Avon(AJ)Jerrix
Guardian
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2010
- Posts
- 240
This is going to be a long post.
I've had some thoughts on the economy. Check me on this...
VU15.1.1 introduced explosive BP's and nanocubes. I think most agree that the result has been that many to most of the big gambling crafters transitioned to explosive projectiles, driving down mark up across the gameboard. And in the process, they have become largely isolated from the rest of the game economy. The HOFs still happen, what has changed is what they consume and what they produce--they consume nanocubes and they produce metal residue. The big gambling crafters no longer buy anything from other players, and no longer flood the market with amps or guns or any product except MR. Absent certain lootpool theories, they generate revenue for MA but they really don't impact the EU economy at all.
Shrapnel was introduced in VU15, and loot was restructured so that shrapnel largely took the place of oils and some other mats in large globals and HOFs, so that mobs dropped fewer types of mats, and so that what oils and mats did drop was normalized across mob maturities. So if brain oil dropped from a stalker, it also dropped from a young, or at least an alpha. This means that for a commercial hunter, one that hunts for mark up, there is no longer any economic reason to hunt the higher maturities. It makes more sense, and may be more eco, to hunt larger numbers of smaller mobs--more even returns, more chances for a global, far less chance of a HOF. The big hunters who enjoy gambling will still hunt HOFs, but their HOFs will be mainly shrapnel and ammo. Again, big gambling hunters become largely isolated from the rest of the EU economy. (I'm not a big hunter, I'm basing this largely off what Kim wrote and certain other threads on the subject of shrapnel. Also, I don't know how item drops were structured...do good items drop now from mid-sized mobs, or high mobs, or both?)
Mining is the shakiest part of this, because it is mostly driven by mark up rather than distribution mechanics, other than some mechanics that have already existed for awhile. So, with explosive projectile crafting driving down mark up of ores and enmats overall, it becomes less likely that any given mining HOF will include significant mark up. As mark up continues to flatten, more miners will reach an economic break point where it makes more sense mathematically to make more drops with lower amps--or no amps--in a more targeted fashion, effectively hunting the higher mark up ores and enmats, like, say, cobalt, the way they would hunt ruga. No one expects to hit a ruga tower, after all (one of those existing mechanics). High level miners who want to will still head out to FOMA or Hell with high level amps, and they will still get HOFs, but most of those HOFs will have no-to-only-decent mark up, like a six-figure force nexus. They will impact the larger economy, but not too much too long, I think. And they will still buy amps, but UL amps will continue to migrate into the hands of these players.
High level gamblers in EU now buy ammo, nanocubes, and probes from the TT and produce ammo and shrapnel, metal residue, and increasingly low mark up ores and enmats in their HOFs and ATHs...from the TT to the TT. They generate revenue for MA, but as hunters, crafters, and miners they no longer really affect the mainstream economy at all, specifically they don't affect mark up. Meanwhile, mainstream players are being...let's say encouraged...to actually practice their professions, making informed decisions about what and where and how to hunt and mine and craft rather than just following the old formulas or the HOF boards. It seems to me that, intentional or not, MA is building a largely separated three-tiered economy--uber gamblers, mainstream players, and newbies.
Newbies weren't in the title, but let's look at them for a minute.
The new player experience on Calypso is better now than at any time since I started playing just post VU10. Yes, it could be improved, it especially could be better documented, but it is good and getting better. For a long time there was simply nothing for a new player in the game to do on day-one except sweat, maybe start gathering TPs, or deposit, unless established players outright gave them stuff or made little contests, which many did. Now actually look at the current Thule to Icarus to Half Moon to Phoenix new player experience on Caly. A quarter of Eudoria is a starter area, with puny mobs that drop puny weapons, puny amps, and a puny mark up item (Calypso Bone Samples), and have a puny iron challenge. There are puny mission chains, a puny daily instance that gives a puny ModFap and a puny global, a puny beacon run, a puny wave event, puny pets, a puny sweating area (Boreas), even puny migration event mobs. What part of the game are these players missing? Crafting? Mindforce? And then if they deposit twenty dollars or buy a starter package I really think a new player could play and have fun on that for six months to a year, especially if they are smart--find current online player guides, read the forums, don't totally trust Entropedia, stay away from Rookiechat, etc.
In fact, for these players, the game is starting to look a lot like other MMOs. Online gamers are used to starter areas with low level quests, want to progress faster or unlock new content, buy from the webshop, or stay free to play, but that's harder. New players don't resent this, they expect it, so more of them are sticking around, because they're having fun. But they are not really interacting with the larger player economy. Their first weapon comes from the tutorial. Their second weapon is probably looted from a puny. Their third weapon comes from the TT. And their fourth weapon comes from the Daily Token Vendor. Their vehicle comes from the tutorial and their fap comes from the Gauntlet. Most of their loot goes to the TT for ammo, they sell a little fruit and muscle oil to resellers, but they don't really have much, and the only item whose mark up they really care about is sweat. So, newbies form a sort of puny economy, also divorced from the mainstream, although having lots of active newbies in the game obviously contributes in other ways, and some will graduate to the larger game.
So, three tiers, and the mainstream players...have an increasingly stable economy, largely isolated and insulated from the volatilities and wild fluctuations in mark ups brought on by HOFs, easier to tweak, more predictable so that smart players can make informed choices about what to hunt, what to mine, what to craft, what to buy, what to sell, investing, trading, playing eco, playing fun, gambling, selling out...whatever.
Or I could be totally wrong.
Comment?
I've had some thoughts on the economy. Check me on this...
VU15.1.1 introduced explosive BP's and nanocubes. I think most agree that the result has been that many to most of the big gambling crafters transitioned to explosive projectiles, driving down mark up across the gameboard. And in the process, they have become largely isolated from the rest of the game economy. The HOFs still happen, what has changed is what they consume and what they produce--they consume nanocubes and they produce metal residue. The big gambling crafters no longer buy anything from other players, and no longer flood the market with amps or guns or any product except MR. Absent certain lootpool theories, they generate revenue for MA but they really don't impact the EU economy at all.
Shrapnel was introduced in VU15, and loot was restructured so that shrapnel largely took the place of oils and some other mats in large globals and HOFs, so that mobs dropped fewer types of mats, and so that what oils and mats did drop was normalized across mob maturities. So if brain oil dropped from a stalker, it also dropped from a young, or at least an alpha. This means that for a commercial hunter, one that hunts for mark up, there is no longer any economic reason to hunt the higher maturities. It makes more sense, and may be more eco, to hunt larger numbers of smaller mobs--more even returns, more chances for a global, far less chance of a HOF. The big hunters who enjoy gambling will still hunt HOFs, but their HOFs will be mainly shrapnel and ammo. Again, big gambling hunters become largely isolated from the rest of the EU economy. (I'm not a big hunter, I'm basing this largely off what Kim wrote and certain other threads on the subject of shrapnel. Also, I don't know how item drops were structured...do good items drop now from mid-sized mobs, or high mobs, or both?)
Mining is the shakiest part of this, because it is mostly driven by mark up rather than distribution mechanics, other than some mechanics that have already existed for awhile. So, with explosive projectile crafting driving down mark up of ores and enmats overall, it becomes less likely that any given mining HOF will include significant mark up. As mark up continues to flatten, more miners will reach an economic break point where it makes more sense mathematically to make more drops with lower amps--or no amps--in a more targeted fashion, effectively hunting the higher mark up ores and enmats, like, say, cobalt, the way they would hunt ruga. No one expects to hit a ruga tower, after all (one of those existing mechanics). High level miners who want to will still head out to FOMA or Hell with high level amps, and they will still get HOFs, but most of those HOFs will have no-to-only-decent mark up, like a six-figure force nexus. They will impact the larger economy, but not too much too long, I think. And they will still buy amps, but UL amps will continue to migrate into the hands of these players.
High level gamblers in EU now buy ammo, nanocubes, and probes from the TT and produce ammo and shrapnel, metal residue, and increasingly low mark up ores and enmats in their HOFs and ATHs...from the TT to the TT. They generate revenue for MA, but as hunters, crafters, and miners they no longer really affect the mainstream economy at all, specifically they don't affect mark up. Meanwhile, mainstream players are being...let's say encouraged...to actually practice their professions, making informed decisions about what and where and how to hunt and mine and craft rather than just following the old formulas or the HOF boards. It seems to me that, intentional or not, MA is building a largely separated three-tiered economy--uber gamblers, mainstream players, and newbies.
Newbies weren't in the title, but let's look at them for a minute.
The new player experience on Calypso is better now than at any time since I started playing just post VU10. Yes, it could be improved, it especially could be better documented, but it is good and getting better. For a long time there was simply nothing for a new player in the game to do on day-one except sweat, maybe start gathering TPs, or deposit, unless established players outright gave them stuff or made little contests, which many did. Now actually look at the current Thule to Icarus to Half Moon to Phoenix new player experience on Caly. A quarter of Eudoria is a starter area, with puny mobs that drop puny weapons, puny amps, and a puny mark up item (Calypso Bone Samples), and have a puny iron challenge. There are puny mission chains, a puny daily instance that gives a puny ModFap and a puny global, a puny beacon run, a puny wave event, puny pets, a puny sweating area (Boreas), even puny migration event mobs. What part of the game are these players missing? Crafting? Mindforce? And then if they deposit twenty dollars or buy a starter package I really think a new player could play and have fun on that for six months to a year, especially if they are smart--find current online player guides, read the forums, don't totally trust Entropedia, stay away from Rookiechat, etc.
In fact, for these players, the game is starting to look a lot like other MMOs. Online gamers are used to starter areas with low level quests, want to progress faster or unlock new content, buy from the webshop, or stay free to play, but that's harder. New players don't resent this, they expect it, so more of them are sticking around, because they're having fun. But they are not really interacting with the larger player economy. Their first weapon comes from the tutorial. Their second weapon is probably looted from a puny. Their third weapon comes from the TT. And their fourth weapon comes from the Daily Token Vendor. Their vehicle comes from the tutorial and their fap comes from the Gauntlet. Most of their loot goes to the TT for ammo, they sell a little fruit and muscle oil to resellers, but they don't really have much, and the only item whose mark up they really care about is sweat. So, newbies form a sort of puny economy, also divorced from the mainstream, although having lots of active newbies in the game obviously contributes in other ways, and some will graduate to the larger game.
So, three tiers, and the mainstream players...have an increasingly stable economy, largely isolated and insulated from the volatilities and wild fluctuations in mark ups brought on by HOFs, easier to tweak, more predictable so that smart players can make informed choices about what to hunt, what to mine, what to craft, what to buy, what to sell, investing, trading, playing eco, playing fun, gambling, selling out...whatever.
Or I could be totally wrong.
Comment?
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