re reading!

Herr der Friedhoefe.2490:

Gaile Gray.6029:

John Smith.4610:

JBDanger.2603:

John Smith.4610:

Sariel V.7024:

Any chance for a response on my question? I think you may have missed it.

I apologize, I can’t currently speak on that.

Anet’s famous response for everything!!!

This is a 14 page thread of me answering all I can; throw me a bone sometimes.

Seriously, guys, John’s an amazing forum contributor. Play nicely — we want him to keep up the good info as he’s able to give it!

He’s an amazing contributor, probably the best dev contributor on these forums, but it was a pretty good question from Sariel and well presented. For those of us interested in crafting it’s an issue.

At lot of the game developments recently just don’t make any sense. A good example is the krait collection reward, a recipe that no one in their right mind would ever make because it’s not worth to use t6 mats to get an extra 15 minutes of food effect. There are a lot of examples.

I can appreciate that everyone’s favorite economist can’t answer, and he’s probably not responsible for the decisions being made. So is there perhaps someone else Gaile who you could forward the question to?

Be careful saying things don’t make any sense, it’s very rare that’s true. Almost everything (I’m speaking generically) is done for some reason or purpose, that purpose isn’t always very clear at first.

For example, what if we did something like release candy corn before our first Halloween event. Nobody’s ever seen Halloween so candy corn is just some weird item that makes you throw up when you eat too much (very similar to real life). The developers know that Halloween is coming though and they wanted to start filling the world with this currency so people can get started on their rewards right away instead of taking a couple of days to earn enough to start, but want to have a price schema that works over multiple years of releases. Next year there will be candy corn in the world, but this year there isn’t so there’s conflict.

Please note this is a hypothetical situation I just made up off the top of my head and has no basis in any kind of reality. I’m just trying to demonstrate that sometimes there are good reasons for actions that aren’t immediately clear. This doesn’t mean you should stop questioning actions, you shouldn’t, not here, not anywhere. It just means that you should continually reevaluate your beliefs as time goes by and you learn more and more, this is one of the reasons that I come here to tell you what I can about our thought process and our decision making.

P.S. There’s a cognitive bias that makes us bad at doing this called Bayesian Conservatism that we have to fight against.

wwwes.1398:

Could you discuss your thoughts on the consumable ingredient market in general and, more specifically, cooking? And I know you can’t comment on that question specifically, but is it fair to say that there IS something you’re hoping to accomplish with these new recipes and that it’s not just some arbitrary value being thrown out there?

There are several different ideas going on mixing between scarcity, sinks and faucets, usefulness and lore. We often vary the different weights of each of these to get a feeling for the effectiveness of the design changes. Food is tricky because it’s so powerful, but also so abundant. Sometimes we might want to just get people to try eating food more often, sometimes we might want a rare food, sometimes we’re thinking about 18 theoretical months from now and the resources involved instead of right at the moment. The mix of all these may make it seem like a random grab bag of decisions, but it isn’t. With each iteration we’re learning and getting better.

JBDanger.2603:

John Smith.4610:

Sariel V.7024:

Any chance for a response on my question? I think you may have missed it.

I apologize, I can’t currently speak on that.

Anet’s famous response for everything!!!

This is a 14 page thread of me answering all I can; throw me a bone sometimes.

Sariel V.7024:

Any chance for a response on my question? I think you may have missed it.

I apologize, I can’t currently speak on that.