Guild Wars 2

Wanze.8410:

tolunart.2095:

Wanze.8410:

John Smith.4610:

The CE is really a reflection of gem value and isn’t as strongly tied to the economy as many think it is.

So as a gold sink/counter inflation measure its not very relevant?

I think the point is that the TP and gem store are two very different entities and don’t really influence each other very much.

I mean, there are players who farm for gold to exchange for gems, then spend them in the gem store, yes. But if the game launched without this exchange, they would not be farming for gold to spend in the TP nearly as long because it’s a lot easier to get the things you want from the TP and then drop out of the market, perhaps out of the game altogether because the only real long-term goal is Legendary crafting.

Likewise, a lot of people assume players are spending thousands of real dollars on gems to exchange for gold to buy Legendaries and such, but I don’t think this happens very often. More likely they use it to craft with alts for XP and to buy equipment when the player has money to spend but not a lot of time to grind. Those players are less likely to want a Legendary and are just interested in playing the game the way they want.

And movement of the currency values over time shows that many more players are converting gold to gems than the other way around. So the gem store is impacted by this far more than the TP. Without this exchange, there would be far less players farming in the game, but the impact would probably not be severe, since there would also be a lot less “flipping” and other activities. Prices would not change as quickly and some items would not move as quickly, but otherwise there would be little difference.

Yeah, obviously alot more gold went into the CE then came out of it since launch. My question was, if that amount is meaningful compared to the total amount of gold generated in game. If all the gold that went into the CE since launch (minus the gold that came out of it for gems) would still be in the game economy, i would expect overall prices on the tp to be inflated to what we have now.

Wouldn’t even make a dent.

I understand the frustration that may arise in some of these situations. I haven’t yet read a suggestion that I think is a great solution. That being said, I do read the suggestions and am always interested in finding outcomes that make everyone better, so keep them coming!

Wanze.8410:

John Smith.4610:

Wanze.8410:

How, in your opinion, would the game economy have evolved differently, if the gold/gem exchange wasnt implemented?

I think it would be pretty much the same.

Lame.

The CE is really a reflection of gem value and isn’t as strongly tied to the economy as many think it is.

Wanze.8410:

How, in your opinion, would the game economy have evolved differently, if the gold/gem exchange wasnt implemented?

I think it would be pretty much the same.

Good idea.

Let’s say someone has final rest. If they put it up to sell for 1 gold, they get 1 gold. The highest buyer pays 1g to him and received the rest of his buy order back. This person sold the item for 2c, so you receive the item plus your buy order – 2c.

Nimrud.5642:

So its been a while since the new TP was launched. I waited for a while until things settle, people get somewhat used to it, etc. But still we seem to have utter ‘disorder’ in the GW2 economy. What I mean by that is that people dont use the TP anymore. Not all ofc, you still can buy stuff but the market volume has dramatically dropped – if my observations are accurate.

The first clue was the rise in prices of crafting mats (scraps, bolts, ingots, etc.). So then I thought ‘Oh ppl are going for the new collection achievements and they keep the mats for themselves, thats why supply dropped and demand increased’. But it seems I was wrong… I checked the buy orders too. And if in a typical scenario – a situation like this results in an increase of buy orders too. Both in volume and price. But it didnt.

So to summarize: Sell prices increased while demand is dropping, sell listings are dropping both in volume and price. This two usually are in contradiction. Why would ppl buy stuff for a higher price and refuse to take advantage of the dropping price lvl of buy orders? Example: bolt of cotton is hovering between 9.20s and 10.50s but at the same time buy orders for armor from which cotton scraps can be salvaged almost halved.

http://www.gw2spidy.com/item/19742

Also, buy orders get filled a lot slower. I used to place 300-500 buy orders every 2-3 days. And they resulted 2000-2400 items on average over 3 days. Now I cant even make it to 500 over a week’s time. Ppl dont buy, and sont sell…

This is telling me that a lot of ppl stopped using the TP in general. Anet, time to get you kitten s in gear.

p.s.: Besides all the convenience issues that the TP changes brought us, the most important is the cap on the buying/selling tabs. Other problems may take a bit more clicks to solve, but this has no alternative solutions. If you have more than 100 buy orders or sell listings you cant manage them, period. So fix this first!

/rant

I don’t think the new TP is having a large effect on users using the TP. I think you make a compelling argument and it was a good idea and a good use of reasoning, but there are other factors involved that may be missing.

I’m attaching a simple chart of TP Users and Buyers as unique counts relative to logins since the beginning of the month.

Wonderly.1324:

John Smith.4610:

Essence Snow.3194:

John Smith.4610:

Essence Snow.3194:

Is the economy designed around rewards or are rewards designed around the economy? (not talking about appearances ofc)

I’m not sure I entirely understand this question, could you elaborate?

What is the main consideration for the distribution (probability/requirements) of rewards? How it’ll effect the economy? How it’ll be perceived by the player base?

The designers and I discuss the changes, each time new content is released is a different story/plan/result.

Can you explain this for legendary weapons and precursors? Specifically, what purposes were these items meant to fulfill (in player perception, impact on the economy, or any other relevant areas). What are some examples of how the current system (RNG, tradeable on a player-driven market) succeeds in these items fulfilling their intended purposes? What are some areas in which these items fail to fulfill their intended purposes (or fulfill them poorly, or could be improved upon to better fulfill the intended purposes)?

I think this question would be better answered by Izzy. I tend to have a very macro biased view of legendary weapons, so they fulfill macro-economy values very nicely (great! right?). The current system is a great driver for end game resources and a great sink for those resources as well. That doesn’t mean it’s the best system, it just means it’s economically effective at the moment. I wouldn’t want to comment much beyond that without Izzy’s input.

Wanze.8410:

John Smith.4610:

Torsailr.8456:

Hi John,
I saw this video on Extra Credits today.
http://youtu.be/W39TtF14i8I

Would you say this is an accurate overview of MMO economics? I think I see a lot of concepts there that match elements of the economy in GW2.

Also, the video talks about how a treasury can influence inflation by controlling how much money is minted and that can be mirrored in an MMO by controlling how much gold is dropped by mobs. We’ve seen you do this with champ bags but do you also control the gold drops from regular mobs in a similar manner?

I’ve never noticed a change in coins from mobs but then it’s such a tiny amount that I typically ignore it. However, a tiny amount for me would be a huge amount on a global scale and any changes to that would have a not insignificant impact on the economy.

It’s an interesting video, but I agree with the comment made in the beginning, that was not enough time to explain the concepts involved.

For example, Printing money and not printing money isn’t really how inflation is controlled in real life, but if you only have 30 seconds to explain what inflation is you aren’t going to start talking about the government policies to change money supply.

I like the medium too, it’s a fun watch, but overall there’s so little content that it leaves me with an incomplete feeling.

In terms of printing money in game: How often have gold rewards been adjusted with the main purpose of adjusting inflation/deflation?

Could you see a significant change in the amount of gold that was present in the economy for exampe after dungeon rewards or champ bags were introduced or gold rewards from champ bags got taken away?

1. No comment :P
2. Yes, the changes in aggregate happen almost immediately.

Essence Snow.3194:

John Smith.4610:

Essence Snow.3194:

Is the economy designed around rewards or are rewards designed around the economy? (not talking about appearances ofc)

I’m not sure I entirely understand this question, could you elaborate?

What is the main consideration for the distribution (probability/requirements) of rewards? How it’ll effect the economy? How it’ll be perceived by the player base?

The designers and I discuss the changes, each time new content is released is a different story/plan/result.

Ensign.2189:

John Smith.4610:

For example, Printing money and not printing money isn’t really how inflation is controlled in real life, but if you only have 30 seconds to explain what inflation is you aren’t going to start talking about the government policies to change money supply.

For sure, but especially given how the real economy is performing in real life right now, I’d really like to see a clear distinction made between the quantity of spending and the quantity of money and how these are absolutely not the same thing.

It’s probably a bit too wonky, I get it, but whenever I see “printing money = inflation” when we’re in the middle of the biggest natural experiment ever proving conclusively that is not true I die a little inside.

100% agree. I suppose the question to ask is, is it better to attempt to explain the concepts with information that isn’t really as true as they think or leave the concepts shrouded in mystery entirely (this is assuming they have constraints on their video)?

I usually fall strongly on the side of don’t teach incorrectly, ever, give proper information or don’t teach, but misleading people is so bad.

I’m beginning to question that philosophy though, in a game you can afford to not know or care about the economy, it’s a game! In real life you cannot choose to not participate, does even a little half-correct information make people better off or worse off?

Torsailr.8456:

Hi John,
I saw this video on Extra Credits today.
http://youtu.be/W39TtF14i8I

Would you say this is an accurate overview of MMO economics? I think I see a lot of concepts there that match elements of the economy in GW2.

Also, the video talks about how a treasury can influence inflation by controlling how much money is minted and that can be mirrored in an MMO by controlling how much gold is dropped by mobs. We’ve seen you do this with champ bags but do you also control the gold drops from regular mobs in a similar manner?

I’ve never noticed a change in coins from mobs but then it’s such a tiny amount that I typically ignore it. However, a tiny amount for me would be a huge amount on a global scale and any changes to that would have a not insignificant impact on the economy.

It’s an interesting video, but I agree with the comment made in the beginning, that was not enough time to explain the concepts involved.

For example, Printing money and not printing money isn’t really how inflation is controlled in real life, but if you only have 30 seconds to explain what inflation is you aren’t going to start talking about the government policies to change money supply.

I like the medium too, it’s a fun watch, but overall there’s so little content that it leaves me with an incomplete feeling.

Essence Snow.3194:

Is the economy designed around rewards or are rewards designed around the economy? (not talking about appearances ofc)

I’m not sure I entirely understand this question, could you elaborate?

Loot isn’t assigned until the player interacts, so technically 0. I could estimate based on probabilities, but that would be some work.

Je suis chez Nexus Order, Roche de l’Augure!
Ils sont tres agreables.

Getting a bit off topic ladies and gentlemen.

“A grey market is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels which, while legal, are unofficial, unauthorized, or unintended by the original manufacturer. "

Hey all, this seems like it could be an issue, but I would recommend creating a topic in the support forum. I’m not sure that the support guys read this forum, and this is outside my area of expertise. Once you create a new topic and explain the problem, send me a PM with the link and I’ll make sure that someone in the correct area reads it.

I agree with you. The LFG tool is not a grey market tool.

Herr der Friedhoefe.2490:

Wanze.8410

What makes you think those changes have an economic reason?

I think they don’t have an economic reason, that’s sort of why I’m asking.

They certainly have no good economic reason for players to do them. The cost of crafting for Alpha Crafter for example, and the reward? Those are the most expensive 5 ectos, ever.

I would say that Economics was not the driving force behind many of these changes, but I still think they’re good changes.

I’ve actually commented on this more than once, but recently:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/I-have-a-question-about-the-economy/page/12#post4376858

"
Attempting to track people manually isn’t effective. If we suspect it’s getting unwieldy we have a numbers of options to make insider traders (and them only) lose large quantities of money. We’ve done this before to destabilize insider trading as an idea and will likely do it again."

I do not consider it insider trading once the information is released to the public in any form.

edit: Adding the post text so you don’t have to click if you don’t want to

Attempting to track people manually isn’t effective. If we suspect it’s getting unwieldy we have a numbers of options to make insider traders (and them only) lose large quantities of money. We’ve done this before to destabilize insider trading as an idea and will likely do it again.

Wanze.8410:

Question:

From an economic point of view, does the fact the Living Story content is now permanent, make your job of balancing material faucets easier?

I would reckon its easier now because you add new sources permanently. During season 1, it seemed to me, whenever you tried to add some more mats to the economy, it just resulted in a small supply spike and once the chapter was over, everything was back to normal. As an example, cloth during the Escape/Battle for LA come to mind, as well as exotic sentinel gear in the same updates.

It’s actually harder. With short term content we can be a lot more liberal with changes because the worst case scenario is minimized. With permanent content a lot more research has to go into the long term stability of markets.

Supermagnum.3458:

John Smith.4610:

A lot of people put a lot of work into the new TP and they deserve to get some airtime to talk about their work. I’m no expert on UI by any means.

I am excited about the new buying and selling UI the most. It’s designed to reduce information asymmetry (it’s designed to give all users easy access to more information) and I think it will be really helpful for new players or players that are less studied on prices.

Well since your not spending time on the podcast, you should test the new TP UI by taking say 200g-500g and challenging yourself to make as much profit as possible in a week (use every dirty trick you can think of to squeeze out a profit, your also testing how the market reacts to super secret commerce stuff). Post your results at the end of the week and gloat how you just emptied the market of thick leather sections(which at more than 10k gold would be insane).

This is a funny idea, but I don’t think it would endear me to the general population (or my community team).

LordByron.8369:

John Smith.4610:

LordByron.8369:

John Smith.4610:

you mistakenly perceive a fantastic and functioning system as broken

Might i dare you to post your statement (without anyone involved just saying you believe economic system is fantastic and functioning) in general section or on a CDI?

out of this subforum would gather thousands answers in few hours.

I’m tempted to register to reddit and link that sentence without ANY comment.

My current role on these forums is not to debate on a subject, but to inform you of my thoughts, feelings, process…etc or to answer questions and educate.

Instead of goading, I suggest you write a detailed description of why you feel the way you do and you may PM it to me and I’ll respond.

I don t want to PM because its indeed a matter of public interest.
I said all my frieds left due to economy (grind is tied to economy)

And start with reading this:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2fj64j/inflation/
(recent popular topic… i don t even have an acccount on reddit so its not “my perception”, but i think i’ll register to provide some more feedback)

I would also argue that a common thing you hear in this game (in the game itself not in the forum) is you win GW2 by playing the TP.

And TP flipping is seen as the only way to get access to BiS items and shinies.

I hope you don t really ignore or don t think a more than noticeable part of GW2 (most veteran non flipping the TP actually) players perceive economy as OK, because it would just mean you are denying the obvious.

Just send a GM (without the anet tag possibly) to discuss economy with any WWW or Dungeon/fractal player with a reasonable amount of achievement points.
Then do the same with new players (not newbies, but someone that has a lvl 80 character and face the problems of gearing up).

I could see before 80 everything seems great.

That is the fastest way to see how your economy is really perceived.

That is try to gather feedback outside of a forum where players first purpose is to gather information on economy manipulation.

I’ve read the thread, it’s not actually about inflation, but a misunderstanding of what indicators of inflation are, it’s about precursor prices.

I don’t understand what point you’re making here? You’re saying veteran players are upset about the economy, because you’ve heard that from people. It seems your primary concern is that TP flipping is the only way to make money and that’s upsetting people? We’ve discussed in great depth why that isn’t true.

titanlectro.5029:

So the next point of interest will be about the new TP, and yet John Smith is not listed as a speaker on this post?!
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/points-of-interest-episode-6/

This needs fixing!

A lot of people put a lot of work into the new TP and they deserve to get some airtime to talk about their work. I’m no expert on UI by any means.

I am excited about the new buying and selling UI the most. It’s designed to reduce information asymmetry (it’s designed to give all users easy access to more information) and I think it will be really helpful for new players or players that are less studied on prices.

Herr der Friedhoefe.2490:

John Smith.4610:

A surprising amount number of players never use food despite how powerful it is. While it is not the items primary purpose, I would like it if it taught people how great food is and more people became eaters.

How about a gift of food/boosts every level? Just a small selection.

That would introduce the topic, and reinforce the idea regularly.

Now, about Badges of Honor please?

Thank you Psientist, I understand what you’re saying about currencies produced by stable workloads but to use your own comparison of Karma and Badges of Honor, at least Karma is consumable and beneficial. To date, Badges mostly are not beneficial and since the start of EoTM that currency has been produced at a far greater rate, with still no benefit. Why?

Yes Wanze, I know he can’t talk about future possibilities. I would like to know how we got here. Oversight?

Dear John…. err, I’m not in the habit of writing Dear John letters… Can this be fixed?

Thank you

Good catch on the grammar error, I corrected my original post.
I’m sorry I can’t talk about the future of badges at the moment.

Lilith Ajit.6173:

pdavis.8031:

Lilith Ajit.6173:

Wow. That must be a ton of data.

Do you ever delete historical data or do you keep it backed up for.ev.er.? Heh

I hope so. I would hate to think that they follow the IRS method of data storage….. :P

Haha right? That’s an insane amount of data.

Archiving is one thing. Deleting data is a crime against humanity.

Lilith Ajit.6173:

Wow. Maybe I should salvage more.

I waste too many items to merchants out of laziness. I know you’ve answered this question about specific materials being sold to merchants in the past, but do you keep track of armors and weapons being sold to merchants and how much material on average is being essentially deleted from the game?

Yes, we have an extensive data platform.

Michael Walker.8150:

@Wanze
I think it got across the wrong way, I’m more interested in the effect the trans charges have on mats coming from armor

John Smith.4610:

I’m not sure I entirely understand what you’re asking. Could you elaborate or rephrase the question so I know I’m answering the right thing?

• Before the wardrobe the player fused two matching armor pieces, selecting skin, stats and sigil of either one. by doing so, one gets deleted.
  http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/thumb/b/b0/Transmutation_Stone_Example.jpg/800px-Transmutation_Stone_Example.jpg
  Now the player just salvages the armor and by doing so gets the skin and materials.
  In case of light armor for instance this could be expensive mats, I’m asking if this had any significant/positive effect on those markets.

• The total amount of armor saved from oblivion would be the amount of transmutations done since the release of the wardrobe but since it is part of the gem store so you probably can’t answer.

• Concerning the price, one transmutation charge equals one transmutation crystal (lvl 80) or 3 transmutation stones (for lvl 1-79).
  In the new wardrobe, all transmutations cost one crystal or would have in the old system. This seems expensive, even more so because equipment changes a lot while leveling.
  I was asking if you think this is working as intended or maybe fewer charges have been sold since then.

thank you for answering!

Ah, ok.
The change in the transmutation system would have little impact on the material markets. While the numbers are large, the amount of items that are salvaged every day is enormous.

Wanze.8410:

John Smith.4610:

Michael Walker.8150:

Since the introduction of transmutation charges, has there been a significant increase in mats coming from lvl 1-79 armor?
How many armors have been saved from oblivion in the past 4 months?

Do you think the price for lower level transmutation is adequate? Considering my problem of out-leveling those skins very quickly and the fact that new players might not want to afford 15g for a complete armor change.

I’m not sure I entirely understand what you’re asking. Could you elaborate or rephrase the question so I know I’m answering the right thing?

I think many people who ask questions in this topic confuse the game economy with the gem store. While the gem exchange certainly plays a big role in the game economy, i dont think the Game Economist has much to dowith items put into the gem store, there is other staff responsible for that. Maybe John can elaborate a bit on that, so i rephrase my point as a question:

As the Game Economist, are you involved in creating new items for the gem store and to what degree? (some feedback on the decision to make the salvage cost of the new silver fed salvage o matic 66% higher than regular master salvage kits either here or in the dedicated thread in this subforum would be appreciated)
Do you give input for pricing of gem store items?
Does your role involve responsibility for gem sales or are you purely responsible for in game gold and other currencies?

I’m unable to comment on my interaction with the gemstore. Even if I were, I would avoid it as I believe it will derail the thread.

Gibson.4036:

John Smith.4610:

A surprising amount of players never use food despite how powerful it is. While it is not the items primary purpose, I would like it if it taught people how great food is and more people became eaters.

It’s also a nagging hassle.

I wouldn’t mind using food more often for its benefits, but I only consistently do in circumstances where I seriously need the edge, for example non-zerg WvW.

A simple UI change could help a lot. When I play, I don’t usually have a good idea of how much time is passing. I shouldn’t, because I should be engaged in something interesting. While I do watch buff/condition icons for game play, over the course of thirty minutes I’m guaranteed to lose track of the fact that the little food buff disappeared at some point. It can be quite a while before I think, “Oh, I need to eat again!”

Giving me some sort of eye-catching “You’re getting hungry” (food buff about to expire) element in the UI would go a long way to make sure I am consistently eating and thereby contributing to food (or ingredient) demand on the market.

Even better would be some way to automate the whole thing. Give me a slot somewhere in the UI where I can drop a stack of each kind of “nourishment” and have the game automatically consume it when each one expires. I’m sure I’ll get some hate for “dumbing down” the game with this suggestion, but I can’t see that having to open the inventory and click a food and an maintenance oil every half hour is really contributing much to raising the skill ceiling of the game.

There are many problems with automation. For example, you’re hanging out in DR with friends and eating 1g/hour worth of high end food and oils because you forgot to take them out of the slot. They aren’t unsolvable, it’s just not straight forward either.

Michael Walker.8150:

Since the introduction of transmutation charges, has there been a significant increase in mats coming from lvl 1-79 armor?
How many armors have been saved from oblivion in the past 4 months?

Do you think the price for lower level transmutation is adequate? Considering my problem of out-leveling those skins very quickly and the fact that new players might not want to afford 15g for a complete armor change.

I’m not sure I entirely understand what you’re asking. Could you elaborate or rephrase the question so I know I’m answering the right thing?

Morsus.5106:

Hi John!
1) Can I just say it’s awesome that you take the time to give these answers to the community?
2) What has been your biggest headache working with this economy?
3) Do you enjoy working on the mysterious “Trading 2.0”?
4) Is it more common for a player to sell a “Fine” or “Masterwork” piece of gear, or to sell it?

1. Thanks!
2. Goldsellers – (I have many posts on my feelings about them). Being outnumbered 100,000 to 1 against thieves is a rough situation to be in.
3. (too close to content speculation, going to avoid sorry)
4. I’m guessing you mean salvage or sell. It’s far, far, far more likely for a player to salvage at this point.

papry.8096:

John Smith.4610:

papry.8096:

What do you think about the mini market in terms of supply and volatility ?

It’s not one of my favorite markets.

I’m so sad right now.

Then which one is it and why ?

Ecto of course! For a myriad of reasons starting with velocity and volume, but also its rippling effects on other markets.

xeysorso.3751:

Hi John,
Taken from the feature pack article: Any minis currently in your bank or bank collection tab will still be in your bank when you log in. You’ll need to take them out individually and choose whether to unlock them for your account or dispose of them some other way

What will happen to the pet if you have a pet on the trading post? Will mini still be tradeable to the TP post September feature pack? What does dispose in some other way mean?

Thanks for your time

If that isn’t clear in the blog post try starting a new thread for that question.

papry.8096:

What do you think about the mini market in terms of supply and volatility ?

It’s not one of my favorite markets.

TPMN.1483:

With the addition of the 2nd Birthday Present (Birthday Blaster – it has pretty awesome stats tbh)-
Birthday Blaster – Shoot out birthday cakes that grant a 10 min buff to anyone nearby – Soulbound
+ 40 to all attributes
+10% Karma
+15% Magic Find
+15% Experience from kills
Does not replace or remove other food buffs.

Or:
Dragon’s Revelry Starcake
Nourishment (30 m):
+45 Power
+45 Precision
+45 Vitality
+45 Toughness
+45 Healing Power
+45 Condition Damage
+45 Ferocity
+20% Magic Find
+10% Experience from Kills

Intended to do the following:
1) Encourage players to eat food?
2) Are Players going hungry And starving all the time ? (killing things is hungry work)
3) depress the cooking market crafted foods even further ? (star cakes are 70s each, birthday boost gun is free – this takes away some unique crafting for those who gained the recipe)
4) Cause a bigger glut of Food on the market? (There are already millions of items of some foods untouched for over a year with supply clearly growing and this is a pretty big buff on the gun and it will be the case of finding someone with a gun in a dungeon etc)
4) ensure that only certain foods for specific purposes sell ? (Eg condi duration lvl 80)
5) was cooking always intended to be the cheapest market to learn – the NPC warns before learning this profession it will be expensive and will take you to all realms of the world?

A surprising number of players never use food despite how powerful it is. While it is not the items primary purpose, I would like it if it taught people how great food is and more people became eaters.

LordByron.8369:

John Smith.4610:

you mistakenly perceive a fantastic and functioning system as broken

Might i dare you to post your statement (without anyone involved just saying you believe economic system is fantastic and functioning) in general section or on a CDI?

out of this subforum would gather thousands answers in few hours.

I’m tempted to register to reddit and link that sentence without ANY comment.

My current role on these forums is not to debate on a subject, but to inform you of my thoughts, feelings, process…etc or to answer questions and educate.

Instead of goading, I suggest you write a detailed description of why you feel the way you do and you may PM it to me and I’ll respond.

Wanze.8410:

Random stat request of the day:

Which item has generated the highest volume of sales tax in July 2014?

I would go for ectos.

You would be correct.

eekzie.5640:

John Smith.4610:

The TP Issues are technical issues. While they could fixed, it would be time consuming and we feel there are bigger issues we should be putting engineers’ time on.

Couple weeks ago the TP was absolutely flawless and super fast.

Any easy way to get it to be like that again?

Yes. The TP runs on Scotch. We put in a nice 25 year in that week and it really kicked it up a notch.

In seriousness though we’re constantly working on improving performance and I expect the TP will get better and better over time.

The TP Issues are technical issues. While they could fixed, it would be time consuming and we feel there are bigger issues we should be putting engineers’ time on.

Bettik.4982:

Hi John, just so you know, one of those cupcakes over on https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cupcakes-for-arenanet was bought for you. You might not actually get one, but hey, RNG…

Thank you!

Hitman.5829:

Hi John Smith,

Chili peppers, lemon grass, and a few other crafting materials are ridiculously high on price. What is anet doing to solve this problem?
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/Farming-Prices-on-TP-must-go-down/first#post4326876

I’m not sure we’ve all agreed that’s a problem.

Elrey.5472:

Random questions of the day for fun purposes:
-At the actual market price, how much would it cost a single +70 Agony Resistance item?I managed to get a number like 6665327449000000000000000000000000000 gold, but i’m not sure if it’s accurate.
It also makes me wonder a second question.
-Has anyone done already a +20 item?

Assuming the +1’s are 10s, and we start from 1 and only user 1’s; it would cost (2^69 + 1)/10 gold which I believe is 59,029,581,035,870,565,171.2 which, if I didn’t make an error, is 59 Quintillion gold.

edit: the + sign not displaying for some reason.
edit 2: I forgot thermocatalytic reagents.
edit 3: Quintillion

Cormac.3871:

I’d like to know if the latest trend of time gated material that can still be bought off the trading post (mawdrey components, ascended armour components) is a deliberate attempt to allow people to make money crafting by preventing a small number of users flooding the niche as soon as it becomes apparent.

PS thanks John for taking the time to respond to all the questions here, and thanks Wanze for creating the topic. This is my favourite forum thread that hasn’t been deleted.

Having crafters able to make money was certainly part of the design intention.

Torsailr.8456:

Hi John,
They announced last week pricing changes to the Commander Tag…and some changes to how it would be implemented. Were there any economic discussions about the price changes or was this a purely game design decision? If there were economic discussions can you talk about any of the factors that went into the change?

There were economic discussions, but design was the most important thing, since any economic impact would be minor.

Ayrilana.1396:

John,

Can you provide an explanation of what a player-driven economy is?

Do you feel GW2 falls under this and why?

Super very simple:
Players set prices, players set supply. Prices are set by the players. Players can change the supply of items by changes in their play activity.

All vendor based economies are not player driven. The TP is player driven. Apologies for the terse response, remind me sometime to revisit this more thoroughly.

Psientist.6437:

Imho, honesty without tact is the cliche of ’keeping it real", and tactful honesty is difficult to balance in an anonymous forum. I think John Smith does a decent job, even though he never answered my last questions.

1, Have you ever made a statement concerning the ethics of economic punditry in game or in the forums? I imagine you see posts from people giving not only bad information but purposefully misleading information.

Perhaps a for instance would help. Say I am convinced that Fishing game-play will be released on Monday and want to talk about the effects of fishing on the economy. Would you have pointers or standards you would want players to apply to such a discussion?

Yes, the first time I was less than tactful was inspired by someone clearly attempting to mislead people about economics and game design. The rules are pretty intuitive though. Do not attempt to mislead people, making an argument using a different set of inputs is good business we always need more perspectives, making those inputs intentionally fallacious to prove some that isn’t true will end poorly.

It’s basically the opposite policy of news stations