Curse

makosi · Nov 01, 2007, 09:21 PM // 21:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chthon

The "techniques" of power merching revolve around exploiting others' ignorance, omitting important facts to maintain that ignorance, and lying.

It's simple really: Find people who know less about market prices than you do and trade with them. Make sure not to let them learn the information that would allow them to make a more intelligent decision. If they ask you directly about something's value, lie.

I think you can probably tell from my tone what I think about "power merching" and the people who do it...

That pretty much sums it up.

Ethics and power trading are like oil and water. I saw someone (who will remain unnamed) buy a shield in High-End for 100k and he was selling it his own high-end thread the next day with +30 Health and -5 [20% mods] and asking an additional 30 ectos for it. Is he smart with a sharp-eye or someone whose greed overrides their other normal emotions?

o m g pizowned · Nov 01, 2007, 10:05 PM // 22:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chthon

The "techniques" of power merching revolve around exploiting others' ignorance, omitting important facts to maintain that ignorance, and lying.

It's simple really: Find people who know less about market prices than you do and trade with them. Make sure not to let them learn the information that would allow them to make a more intelligent decision. If they ask you directly about something's value, lie.

I think you can probably tell from my tone what I think about "power merching" and the people who do it...

eh..true and false
the person selling obviously is happy with the money he is getting, so it isn't taking advantage. sure, you could go ahead and tell him what the real price is, but if he's happy with the money he's getting..who cares?

Diddy bow · Nov 01, 2007, 10:07 PM // 22:07

Power trading helps those who cba doing it sell their items at a cheaper price quicly to be honest :P

Made all my money power trading to be honest, farming bores me.

Back on topic, yea power trading is all about knowing the market, but i do try not to be so ruthless about it at least... but im not the best in the world.

Martin Alvito · Nov 01, 2007, 10:24 PM // 22:24

You have to play a LOT to power trade. Take a few days off, and you cease knowing the market and start making mistakes (unless you take a day or two to re-acclimate before starting to trade again).

Power trading works because liquidity is a service; some people don't want to waste time selling, and there's profit to be had from holding an item for an hour or two in order to find the best deal. If you manage a large enough inventory where you purchased the items below the market value of the items, you are guaranteed to make money.

Catch is that you have to liquidate inventory before taking any time away from the game, in order to avoid getting caught in a bad position. Also, if you take a bad position, as with stocks and bonds it's better to take your medicine quickly.

As for "dishonesty" - that depends entirely upon the behavior of the trader. There's a difference between taking advantage of having superior information about the market and straight-up lying to a player about what an item is worth.

HawkofStorms · Nov 02, 2007, 01:40 AM // 01:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chthon

The "techniques" of power merching revolve around exploiting others' ignorance, omitting important facts to maintain that ignorance, and lying.

It's simple really: Find people who know less about market prices than you do and trade with them. Make sure not to let them learn the information that would allow them to make a more intelligent decision. If they ask you directly about something's value, lie.

I think you can probably tell from my tone what I think about "power merching" and the people who do it...

Umm that's just not true (not I'm not a power trader nor do I really know any except for on these forums, so I'm pretty objective here). There is a difference between scaming (selling a imperfect gold to newbies in Shing Jing for 1k) and trading a sword for 25k when you bought it for 20k.

The big flaw in your logic is that there is no true "set" on prices in GW. Who determines what is "fair" in the GW market? Why... the buyer and the seller. If you agree on a set price and are both happy with that price, what is the problem? Note, I really think you are confusing legitamate trader with those underhanded "sure this short sword is the rarest item in the game" type people.