Curse

KZaske · Jan 09, 2010, 05:16 PM // 17:16

The easer it is to farm ectos, the lower the price. Recently with SF and other farming builds the price for ectos has been surprisingly low for an extended amount of time.
In the past the price of ectos has been as high as 20K each. The previous price of around 4K was as low as I had ever seen it. The average (since the game started) price would be between 10 and 12 plat. The all time high price I would say was just after the introduction of Sorrows Furnace at 22K per ecto. With the impending SF and 600/smite nerf I am feel that the prices for ectos will rise to about ten to twelve plat and level off there.

Fay Vert · Jan 09, 2010, 05:27 PM // 17:27

If you trade in ectos then the value of an ecto is, er, one ecto, the cash price doesn't really matter unless all you do is farm cash to get your ectos, which is about as silly a way of doing it as any. If you farm ectos or trade ectos then you shouldn't care. I sometimes buy ectos just to dump excess cash, but that is about dumping cash rather than acquiring ectos.

Div · Jan 09, 2010, 05:35 PM // 17:35

The solution, kids, is to store your money in ectos and rare weapons, and not something liquid like gold or lockpicks.

It's like when you see the stocks rising, and you're complaining about how your money is worth "less" now compared to before.

Mcsnake85 · Jan 09, 2010, 06:21 PM // 18:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Div

The solution, kids, is to store your money in ectos and rare weapons, and not something liquid like gold or lockpicks.

It's like when you see the stocks rising, and you're complaining about how your money is worth "less" now compared to before.

No, the problem is because ppl dont take care about how much they paying for items,they just buy item even the price of ectos rise to 10k each...how much is a vs q9?60e? ok take your 60e...600k!!!LOL!!gg!

Pugs Not Drugs · Jan 09, 2010, 06:30 PM // 18:30

I actually would love for the price of ectos to stay as they are. Most people will start selling their ectos once they see Anet is doing nothing, and the price will balance out. It would definitely make nostalgic farms like smite runs much more fun and profitable.

(Maybe I'm just biased because I miss doing FoW forest runs on my ranger

)

Gift3d · Jan 09, 2010, 06:39 PM // 18:39

why are you all wracking your brains over something that just flat out, doesn't make any sense at all? we've got a bunch of little 12 year old nostradamus' and online economic entrepreneurs with the iq of 20 controlling our economy. and you wanna sit here and tell me how you know what's up.

...oh, you guise.

mathiastemplar · Jan 09, 2010, 07:28 PM // 19:28

There is no problem......................................... Ectos at about 8k is fine.. ppl selling stuff at same ecto rate.. who gives shit?

gg

Yawgmoth · Jan 09, 2010, 07:28 PM // 19:28

Many people still don't see where it's all going and still think ectos are just an 'add' to make trading above 100k possible.
WRONG.
For the large part of high-end traders gold is not the main currency anymore, many traders ingame and here on guru forums don't accept gold at all! 100k+ectos is now seen far less often than quotes in just ectos, and even items below 100k are sold for ectos instead of gold.
GW Gold is slowly going the way of Diablo2 gold - more of an annoyance than a currency. It's all because of the limits. Having millions of gold doesn't make you able to buy expensive items, to do that you need to convert to a real currency.

THAT'S why the prices in ectos don't change as much as the exchange value of ECT/GWG.

englitdaudelin · Jan 09, 2010, 08:21 PM // 20:21

@ McSnake--

What follows here assumes that both gold/plat and ecto are variations on the same currency. (So, for a moment, I will not talk about Yawgmoth's post. More later there). It also assumes that the absolute monetary value of an item-- for simplicity, let's call it a req 9 Voltaic spear-- hasn't changed in a while. And last, if I misuse any economic terms, please forgive me; I'm not an economist, and I will try to refrain from real economic idiocy.

Sure, sellers in Kamadan are ASKING the same prices (in 100k + xx ecto or whatever) as they did two months ago, when ecto was 4.5k. And sure, sometimes, they get it.

If they do, then that's the stupid fault of a stupid, or impetuous, or inattentive buyer, overpaying, or overvaluing, an item. At 1 ecto = 4.5k, then 100k +60 ecto = 100k + 270k = 370k for the spear, about two months ago. Maybe less.
At 1 ecto = 6.5k, then it's 100k + 390k = 490k.

So here, someone who buys a spear at 100k + 60 ecto--or whatever the price is-- is overpaying by more than 120k.

But I'm not sure I can call this a "problem." Someone who is attentive, or concerned with using his *fake* money conservatively, would see the 60e seller and hopefully do the math. That spear's absolute monetary value has NOT gone up. If anything, it should go DOWN-- because there are slowly more and more spears flooding the market. The VS farm really hasn't slowed down (yet...). Now, we could tie the rising price to the fear of the SF nerf that will make getting a VS harder-- one farm gone, fewer people getting the spear, fewer sellers, so the speculation on spears begins now, blah blah blah-- but I think that sellers are setting high prices without regard to the actual plat. value of ecto.

So the *problem* if you want to call it that, rests with buyers failing to negotiate.

So hey, they're setting the market for the rest of us.

Now, Yawgmoth's got a legit point, too. For many trades, ecto's the currency. I'm seeing lots of sub-100k trades listed simply as "7e" or "13e" or whatever. 1 z-key for 1 ecto. One traveller gift for 1 ecto. But again, price inflation is partly the fault of buyers not really paying attention to the market.

Which leads us to Gift3d's point: Give teenagers money of any kind, real, plastic, or pixellated, and they'll blow it. Give people a recreational game with a recreational currency, and you can't expect "the market" to behave in rational ways at all--especially as the size of "the market" dwindles over time. In an "economy" the size of this game's (I use the term a bit loosely), individuals can alter the market more than we wish were possible.

So smile and pony up your ectoes.

Back on topic... I think ecto will eventually stabilize between 8-10k.

0Kagome0 · Jan 09, 2010, 08:31 PM // 20:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yawgmoth

Many people still don't see where it's all going and still think ectos are just an 'add' to make trading above 100k possible.
WRONG.
For the large part of high-end traders gold is not the main currency anymore, many traders ingame and here on guru forums don't accept gold at all! 100k+ectos is now seen far less often than quotes in just ectos, and even items below 100k are sold for ectos instead of gold.
GW Gold is slowly going the way of Diablo2 gold - more of an annoyance than a currency. It's all because of the limits. Having millions of gold doesn't make you able to buy expensive items, to do that you need to convert to a real currency.

THAT'S why the prices in ectos don't change as much as the exchange value of ECT/GWG.

Not all true...ppl selling items for full ectos because no sense ask 100k when items cost over 50/60e...I NEVER see someone selling a silverwing recurve bow (that worth over 50/60e for r13 and maybe 200/250e for r9) and asking 100+xxx....instead a lot of ppl sell : EL tonics,High-End Items Below 50e,Stack of things (that worth over 100k) etc..
You speaking about Diablo gold, maybe you dont know nothing about diablo,GOLD in diablo was crap when it come out and now is still crap if you play, runes was trading system (Pul/Zod/Ohm etc)...
Ectos is not GW gold sry, because $=e,e=$..you buy ALL with $ even ectos, ppl just acept only ectos because: full chest+chars with money, need ectos to buy High-End,or just want ectos for obby armor/chaos glove or change for keys or i dunno.
You just defending ppl that ripoff and stop, this is the truth even you admit or not.

drunk n angry · Jan 09, 2010, 08:34 PM // 20:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Improvavel

What will Anet do to "nerf" power trading?

in my mind power trading is a form of ripping people off, you inflate the market based on your own greed and scam people making them sell to you for less then they should and selling to people for more then the current market is really asking.

so to answer your question if anet does decide to mess with power traders as you like to call them (scam artists in my mind) they would prolly put some mods in the major towns just to monitor current prices and trades then possibly ban a few people for artificially inflating the market with their own greed.

Saph · Jan 09, 2010, 08:59 PM // 20:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mcsnake85

No, the problem is because ppl dont take care about how much they paying for items,they just buy item even the price of ectos rise to 10k each...how much is a vs q9?60e? ok take your 60e...600k!!!LOL!!gg!

I don't agree with that. People do care how much they pay for items, but they have little choice in the matter when it comes to buying. It's far easier to make people pay more for an item, than to make people lower the cost of an item.

Owik Gall · Jan 09, 2010, 10:54 PM // 22:54

This is where the intrigue of GW rarity gets out of hand. I remember seeing Anet's PAX interview when they expressed how excited they were at seeing ppl playing so hard for the rare items. Now with the majority of players who have those rare items being ridiculously greedy by selling them at even higher prices and drop rates of favorable items not improving, it makes getting them almost impossible for an average gamer of GW. We have Eternal Blades selling at around 200 or more ectos, and the required 12 ones aren't that cheaper (about 90e). Given the way sellers are treating currency and increasing the price mark over the roof, we in GW have a problem (among other things ofc). Once Anet is done with the upcoming major update it would be nice if they flatten things out a little for rare item bartering. Anet is not going to like how the sellers are shamefully selling at unreasonable prices with these rare weapons and will be disappointed at how these players treat rare item bartering. Players just made rare item finding not fun, and that is what will irk the dev team the most.

CE Devilman · Jan 09, 2010, 11:08 PM // 23:08

rare...it makes my day to see a req 8 insc. offhand light blue drop

ectos...may hit 15k after 600 nerf...10-12k after SF nerf

no bigy ..after all this time im starting on my 4th mule to fill ectos up on.

chessyang · Jan 10, 2010, 12:46 AM // 00:46

a lot of good talk on this topic.

@Invalid Shadow in my bubble i'm honestly not concerned about the price. i have used them to buy stuff more then 100k. i'm content with the items i have to play. I never saw a need to have a certain sword/weapon or mini pet to help me finish a mission or quest area. I don't PvP at all. Don't even care about the HOM. I admit farming then for the sake of the challenge.

what it boils down to in my little world is..... If i want to buy your "insert item here" what is your price in "insert gold/material/ecots/arm brace/lockpicks/etc here"

just my 2 cents Shadow. for an update that makes the prices go up or down i'll still do what needs to be done to buy your item if need so.

Marvel-Kid · Jan 10, 2010, 01:34 AM // 01:34

Personally I do not encourage the purchase of ecto at the moment. 13-15e=100K Hmmm... Kinda high no? My point is, when SF gets nerfed will the prices not drop? I highly doubt people will slowly save up on 10K ecto just to get obby armor. It's not a problem for those 10,000e+ owners but, the "Average Joe" isnt going to want to save up that much over time. It took me 1 year before I had 1 mil. How many ecto is that total? 100 ectoplasm (if bought at 10K/ea) Do u see where I'm getting at?

Mcsnake85 · Jan 10, 2010, 08:37 AM // 08:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saph

I don't agree with that. People do care how much they pay for items, but they have little choice in the matter when it comes to buying. It's far easier to make people pay more for an item, than to make people lower the cost of an item.

Mmmm you can agree or not with this, but i just tell the truth..its not in my fantasy, you can sell all this by yourself in kamadan...
Player like you check before buy,conver ectos in money to know how much it worth an item ok, but rest of player dont do it and they lose their money/ectos...
Honestly i have no problem, i have my items, i have my moneys, my armor and all, but i cant stay there and saw all those ppl that overprice items without write a comment...
Ectos are $, so no one can say that Ecto is the new gold system...Kagome say why ppl prefer ectos instead money (i prefer ask 1e too insteas 6.5 or 7k, because i have no space in my chest).
If you take a look around you realize that is the pure truth.

chadS · Jan 10, 2010, 11:06 AM // 11:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mcsnake85

Mmmm you can agree or not with this, but i just tell the truth..its not in my fantasy, you can sell all this by yourself in kamadan...
Player like you check before buy,conver ectos in money to know how much it worth an item ok, but rest of player dont do it and they lose their money/ectos...
Honestly i have no problem, i have my items, i have my moneys, my armor and all, but i cant stay there and saw all those ppl that overprice items without write a comment...
Ectos are $, so no one can say that Ecto is the new gold system...Kagome say why ppl prefer ectos instead money (i prefer ask 1e too insteas 6.5 or 7k, because i have no space in my chest).
If you take a look around you realize that is the pure truth.

You are very fuking subborn.

The original concept of ectos were for Obsidian armor only. As time goes on, years pass, more gold begins to accumulate into everyones storage.

If there is alot gold in the game, things should be worth "more". ANet as tied our hands with the 100k trade cap, 1mil storage cap. That means people ultimately will find another source of obtaining the highend minis/weps..whatever it may be. Ectos being the most expensive, easily farmable, and stable item the game offers. Yes, black dyes are more expensive, but ectos are easier to farm.

Just becuase someone agrees to accept 60e, doesn't mean that he wouldn't accept the price equal to the price of ectos at the time. He HAS to if he wants to make the amount the item is worth becuase of the trade cap.

Also, the same thing goes for armbraces. They weren't ment to be currency. Same with the highend mini pets.

It's all about place holders.

Back to the price of ectos. Americans know all about price fluctuation. You go out one day, pass a gas station and it's, lets say $2.60. On the way home you pass the same gas station and the price is now $2.58.

Price are going to change no matter what. What SOME, most understand this, and that is that Guild Wars does have an economy. Nothing is going to stay the same forever.

Mcsnake85 · Jan 10, 2010, 11:28 AM // 11:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadS

You are very fuking subborn.

The original concept of ectos were for Obsidian armor only. As time goes on, years pass, more gold begins to accumulate into everyones storage.

If there is alot gold in the game, things should be worth "more". ANet as tied our hands with the 100k trade cap, 1mil storage cap. That means people ultimately will find another source of obtaining the highend minis/weps..whatever it may be. Ectos being the most expensive, easily farmable, and stable item the game offers. Yes, black dyes are more expensive, but ectos are easier to farm.

Just becuase someone agrees to accept 60e, doesn't mean that he wouldn't accept the price equal to the price of ectos at the time. He HAS to if he wants to make the amount the item is worth becuase of the trade cap.

Also, the same thing goes for armbraces. They weren't ment to be currency. Same with the highend mini pets.

It's all about place holders.

Back to the price of ectos. Americans know all about price fluctuation. You go out one day, pass a gas station and it's, lets say $2.60. On the way home you pass the same gas station and the price is now $2.58.

Price are going to change no matter what. What SOME, most understand this, and that is that Guild Wars does have an economy. Nothing is going to stay the same forever.

What all this mean??I know about price fluctuation, i worked in a Fuel station (for cars i mean) and i know how the fuel price raise and lower..
Can you explain me how this influence price of items?ppl like you want focus people on other things and not on problems...
Its simple, a "xxxx" items worth 500k?All comunity agree?Yes?ok then calculate 100+xx in base of ectos price, there nothing hard on this..or its hard do 500-100= 400/Price opf ectos = 100+xxe or simply 500/ectos price=xxe (if you want full ectos)...ppl that dont want speculate do this, ppl that want speculate just dont do this and for this reason you see ppl that still selling Vs/tonics/Ebalde/Obsy/Emerald for same price when ectos were 4.5k..
Thats all..just stop speaking of ectos price,hard to find or other..just do uw with 600/smit and you find 2/3e for run..10 runs=20/30e ,100runs=200/300e..or use a perma..or use a ele, or use what you want...or go farm feather and trade them for ectos...or farm other..ectos are still easy to make,btw ppl want hide this fact and rise price without reason...
And a last thing: Ectos price dont allow items to double price of items.

Pandora's box · Jan 10, 2010, 11:51 AM // 11:51

The economy is not exactly an 'open economy' based on supply and demand. There are minimum prices for selling. E.g. a monstrous eye shows a value of 100 gold (last sold), but in reality the merchant won't ever sell it for less than 200 gold.
It's kinda weird that minimum prices are set, but no maximum prices. IMO the solution to this all is to be consequent and also introduce maximum prices.