Possiber Economix fix

[Draggon]

This may not be a very popular option due to the fact that anyone (including myself) that sells Loom Points is making a killing - causing inflation and driving Market prices up.  And it seems to get higher every day.  Every time I retire the going price for LP's has gone up at least 50k.  When I first started this game a few months ago, around August last year, LP's were going for about 300k, now they're upwards of 600-650k.  Considering you can retire in about 2-4 weeks, do the math.  You have to admit that it's spiraling out of control.

I think there is a fix for this though - IF it can be coded, that's the question.

The problem is, that LP's are currently sold in 'Auction' format, which drives UP the price.  However, if you could sell LP's on the Market like all the other items, Sellers would have to compete to sell, which would lower the price (hot damn!)

My suggestion to make this happen would be that, whenever you retire, you can still have the current choices of Looming one item of your own gear, OR you can choose an added option which would be to convert your Loom Point into a "Blacksmith's Voucher" (ticket, or some medieval word meaning the same thing).  You can then place this Voucher on the Market like any other item, and name your price in gold, trade, or w/e.

It may not solve all of our economic problems, but I do believe we would see the price start going down on LP's.  Or at the VERY least keep it in check a bit.

[Vibe]

I agree, one should be able to sell loom points on the market.

[Torost]

The crpg economy is not a real economy, so inflation is only a problem for ppl hoarding gold.
And for balancers trying to use gold as a way to level the playingfield.


Golds main use is for upkeep, the cost of nonloomed stuff in the ingame store is neglible.
Since more gold is "produced" than is consumed by upkeep+items there will be more and more gold flowing in the system.
Hoarding gold is not usefull so ppl start using it. Driving up the price of scarce items.

There is no real fix other than either raise upkeepcost or lower gold income.

Introducing such changes would result in wild outcries from the usual lot.
One way to take in more gold without meddling with the upkeep/balance and keep the rage at a minimum would be to add a new upkeep item.

I suggest food that is more costly the higher level you are.
level 5 pay 50 gold.
...
level 30 pay 300 gold
This will be triggered either at randomchance or at every xx minute.

This way the devs have a way to adjust gold in/outflow without meddling with the upkeep and income.
Will also serve as a light incentive to retire, not build 31+ chars...

[Elmokki]

cRPG economy functions essentially like a very simple and twisted closed economy. Inflation is a "threat" to a player in the way that it makes getting extra looms with your extra money harder, though I believe most of the money in general (if you aren't running in very light gear) is generated from selling the looms points anyway so player income scales pretty well with the inflation anyway.

Changing loompoints to regular commodity you can just stock up if you wish could drive prices down a bit and reduce variation, but as long as the imaginary cRPG central bank prints more money each tick than is spent on repairs (and the other very minor gold sinks) it's likely prices will ramp up all the time.

Also increasing repair costs substantially probably isn't a good idea. It won't drive the prices down unless you make repairs cost more than people gain money, which will probably just put average people to run in lighter gear to avoid losing money.

[Haze_The_Hobo]

Money is money and i like it.

[n445]

Make upkeep +1% for every gen. BAM.

[Torost]

A substantial part of the gold slushing around comes from "pro" leechers , they play naked or in peasantgear that costs nada.. hide in siege... how they enjoy this is beyond me.. So adjusting the upkeep will only hurt real players..not the leechers.

A tax/goldsink that is unavoidable would hit home more directly than raising upkeep.
Its the same as reducing the gold income.. but people are going to riot if you meddle with that.

[CrazyCracka420]

How is inflation a problem?

If someone's willing to pay a certain amount for an item then both the buyer and seller have agreed that the price is satisfactory for both parties...where's the problem?

[n445]

It's not the fact that they AGREE. It's the fact that they have no choice to agree.

Don't get me wrong, I've never bought a loom point, but to me it seems like:

Seller puts up lp 600k
Buying wants to spend 550k
Every seller knows he/she can get atleast 600k so they don't drop
Buyer forced to spend 600k

The sellers as a whole control the economy.

That's not a problem for me, if you don't like the prices of buying looms. Just keep your looms and loom an item, much cheaper then spending 600k to loom an item.

[Cup1d]

The sellers as a whole control the economy.

Ehehe, best economical joke I've ever seen

[HUSTLER]

Nothing is wrong everything is working like chadz wants it too the more people who will retire to make gold or loom stuff them self the better..

If you think the devs will increase upkeep your mistaken an wasting time i think 

All i see is veteran players who are mad because they will have to retire themself or leech or grind gold to buy new shit.. 

An increase in upkeep will just kill new players.. 

[CrazyCracka420]

It's not the fact that they AGREE. It's the fact that they have no choice to agree.

Don't get me wrong, I've never bought a loom point, but to me it seems like:

Seller puts up lp 600k
Buying wants to spend 550k
Every seller knows he/she can get atleast 600k so they don't drop
Buyer forced to spend 600k

The sellers as a whole control the economy.

That's not a problem for me, if you don't like the prices of buying looms. Just keep your looms and loom an item, much cheaper then spending 600k to loom an item.

So it's not a problem.  If the buyer doesn't agree that the loom point is worth what they are paying, then they shouldn't buy it.  It's common sense.  I would like a loom point for 300k, since they are selling for 650k and I LOSE money every generation, I won't be buying a loom point.  However this can benefit me by selling a loom point for 650k...

Nothing is wrong...nothing needs to be done.  If there stops being people willing to pay 650k for a loom point, then the price will have to drop...

[Lichen]

the cost of nonloomed stuff in the ingame store is neglible.
.............
..............
There is no real fix other than either raise upkeepcost or lower gold income.

Introducing such changes would result in wild outcries from the usual lot.

[sarcasm]But then crybaby can't immediately buy everything they want! This is 'unfair' because other players who play more would have more gold (what a horrible concept)! Game needs to be so those who do more whining than playing get everything for free! In fact have it so players who play more automatically get gold taken from them and given to the crybabies. After gen 1 you pay a 'maintenance fee' to whiners. Then when you retire and loom something it is automatically given to a random whiner! [/sarcasm]

[Tomas]

Just allow people to buy loom points from the website like they buy equipment.

You can either charge a set price for looms or base it on the base price of the item being loomed.    Either way it limits peoples loom selling profits since they always have to undercut the price on the website.

As for why inflation is a problem.  The more I get for my loom points the longer I can spend in OP equipment and the closer we get to the old cRPG where everybody wears Plate Armour.  It makes no difference to me whether I wear cheap or expensive gear to gain my next loom point so it just benefits me.


One possible alternative to this is to scale experience gained according to the cost of the equipment you wear - that is a bit complicated though and I'm too tired to think this through properly.

[Teeth]

We need a change, cause the loompoint price goes up faster than I make money