Curse

jay02483 · Nov 03, 2009, 04:06 AM // 04:06

Ok i kinda know the answer to this but it still doesnt really make sense but...I find it completely ridiculous with power traders...like everytime a rare mini exchanges hands the price skyrockets? like i seen in 2 days...WTB Unded Naga 700e..WTS Unded Naga-800e...then lie the next day...WTB Unded Naga-900e WTS Unded Naga-1000e it doesnt make sense...its crazy and people STILL BUY...wow its dumb

l Alucard l · Nov 03, 2009, 04:13 AM // 04:13

ecto prices increase?

Zodiac Meteor · Nov 03, 2009, 04:14 AM // 04:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by l Alucard l

ecto prices increase?

Should be vise-versa

Motoko · Nov 03, 2009, 04:15 AM // 04:15

Buy low. Sell high.

Also everytime a high-end minipet is traded... thats an increase in chance that it will get dedicated.

Essentially the rarity of that minipet becomes even rarer.

Should the prices of those minipets go up? Of course. Supply and demand.

Should the go up at the rate and intensity that they do? You would think not.

Welcome to capitalism.

jay02483 · Nov 03, 2009, 04:18 AM // 04:18

ur nuts but i agree but its stupid because they go up by wayyy to much...but there is like a circle jerk of the high end traders thats just raise the prices cause they can...weaksauce

Operative 14 · Nov 03, 2009, 05:20 AM // 05:20

They don't raise the prices because of some vast conspiracy, they raise it because they can. When you have a relative handful of any one rare miniature ingame, the price is going to be completely up to the seller (to a point). They want to sell at the best price they can, given the market. Because they are such a collectible commodity, the number of people that want to buy them are extremely high, so there's a handful of people out there with thousands of ectos that buy and trade them hoping to make more ectos at the next trade. You can't tell me if someone dropped a mini Naga in your lap, and you were in the mood to sell it, you wouldn't try to bump the price up a bit given that you have that power.

Martin Alvito · Nov 03, 2009, 05:26 AM // 05:26

If you actually want to understand the phenomenon, there's some good academic research on behavioral economics out there.

If you want a highly condensed explanation: underlying supply and demand don't always move the market when people don't have complete information. We get nonsensical static periods, booms and busts in item prices because of how people process information, how they use signals to cue them in on the "current market value" of things, and because item markets are strategic interactions where what I should do depends on what you do.

If all you want is to moan about it, I lack sympathy.

Aba · Nov 03, 2009, 05:29 AM // 05:29

Quote:

If all you want is to moan about it, I lack sympathy.

Sums it all up right there

jonnieboi05 · Nov 03, 2009, 05:58 AM // 05:58

Yep. Capitalism sums it up nicely.

I bought an unded naga about 2 months ago for 140e. I sold it the next day or so for 800e. I kind of regret it because yesterday I saw a "wtb unded naga for 1100e" ad. It made me QQ pretty bad. Q_Q

~LeNa~

kedde · Nov 03, 2009, 07:25 AM // 07:25

Lrn2economy.

If you have money, you have vast possibilities for increasing the amount of money you have, pretty simple.
If you don't have money, sorry, but that's your own problem, welfare is ridiculous for something like a game economy.

Fril Estelin · Nov 03, 2009, 07:43 AM // 07:43

Money money money!
Must be funny
In the rich man's world.

MMOs don't just have "economies", virtual economies are insame in their extremes. It's like buying multimillion football players every month to pump your overinflated e-heart. Rarity sells, so you just need to create it for a money-wormhole to appear. It's a fine balance between keeping these "extreme" players and making a portion of the playerbase angry due to the unattainability of these things.

I mean, come on, I've seen things at over 3000e. Do people realise the real time spent to get there? (yes I know about the dupes...)

EDIT: reminds me of the brilliant BBC show "Million Dollar Trader" they did last year, where a team of 8 "normal" motivated people are given 1 million to go and invest in the London stock exchange. The one I loved what Sam Duby who invested "ethically" and was the best performer, but quit by disgust at the inhumane behaviour of the 2 leading trader guys.

Virtual economies as giant Monopoly games! WTB 1929 crash!

Gift3d · Nov 03, 2009, 01:03 PM // 13:03

once you have something people nut their pants over and there's only a few in the game of, the price changes not because 'the going rate magically rises herp derp', but because the seller feels like it and because they can.

i'm not too sure why this makes you so mad. powertrading 101

Eragon Zarroc · Nov 03, 2009, 02:12 PM // 14:12

POWA TRADA! nothing new. ta da!

Nereyda Shoaal · Nov 03, 2009, 06:24 PM // 18:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay02483

like i seen in 2 days...WTB Unded Naga 700e..WTS Unded Naga-800e...then lie the next day...WTB Unded Naga-900e WTS Unded Naga-1000e it doesnt make sense...its crazy and people STILL BUY...wow its dumb

WTB/WTS unded celestial pig 150-200-250-300e. Last 2 weeks

I don't even want to comment on people calling themselves "power traders"

Winterclaw · Nov 03, 2009, 06:33 PM // 18:33

Ectos have no value, plus there needs to be more of those rare minis released back into the game.

AtomicMew · Nov 03, 2009, 06:44 PM // 18:44

Look at it this way: money has diminishing utility. This is true in real life as it is in GW. 100,000k is not 100 times better than 1000k. In fact, a few mill is enough to unlock 99% of HOM content, easily obtained just by doing the campaign and VQs.

Furthermore, let's face it. GW is a dying game. People that care about in game gold at this point are either sorely blind or just addicted. In a few months, GW2 comes out and nothing in GW will matter in the slightest. Even if A.net does come out with specific rewards for specific minipets (which isdubious, considering the amount of different minipets) it won't be trade-able so who cares.

TLDR: If youre really set on emulating real life avarice, just wait for GW2.

N E D M · Nov 03, 2009, 06:46 PM // 18:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by traversc

In a few months, GW2 comes out and nothing in GW will matter in the slightest.

lol a couple years maybe, not months at all

HawkofStorms · Nov 03, 2009, 07:47 PM // 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Alvito

If you actually want to understand the phenomenon, there's some good academic research on behavioral economics out there.

If you want a highly condensed explanation: underlying supply and demand don't always move the market when people don't have complete information. We get nonsensical static periods, booms and busts in item prices because of how people process information, how they use signals to cue them in on the "current market value" of things, and because item markets are strategic interactions where what I should do depends on what you do.

If all you want is to moan about it, I lack sympathy.

Exactly. There are no set prices for anything. I once saw somebody trying to sell z-keys for 6k (instead of the then standard 5k). People started yelling at him calling him a scammer. That is not scamming. That is trying to sell something at a price that is advertised. The 5k price isn't set in stone.

The lack of clear market standards is what makes power selling in this game so profitable. It is also one of the main reasons why this game should have a auction house implemented. When the information costs of trades are lowered, the market value of the good becomes closer to its true value, creating a more economically efficient system.

refer · Nov 03, 2009, 07:53 PM // 19:53

Funny how people spend hundreds of $ on objects which practically do nothing.

Martin Alvito · Nov 03, 2009, 08:30 PM // 20:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by HawkofStorms

When the information costs of trades are lowered, the market value of the good becomes closer to its true value, creating a more economically efficient system.

This is absolutely true, and everyone in economics would agree with the assessment. However, information costs aren't the only source of inefficiency in markets. People are imperfect. Most people can't value assets well even given good information, or create efficient algorithms that will do it for them.

Get enough people that don't understand the asset's inherent value chasing a profit, and you get a boom. When that unwinds due to fear, you get a bust.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fril Estelin

Virtual economies as giant Monopoly games! WTB 1929 crash!

The nice thing about virtual economies is that they have a lot fewer variables than the real world, and are therefore more predictable.

The not-so-nice thing about them is that time has real value, and people that can find ways to shortcut the time -> virtual money mechanic can expect a large IRL profit. If 40,000 ectos were unattainable, people wouldn't have it. But they didn't get that wealth by farming or other "conventional" means of acquiring in-game money.