Ectoplasm Obsolete?

keep in mind all new professions get their own obsidian armor, so obviously it would be plausable for ectos to always stay fairly high in value and continue to play as the "side gold" as you could call it to a trade.

so noone agrees with the op so far......

add me to that list

stupid discussion really

there are many very basic reasons why ectos are much more desirable than black dyes (already been posted above)

The OP does have a point. The value of black dye from what I've seen is more stable than ecto, what with ecto dipping down to, what was it, 5k some time ago. Black Dye's value has remained fairly constant, and if anything has only spiked with the release of Factions. The only argument against it would that the dye would be harder to turn over if in need of cash than ecto would. But then again, if you're having to convert your gold to ecto or black dye, that's not really an issue.

It may be viable for those that have their materials storage ecto maxed out, to then start buying up black dye instead of more ecto. If you were to do this you'd be wisely hedging your bets on one or the other's value remaining stable anyway, not a bad idea at all.

Black Dyes stay consistant because far fewer people buy them - because there aren't as many in existance. If we started trading them to the extent of Ectos, they would be permanently out of stock at the trader, and worth ridiculous amounts like 20k+.

i was about to say something similar. Black dyes are stable because of the rarity of drops and the fact nobody uses them as currency. If people began buying them and using them so in large numbers, this would change.

I think ecto is far more practical than black dye, however I wonder if the appeal of fissure armor is still as great as it was before factions? I realise this is in the eye of the beholder but to me the 15k sets in factions are almost universally more attractive than a fissure set for that class. There will always be those who buy it for status reasons but if less people in general are tempted by fissure armor will this drive ecto value down?

My guess is actually no, because people find ecto to be such a useful form of currency and this is primarily what underpins its value. Therefore as long as supply remains fairly constant, the value of ecto should stay relatively stable or increase as more players require it to purchase high end items. For that reason imo ecto is the currency of choice for 100k + items.

maybe elonian leather, as I presume it will be used in elonian armor (duh). I highly doubt anything can overcome the ecto.

No, maybe you should stop dragging real world politics into a game which offers less possibilites than the real world itself or seek a cure for your paranoia. "Oh noes, Anet's now Ex-Soviet property. I won't experience the leetness of virtual wealth and will never have a feeling of great accomplishment."

Or you could get a job and feel what REAL work and accomplishment might mean.

that really makes it sound like a lot of people are struggling with money management... There is being well off, and then there is just being obscenely wealthy. What's the point? What the hell are you going to do with it - just try to find ways to store more? I'm sure as hell not struggling with money management! I have 52k in the bank and that's the most I've had since I spent 60k on my Elementalist armor 2 months ago.

I like your Black Dye idea and if people are struggling with "money management" then, popular or not, people may have to resort to that.

Sorry if that sounded like a rant - wasn't meant to be, I just thought it was funny that people are talking about having multiple millions and having "money management issues"....if it's that much trouble being so wealthy, I'll take some ectos off your hands! I'll look after them!

WTS this idea for 100k + 30 parchment..

If you want to sell stuff at 100k+30 black dyes, do it, but im not sure if anyone will follow that.. who has 30 black dyes instead of 30 ectos?

If Arena Net instituted an NPC in Ascalon, Shing Jea Monastary, and Kamadan that gave you a max damage weapon with skin of your choice and modifiers of your choice for free, people would be selling it in Lion's Arch, Kaineng Center, and wherever else for 100k +ectos.

ok, first of all, WHY in the hell would you want to replace ectos? Assuming you found something similar, the transition period would be really unstable and you would have some players only accepting ectos and some players only accepting whatever else you are trying to substitute ectos with.

Black dyes are just ridiculous. There simply are not enough black dyes available in the market for them to be used as trading pieces. If everyone started using them as such, the effect of so many black dyes in circuit would cause a a price bounce at the trader assuming the trader didn't simply just sell out.


*sigh* I don't know why I even bumped this thread....

That's the key - if A-Net decided one day to dramatically increase the drop rate of black dyes (ahem - Superior Absorption), you would see the price drop back down to the Silver Dye level.

No matter how much A-Net increases the ecto drop rate, the fact that it is only obtainable in very few "elite" PvE areas will continue to make the price high.

I got my first Black Dye ever in the catacombs, pre-searing.

Just to be contrary, every major world economy has some form of "rich tax" excessive concentration of wealth in a few people leads to inflation and economic stagnation. People with ridiculous amounts of money will pay insane amounts, leading to inflation. This is why it's possible to sell things for hundreds of plat while keeping a straight face. Rich folks tend to like to stay rich, so they won't spend all their money, or even close to it, while poor folks will blow it on the next thing that comes along.

But hey, if the LA IRS comes knocking on my Xunlai agent, I'm moving to Switzerland.


Back on topic, there's a larger supply of ecto. Ecto holds value not because it's insanely rare, but because you need so much of it for FoW. Black dye holds value because it's ridiculously valuable and is usually consumed soon after being dropped.

Let's imagine that ectos drop from a lot of NF monsters, and that you can farm them really fast, and that the average endgame white weapon/armors can be salvaged into Globs of Ectoplasm. Their price will decrease to 500g/1k (more or less like Amber or Jadeite). As simple as that.

Now let's imagine that NF includes a new Ivory armor, available only deep in the elite NF mission, and that requires tons of Rubies and Sapphires. Good bye ectos, hello new currency.

Simply put, the market price of globs of ectos is controlled by ANet. They can ruin ecto billionaires in a couple of weeks if they want. All they have to do is to make the FoW armor easier to get, and to open the doors of a new and rare elite armorsmith with sexy stuff.

That said, I don't think ANet wants to make big changes on the economy and market. They're too conservative for such a risky move, and I'm not even sure killing the ecto would serve any purpose at all.

Anyway, using black dyes as a currency instead of crafting materials cannot work. The very basic feature of an ingame currency is that it can be generated (monsters, quests, pvp reward) and destroyed (for an ingame effect, or to buy a customized item) in a large quantities. Dyes do not meet the "large quantities" requirement.

catacombs

I don't think Ectos and Shards will ever go out like the dodo birds. I mean as long as there is a need for FOW armor. You would need to get these materials for it.

Ecto will only ever become obsolete if they add more armors which cost upwards of 1mill each.


He was talking about ecto, not black dye.

Black Dyes are opinion based. To me, they have no value. Simply because they're not needed? Do they make your armor statisticaly better? No.