Deflation Plaguing AL

[EQT]

I don't believe it is deflation as such. Yes item prices are going down but it is due to the growing player base. More players are gaining money. This is due to the recent events. They were rewarded with things such as para gems which rich people desire to put on their gear. So then every toon that got to platinum tier received this gem and were able to gain more or less one million gold. STS are making it easy to earn money for new players. It is a pretty good thing to be honest with you. The economy is balancing out.

And yes there has been an influx in new armor, which has identical stats to the previous armor. Which, by the by, I think that is POINTLESS and quite lazy to be frank. Please STS if you are reading this, I hope you can put in more variation in gear. I love the fact that the icescale armor has been introduced but DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT make a similar version when new event comes out.

If you are running out of ideas about new items to implement in to the game, ASK YOUR PLAYERS.

AND IMO you rich guys with over 20m bank should not really complain.

[Sir Lubo Penev]

Deflation isn't the cause of the problems. It is a result like everything else that is wrong in this game. Deflation is caused by the fact that supply hugely outweighs demand these days. And this is due to a number of reasons, the most notable being not old players quitting (which is also bad, not saying otherwise), but new players not joining the game. Or to be more precise - not enough new players joining the game + an increasing percentage of new players leaving very early (like at level 10-15). Let's not fool ourselves here - the success of an mmo game lies in the sheer number of players. It doesn't matter if a few uber rich players pour 300 million in the economy (as per one of these player's own words). It matters when 10 thousand players pour 30k each. Problem is there are no 10 thousand players who could do this. And there are no 10 thousand players, because.. well, I told you why - because they either don't join or leave early. Which in turn is caused by a number of reasons - technical issues (a very severe problem recently), poverty issues (yes, we need a way for new players to make gold, 50k in locks or elite bosses dropping 1-2-3k won't cut it), unprecedented scamming (yes, I've played other games and haven't seen anything like this here), events borderline unplayable for groups of undergeared low level players (the actual new players) etc. etc.

[aarrgggggg]

I don't believe it is deflation as such. Yes item prices are going down but it is due to the growing player base. More players are gaining money. This is due to the recent events. They were rewarded with things such as para gems which rich people desire to put on their gear. So then every toon that got to platinum tier received this gem and were able to gain more or less one million gold. STS are making it easy to earn money for new players. It is a pretty good thing to be honest with you. The economy is balancing out.

And yes there has been an influx in new armor, which has identical stats to the previous armor. Which, by the by, I think that is POINTLESS and quite lazy to be frank. Please STS if you are reading this, I hope you can put in more variation in gear. I love the fact that the icescale armor has been introduced but DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT make a similar version when new event comes out.

If you are running out of ideas about new items to implement in to the game, ASK YOUR PLAYERS.

AND IMO you rich guys with over 20m bank should not really complain.

A growing player base???? are we talking about the same game here????

Ask any GM of any of the top 10 guilds if activity is the same, more, or less than a few months ago, i guarantee the results would be a unanimous result, less activity.

Translation: less activity = less players

[Ssneakykills]

Yes the cs one is a pain when you put something in cs for 5+ then it doesn't sell you lose 100k+ from putting it in there

[Fyrce]

Um, isn't the gear to play what everyone's after? Who cares if such gear is 50k, 500k, 5m, or 50m?

[Kriticality]

I would imagine the investments some speak of were an unfortunate consequence of buying at the wrong time. Very much like a housing bubble. It's difficult for me to imagine that anyone was meant to buy any item for more than they can hold for the trade. It's imploding the same way. There is no path at all available for most players to bridge the gap from an overpriced elon bow and an arcane ring. I'm sitting on thousands of plat that I regret and won't spend. I won't sell energy for less than I can make for ankhs after event and I've already popped 500 crates this event. If people bought at the height of plat farmers, or over lending for a house, you messed up, not the economy. I won't buy a ring for 80M and I won't play people that hold rings hostage for 80M unless I'm intoxicated. People buy nice cars and it depreciates when they drive it off the lot as most cars do. This is the way of most material things. The likely scenario is that these items were never meant to go for that much, hence the ban on some things for sts sponsored events. Rings and bows and pets will come down until they are at a price not just affordable, but that people are willing and want to pay. It's not so much as problem but a requisite for any market to fix itself. There will be plenty of people with gold that do well and people with gold that perhaps won't. Of course people can always hold and quit like it sounds like some did/are doing but that still increases playability for the other whatever percent you want to call them. We will see how it pans out but this is from a player that plays with Sam, just dumped elon bow. For me to buy my bow, I had to be close to believe it was possible. For me to get 3 sams and 2 rings, it's gotta seem possible. I'm not gonna pay 5k real money for it and I think a lot of players couldn't even if they wanted to. Some people may to buy and some people Prob already have but I don't see a whole lotta people running around arlor like that. The market will Prob end up where it should be.

[mlb2005]

1:The number of players is rapidly declining

2:The majority of people still active are already have practically everything they desire

3:The people who have most everything they want either have no more gold to spend because there are few ways to make gold, or they just choose not to spend it because no better items have arrived and with constant deflation merching has become nothing more than a gold sink.

4:The loot system via locked crates has slowly been killing the economy since the day they were introduced which has become more noticeable as of recently

5:Buying plat and opening crates is one of the few ways left to make gold, and the more lockeds that are opened the bigger the problem becomes



Conclusion: The future of the AL looks bleak at best, with rapidly declining active players, a stale and continually deflating market, the fact that most devs have moved onto a new game.
AL will most likely become just like its predecessors.

Soon i see a "beta guild" one guild where all the top players go becoming the option that makes the most sense due to lack of activity in game.

All data points towards the fact that AL was designed for a maximum level cap of 36, everything done and introduced beyond 36 cap has been devs just making it up as they go, since originally there were no plans beyond 36. The current economy and state of AL is a culmination of those last minute plans being added in game, what it all boils down to is lack of planning beyond level 36 cap.

I already started a thread about this a few weeks ago heres the link, check it out http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...ht=devaluation

I would like to think that some of the OP ideas would help but i am very doubtful of some miraculous turnaround as far as economy is concerned.

I agree with this. As for #4 the whole aspect of locked chests having all the best gear is absurd. From a business standpoint it may make sense but from a players perspective it's in no way fun and there's hardly any reason to actually play the game. All these mythics should be obtainable through actually playing the harder elite dungeons.

When did gaming become so generic? The best game I've ever played the best armor and weapons came from killing monsters. They updated the game monthly with amazing quests where you recieved cool rewards but nothing game breaking where everyone was standing around wearing the same thing and using the same weapon.

The economy was always thriving. You didn't have 4 million people trying to get their hands on the same 20 super rare rings that are floating around. You had lower level people getting materials they could sell to the high level people who had plenty of gold so nobody was going hungry lol.

In conclusion, I would say this format of in game purchases is destroying mmorpgs. Paying monthly and having developers actually have to provide quality content to keep people playing was way better than this iap regurgitated garbage that's being pushed now. Maybe I'm just getting old haha.

[Yumisa]

Haha, good thread ^^ STG Have to engage an economist now x)

[NotYoCookiez]

I agree with this. As for #4 the whole aspect of locked chests having all the best gear is absurd. From a business standpoint it may make sense but from a players perspective it's in no way fun and there's hardly any reason to actually play the game. All these mythics should be obtainable through actually playing the harder elite dungeons.

When did gaming become so generic? The best game I've ever played the best armor and weapons came from killing monsters. They updated the game monthly with amazing quests where you recieved cool rewards but nothing game breaking where everyone was standing around wearing the same thing and using the same weapon.

The economy was always thriving. You didn't have 4 million people trying to get their hands on the same 20 super rare rings that are floating around. You had lower level people getting materials they could sell to the high level people who had plenty of gold so nobody was going hungry lol.

In conclusion, I would say this format of in game purchases is destroying mmorpgs. Paying monthly and having developers actually have to provide quality content to keep people playing was way better than this iap regurgitated garbage that's being pushed now. Maybe I'm just getting old haha.

i agree with the old guy

[epicrrr]

Haha, good thread ^^ STG Have to engage an economist now x)

Its never good when players fills the role of economist but heck, its fun discussing things economically and pit in our ideas about inflation/deflation, pricing, value and what the heck we can start AL stock exhange! I'd say the economy is stabilizing.

[Caabatric]

I don't believe it is deflation as such. Yes item prices are going down but it is due to the growing player base. More players are gaining money. This is due to the recent events. They were rewarded with things such as para gems which rich people desire to put on their gear. So then every toon that got to platinum tier received this gem and were able to gain more or less one million gold. STS are making it easy to earn money for new players. It is a pretty good thing to be honest with you. The economy is balancing out.

And yes there has been an influx in new armor, which has identical stats to the previous armor. Which, by the by, I think that is POINTLESS and quite lazy to be frank. Please STS if you are reading this, I hope you can put in more variation in gear. I love the fact that the icescale armor has been introduced but DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT make a similar version when new event comes out.

If you are running out of ideas about new items to implement in to the game, ASK YOUR PLAYERS.

AND IMO you rich guys with over 20m bank should not really complain.

Player population increasing ??? show me 50 lvl 1-3 players that arent alts or dummy farmers
Easy to make money??? teach me how to get an 10m in 1 month. farm locks?

[Kriticality]

I can teach you 10M/month at current market if you're an end gamer but expect this number to gradually decrease over time. PM me.

[NotYoCookiez]

I can teach you 10M/month at current market if you're an end gamer but expect this number to gradually decrease over time. PM me.

im level 16. Can i atleast make half of that? Ill be happy forever lol

[Raselph]

This couldn't actually be deflation, just IMO, not like a serious. In lockeds there are conquistadors, so many that probably more than the AL population. There is also supply and demand for every item, especially as of their stats. We also have way too many lv41 gears. Players are also holding their gold. We also do not have gold circulation, there's barely gold circulating.

[Iliketolol]

IMO the game is just getting better.. Prices are just settling down to what it should've been!

[NotYoCookiez]

I can't wait til I take Economics next year... It's so fascinating!

[Caabatric]

I can teach you 10M/month at current market if you're an end gamer but expect this number to gradually decrease over time. PM me.

Omg if this is true im set!!!

[Raselph]

Omg if this is true im set!!!

1 yr and poof...lol

[Energizeric]

1:The number of players is rapidly declining

Actually it is my understanding that during the halloween event, there were more players playing the game than ever before, which is why we had all these connection problems suddenly. Then releasing the planar tombs made it even worse.

It just seems like the number players is declining because many of the players you know from long ago have left. That is typical for these kinds of games, you will always have a natural turnover as people move on. So most of the new players are not end game pros yet, and many who have reached end game are not yet in your class to be able to compete with you. But overall there are more people playing AL now than ever before.

[Anarchist]

Basically we were better off when we were worse cause people STILL platfarm and introduce more mythics/arcanes and energy kits than there should be. Who needs them has no gold to buy cause sts developed the only way to earn serious amounts of gold for already rich top geared players and the already rich top geared players do not need new mythics or arcanes on contrary they are costantly panic selling theirs each time a new event or double odds weekend is announced.
What else can i say? OnC.