Inflation. How to fix it?


Adeon Hawkwood

 

Posted

And then what?

People at level 50 will still buy what they want and email it down to their alts to hold.

What exactly is the expected accomplishment of all of this nonsense?


total kick to the gut

This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Soul_Stormer View Post
as for storing on the market. 10 bids x 100 million might equal that same 1 billion influence but you need 10 market slots as opposed to 1. you can only get 21 slots as far as i know... so do the math.
No you don't, you can place a stack of 10 bids in one slot hence why I suggested it. I know people who already store inf in this manner on the theory that the odds of the devs removing the level 51+ items form the market are slightly higher than the odds of the +3% def PvPIO dropping to less than 100million.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood View Post
No you don't, you can place a stack of 10 bids in one slot hence why I suggested it. I know people who already store inf in this manner on the theory that the odds of the devs removing the level 51+ items form the market are slightly higher than the odds of the +3% def PvPIO dropping to less than 100million.
you could cap the stack on all uncommon and up recipes and enhancements as well.


50: Ill/Kin(A+,R,J)-1047 badges RE/Dark(A) Fire/Elec Warshade BS/Regen Necro/Poison Ice/Fiery(A+) Son/Son Bane(A) FM/DA(A) DM/Nin Grav/Icy
lvling: Inv/EM DM/Sheild Arch/MM Bane NW Elec/Earth Grav/Elec Elec/FA Rad/Ice
Paragon Elite/Rogue Elite Joined Oct 2004

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Soul_Stormer View Post
you could cap the stack on all uncommon and up recipes and enhancements as well.
Except most of those go for less than 100million and as such make a bad place to store inf.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood View Post
Except most of those go for less than 100million and as such make a bad place to store inf.
'uncommon and up' meant 'uncommon, rare, very rare and pvp'


50: Ill/Kin(A+,R,J)-1047 badges RE/Dark(A) Fire/Elec Warshade BS/Regen Necro/Poison Ice/Fiery(A+) Son/Son Bane(A) FM/DA(A) DM/Nin Grav/Icy
lvling: Inv/EM DM/Sheild Arch/MM Bane NW Elec/Earth Grav/Elec Elec/FA Rad/Ice
Paragon Elite/Rogue Elite Joined Oct 2004

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Soul_Stormer View Post
'uncommon and up' meant 'uncommon, rare, very rare and pvp'
I know. My point was that only the Very Rare and PvPIOs regularly go for more than 100million. Very few rare IOs go for that much and only a handful go for enough over 100million to make storing on them safe. I can't think of any uncommons that go for more than 100million.

EDIT: In any case I utterly fail to see what point you are trying to make here.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethergoat View Post
you know what's easier than all that?

buying low and selling high.

not that the OP cares, he was discussing inflation not earning power.
Ha ha ha

That is funny, buy low sell high...

The reason I interpreted the OP had a problem with lack of influence, was simply because he "is" having a problem due to inflation.

Now you may be wondering how I am making such an assertion that the OP has an influence issue?

Think of elementary physics, for every cause there is an effect. The problem the OP has with inflation is an "effect", the "cause" is easily deduced to be the lack of influence.

If you have a tight budget, and the prices of what you want sky-rocket, as they had; you experience anguish. Now if the anguish is great enough, it is a natural reflex to post in forums seeking a way to relieve the pain. The fact the OP posted, is also indicative of how intense the pain is as well. "Elementary my Dear Watson"

If you are rich, and have influence coming out of your ears, you think you would notice inflation? Doubtfully, and extremely unlikely you would open a forum thread to seek relief over the inflation.

So my post, was advice on how to get rich. Even you, in your sarcastic filled posting, down deep in your mind; you knew it was lack of influence the actual problem and as a result you also gave advice as well on how to become rich, ha ha ha, "buy low, sell high"; I swear I heard that in some comedy movie...

Stormy


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by SwellGuy View Post
What else am I supposed to do with all my influence?!

I got places to go, NPCs to kill.
If you have more than you know what to do with I will happily take it off your hands and convert it to prestige for some new bases.


(As soon as I get a new video card so I can play again.)


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormfront_NA View Post
Ha ha ha

That is funny, buy low sell high...

The reason I interpreted the OP had a problem with lack of influence, was simply because he "is" having a problem due to inflation.

Now you may be wondering how I am making such an assertion that the OP has an influence issue?

If you have a tight budget, and the prices of what you want sky-rocket, as they had; you experience anguish. Now if the anguish is great enough, it is a natural reflex to post in forums seeking a way to relieve the pain.

If you are rich, and have influence coming out of your ears, you think you would notice inflation? Doubtfully, and extremely unlikely you would open a forum thread to seek relief over the inflation.

So my post, was advice on how to get rich. Even you, in your sarcastic filled posting, down deep in your mind; you knew it was lack of influence the actual problem and as a result you also gave advice as well on how to become rich, ha ha ha, "buy low, sell high"; I swear I heard that in some comedy movie...

Stormy
You've kind of hit my nail on the head. I cannot understand any complaints of inflation unless it comes from "have nots" even if some people try to couch their positions as if they are standing up for others and not themselves.

But I cannot take any solutions seriously because inflation will remain as long as the game keeps cranking out inf and drops from NPCs unless the devs went mental and capped us all at every level to 10 inf.


total kick to the gut

This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormfront_NA View Post
If you are rich, and have influence coming out of your ears, you think you would notice inflation? Doubtfully, and extremely unlikely you would open a forum thread to seek relief over the inflation.
Do a forum search for threads with "inf sink" int he title and see what comes up. The first two threads that come up were started by seebs and ChaosCreator both of whom are ebil marketeers in good standing.

Just because we're ebil marketeers it doesn't mean we're blind to the impact long-term inflation has on the in-game economy.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project View Post
If you have more than you know what to do with I will happily take it off your hands and convert it to prestige for some new bases.


(As soon as I get a new video card so I can play again.)
That stinks. I wish I could use my inf to get you a new card.

It's not that I have more than I know what to do with it's I have more than enough for what I can do and nowhere near enough for the 1 billion and higher things. So using a real life example, I can afford to go out to eat once a month without hurting my budget but saving that money for a 1960s Batmobile is out of the question so I just keep on going out once a month.

If I ever get to storing inf bidding on level 51+ items then I will have more than I know what to do with though and I'll PM you.


total kick to the gut

This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormfront_NA View Post
Ha ha ha

That is funny, buy low sell high...

The reason I interpreted the OP had a problem with lack of influence, was simply because he "is" having a problem due to inflation.
Not really. If I had a problem with a lack of influence, why would I make a thread suggesting something that will make me more likely to lose influence?

Why did I make this suggestion? I think inflation isn't good for the game, and I had an idea on how to fix it without consuming dev resources or making players feel like they are losing out.


Mains (Freedom) @Auroxis
Auroxis - Emp/Rad/Power Defender Pylon Video Soloing an AV
Pelvic Thunder - SS/Elec/Mu Brute
Sorajin - Elec/Nin Stalker
Neuropain - Sonic/Mental/Elec Blaster

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Auroxis View Post
Not really. If I had a problem with a lack of influence, why would I make a thread suggesting something that will make me more likely to lose influence?

Why did I make this suggestion? I think inflation isn't good for the game, and I had an idea on how to fix it without consuming dev resources or making players feel like they are losing out.
But your premise was wrong and would not solve the problem.

Inflation was there before I19 so shards are not the cause and how would running lower level TFs/SFs reduce inflation?

The inf is based upon the character's real level so an exemplared 50 is going to earn just as much inf from defeating foes as if they were fighting 50s.

I would also submit there isn't a problem with inflation existing because the reality is it can only exist in the market for the premiere goods and if it gets high enough it makes hero/villain merits even more valuable in getting those items.

So what if most people cannot afford a 2 billion PVP IO? So what if they don't want to pay 300 million for a purple which only a level 50 can slot any way?

If we're talking about anything else reward merits, hero/villain merits and AE tickets are the great equalizer if people are willing to make any effort.


total kick to the gut

This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by SwellGuy View Post
That stinks. I wish I could use my inf to get you a new card.

It's not that I have more than I know what to do with it's I have more than enough for what I can do and nowhere near enough for the 1 billion and higher things. So using a real life example, I can afford to go out to eat once a month without hurting my budget but saving that money for a 1960s Batmobile is out of the question so I just keep on going out once a month.

If I ever get to storing inf bidding on level 51+ items then I will have more than I know what to do with though and I'll PM you.
Thanks.

I had to laugh when the card crashed (no point getting mad over a mechanical failure) because I had been planning ahead to farm for Winter's Gift recipes and sell them later in the year when they weren't available. Anyway the day the Winter Event started was when the card died on me.

Oh well, I can still do it next year, and now that I have to replace my 8800GTS I've decided to look at this as a good thing. So I'm looking forward to getting a video card that can play Ultra Mode and I've also been toying with the idea of just replacing the whole tower. In either case it'll be a couple months before I save up enough money.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by SwellGuy View Post
But your premise was wrong and would not solve the problem.

Inflation was there before I19 so shards are not the cause and how would running lower level TFs/SFs reduce inflation?
Inflation spiked post I19. Sure it slowly grew before, but I noticed a spike. I was wrong to say that my suggestion would fix the inflation, but it would help bring the situation back to what it was pre-I19.


Mains (Freedom) @Auroxis
Auroxis - Emp/Rad/Power Defender Pylon Video Soloing an AV
Pelvic Thunder - SS/Elec/Mu Brute
Sorajin - Elec/Nin Stalker
Neuropain - Sonic/Mental/Elec Blaster

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Auroxis View Post
Inflation spiked post I19. Sure it slowly grew before, but I noticed a spike. I was wrong to say that my suggestion would fix the inflation, but it would help bring the situation back to what it was pre-I19.
That isn't what caused the I19 spike. It was AE monkey farms.

You cannot solve a problem until you identify it and its cause. The cause of inflation in the game is too much influence chasing too few items.

We generate inf at insane rates with little to spend it on and as long as that is the case inflation on the better and best things will remain.

Meanwhile trash remains trash.

And I am still waiting for anyone to show that inflation on the better and best goods in a game is a problem. It's not real life where food and shelter are negatively impacted.


total kick to the gut

This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.

 

Posted

I am with SwellGuy here that the OP hasn't shown what is causing the spike - if there really is one. As far as I seen, I have not seen any spike in prices. All seems fine to me. But then again, I just bid at a price I am willing to pay and go off to play. At some time later, I pick up my goods. What I paid 5K for today, I paid 5K last year. So if there is spiking, it doesn't affect me.

Anyhow, more influence sinks would drain that excess inf off. I just can't see how to make it work because players will find ways around it unless it becomes mandatory and have a negative impact on players.


 

Posted

What this game needs is an Inf sink that constantly needs to be replenished (in the players minds). Something that players use every day. Something they are always spending Inf on.

Dare I say it?

<looks around for a quick escape from the soon to be forming angry mob>

The devs should remove the ability to pull enhancements off of builds during respecs, and stop paying them for unslotted enhancements at the end of a respec.


<runs and hides>


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project View Post
What this game needs is an Inf sink that constantly needs to be replenished (in the players minds). Something that players use every day. Something they are always spending Inf on.

Dare I say it?

<looks around for a quick escape from the soon to be forming angry mob>

The devs should remove the ability to pull enhancements off of builds during respecs, and stop paying them for unslotted enhancements at the end of a respec.


<runs and hides>
Hehe, that is nice. I was thinking of a sliding scale for purchasing on the market. As price increases such that the fee increases. So those 1 bill+ sells could see fees like 50%+ fees. But now the evil kicks in...because someone will say players will just go off market. Well, this would also apply to emails (clicking claim for inf) or trades too - call it a transaction fee or whatever. I don't think this will fly unfortunately, just insane ramblings.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormfront_NA View Post
If you have a tight budget.....
in this game poverty is entirely and completely voluntary.
a "tight budget" would be a self imposed limitation, nothing more.

Quote:
...and the prices of what you want sky-rocket, as they had; you experience anguish.
Why, when your earning power is skyrocketing right along side?

Quote:
If you are rich, and have influence coming out of your ears, you think you would notice inflation? Doubtfully, and extremely unlikely you would open a forum thread to seek relief over the inflation.
Again, anyone who cares to can make as much inf as they can carry.
So what does "rich" mean in that context?

In the current game inf is basically meaningless, as is anything which is trivially easy to accumulate. I support inf sinks and more stuff to spend it on not as a way to make anything more affordable but as a way to make inf mean something again.

Quote:
ha ha ha, "buy low, sell high"; I swear I heard that in some comedy movie...
I find it less tiresome than your proposed solution, "grind til your eyes bleed".
I mean they both work, but one is vastly easier and less time consuming.


The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.

My City Was Gone

 

Posted

Add a way to buy reward merits with inf every 20 hours. A merits are basically that now, but are limited by requiring you to have 50 merits to start.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethergoat View Post
On the contrary, a game economy is the ideal playground for free market ideology.
Indeed, in real life an extreme free market doesn't work so well. But in a game the players can't, for example, bribe the devs with inf, or get injured so they can't produce, or be born to tons of inf through no merits of their own.

The game economy is the meritocracy that simple minded lasseiz faire philosophies dream of.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project View Post
The devs should remove the ability to pull enhancements off of builds during respecs, and stop paying them for unslotted enhancements at the end of a respec.
1. It would actually have the opposite effect of what you are saying. Removing enhancements contributes to SUPPLY, not inf. By putting those enhancements up at the market they can be traded around, which is the primary inf sink that exists, that is market fees.

2. The inf obtained by a respec is inconsequential.

3. The prices of most of the IOs that are currently recirculated through respecs would increase, leading more of those who build by grind to do so even more, producing more inf.

Locked enhancements are a relic of the pre-IO enhancement system. Back then, buying enhancements was the primary inf sink. Now, the primary inf sink is fees. So the nature of the question is reversed. You could do more to combat inflation by adding a 100k*level charge to removing enhancements or moving slots, which would not just cost inf but lead to more supply.


A game is not supposed to be some kind of... place where people enjoy themselves!

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by SwellGuy View Post
That isn't what caused the I19 spike. It was AE monkey farms.

You cannot solve a problem until you identify it and its cause. The cause of inflation in the game is too much influence chasing too few items.

We generate inf at insane rates with little to spend it on and as long as that is the case inflation on the better and best things will remain.

Meanwhile trash remains trash.
The monkey frenzy was a main contributor, but there's nothing you can do about that. The influence is in the economy and it's gonna keep going in the economy, and the only way it's going to go out is through inf sinks. The second most important inf sink became underused due to I19 and my suggestion fixes that(while also making sub 50 non-AE content more appealing).

Quote:
And I am still waiting for anyone to show that inflation on the better and best goods in a game is a problem. It's not real life where food and shelter are negatively impacted.
It's not a major problem and it doesn't deserve a major fix. My personal beef with Inflation, is that I would like to come back to the game after a break and not have my hard earned influence become meaningless. Another small issue is the influence cap which will have to be raised soon, especially at this rate.


Mains (Freedom) @Auroxis
Auroxis - Emp/Rad/Power Defender Pylon Video Soloing an AV
Pelvic Thunder - SS/Elec/Mu Brute
Sorajin - Elec/Nin Stalker
Neuropain - Sonic/Mental/Elec Blaster

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Auroxis View Post
Another small issue is the influence cap which will have to be raised soon, especially at this rate.
Why?

Gleemail gives us basically unlimited inf storage by letting us shuffle stuff around between alts.

I mean I wouldn't kick if they raised it, but it's far from necessary.


The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.

My City Was Gone

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethergoat View Post
Why?

Gleemail gives us basically unlimited inf storage by letting us shuffle stuff around between alts.

I mean I wouldn't kick if they raised it, but it's far from necessary.
Because it's more comfortable? Instead of wasting your time shuffling stuff between alts you could manage just one char or at least less than you would if the cap wasn't increased.

EDIT: I also referred to the WW inf cap, which is another inf sink that will get underused if purple recipes get over 2 bil worth.


Mains (Freedom) @Auroxis
Auroxis - Emp/Rad/Power Defender Pylon Video Soloing an AV
Pelvic Thunder - SS/Elec/Mu Brute
Sorajin - Elec/Nin Stalker
Neuropain - Sonic/Mental/Elec Blaster

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project View Post
<looks around for a quick escape from the soon to be forming angry mob>

The devs should remove the ability to pull enhancements off of builds during respecs, and stop paying them for unslotted enhancements at the end of a respec.

<runs and hides>
I wouldn't mind to much if the devs did this but from a market point of view I don't think the effect would be what you want. In general when people pull enhancements off during a respec they are pulling off the most valuable. Removing that ability would actually cause the price of the most valuable IOs (i.e. purples and the nicer rares) to rise slightly due to decreased supply. Removing the inf buyback would slightly decrease the supply coming in but I think it makes up such a small portion of total inf generated that it wouldn't mke much difference.

Now if you want to suggest a fee to allow people to pull out IOs outside of a respec that would help somewhat since it would increase the supply of goods and decrease the supply of inf.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PennyPA View Post
Hehe, that is nice. I was thinking of a sliding scale for purchasing on the market. As price increases such that the fee increases. So those 1 bill+ sells could see fees like 50%+ fees. But now the evil kicks in...because someone will say players will just go off market. Well, this would also apply to emails (clicking claim for inf) or trades too - call it a transaction fee or whatever. I don't think this will fly unfortunately, just insane ramblings.
That would be pretty much impossible to implement, people would figure out a work around (such as doing multiple small trades) or simply resort to barter so the net effect would be to reduce the amount of inf sunk through market fees.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Auroxis View Post
Another small issue is the influence cap which will have to be raised soon, especially at this rate.
I don't think so. Now that the monkey exploit has been fixed prices seem to be stabilizing again albeit at a higher level than before. It's going to be a while before enough items are selling at or over the cap to make a higher cap necessary.