Curse

Gun Pierson · May 16, 2007, 06:27 PM // 18:27

We've had some nice theories and opinions so far, but nobody mentioned Anet. They control most of the market imo. They introduced loot scaling because too much new gold was brought in. They could aswell let ecto prices drop over a month or so, so everybody thinks it's supply and demand amongst players.

WarKaster · May 16, 2007, 06:57 PM // 18:57

this would have never happened if they would have put the platinum coin into the game. 1 plat. coin = 1000 gold whats more stable than that.

As far as ecto's go never really felt an interest to spend money on what is essentially an over price booger. Not to mention the only use for it is FoW Armor again which in my opinion pretty damn ugly.

Aerian_Skybane · May 16, 2007, 07:04 PM // 19:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gun Pierson

We've had some nice theories and opinions so far, but nobody mentioned Anet. They control most of the market imo. They introduced loot scaling because too much new gold was braught in. They could aswell let ecto prices drop over a month or so, so everybody thinks it's supply and demand amongst players.

Conspiracy theories are fun, but in a game, they are really kinda not important, because if Anet was secretly changing the games economy directly, there is nothing we really need to be concerned about other than losing some "fun" value. Also, if you think about it, if Anet wants to keep it a secret, then it will most likely stay that way, and there really is not much we can do.

Player controlled economy conspiracies are something we can deal with though, make people aware etc etc. Even if its not a conspiracy letting people (vdz) understand how a society run economy works is ultimately beneficial, no matter how moronic the ignorant are.

w00t! · May 16, 2007, 07:28 PM // 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by AxeMe

You have it backwards - the fact that it fluctuates in price actually makes it an investment. The whole notion of the stock market, for instance, is based on price fluctuations. Things that do not fluctuate in price are horrible investments since there is no movement in price - so no chance of gain. And that's what makes something an investment.

After having read through 5 pages of posts, I can give fairly simple advice....

Listen to AxeMe. He knows what he's talking about.

Now, since I'm a bit of a blowhard, I'll add my two cents. For background purposes, I have an MBA in Investment Theory and am a licensed Commodities Broker (series 7).

My belief that the reason that ectos have dropped in value is that their supply has remained constant while the supply of cash has dropped. This has also caused general deflation, which really isn't a problem.

Most savvy traders converted their holdings to cash, if they had the space. Being a person without a lot of ectos (I hate solo farming), I began to sell off many of my more valuable items. I expect that the value of most everything will drop as people hoard gold.

I also expect that certain values will rise soon as people start learning more about GWEN.

Guild Wars has a wonderful economy, as evidenced by the fluctuations in market value of items that Anet never intended as commodities.

As Spock would say, "Fascinating".

I Will Heal You Ally · May 16, 2007, 07:37 PM // 19:37

You know... I think Rubies are gonna take over the lead from ectos :P

tyche7 · May 16, 2007, 08:06 PM // 20:06

No it isn't concerning to me.

However if it drops below 1k per ecto -- I'll be concerned. Till then..meh.

Aikawa · May 16, 2007, 09:14 PM // 21:14

Doubt they are going back up again. As someone else already mentioned there wont be any new professions in EotN. Alot of the longer playing people who wanted fow for their characters already have it so having ecto is becoming kinda pointless. Sure its used as a currency but only by the grace of people actually wanting ectos. And that is changing now I think. Individuals cant set prices for items, supply and demand does. Some people want ecto to stay 10k for eternity for convenient piggy banking sake. The merchant however now sells em for 6k. Time for a new piggy?

Aikawa

Sir Skullcrasher · May 16, 2007, 09:32 PM // 21:32

If ectos prices ever went below 1K, than it's time to be concern for me.

Nuclear Eclipse · May 16, 2007, 11:17 PM // 23:17

I dont think ectos could go as low as 1k because then thousands of people would buy FoW, and thus remove hundreds of thousands of ectos from circulation, wich would send demand back up.

Ectos always go up and down, I have no doubt they'll go back up. If they don't, then I'd just get FoW I guess.

Sir Skullcrasher · May 16, 2007, 11:27 PM // 23:27

I wonder why diamonds, rubies and sapphires has been stable in prices?

Psuedo Halgoen · May 16, 2007, 11:53 PM // 23:53

There was a guy a while back who said that he and his guild had been trying to hold the prices of diamonds by, buying and selling them at particular times.

I really wouldn't be surprised if there are several groups in gw doing this to all manner of things.

Foe · May 17, 2007, 12:05 AM // 00:05

there are no player guilds or groups that effect the price of anything

Sir Skullcrasher · May 17, 2007, 12:25 AM // 00:25

I agree otherwise peoples would find a way to bump ecto's prices back to 11k!

Smile Like Umean It · May 17, 2007, 01:15 AM // 01:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by tyche7

No it isn't concerning to me.

However if it drops below 1k per ecto -- I'll be concerned. Till then..meh.

What you said.

Batou of Nine · May 17, 2007, 01:24 AM // 01:24

I dont know if it has already been said or not, but:

The main reason ecto prices have been dropping so dramatically is because the bot farming population has moved into UW, big time. Since bots used to rely heavily on the amount of crap drops to sell to the merchent, it is now incredibly unefficient to farm for merchent fodder now adays.

So now the bot population has moved into UW in DROVES. These droves have alternately been selling masses and masses of ecto to the Rare Material Trader. This is what is the bulk of the cause for the massive ecto price drops. I won't call this fact, but i will say this out of long observations, and intelligent thought about the detriments of loot scaling. No doubt, it may very well be fact.

So in the end, if the above is true, Anet has actually hurt their own economy while trying to nerf bot farmers. The GW economy will probably recover somewhat, but for now, BUY THOSE ECTO! lol... investments ftw!

My 2.
cheers.

I MP I · May 17, 2007, 01:31 AM // 01:31

No. Ecto price doesn't concern me. In fact I laugh at the fact it dropped so much. Glad I sold my stock of it before it dropped. In fact after buying everything that exists in this game (aside from tormented weapons) hard gold currency became a must-have for me. Not like it matters at this point really, after all its just a game. Only the company making the game profits.

kooomar · May 17, 2007, 01:41 AM // 01:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Foe

there are no player guilds or groups that effect the price of anything

/disagree

Though it may seem like you alone have no impact on the GW economy, if you have a bulk amount of something, you do. Not TOO long ago (before hard mode I believe) The ectos glitched up to 16k to buy form the merch. So, at this high price, you could sell for around 10k, which was around, if not higher, than the average player was paying.

At the time, I had about 400 ectos, and needed some cash, so, I started the process of rapid clicking. Though I am obviously not the only person that did this, I dont think the majority of GW has stacks of ectos to sell. But, sure enough, in a very short amount of time, the ectos had restabilized due to everyone selling theirs to the merchant.

It does seem odd that a guild would undergo the task of moderating a useless commodity's price which would be EXTREMELY hard. But, to each his own.

Thats my 2 cents.

Trylo · May 17, 2007, 02:08 AM // 02:08

as far as i see it... you should not be concerned by ecto prices. they are, after all, an investment. its like stocks, you buy a lot and hope they go up (kind abad example but you get the jist). either buy lockpicks or take some business classes

elevenfifty5 · May 17, 2007, 03:23 AM // 03:23

Chilblains + Dying Nightmare

Neo Nugget · May 17, 2007, 03:26 AM // 03:26

no way im concerned lol. More price drop= faster assassin FoW for me