Arsonistic Chip III TEN Edition In the Post-FEN Edition World

With the recent release of the Arsonistic Chip III FEN Edition all of the 5 year old TEN chips have flooded the market as those players upgraded their chips. So I would like to open a discussion on the change the FEN chip has had on the TEN chip.

Firstly I want to point out that most of the chips now on the market all have medium to high level tiers, at the time of this post there were 4 chips on the auction and at least 3 threads in the first couple of forum pages with these chips for sale.

The 4 chips that were listed on the auction today had the following prices:

Tier 5 + 6700 Buyout
Tier 6 + 7500 and +8000 Buyouts
Tier 9 + 16k Buyout

There is a Tier 7 chip with a 10k Buyout on the forum.

The most recent sales prices for each level is as follows:

Tier 5 6000 PED
Tier 6 6500 PED
Tier 7 7900 PED

The tier levels of the chips on the market are 5.x-9.1. The approximate total tiering costs of these five levels are as follows:

Tier 5 2700 PED
Tier 6 3700 PED
Tier 7 4900 PED
Tier 8 6250 PED
Tier 9 7700 PED (Educated guess based off cost of most likely materials)


The market average of each of these tiers for the last year are:
Tier 5 7100 PED
Tier 6 8200 PED
Tier 7 9100 PED
Tier 8 10,500 PED*
Tier 9 11,500 PED*

*Tier 0 had an average market value of + 3500 and the average cost of the chips after tiering costs are deducted is around 4000-4500 ped. Which means if following the trend Tier 8 and 9 should have a market value of anywhere between 10k-11k PED and 12k-13k PED respectively.


Now I am making these estimates based on the data available to me. Given that these chips were the best chips a player could own and were limited in quantity there were only around 75 recorded sales on the auction for tier 5,6, and 7. I am sure they were traded more frequently on the forums, but I don't want to spend endless hours digging in old threads for final sales prices I most likely will not find.


Now that we have the costs laid out it is time for the more subjective area of the discussion, their new value due to FEN chips. I see the most prevalent effects to be the TEN chip losing its status as the best available chip, and the effects loot 2.0 and mayhem events have on the chips.

A big portion of the value of the chips was being the best thing available, and just like how a Mk2 Laser sight has vastly higher price point than the Mk1, or the Easter 2016 ring vs the Halloween 2018, being the single best piece carries with it a lot of weight in determining value. Now that TEN chips are no longer the top-dog, they lose that prestige. Their subjective value has changed, even though their stats have not.

The other main effect on their value is loot 2.0. All items pre-2.0 have undergone major price shifts because of how the new loot system works. Given that the chips much like all top-end gear had rather sizeable mark-ups compared to the extra value they actually offer with the next closest piece of equipment, players are reluctant to sell items for less than they paid for them, yet loot 2.0 severely reduced their effective empirical value because tiering and using enhancers lowers their value in terms of loot returns.

Lastly, the third major effect on their value are Mayhem events. With these events having a TEN chip is still a major advantage especially the higher tier level chips, but this is again a very subjective value, and TEN chips will soon be outpaced by their FEN upgrades as players tier them, but I doubt anyone who bought a FEN chip plans on holding on to their TEN chip except for maybe the most devout of competitors. So how much does this event have on second-rate equipment


So there you have it, my view on the main proponents to the valuation of TEN chips in the post-FEN environment. My personal view is that the chips will drop a couple thousand PED from the market value prices I listed as there have been many chips recently listed and no takers at their current prices and with their most recent sales being around 1k PED under my valuation of the chips based on the average sales for the past year, I don't see them selling for much higher. The only exception would be right before a mayhem event starts, but then re-listed after the event has ended as there is not much reason to own one in-between events unless you are a high-end hunter or like shared-loot mobs.

Please, tell post your thoughts on the subject. Please do not be rude and even if you don't have an opinion on the TEN chips themselves, I would also appreciate constructive criticism for how I went about posting on this topic and on my methods and reasonings used in how I determined value.


Thank You for taking the time to read my post and please +Rep if you have felt I did a good job.

I think the FEN and TEN are vastly different. The FEN is for uber ubers and the TEN is for nuber ubers. I'd like to see a lower level entry in this game actually. I'll never give up my arso TEN unless of course I have a tier 3 or 4 FEN. As for tiering I totally think it's worth it. I feel like it has a loot advantage in the shared events. Maximises my DPS and seems like an amp overall.

One other thing worth mentioning about the chips is the sheer availability of Arso TEN vs. FEN, there are more than 3x the TEN chips than there are FEN.

Arsonistic Chip III TEN Edition: 49 Discovered
Arsonistic Chip IV FEN Edition: 15 Discovered

The tiering costs of the IV FEN are extremely high, but at the same time, that barrier to entry is going to create a large gap between the haves and the have nots when the FEN chips start reaching higher tiers. Currently, a tier 3 FEN chip actually outperforms a tier 8 TEN chip when it comes to DPS, ain't that something?

Full disclosure, I own an Arso FEN chip. Thus far, I love it. So, I may be biased.

FEN is a complete waste of PED,

As far as the TEN, I bought t6 at 9500 sold t7 arson 10.5k. Bought again at t6 8900, it is currently t7.5

The costs on the FEN are far far higher since all tier costs are based on efficiency.

Example, I am/will be when get it all 59k into tiers (just tiers, not considering chip cost) on my FEN corrosive chip at t7 with a chip that has 80% efficiency.

FEN arson has 86.4%. meaning it will cost more than 59k to t7.

The 10 dps you get in damage over the FEN still needs to get to t3 (@30k in tiers alone) before it competes with a TEN chip t7 that costs 10k all tiered up.

And this does not factor the fact that these chips take years to tier a level after t6....years

tiering takes forever. i bought my arso at 7.3 in 2017 summer for 10k. it's currently tier 7.6 and it's not like i haven't been using it. but i'm not whining about it because i hate communism.

The TEN chips and the FEN chips are different chips with different applications.

With both chips the primary function of the chip is to add DPS to a player's setup without significantly upgrading the weapon of choice. The secondary function is to cross train in the Mindforce disciplines while otherwise hunting normally.

The TEN chips have a distinct advantage in significantly lower tier costs. Tiering from 6 to 7 on a TEN chip is significantly cheaper than tiering from 2 to 3 on a FEN chip. Consequently there is an abrupt stop for the majority of players at tier 2 on the FEN chip which is not present on the TEN chip. All TEN chips I know of are over tier 3, and so they are unaffected by the cost of Opals being manipulated by Star Alex Grey.

The TEN chips are still the best in Mayhem events due to the DPS of high tier TEN chips being superior to that of a tier 2 FEN chip.

The TEN chips are also considerably more affordable for initial acquisition than the FEN chips.

The only significant benefit the FEN chips have is the notable bump from a "regular" weapon to a "2.0 weapon", improving loot composition to an immeasurable degree and improving TT return by approximately 1.4%.
These benefits are not worth the cost to the vast majority of the player base, as you need to cycle 1.3 million PED before seeing your initial purchase cost back. For most players that is several years worth of grinding. For others, that is a few months. Therefor it is worth it to those who cycle a few hundred K per month, but not worth it to your casual player.

As previously mentioned, the significant time invested into tiering the TEN chips is worth investing into as well, as they do take an extremely long time to tier. Rightfully so, as they hardly burn enhancers at all.

A final note should be said, and that is that the TEN chips have held remarkable value considering the tanking of value of other weapons in the advent of FEN. Many players were ditching their high level equipment to purchase FEN items, and the economy has been cash poor since. Consequently even the best gear has dropped in value, TEN chips being included.

Conclusion: TEN chips still hold the same value in Mayhem competition as they did before FEN chips, and to the majority of the player base they are still the better choice. The price is likely to rebound with the upcoming Easter Mayhem and Summer Migration.

Those chips mattered when events were based on getting the greatest number of kills, but now some major events are based on lootable points (i.e. stars). Timing of kills from a prospective of returns, should be irrelevant since MA clearly stated only cost to kill had value not time to kill.

There’s no denying an Arson allows you to take down a mob quicker, but is its value purely based on that aspect alone? The recent Merry Mayhem event brought back timed kills for melee, but were you allowed to incorporate mindforce? (didn’t try it myself, because I didn’t have a FEN X amp).

The other question is are players recovering the tiering costs? If they’re not, it’s it simply a matter of… I desire a sports car, but a family car will get me to the same destination just slightly slower.

The thing that often makes me smile about Arson, is its value is based on the ability to use two weapons at once. But that only warrants value if your main weapon is far superior to the competition including addon items like amps. It’s like saying I’ve got a FEN Arson and top end FEN gun…..but I don’t have a 2016 ring….so basically I’m f**ked. Cracks me up.

Ok you might have a FEN arson, do you own Mod shadow armour? Ok you’ve got mod shadow armour, do you have mod 5B plates?

What I’m saying is that “one” item regardless what it is, only really has value if you hold an entire package of top end items.

I’d stop worrying about gear, and just concentrate on what it costs you per month to entertain yourself in the game. That’s all that matters.

Rick

RickEngland said:

Those chips mattered when events were based on getting the greatest number of kills, but now some major events are based on lootable points (i.e. stars). Timing of kills from a prospective of returns, should be irrelevant since MA clearly stated only cost to kill had value not time to kill.

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The time of kills matters significantly. More kills results in more points over time, even if your cost to kill is significantly lower.

RickEngland said:

There’s no denying an Arson allows you to take down a mob quicker, but is its value purely based on that aspect alone? The recent Merry Mayhem event brought back timed kills for melee, but were you allowed to incorporate mindforce? (didn’t try it myself, because I didn’t have a FEN X amp).

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The arson chips provide value from multiple angles, but the difference between having one and not having one in a Mayhem event is literally the difference in placing high or placing low. That difference alone yields significant value to the chip as it will pay for itself over time through increased prize winnings.

RickEngland said:

The other question is are players recovering the tiering costs?

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Yes, we are, but not in the way you may be thinking.

RickEngland said:

The thing that often makes me smile about Arson, is its value is based on the ability to use two weapons at once....

What I’m saying is that “one” item regardless what it is, only really has value if you hold an entire package of top end items.

Click to expand...

Yes, the entire setup is necessary to be competitive in Mayhem events. In regards to Mayhem alone, yes, having the entire package is essential to creating value. There is value, however, in other respects than Mayhem alone. That gives individual items value as well.

RickEngland said:

I’d stop worrying about gear, and just concentrate on what it costs you per month to entertain yourself in the game. That’s all that matters.

Rick

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An excellent frame of mind and a position I am thankful you take.