Marketplace Concerns

[Pilotslover]

Ezra -

You think the level of inflation how it is is natural?

No, it's not.

Inflation itself is a natural process of a free market, yes but what's happening right now on the Marketplace is not. Of course an ageing system has more currency in it, of course this makes prices higher but Gaia has boosted the amount of Gold in the system too much.

The introduction of things that introduced more Gold into Gaia's system created the ability to inflate things insanely. The Fail coins, booty grab. I have had two Fail coins with 250k on them and more with smaller units, that's NOT a smart move.

There is NO WAY a business could continually loose 2 million a month and not be scuppered, no way at all.

I'm not so naive that I don't see that Gaia NEEDS the cash shop, I just find their over reliance on RIG's to be despicable. Pro-RIG'ers will always throw around that RIG's are the most successful way to make money but the Cash Shop HASN'T ever had a mass release of RIG quality items.

Gaia needs to test a different release method, thus stopping the b*****d AI'ers from over inflating items like the Wasabi, items that have been quested for for years.

Until Gaia actually runs a proper test release of RIG items in the cash shop I'm staying on this side of the fence.

Gaia made this mess, Gaia needs to fix it.

The SOS event was a good start but we need more Gold Sinks (The long awaited contact shop for example) and maybe a higher market place tax to decrease the amount of gold in the system, then prices will level out again.

So ...

Cash Shop Good, RIG's and things that give out more gold Bad.  

[XenjinHattori]

I wonder if we could calculate an average for inflation based on items sold.  

[Ezra-tan]

Honestly, I like the cash shop, I like the RIGS, and I have no problem whatsoever obtaining the items that I desire. And I'll say it again, kudos to Gaia for making the money.

I am so tired of seeing people b***h about this everywhere I look. rolleyes
I'm also sick of hearing people complain about the prices in the MP, and do nothing else. There are ways of earning large amounts of gold, and it's been done the same way even before the cash shop came out. If you want an item, do what it takes to get it. I work my a** off for my items, rather than sit around doing nothing but complain about prices in the vend. If you aren't willing to do the work that it takes to earn the items you want, you have no right to complain about prices. You can't expect things to be easy all the time, or to have the things you want just handed to you.  

[XenjinHattori]

I'm not complaining about it. I am just wondering, IS the level of inflation much higher than it should be, or what?  

[Ezra-tan]

NeoTsure

I'm not complaining about it. I am just wondering, IS the level of inflation much higher than it should be, or what?

My assumption is that it's a combination of a few things. The rate that this site is growing is one of them. We have tons of members joining every day, and this adds a LOT of gold to the system. Gaia has gotten huge. I don't think that RIG items give out enough gold in order to make a huge difference in the economy. It's mostly releasing items. Getting gold from RIGs is essentially done in the same manner as the MC's, which have been on the site almost since the beginning. You purchase the item from gaia, and either open it for an item [which you can sell to other members, which does NOT create new gold], or you can sell the actual RIG itself to another member of the site. Opening it and getting a FAIL Coin does not add nearly enough gold to the system as normal posting and gaming throughout the site does. The amount of gold that is released into the system from the fail coins is actually a controlled amount; it isn't like every other user is winning 500k+. Thats actually pretty rare. My opinion is that the inflation is mostly natural, and you can look at the graphs on tektek over the years to view the inflation rates. I don't think the RIGS and CS items are having this huge effect that everyone is shitting about.

Prices of items are going to rise regardless of the RIG or cash shop items, and rare 2003 items are always going to be ridiculously expensive, but NEVER out of reach. I earned my Sash and other expensive items in a little less than 2 months. The way I see it, rather than sitting and moaning about the prices, do something to earn gold. It's been proven that exchanging, vending, and hoarding works. Don't complain and moan if you are too lazy or don't have the time to earn gold [this isn't directed at anyone in particular, but towards a large number of gaians]. Things should just be handed to you because you want them. Get real.  

[Pilotslover]

Ezra -
I'm not complaining about the inflation because things are out of my personal price range, did you miss the point where I pointed out that RIG's give out coins and that I've had two for 250k? 250k is NOT a minimal amount of gold no matter which way you slice it.

Quote:

I don't think that RIG items give out enough gold in order to make a huge difference in the economy. It's mostly releasing items. Getting gold from RIGs is essentially done in the same manner as the MC's, which have been on the site almost since the beginning. You purchase the item from gaia, and either open it for an item [which you can sell to other members, which does NOT create new gold], or you can sell the actual RIG itself to another member of the site. Opening it and getting a FAIL Coin does not add nearly enough gold to the system as normal posting and gaming throughout the site does.

Uhh huh ... I'd never touched 250k before I got my fail coins so I don't believe this at all. This combined with the shop commons the RIG's give out is a dangerous combination in my opinion (And given the mess of the site feedback a lot of the other regs); I certainly can't be bothered to fart a** around on the MP to sell a shop common so I sell it back to the Gold Shop thus generating more Gold into the system (The same being true of the fail coins).

Do you really believe a NEW item should be worth the same as one of the old MC's? If so then we have a massive difference of opinion. To me, a newly generated item should not be worth the same as a very old item. In the thread I highlighted before, Gaia admitted that they limited supply of certain new items to create rarity and this to me is disgraceful.

Gaia proclaims to be a free market and then releases items with an intent to make them rare ... It's a contradiction.

Neo -
I believe it is, yes.
Only so much can be said for rising levels of members, the recent SOS event should have countered that quite nicely.

Until someone provides me with actual believable proof that Gaia's inflation hasn't been affected by the introduction of more gold from the cash shop and booty grab then this is the side of the fence I shall continue to sit on.  

[Ezra-tan]

You must be lucky then, to have gotten two 250k fail coins. I myself have gotten a good few fail coins, none of which were worth over 10k. As for shop items, it's rare that you can get more than 25k back for selling it to a shop. These items as well don't show up often, so again, I don't see them generating nearly as much gold compared to the normal gold increase made by millions of members posting and playing games EVERY day.

I do agree that a brand new item should not be worth more than an older MC. However I disagree with you in saying that you think it's despicable to make some items more rare than others. I see absolutely nothing wrong with creating rare items. It would be stupid if everything were common, and thus worthless. I enjoy having something to work towards, and I think it's selfish when people get angry over an item being too expensive just because they are too lazy to "fart a** around on the MP" in order to get it. It took me two days to earn the gold for a Y Paddle by "farting a**" on the vend. rolleyes  

[Pilotslover]

But a limited release in the Cash Shop wouldn't make them common.

It would make them limited.

And that's what I would rather see them doing.

I'd love to see a test release of the RIG items in a multitude of colours for a limited time, this would make them 'rare' but would not lead to them being insanely inflated.  

[XenjinHattori]

I actually got something I didn't get before. I thought that there was a set amount of cash shop items that could be bought, and then when they all were sold out, then that was it. Instead they operate on a random basis, when things are 'gotten' that is taken out of the system? Correct me if I'm wrong.  

[Pilotslover]

NeoTsure

I actually got something I didn't get before. I thought that there was a set amount of cash shop items that could be bought, and then when they all were sold out, then that was it. Instead they operate on a random basis, when things are 'gotten' that is taken out of the system? Correct me if I'm wrong.

No, it is entirely random.  

[XenjinHattori]

Man, all I know is that it's going to take me a few years to get enough gold for one of those nitemare scarfs. Not that I'm complaining about it, but it would be nice if the prices were within 100,000 miles of my current location... and inflation means it'll go up even more, I'll probably need 6 million for it.  

[XenjinHattori]

I didn't think prices went down, particularly on items that are really rare.  

[Ezra-tan]

NeoTsure

I didn't think prices went down, particularly on items that are really rare.

Usually the MP prices deflate in July and August, and inflation kicks in again in November and December.