Showing Posts For Psientist.6437:

Drain the currency

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

The gem exchange can increase the supply of gold (which isn’t the only factor in inflation). Players generate gold and anything that prompts players to generate gold will increase the supply and demand for gold. New gold generated specifically to buy gems is gold that would not have existed without the gem exchange and 1g taxed at 33% still leaves you with some silver.

Except it doesn’t. The exchange doesn’t create gold, or gems, out of nothing. The gold players get from selling gems comes from a “vault” of gold stocked by players buying gems with gold and the gems they are buying are from a “vault” of gems stocked by players selling gems. When the game launched the “vaults” were seeded but since then it’s all us pouring in and pulling out gold and gems.

He didnt say that the exchange creates gold. He said that some players do purposefully generate gold specifically to convert to gems. This is true. Some players do actively farm for the sole purpose of converting to gems when there is something in the gem store that they want.

True, my bad. But the exchange wasn’t meant to be the way to buy EVERYTHING you want from the Gem Shop, and sometimes it seems too many players think that. But I wouldn’t use the exchange rate as a gauge for overall inflation in the economy, just like I wouldn’t use Precursors, Legendary Weapons or Unlimited Contract Unlocks.

I’m sure many players use the gem exchange to supplement their cash shop purchases; buy some gems with gold and some with cash. That would be revenue the studio would have never seen without the gem exchange.

Yes, to supplement but many seem to treat it as the ONLY way. Yes the gems were bought first by someone and then traded in the exchange for gold before they are sold for gold. ANet isn’t making anything on gold spend on gems. But I too often see posts lamenting they can’t farm enough gold for the new 400/600/800 gem item in the shop every week. Well guess what, gems cost the same with real money as they did on launch day.

I am addicted to pedanticism .

Anet could make money on gold to gem sales. The potential for profit would depend on the percentage of gold sales that would have been cash sales assuming the exchange did not exist and the broader effect of those unconvertible gold sales. I would be willing to bet even money that the percentage would be low, below 20%.

From the value of that share (which likely conforms to the average of $3.88/month) you would deduct box sales that were motivated by the gem exchange, the value of having more skins from the gem store advertised in-game, and the value of the gem to gold exchange.

I would be very surprised if the gem store weren’t more profitable with the gold to gem exchange than without.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

(edited by Psientist.6437)

Drain the currency

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

The gem exchange can increase the supply of gold (which isn’t the only factor in inflation). Players generate gold and anything that prompts players to generate gold will increase the supply and demand for gold. New gold generated specifically to buy gems is gold that would not have existed without the gem exchange and 1g taxed at 33% still leaves you with some silver.

Except it doesn’t. The exchange doesn’t create gold, or gems, out of nothing. The gold players get from selling gems comes from a “vault” of gold stocked by players buying gems with gold and the gems they are buying are from a “vault” of gems stocked by players selling gems. When the game launched the “vaults” were seeded but since then it’s all us pouring in and pulling out gold and gems.

He didnt say that the exchange creates gold. He said that some players do purposefully generate gold specifically to convert to gems. This is true. Some players do actively farm for the sole purpose of converting to gems when there is something in the gem store that they want.

True, my bad. But the exchange wasn’t meant to be the way to buy EVERYTHING you want from the Gem Shop, and sometimes it seems too many players think that. But I wouldn’t use the exchange rate as a gauge for overall inflation in the economy, just like I wouldn’t use Precursors, Legendary Weapons or Unlimited Contract Unlocks.

I’m sure many players use the gem exchange to supplement their cash shop purchases; buy some gems with gold and some with cash. That would be revenue the studio would have never seen without the gem exchange.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Drain the currency

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

This will drain some gold from the richer because the TP fees cant keep up inflation.

Sure they can. In fact they keep up with inflation by construction.

No, it’s a terrible indicator. The gold:gem ratio has frequently gone up or down independently of the money supply.

In fact, it’s not an indicator at all. Gold:gem ratio is as much a measure of gold inflation as it is a measure of US dollar inflation or Euro inflation. The two are not completely unrelated, but the correlation is close to zero.

Theoretically, TP taxes could keep pace with new gold creation.

The exchange rate is much more closely tied to Tyrian gold activity and variations in the Tyrian economy than it is to the US dollar or Euro and their respective economies. I am not arguing that it should be used as an indicator though.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

(edited by Psientist.6437)

Why have we not been commited yet?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

If everyone experiences the same reality, then it might just be reality.
Or the only ones left in the asylum are the patients.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

(edited by Psientist.6437)

Drain the currency

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

I don’t think the wealthiest players have an exaggerated effect on long-term inflation. The bulk of recipes and production goals in GW2 are non-recurring; players don’t need 1 unit of gear every week, they need X units of gear. Gold increases the rate of production, meaning wealthier players effect the price of goods for a shorter amount of time. The effect of the 1% on prices is most pronounced immediately after new recipes are released. Steady, middle to upper middle class earners likely have a greater impact on long term inflation.

The gem exchange’s connection to inflation depends on how you think it fits within a player lifestyle. Imo, it is likely to be a regular part of enough player’s lifestyle and account for a large enough share of currency activity to be included in a CPI.

The gem exchange can increase the supply of gold (which isn’t the only factor in inflation). Players generate gold and anything that prompts players to generate gold will increase the supply and demand for gold. New gold generated specifically to buy gems is gold that would not have existed without the gem exchange and 1g taxed at 33% still leaves you with some silver.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Drain the currency

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Piles of gold don’t cause inflation. Inflation only occurs when gold is spent. Depending on the requirements, adding more recipes could increase inflation (an increase in cost to maintain a lifestyle without a change in supply or demand) because it would turn the potential for inflation (piles of gold not being spent) into the kinetic reality of inflation.

Imo, the best way to limit the effects of income and wealth inequality is by limiting recipe overlap. Looking at you hardened leather.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

(edited by Psientist.6437)

Having a look at GW2 long-term results.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

The most persistent complaints in the forum have been directed towards the tactics the studio uses to promote economic activity and the demand for gold. There has been a roar of voices complaining about the cons of the gem exchange and a whisper complaining about the cash shop.
I do not want to rehash all those complaints, so please let me get away with saying there are native pros and cons to the strategy of legal RMT and that legal RMT can breath life into a game world.
I do want to focus on one challenge of using the LW as way to promote economic activity. Imo players, like myself, who return to experience an evolving, dynamic world are less likely to find value in cosmetic gear. A few hours of mostly instanced content won’t prompt an investment in bling. A story about thousands of people dying won’t prompt an investment in bling.

If I may, the next expansion needs a reward track/meta based on the home instance and it can not be the lifeless grocery list you gave us with guild halls.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Is this a new trend?

in Living World

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Braham acts like he had more history than our character with Eir. She was estranged to him until the moment she died. I literally cannot stand him, if there was an option to hunt him down and beat the life out of him, I’d take it.

Maybe there is one. Here’s a theory:

Braham went out alone to hunt some Jormag minions to work off his anger. He was captured by Svanir and is now tied up in a cave somewhere. The Braham that Rox caught up to and we met in Bitterfrost is Icebrood Imitation Braham™, not Real Braham. He is a creation of Svanir sorcery meant to disrupt the only effective dragon-hunting team currently in operation, as well as to betray and dishearten the race that we would expect to provide the majority of the effort in any campaign against Jormag.

So, naturally, we will find out about Imitation Icebrood Braham™, trash him thoroughly, and rescue Real Braham. Not necessarily in that order.

After all, there is precedent for such a thing. Zhaitan killed a charr Pact squad leader and replaced her with a mesmer who sabotaged Pact operations, stole supplies, sent her own troops on fake missions meant to get them killed, and attempted to ruin the Commander’s reputation. Who’s to say Jormag couldn’t take a page out of Zhaitan’s playbook?

This Post Has Been Smiley Captioned for the Humor Impaired

The only way, and I mean only, to pull this off is to have Braham and IIB in the same place so we can do the whole who is the real “X” cliche, I mean scene.

a Braham: “Commander, I would never say something laike that to you, We have been through too much”
other Braham “That’s exactly what II Braham would say!”

or

Our PC gets a weapon infusion from Taimi, goes to Hoelbrok, smashes the tooth to bits.
PC: “Who will you follow now”
Braham: “I loosened it”

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

how to level leathercrafting to 500 now ?

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

You could also try promoting. You might get extra lucky. =)

Good luck.

Is there karma armor that can be combined in MF then salvaged for thick leather that is in turn promoted? Not as efficient as farming gold or using gold but might be an option.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Is this a new trend?

in Living World

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Well, grief over a lost parent seems a good reason

Sure, because Eir and Braham were so close to begin with.

They had no connection and only just begun to know each other a little when he was already a grownup. So that didn’t convince me, sorry. To me, he is being rude for no reason other than being a thickheaded jerk, endangering the whole world with his mindless actions. Like a pouty child that didn’t get its lollipop. Or like Donald Trump.

Actually, people get angrier in just that situation, when they have had no contact with their parent early on and lose their parent before they can get to know them.

Or they were never emotionally invested and it doesn’t hit them as hard as killing Trahearne (firstborn sylvari, brother to all other sylvari, Marshal of the Pact, close friend to the player and the closest person to understand our burden as Pact Commander) or losing a massive Pact fleet, or losing hundreds or thousands of sylvari lives (brothers and sisters to sylvari PCs and Caithe who hasn’t even mentioned the devastating loss the sylvari suffed since HoT, who also lost Faolain who almost completely defined her identity in the story up til now).

How are we supposed to take seriously an estranged son’s grief over his mother’s death when almost everyone else in the current story has suffered far greater loss across two dragon campaigns (and more) and they all soldier on without even mentioning it? Seriously, it is the greatest writing fail of GW2 on how they handle the sylvari/Mordremoth story (or the lack of the sylvari lore and exploration in HoT) and the complete absence of a fallout from it when you consider how overblown Braham’s soap opera grief is by comparison to the massive numbers of dead sylvari lost to Mordremoth.

The current Braham plot is stupid because it tunnel visions on Braham’s situation (in the eyes of himself and everyone around him) and ignores the reality of everyone else around him who also suffers. It isn’t a case of “What would Braham feel in this situation?” but rather “Why doesn’t anyone else feel like this?”. It’s dismissive of everyone else in Tyria including us, the players who have faced massive losses.

Imagine how a sylvari, who looked up to Trahearne as a brother and leader, not only of their race, but as the first hope for Tyria slaying a dragon. Then you have to kill your brother, friend and leader to save Tyria. That gets no attention at all while we have all this attention on Braham? Fudge that.

I’m confused by all the people saying Braham didn’t know Eir.

He was raised by his father until he was 7 and then by the people of Cragstead, but he still had some contact with Eir, and he explained at various points in the story that part of the reason he felt distant from her is he found it difficult to reconcile the stories he heard of her adventures with the woman he knew as his mother.

My understanding is that Eir explicitly did not visit Braham because that would mean she knew about his father’s death. His father didn’t want anyone to tell Eir about his death because he believed she would retire and return home to her son.

“Your mother’s name is Eir Stegalkin. Remember that, but I will tell you what I told Yngvi and Brynhildr. No one must send word to your mother that I am gone. I forbid it. She is capable of great things, as are you. She must not be tempted to stray from her path. Wolf walks beside her. But you mustn’t worry. He walks beside you as well, my son. Never forget that.”

It’s a clumsy way of explaining how Eir had a son that magically appeared in the story with no prior mention, but it does indicate Eir had no contact with Braham when he was a child. He knew who she was but she didn’t spend time with him. So again, a lot of people are projecting their own feelings about their mother’s onto Braham but Braham’s relationship with his mother was nothing like a normal person’s relationship.

You raise some very good points, especially about the Sylvari. However, Braham may be using his mother’s death just as a way to rationalize his own desire for ‘fame’ or prestige. He may just be a young Norn who thinks he knows best.

If I were to offer advice to the writers, I would advise them to keep Eir’s death scene in mind. Eir died well, died the way Norn’s want to die; standing on their feet, looking death in the eye, knowing they met their end at the hands (or spiked tail) of a superior foe. More importantly, she died knowing her son was watching. Don’t waste that.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Is this a new trend?

in Living World

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

The storytelling trope of “the group fractures, the group reforms” is tough to pull off without it being a cliche. Consider how it appears in horror stories.
With Marjory and Braham, it reads to me as though the writers tried to cram too much motivation into too short a timeline and had to/wanted to make dialogue and combat progress at the same rate and with similar intensity.

Imo, Marjory’s scene came across as the more contrived, as though the writers wanted to absolve the player of responsibility for what happens to her. Hopefully her scene was just the result of making it conform to the trope, a way to turn Braham’s story into the trope.

Braham’s story could be really interesting. I hope the writers explore the reaction and motivation of the Norn elders and not just use them as a rubber stamp for Braham.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Anyone else having social issues?

in Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

In general yes, but not this specific social issue.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Having a look at GW2 long-term results.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Thanks for responding.
I would take some of Vayne’s criticism more seriously. Your modeling does not, can not, distinguish between the effects of a studio’s business model and the game’s content (though in GW2’s case the two are often difficult to distinguish). A counterfactual world where the studio released more popular cash shop/LW content could produce as flat a slope as one where the studio released expansions every 1.5 years.

If the another model would sell less in the beginning but did not drop as much, it would pay itself back overtime. That is exactly what the calculated difference in possible income shows.

Not if you assume a game with a finite lifespan, which is a reasonable assumption. If you assume a finite lifespan and your criteria is which game is the most profitable over that finite lifespan, then GW2 beats GW1. If you are comparing actual GW2 with a counterfactual GW2, then it really is just a coin toss.

Personally, I think the Arenanet studio was willing to push the cash shop model as far as it would go revenue wise in order to make as much new content as possible available for free. I think they also really wanted to explore the concept of the Living World. I would not trade that studio for one that played it safe.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Having a look at GW2 long-term results.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

“However also be aware that by removing or normalizing the initial peak we basically also erasing the positive release of the game, ignoring the fact that it was the bestselling MMO of the time. You can debate if it’s fair to do that.”
Devata

The initial sales number is too big a data point to ignore, especially if we are debating long-term profitability. To normalize the role of that initial sale, you would need to spread that revenue across time, not remove it.

edit: The revenue from the ‘initial sale period’ of GW2 also includes cash shop sales. I would not be surprised if that period was also the most profitable period for the cash shop as well.
The revenue ‘slope’ for GW2 declines faster than the revenue slope for GW1, but as others have pointed out, GW2’s slope covers a much larger area.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

(edited by Psientist.6437)

Update on the Economy

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Wow. That is good to hear, but for the love of Tyria I wish MO would stop with the hoarding talk. How players decide to manage their items is up to them and using the term hoarding implies players have a responsibility to participate in the marketplace.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

New Recipes

in Living World

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Bah, Let them have lots to talk about in the ama. Whatever is revealed will make it here.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Use Spoiler function in Game Update Notes?

in Living World

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

The story synopsis in the game update notes gives a lot away for past episodes and I am not sure why it is even needed. Someone who played it, knows what happened and someone like myself who hasn’t yet, has to pretend it isn’t there when they want to see the other notes.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Update on the Economy

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Slowly unloading my mystic coins — don’t want to be kittened when the bubble pops.

I don’t see a bubble. Would you explain why you think it is a bubble?

Imho, the rising price is the market responding rationally. Mystic Coins are generated at a steady rate with little elasticity. Persistent players generate the bulk of supply and persistent players are the most likely players to find value in Mystic Coins.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

[Idea] Black Lion chest rarity promotion

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Interesting notion. However since the purpose of chests is to sell keys, promoting chests, a “cheap” item will only accomplish a reduction of keys needs, keys ANet wants to sell players for cold hard cash.

Fair point, this idea increases per-key productivity, thereby decreasing the demand for keys. If this idea didn’t create new key consumers, then the net effect would be fewer key sales. However, I think this would bring new key customers as well as reduce aggregate gold available for gem conversion, turning gold for key sales into cash for key sales.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

[Idea] Black Lion chest rarity promotion

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Summary
Create unbound fine, masterwork, rare, exotic, ascended and legendary versions of Black Lion chests by promoting common chests in the Mystic Forge.

What
Every increase in rarity would increase the chance at a fourth item. Some, if not all, increases in rarity would remove items from the loot table, increasing the chance other items would drop. Ideally, the player would select which items were removed.

Why?
The container drop table tool tip provides a way to squarely demonstrate what increasing rarity would provide.
Some players do not participate in the Tyrian economy because they do not find value in the current rewards. A high value consumable would provide a reliable place for players to find value and recipes for BL chest promotion could encourage participation in the economy and game-play.

Risks
BL chest promotion could encourage participation in the economy. Anywhere the BL chest promotion recipe demand overlaps with other recipes, the cost and production rates of both items may be affected. This risk can be turned to the advantage of other production lines by having the Bl chest promotion recipes require gold and not shared resources.
An increase in the gold cost of basic BL chests may affect the sale of keys. This risk could be minimized by requiring as few as necessary common BL chests in the promotion recipes.

Recipes!

The fun part and where input would always make the idea better or at least different. I think the Mystic Forge is the obvious way to approach promoting the rarity of Black Lion chests. What materials could be required be for each rarity level? Where would you want to see price points for each rarity?

I would like the recipes to require the Gifts of X that don’t require t2-t6 crafting materials such as exploration and dungeon, Vision crystals, new kharma mats for lower rarity tiers, and MF special materials.

As to price points, I think one Gift of Exploration or equivalent per Legendary chest would set maximum value.

Thanks for reading.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock content manifest

in API Development

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Forgive me if this is the wrong thread for this, I am not a programmer.

The other day I started thinking about what tools would help players maximize the value of the Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock. What you are trying to build sounds like the first needed step. Keep up the effort and don’t doubt the value to players of such an app.

edit: Arenanet studio, a tool that helps players maximize the value of the Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock would also be a powerful economic driver, since the only way to maximize value is to produce.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

(edited by Psientist.6437)

Update on the Economy

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

PvE stands for player versus environment. This notion that you should be competing against other players in PvE not only goes against the name of the game mode itself, it also goes against some core concepts of GW2 (as noted by things like the loot system where everyone gets loot instead of having to fight other players for a chance at it)

In Tyrian PvE, everyone gets loot [and/or] fights other players for a chance at it. That fight occurs as a kill credit calculation or as currency application (earning potential/capital). Those things should not change.

Theres no competing versus other players in PvE though.

Hey. Rather than parse Tyrian PvE, let’s assume a PvE game that maintains no competition for rewards during gameplay. If that game provides its players a currency field (a reference frame and field for abstracting the work of earning rewards) and a place to trade their rewards, the resulting marketplace will be intrinsically competitive. More significantly, the resulting marketplace will be a new place; a new PvX. PvE can not make a special claim to how PvOpenmarket operates.

edit: by “special claim” I mean a greater voice in how PvO operates than PvP or WvW. Even if PVE’s voice volume accounted for 99.99% of PvO activity, PvE could not achieve enough volume to change an intrinsic trait of PvO.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

(edited by Psientist.6437)

'the market will fix itself'

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

I tihnk alot of general supply of crafting ingredients in game is held in peoples material storage and there lies the problem. Plenty of average players just deposit whatever mats they earn into storage and forget about them. They cant be kittened to check values of mats on a general basis, so they just hoard them until they run out of storage space. When Anet introduced mat storage expanders, they kinda escalated the problem, as people were able to store 1000 (or is it 2000 now) of each mat before being notified that its full.

I have been paying minimum attention to GW2 for the past 10 months but have been catching up. I think the MC situation isn’t a situation either. Rather, a move to increased economic stability. Maybe.

On dark production potential:
The cost of maintaining materials is negligible if even above initial minimum investment to play. A players demand for gold can fall well below any gains from selling, especially if they predict new content. I think there is a sizeable player percentage for which hoarding is rational market behavior.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Update on the Economy

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

PvE stands for player versus environment. This notion that you should be competing against other players in PvE not only goes against the name of the game mode itself, it also goes against some core concepts of GW2 (as noted by things like the loot system where everyone gets loot instead of having to fight other players for a chance at it)

In Tyrian PvE, everyone gets loot [and/or] fights other players for a chance at it. That fight occurs as a kill credit calculation or as currency application (earning potential/capital). Those things should not change.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Update on the Economy

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

edit: Isn’t this a discussion about a studio’s role as market Creator/maker, maintaining the production of achievement and rarity among willingly competitive players?

…what “willingly competitive players”? I definitely thought that i was playing PvE, not PvP and thought the mode i play in was cooperative, not competitive.

I apologize if my first response reads as dismissive and I wouldn’t be apologizing if I didn’t think if may be. I was going to edit “among willingly participatory and competitive players” but it looked awful, as though it would collapse under the weight of redundancy. You raise a valid point beyond the distinction between PVE and PvP, monetizing rarity describes an aesthetic even an ethic. Maintaining rarity means maintaining the ratio of haves to have-nots and maintaining the rate of haves-nots to have. Maintaining includes delivering what players want and enough players want rarity enough to work much harder than the average player.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

(edited by Psientist.6437)

Update on the Economy

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

edit: Isn’t this a discussion about a studio’s role as market Creator/maker, maintaining the production of achievement and rarity among willingly competitive players?

…what “willingly competitive players”? I definitely thought that i was playing PvE, not PvP and thought the mode i play in was cooperative, not competitive.

“V” stands for versus. That may sound just pedantic, but the BLTP is a competitive arena and rarity can not exist without competition. If you only play to reach a rare goal, then you are competing against RNG and if you pay to reach that goal, you are competing against every other player that can also work to save wealth.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Update on the Economy

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

I guess my major gripe is that if I want to gear up a leather wearing toon, it is much more expensive than similarly gearing up a heavy armor toon. It seems to me that there shouldn’t be a supply hurdle in such a basic function of the game. It kind of shuts down that whole ‘play how you want’ theme they try to promote. If it was just as expensive/time intensive to get the same building blocks for a metal suit of armor, I wouldn’t feel that it’s so imbalanced.

I just went through this when deciding which toon to focus on next. My first thought was druid, then I looked at my leather stores and went with mesmer instead because it was less of a hassle.

I think this type of “of a production category type” irregularity shows the history of keeping a game economy active and competitive enough to maintain the demand for multiple currencies. The studio did not know it needed log in rewards at inception, and log in rewards are valuable measures of player value. In a counterfactual world where and when GW2 released with login rewards, the studio could have pursued a very different armor recipe methodology.

Isn’t this a discussion about a studio’s role as market Creator/maker, maintaining the production of rarity among willingly competitive players?

edit: Isn’t this a discussion about a studio’s role as market Creator/maker, maintaining the production of achievement and rarity among willingly competitive players?

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

(edited by Psientist.6437)

Update on the Economy

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

In the context of a game economy, the supply and demand equilibrium calculation may be a first order effect, but it is weakly organizing as gravity. The inception event is capturing player value. Tyrians are willing to work at being Tyrian and somehow a lot of the work required to maintain Tryianship feels like fun. Some Tyrians are willing to work very hard, some are able to work very well, one are like me. What can be described as broad irregularities in supply elasticity can also be described as the Tyrian economic landscape, with mountains for the hardest working Tyrians to climb. Can that be wrong for a game world?

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Update on the Economy

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Do economies or aggregate prices “fix” themselves or do they assume a shape approaching an equilibrium of conditions and forces? Can a marketplace that depends on a studio as market creator/maker assume original form (the GW2 economy can not exist before before the studio calculates its trajectory)? I feel compelled to say that I am not offering this description as a negative criticism but just as a system reality.

When John Smith describes listening and watching for emergent properties, he can not be listening and watching for unique production shapes because the Tyrian marketplace can not produce them. I think John Smith is very clear that he is watching the process of the marketplace adhering to a new player workload/playload trajectory.

Imo (I am not an trained economist) this trajectory uses Mystic coins:
1) as a way to control long term production output of Legendary gear and other “luxury goods”
2) as a long-term player life-style index indicator/benchmark similar to ectos, but with a much smaller production footprint
3) this may be a stretch but I see similarities between the Mystic Coins and real world gold. Again this is just my opinion and I am not completely sold on the need for a standard workload “candle” , but I think the Mystic Coin is the most apropos.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Asynchron Inflation

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

I am not sure what you are trying to fix but I will play along. To accomplish what you are asking, Arenanet would need to determine the rate of inflation, or something akin to “inflation”. The Tyrian economy, even though it is far smaller than any real world economy, presents unique challenges to determining the rate of inflation. Let’s assume, though, that we have a number for inflation. Increasing the gold cost of NPC goods would advertise to everyone the parity state of Tyrian gold. That level of transparency isn’t a bad thing but it would be a very difficult narrative for a game developer to successfully tell. If the fact that NPC goods don’t experience currency valuation as a change in price is an actual problem, then be rid of them and transfer the goods offered by NPCs to the trading post where they will experience currency valuation as a bottom-up, emergent process rather than as a top-down arbitrary process.

Personally, I think NPC vendors with their stagnant prices, are an important part of GW2s personality and without them, the game would occupy a very different market niche.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Silverwaste Shovels and other ACC stuff SCAMS

in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

I would love to hear a response from Arenanet about this. I don’t think they are in any way responsible for, or by requiring account bound items, promote scams. However, they did design a paradoxical marketplace and it would be interesting to hear their perspective.

Listen to Illconceived Was Na, buyers and sellers need to protect themselves.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Change Gliders to FULL flight.

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Why can’t I have glider to glider combat?!?!
Why can’t I fish from my glider?!?

Hmmm, meant those as sarcastic but they both sound really cool….

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Crafting experience doesn't move the XP bar

in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Rather than 2-3 threads about ‘why no xp for crafting’ with dozens of posts, there would be dozens of threads about ‘pay win(ish) with hundreds of posts. Whether or not to have crafting progress masteries isn’t a black or white, right or wrong decision, but a grey judgement call on balance. I think it was the right call.

What I don’t get is reviving xp not counting towards masteries.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Casual player struggling with inventory

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

GW2 has some of the best QoL, inventory management mechanics I have ever encountered in an mmo. The game also generates a lot of items, recipes change, and new recipes are continuously introduced; all for the most part good for most players and the game. However, unless you commit to the effort of moving items to storage characters, invest in bank tabs, have a personal guild bank, you will need to get rid of stuff and you will need to do some research but only to find out what you need.
If you don’t want ascended gear don’t save the account bound ascended materials.
If you don’t need exotic armor sets, salvage until you have full tabs of basic materials then sell the rest.

Maximize your bag space then develop an inventory routine. Your routine won’t necessarily be the most efficient at discovering profit, but who cares. It would be a shame to let having too much stuff get in the way of having fun.

edit: For rares I salvage all of them that have buy orders less than the buy orders for ectos. as to why all the stuffs…This game gives you stuff you may not need but someone else does, sell it to them.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

(edited by Psientist.6437)

On Legendaries from Dev

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

“We don’t talk speculatively about future development.”

That statement isn’t true and is also used as a blanket excuse to avoid communicating.

The communication about the Pact Commander auto-loot function is a great example of the inaccuracy of that quote/policy. Developers described how the function would work in WvW, and yet when HoT goes live, the function does not work in WvW. The team was willing to “talk speculatively” but not willing to ensure WvW players did not waste their time earning something they could not use. An accurate description of the auto-loot function in game would have corrected the misinformation. Instead, after effort had already been wasted, WvW players just got a message from a dev that amounted to “yea we decided to change it. maybe we will do something”.

“We don’t talk speculatively about future development" isn’t relevant to Legendary collections either. The content is live. We are not asking about future content, we are asking if what you designed is what you intended.

“We don’t talk speculatively about future development" is more relevant to the plans for addressing visual clutter. Most sensible people understand that there are technical, unavoidable even for the builders of Tyria, limits involved. I understand how frustrating it is to watch some players spread rumors about the reasoning involved. However, there are precedents of successful communication about challenging technical development. Not that it is the only precedent, but I remember communication from a dev (wish I could remember his name) about WvW culling. It was a straightforward description of the technical issues and well-balanced effort to moderate player expectation. A similar approach to visual clutter balancing would work.

If Arenanet is going to extend the design and iteration process so far into the live environment, then the players will be often confused and will need more timely and honest communication.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Huge backlash ever.

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Hey don’t forget the SAB riots last year which led to them saying they’d start to communicate with us more.

I still don’t understand why the Infinite Continue Coin doesn’t get more press. They took real money and then disabled the content for two years and counting…

At the risk of derailing this thread that has many duplicates…

I was taking a break from GW2 when SAB was live and only recently came across the Infinite Continue Coin. Left me speechless, not that I talk to my computer.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

which one is the official forum ?

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

This is certainly the official forum, but not necessarily the forum many devs choice when they want to engage players. “Why?” is most likely an unique combination of all the reasons listed depending on the dev in question.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Huge backlash ever.

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

I think they do not get that most of the player base don’t care about e-sports and just want to have fun with friends. And what is there to watch? All the beautiful animations are dying. There’s nothing to watch.

Take the tinfoil hat off for just 2 seconds…..

It’s not about e-Sports, it’s about creating a more dynamic and easier to read combat. This applies to Raids and future content where the mobs do more than just face tank you.

Carry on.

Then if a player cannot see, it is up to them to correct that and they can turn their own spell effects down. I have never before witnessed devs purposefully making graphics worse in their own game. If I like to play solo a majority of the time, why do I need reduced “visual noise?” (What an obnoxious term.) The answer is that I don’t. If I chose to do raids or anything else that requires a large number of players, I’d turn my settings down like I have done in the past with WoW, CoH, or the original GW. The developers need to recognize that this is hurting the game and will cause people to leave.

Exactly. Well said, Blessed.

yes indeed, individual graphic quality is up to the individual, either buy a new GC or tune it down in UI options. What next? are you gona turn us to this, * See attachment.

Would you please post instructions on how to turn down skill fx in GW2. Before you mention LOD please do some research on what it does and when and where it does it.

Honestly, I have never encountered as asinine a response as “It is up to the player to turn down skill fx”.

And of course, from a player’s perspective, fx sliders would be the best possible solution.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Why do we promote this behavior? Nevermore IV [Merged]

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Let’s be honest with ourselves; trolls and griefers exist, people who over-value nihilism will target people who are working for something. MMOs have always had such people, always will.

Thank you arenanet management for allowing design by committee without a commitment to thorough workmanship to introduce boss camping and boss griefing. “When it’s ready” TM has become “when it’s ready enough” TM.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Colin on esports and combat visibility

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

The connection people are making between esports and the visual nerfs could certainly be a case of correlation without causation. The plan for esports and the plan to address the consistent complaints about visual noise could have been independent of each other but because they were released at the same time, they appear connected.

The visual noise during many encounters was so consistently raised by players and so consistently ignored by devs that it became a joke, with just press 1 as the punchline.

That being said, “iteration by committee” of skill fx will never deliver as thorough a solution as player controlled choice.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Pocket Raptors

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

I love pocket raptors. They are a great blend of threat and humor.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Too much pushing for gem buying(edit) [Merged]

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

On the currency exchange in general:
I don’t have issue with using in-game currency as a progression multiplier. However, in practice, its use creates dissonance; the narrative of being a hero to a world becomes the business of being a hero. Imho, Arenanet does not know how to make being a hero to a world the dominate narrative.

Specific to the current advertisement:

It is a company advertising a product.
Some players do not know about it.
When the exchange rate drops, black market RMT piracy becomes more attractive and their negative effect increases. In such a situation, reinforcing the legal (and non-lethal to any player) currency exchange is appropriate.

The ad copy is weird. It reads as a blend of gamer snark and an attempt to explain how the exchange works, passed through a bedazzler.

I can’t decide on an opinion about its timing. The economy is in a state of flux so advertising a product that will increase the rate of change is…meh. However, the rate is going to continue to drop so exchanging gems now isn’t a bad idea.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

AFK raiders ruining Verdant Brink meta

in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

Require T4 to open the raid, problem solved.

You obviously have a secret lair and a cat. Have you ever considered applying your skills for good?

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

AFK raiders ruining Verdant Brink meta

in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

So I was raging for 3 weeks about inactivity and stupidity of players in VB who are the reason that I still didn’t get a single bladed coat box and instead of lowering the requirements or improving megaservers you actually made it even worse by turning VB into a staging area for raids? …I don’t have energy for this anymore. Good bye Verdant Brink. Never again.

I am usually all for the “developers know what they are doing” approach. But to be honest when I first entered VB zone today after patch and I looked at that entry portal with all those people in front of it, one of my first (if not THE first) thoughts was “wow, this is going to seriously mess with VB meta”. Makes me really wonder how such things get past the quality assurance.

As a guess, play testers work on one thing at at time. When they’re playing the zone they’re not raiding and vice versa.

And unless they have literally hundreds of people on the test server, and we don’t know that they do, what are the odds they can even beat the meta at all? And what are the odds people will be trying to when they’re testing raids? Just seems a lot less likely on the test server.

This is not failed play testing. This is corner cutting, this is “designed by committee”. I am beginning to think it is their hubris.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

No Experience Post Level 80 from Crafting

in Guild Wars 2 Discussion

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

It’s a lot easier to use real world money to buy Tyrian gold to buy exotic gear and a nice legendary weapon, XP boosters, (and food/utility) and then go off to farm CoF for incredible amounts of fast XP.

So I don’t buy that someone who wants to patiently sit there and craft is any less viable. Good thought though.

Wasn’t offering my opinion for sale, but as the possible perspective of the developers.
Imo, expect for xp boosters, your list does not include paying for character progression, but character rewards.
What is up for sale in GW2 and what constitutes character progression is certainly a nebulous subject, one not open to black and white divisions. In the case of masteries, I understand Arenanet’s decision to not allow crafting xp to progress masteries.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

No Experience Post Level 80 from Crafting

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

I doubt this is an oversight, but instead a purposeful decision to avoid the reality of and/or accusations of p2w; as well as insuring players earn masteries doing open world group content rather than crafting in LA.

Masteries unlock content, makes your character “better”; masteries are progression.

Crafting xp can be bought with Tyrian gold.

Tyrian gold can be bought with real world money.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Guild Raid Testing

in Fractals, Dungeons & Raids

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

As raid testers, DnT had to put promoting the game above promoting themselves. They had to behave as white nights or at least as silent grey nights. There was no room to be a vocal grey knight, not even as a grey knight humorist. “DnT” also describes a large, diverse population of players, not all of them appreciating the reality of their role.

I hope the members of the DnT GW2 community do not feel pressured from being active in game or here on the forums.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Dedicated RAID Lobby please

in Fractals, Dungeons & Raids

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

They can just do what they did with the final story instance for the expansion and then add a raid section in the LFG.

Fully appreciating that we as players don’t know how difficult it would be to program this idea; this idea does sound fairly simple. It would remove the burden on the VB meta and make it easier to form squads for raids.

One possible downside is increased competition between raid groups. I don’t think it would be a big deal, just playing devil’s advocate.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

Dedicated RAID Lobby please

in Fractals, Dungeons & Raids

Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

It is very likely, at least possible, that players entering VB to form raid groups is also creating more VB maps, spreading out the population of players looking to do VB meta even further. Here or perhaps on reddit, I came across what sounds like a good, simple to implement idea of using a ‘story instance’ of VB as a raid lobby.

However, I also think we (players) could use a different zone besides VB or any zone with a meta event chain as a raid lfg hub.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human

events and the map

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Posted by: Psientist.6437

Psientist.6437

The options you see in the “content guide” drop down menu are the only options. More options would certainly be useful. Personally I would love the option to show events only. That option would be very useful in the new HoT maps where it is more likely players won’t have map completion.

“No! You can’t eat the ones that talk!
They’re special! They got aspirations.”
Finn the human