TT Inflation

mandu

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Mandu Mojo Marconi
I listen to a lot of economics podcasts, and current affairs programs. The topic of Venezuela's economy is much discussed now, with their 10,000,000% inflation. Those discussions, and my recent ( tentative ) return to EU, has made me think a lot about the way the in game economy plays out.

I've noticed that apartment prices seem to have risen since I left several years ago, but their inherent value hasn't changed. There are no new features for apartment owners that I know of. This would be an example of in game inflation. The average EU citizen has a higher IRL income, and can afford more for in game revenue generators and luxuries.

But at the same time, TT values remain constant. Given that planet partners, land owners, and MA make all their revenues from TT decay and taxes, it seems to me that this is unsustainable long term.

Unless there is a steady increase in the player base to bring in more income for the owners of EU, they will slowly loose out to IRL inflation, and will earn less and less in relative terms as time goes on. This is very meta. There is entropy negatively affecting their project that uses entropy to earn money!

TT values need to inflate as well, don't they?

$10 US spent hunting lasts just as long ( maybe longer with some of the new game mechanics ), and they would derive the same revenue from that as they did way back in 2007. That will be the case until more decay is added, or TT values are increased.
 
Been many suggestions on how to add more functionality to apartments over the years. Maybe some day mindark will listen... (latest VUs made apartments harder to maintain imho since clicking anything in your estate picks it up now... more difficult to place things just the way you want it if you keep accidentally putting items back in inventory on every left click on mouse)
 
Since all Appt Deeds use also the same mu chart...there are more then 1 sight of prices...

yes caly appt prices are higher now..also bec the rent was removed some longer time ago...

Also owning an appt is now more a prestige thingie then it was in past i guess...

+ monria appt are around 1500-2k bec of the monrian travel benefit which goes for owning an appt there...

rt ,medusa,arka appt are also in this price range....so the generel mu chart doesnt rly work on "normal" caly ones...


Eddie
 
Since all Appt Deeds use also the same mu chart...there are more then 1 sight of prices...

yes caly appt prices are higher now..also bec the rent was removed some longer time ago...

Also owning an appt is now more a prestige thingie then it was in past i guess...

+ monria appt are around 1500-2k bec of the monrian travel benefit which goes for owning an appt there...

rt ,medusa,arka appt are also in this price range....so the generel mu chart doesnt rly work on "normal" caly ones...


Eddie

Size matters... tangerine apartments have 410 points for items. Trashy apt on same planet has 30 only. Cyrene can add apartments but has chosen not to yet...
 
Bigger guns with faster cycle rates...already happening :D. Also new players of course.
 
The additional factors that you all are pointing out regarding the pricing of apartments are good points.

I think my thesis should have focused more on the disconnect between IRL inflation, which affects all our abilities to pay to play, and the fixed TT costs that are not subject to inflation.
 
Actually, if you consider the fact you are storing tt value in the game as cash, it makes perfect sense.

Your TT devalues to inflation, just as cash would.

Only if you put TT value in something that grows/has a return like CLD or AUDs or the like can you beat inflation within the game

And I'm sure MA has invested our 'TT' in funds that counter inflation to prevent loss of value over time :D :D.
 
And I'm sure MA has invested our 'TT' in funds that counter inflation to prevent loss of value over time :D :D.

That would be a sensible thing to do, but from what I saw on in the financials they release, they don't.

I don't think they have enough capital to do that, handle their expenses, and maintain liquidity for withdraws.
 
Yes...

The additional factors that you all are pointing out regarding the pricing of apartments are good points.

I think my thesis should have focused more on the disconnect between IRL inflation, which affects all our abilities to pay to play, and the fixed TT costs that are not subject to inflation.

...I hate that you even jumped in to restate your point...I was kind of enjoying the utter lack of connect with your excellent thesis on unsustainability by post after post on apartment specifics :D

Remember tho...MA is making more money from selling boxes and players investing in boxes for buff items and other etcs., than actual decay relatively speaking in the time frame you are looking at. i.e. there are dollars to ped dilations occurring that occur parallel with decay ;)

and I agree...MA has not the funds to invest in anything so far nor does any small business usually use their liquidity like that. But good points Jhereg. 98% of the population ingame has invested dollars and MA gives them PEDS and they never see a return(withdrawal) on that. If there are 1,000 active players averaging 100 ped a month in decay...that is 10,000$ a month in revenue somewhere. My point isn't that $10000 number because I think u can see how ludicrously conservative it is. Another point is that I am not sure anyone has considered that MA controls all the markets and has anyone considered that MA could easily be making money off the market as an 'insider trader'...no one would know. I also imagine it is their goal to slowly buy back 'shares', i.e. CLD and reduce their exposure to players that don't need to deposit. One of my biggest concerns is that they would do this by destroying CLD value as well.

Brick
 
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Doesnt the Dollar inflate?

and the ped is tied to the dollar?

http://meridianwealth.com/2010/03/1...the-dollar-inflation-and-the-federal-reserve/

As for ingame things..

Guns that were the best ingame are no longer the best. The people addicted to having the best have to move to bigger and better stuff. Pills, buffs, enhancers, pets, cloaks, special lasers and scopes.
Mobs that are spawned in events are bigger than ever.
example: migration used to have exarosaur elite, longtooth and eomon
longtooth and eomon were comparable to todays longtooth old and eomon young. exarosaur elite no longer spawns during migration.
armors need to be adjusted, improved, modified. Amps need to be adjusted, improved, modified, faps.. well you know.
 
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exactly...

Doesnt the Dollar inflate?

and the ped is tied to the dollar?

http://meridianwealth.com/2010/03/1...the-dollar-inflation-and-the-federal-reserve/

As for ingame things..

Guns that were the best ingame are no longer the best. The people addicted to having the best have to move to bigger and better stuff. Pills, buffs, enhancers, pets, cloaks, special lasers and scopes.
Mobs that are spawned in events are bigger than ever.
example: migration used to have exarosaur elite, longtooth and eomon
longtooth and eomon were comparable to todays longtooth old and eomon young. exarosaur elite no longer spawns during migration.
armors need to be adjusted, improved, modified. Amps need to be adjusted, improved, modified, faps.. well you know.

...dollar:ped parallel dilations...I think MA is actually doing ok...but the original post was thought provoking...especially if you own an apartment :D

Brick
 

Both of those statements are true, but:

IRL purchasing power of the dollar goes down with time, while in game purchase power of the PED ( for TT value at least ) remains constant. We don't pay more for 1 PED TT of ammo than we did 10 years ago. And the decay that MA gets is based on TT value.

Brick has pointed out though that MA is making up for the lack of inflation of TT decay with other revenues: loot boxes etc.

Loot boxes aren't my cup of tea, but if some players buying them keeps TT costs stable, I guess that is a better alternative than everybody paying more in decay.
 
Both of those statements are true, but:

IRL purchasing power of the dollar goes down with time, while in game purchase power of the PED ( for TT value at least ) remains constant. We don't pay more for 1 PED TT of ammo than we did 10 years ago. And the decay that MA gets is based on TT value.

Brick has pointed out though that MA is making up for the lack of inflation of TT decay with other revenues: loot boxes etc.

Loot boxes aren't my cup of tea, but if some players buying them keeps TT costs stable, I guess that is a better alternative than everybody paying more in decay.

I get more ped than earlier. I buy my ped with euros.

But theres something else. It is time. Time that ped last.
Mindark deals with inflation through time.
Ped simply doesn't last as long as it used to.
At the end of the month I used to have some ped left.
Now at the end of my deposit I still have some month left.
 
It is adjusted by turnover. Introducing inflation to the coin itself, to the PED, would be extremely dangerous lacking the actual economical circuit of the IRL.

If you want to play like in the "good old times" (preL, so 2005 and earlier), let me give a few pointers:

- bread and butter was jester/mk2 amped or unamped. That's in the realm of armatrix 2-5 if such things would even exist.

- for years, we had korss which is somwhere between ArM 10 and 15

Add to that increased hp and regen of mobs, so in effect you will discover that from an ingame pov, the inflation is a multiple of the IRL one, compared to 2005-2007.

In mining is even more obvious with the amps and indoor mining. "Old-style" meant exclusively unamped, planetside, no vechicles (but way faster running) so give or take comparable to today's unamped but with vechicles.

But who plays like this nowadays? A few excentric individuals?

The really amusing part is that by increasing turnover, they can get a lower rake (better ROI per 1k ped tt spent than in 2007), but in effect make more profit. A player rolling 3k tt in a day at a ROI of 98% gives them more than a player rolling 1k tt in a day at a ROI of 95% in 2007 (and it was lower than 95%).
 
I get more ped than earlier. I buy my ped with euros.

But theres something else. It is time. Time that ped last.
Mindark deals with inflation through time.
Ped simply doesn't last as long as it used to.
At the end of the month I used to have some ped left.
Now at the end of my deposit I still have some month left.

Exactly a big problem, and it last since a while now that way.
 
The best i can ad to a discussion is a interview in two parts, brilliantlly articulated verbally and quite powerfull in a positive and constructive way. And to whomever it may concern. :wise:




Also very usefull and if you like to do long grinding in any profession, u can listen to this:
 
*slowly backs away and shuts the door*
 
I get more ped than earlier. I buy my ped with euros.

But theres something else. It is time. Time that ped last.
Mindark deals with inflation through time.
Ped simply doesn't last as long as it used to.
At the end of the month I used to have some ped left.
Now at the end of my deposit I still have some month left.

"you just need to hunt the mobs you know will give you the loot you need"
 
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