54 replies to this topic

[Khalija]

This week we had a few comments coming from John Smith, ArenaNet's in-house economist, explaining that the recent bot ban waves have had a large impact on the market, causing it to shift. He then went on and updated the community saying that they have been keeping an eye on precursors, the weapons required to create legendary weapons, and how they have been becoming "unreachable":

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I apologize for the lack of current details. What I can currently say about this topic is that we’ve recently begun a renewed campaign against RMT and Bots. The change in these markets is a direct result of the success of that campaign.

You can expect to see more details coming out within the next couple of weeks. [Source]

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The price spike doesn’t represent a shortage, it represents prices returning to where they should be without bots. This change creates more opportunity for players playing the game to earn money. The oversupply the bots created hurt the legitimate producers of items. As the prices go up, more real players will enter the market. [Source]

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We’ve received a large amount of feedback about Legendaries becoming unreachable. This is actually a topic we’ve been tracking for quite some time. To ease your minds I am here to say that it’s something we’ve been watching and we’ve been listening to your feedback. You can expect to begin to see changes addressing the issue starting with our next build. [Source]

[Vihsk]

Interesting.

[Omedon]

So in other words, the ideal method for long term, "difficult" goals, as has always been in this history of MMOs, is "wait for the nerf."

Edited by Omedon, 10 November 2012 - 07:57 PM.

[Murderer]

So umm lode stones were always suppose to  cost 2+ gold and globs 20+ silver each? So I guess precursors only costing 300 gold should be considered cheap? If this is the case then I welcome bots back. With these new prices you have to spend 300+ gold on items just to make the legendary(not including precursor).

[Omega X]

They set the bar too high to begin with. It was too great of a length to go for aesthetics.

[Mustache Mayhem]

wonder what they'll do about the precursor price.. you know what I think gonna happen.. they'll have a artificial cap price- like if your legit selling a precursor- might be a good idea to sell it at a loss now

or even worse.. flood the market with flannum precursors at a set price noone can compete with.. he just presses a button and boop there's the new set of lower prices on the market! xd I know that's bad.. but it'll probably be something like a cap

[Ritualist]

With prices returning to "normal", they really need to exclude certain items (aka basic looking, max gear) from the market and we need to see the return of "1k" gear.

[jirayasan]

- Legendaries are now account bound.
- Precursor are now crafted with a recipe in the Mystic Forge.
- Clearer described how to get a Legendary and how difficult it is. (Like a special NPC with info)

Please.




Please.

[MisterB]

Murderer, on 10 November 2012 - 08:10 PM, said:

If this is the case then I welcome bots back.

Some of these RMTs(real money traders or gold sellers) and botters are also criminals engaged in illegal activities, including but not limited to: account theft, fraud, and identity theft.

[chuckles79]

There are exotics that require 250 ori parts and stuff like that.

I agree that legendaries should be special, but they are more a test of how much you can farm, as opposed to how far you will go to earn.

[Senatic]

Good, get rid of the RNG. Getting the precursor should still be expensive, but get the RNG out of the equation.

[mattsfromspace]

I knew I should have saved that 65g I just blew on rare greatsword materials.

[Xodiak]

Is there still a loot patch coming up that will up the quality and drop rate of items? Even if I just have to vendor stuff.. if I'm getting more money than I am now, I'd be thrilled.That sure would make a lot more things affordable.. if not, bring back the bots.

[matsif]

the price increases due to the bot bans doesn't really bother me, I'm getting to a point where I'm starting to farm up mats and such for cash anyways and sitting on a nice bank for new content releases instead of spending it all on leveling alts.

the precursor change, assuming it adds a distinct mystic forge recipe to the game, is better.  Of course those who already got them will cry, but anything with RNG is bad and I don't participate in it without being forced.  besides, I still hold my opinion that most of the legendaries were horrible looking anyways.

[Ritualist]

MisterB, on 10 November 2012 - 08:21 PM, said:

Some of these RMTs(real money traders or gold sellers) and botters are also criminals engaged in illegal activities, including but not limited to: account theft, fraud, and identity theft.

I think the fact that people would rather deal with this shit shows how much people dislike A.Net's solutions.

[ogrejd]

"The price spike doesn’t represent a shortage, it represents prices returning to where they should be without bots. This change creates more opportunity for players playing the game to earn money. The oversupply the bots created hurt the legitimate producers of items. As the prices go up, more real players will enter the market."

Yes, because obviously only the effects on the "legitimate" sellers matters, not the effects on those who might need those items... :/

[Serris]

ogrejd, on 10 November 2012 - 09:11 PM, said:

"The price spike doesn’t represent a shortage, it represents prices returning to where they should be without bots. This change creates more opportunity for players playing the game to earn money. The oversupply the bots created hurt the legitimate producers of items. As the prices go up, more real players will enter the market."

Yes, because obviously only the effects on the "legitimate" sellers matters, not the effects on those who might need those items... :/

what you and many others seem to forget is that if you're buying on the trading post, you're also most likely selling on the trading post. these sales will net you more money which you can use to pay for the higher prices. basic economics jay

[AstralPhoenix777]

"With prices returning to "normal", they really need to exclude certain items (aka basic looking, max gear) from the market and we need to see the return of "1k" gear."

Well, this is an accessibility issue; the original Guild Wars was actually far better at this in terms of both speed of levelling and accessibility of top-level gear. Buying or crafting a full set of exotic armour, which is necessary for max stats, costs around 15g right now, which I equate to be roughly equal to 100k from GW. So basically your only recourse to max stats armour in GW2 is buying what is technically the equivalent of Elite Kurzick, whereas as you said, you could get a complete set of max stats armour for <10k in GW in the form of 1k gear.

[Arca]

Murderer, on 10 November 2012 - 08:10 PM, said:

So umm lode stones were always suppose to  cost 2+ gold and globs 20+ silver each? So I guess precursors only costing 300 gold should be considered cheap? If this is the case then I welcome bots back. With these new prices you have to spend 300+ gold on items just to make the legendary(not including precursor).

With the recent changes in the market, my personal goal of achieving Infinite Light has become nearly impossible.
I need a total of 250 Charged Lodestones, and 1500 Orichalcum. Together is 900+ gold as we speak.

On the bright side, stuff sells for way more now. Ecto being a prime example, going up by nearly 10 silver. This allows faster money making, but also increases the cost of everything else. So yeah...

[Nabuko Darayon]

I hope the prices of Legendaries will go down... as they did at the first few days of the release

[el hefe]

chuckles79, on 10 November 2012 - 08:22 PM, said:

There are exotics that require 250 ori parts and stuff like that.

I agree that legendaries should be special, but they are more a test of how much you can farm, as opposed to how far you will go to earn.

i agree with this.  there is nothing 'Legendary' about farming.  they should have made them challenging to get.  not simply something that takes a lot of time.

[Tenicord]

el hefe, on 11 November 2012 - 12:12 AM, said:

i agree with this.  there is nothing 'Legendary' about farming.  they should have made them challenging to get.  not simply something that takes a lot of time.

Like say... at the end of this new dungeon perhaps o_O perhaps that's the change that is coming... I hope.

[Norseman]

Xodiak, on 10 November 2012 - 08:36 PM, said:

Is there still a loot patch coming up that will up the quality and drop rate of items? Even if I just have to vendor stuff.. if I'm getting more money than I am now, I'd be thrilled.That sure would make a lot more things affordable.. if not, bring back the bots.

Basic economics: Put more easy money into something and prices go up.

[ilr]

Omedon, on 10 November 2012 - 07:57 PM, said:

So in other words, the ideal method for long term, "difficult" goals, as has always been in this history of MMOs, is "wait for the nerf."

Nerf = Reduction in skill required.
Gambling !=  Skill

Edited by ilr, 11 November 2012 - 02:53 AM.

[ogrejd]

AstralPhoenix777, on 10 November 2012 - 09:43 PM, said:

Well, this is an accessibility issue; the original Guild Wars was actually far better at this in terms of both speed of levelling and accessibility of top-level gear. Buying or crafting a full set of exotic armour, which is necessary for max stats, costs around 15g right now, which I equate to be roughly equal to 100k from GW.

Actually, it's more like 170k (170p455g), based on the cost of basic salvage kits in GW2 (88c) and normal salvage kits in GW1 (100g).  You could easily buy two sets of most Ascended (prestige) armors for that in GW1.

[ilr]

Due to the greater focus on Crafting and thus need for more pedestrian materials for gear instead of niche mats for Cons (feathers/dust/granite) .... it's a bit hard to make that case.   IE: you'll go through 25 salvage uses in Gw2 a lot faster than you did in GW1.   But yeah, not much to argue about on max stat gear since it was 1K per piece and 15K if you wanted the Elite version that was identical stats-wise.

Needing Ectos to craft Exo's also throws a wrench in it since you NEED the Black Lion one if you expect to get more than 1 ecto out of every second Rare you salvage...  and then need to repeat that 15-60 times depending on which salvage kit you have.  (PS: anyone who tell ya Mystic kit is the same, IS A LIAR  ...it was around release but they messed with it last month b/c botters were causing deflation of ectos/rares).

Edited by ilr, 11 November 2012 - 08:35 AM.

[Viroid]

Murderer, on 10 November 2012 - 08:10 PM, said:

So umm lode stones were always suppose to  cost 2+ gold and globs 20+ silver each? So I guess precursors only costing 300 gold should be considered cheap? If this is the case then I welcome bots back. With these new prices you have to spend 300+ gold on items just to make the legendary(not including precursor).

You have to see it another way...bots are the reason why “normal“players have to sell their mats for less then they are are meant to be.
So a casual player will have more money after banning all bots. They get the same amount of loot, but can sell them for a higher price.

[Princess Fatora]

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which is necessary for max stats, costs around 15g right now, which I equate to be roughly equal to 100k from GW.

Nonsense. I had to play GW1 far longer to get my full set of maxstat armor than I ever had to in Gw2.

15g is also MUUUUUUCH faster to get than 100k. Not to mention, uhm, hi karma. With the 4.5k karma bottles, any character that hits 80 (and isn't played by a 24/7 player but by a normal player that gets 1-2 levels a day) can get at least 3 exotics just from karma, dropping your pricing further.

Few players that hit 80 will be unable to get at least 3/4 of their gear to exotic right then and there.

[Milennin]

Interesting. Even though I don't care too much for legendaries, I always like having a longterm goal in an MMO, but the current way legendaries are handled is abysmal, so maybe this will improve the situation a bit. Hoping for a more consistent way of getting a pre-cursor without using the TP, and maybe have Lodestones buyable with dungeon tokens.

[Miragee]

What's going on with you guys? Legendary's are supposed to be super special and should take a very very long time to get. If it's too long for you than the game isn't what you want to play. I for example don't farm a lot and I never did in GW1 either. I do all things I have fun with as long as they are fun. And at some point I will get the Legendary if the game provides as much fun long term content for me as I need to get a legendary (or what ever).

The only point I would agree with is changing the random recipe for precursors. Random mechanics beyond drops are stupid in my opinion.