why can I never find item modifications on the market ???

[TrevNYC]

Not to be rude but a week spent on gathering materials and all that work only give you 300k?

 

People could earn millions by just running dailies within the week. This is really not worth the effort. Then we see why there's no demand/supply.

 

Again, not flaming. Just pointing it out.

 

What do you mean, "all that work?" He just said it took him a week of prep and 100K, not that he spent an entire week of in-game time doing crafting. And he made 300% profit on stuff that everyone keeps insisting that no one wants. Plus, he doesn't have to buy schematics any more for those things so his total profit will continue to grow because a lot of his startup costs are fixed. He can continue to make more items, and because he's not focusing on high level items that take forever to get (the missions take longer), he can churn out more of them.

 

But assuming he's level 50 (and it's not clear from the post that he is), he still can run dailies for "millions" if he wants. It's not like crafting actually takes significant time away from doing other things, particularly when doing low level crafting at higher levels. (I seem to get more crits on lowbie missions).

 

I love how a guy posts about how he can't find certain things that he wants on the GTN, and half the responses basically say, "because there's no demand for the things you are demanding." And when another guy posts, "there's plenty of demand, because I've been supplying those people," the response is, "yeah, but those people are a waste of my ship droid's valuable time."

[TrevNYC]

Yeah, spending a week for gathering mats+crafting is rather silly, considering the income at lvl50.

 

Heck, hunting for slicing nodes on Voss can rack you up to 100k creds in a day.

 

I think you guys are reading way too much into what "spending a week gathering" means. I spent a week gathering ship schematics for cybertech -- but that just meant I spent 2 minutes a day checking the GTN and it took me a week to get all the ones I wanted.

 

People are acting like he spent his entire playtime over 7 days gathering lowbie mats and schematics -- hours upon hours of running around looking for bronzium or whatever.

[Bootcha]

Yeah, spending a week for gathering mats+crafting is rather silly, considering the income at lvl50.

 

Heck, hunting for slicing nodes on Voss can rack you up to 100k creds in a day.

 

100k a DAY? Hell, I get 120k from doing all the space missions within 2 hours. Methinks you need to find a better money making solution.

[TrevNYC]

100k a DAY? Hell, I get 120k from doing all the space missions within 2 hours. Methinks you need to find a better money making solution.

 

That guy probably didn't literally mean a day, either.

[hamsterboom]

well if your talking about blues and whatnot most people don;t bother selling stuff til end 400 of crewskill.

 

1. costs to much to send companions on missions to see a definitive return profit once crafted

 

or

 

2. commendations always award blue level mods of every type and are easy to get .. seriously easy.

 

unlike other mmo's the GTN flow does not go up or down there arnt any hot or not items, 90% of GTN stuff is junk compared to level rewards and such and when you sink into some effort to make a blue crafted item you normally just make 1 for yourself as the missions arn't cheap and theres a 30% chance it will sell on AH if someone who can't be arsed to grind commendations is around.

[ChunkCohen]

As a Cybertech myself, I think the profession will continue to be broken this way until BioWare makes some changes to the system.

 

1. It's much easier to obtain item modifications through planet accommodations and dailies. At Lvl 50, modifications become completely irrelevant because you can get purple Lvl 23 item mods (which Cybertechs can't even MAKE) rather easily, without spending money. There should be an incentive for crafters here (like unique, craft-only armorings and mods), but there simply isn't. There are also certain item mods at certain tiers that Cybertechs have no access to, yet they're available at commendations vendors. As an example, Cybertechs don't get schematics for Guardian Armorings before T4 (Guardian Armoring 14, I believe). That's pretty whacked.

 

2. It takes too long and costs too much to acquire the blue/purple materials required to make the better armorings and mods. For example, a T3 Underworld Trading mission can cost 500-600 credits and 25-30 minutes to return enough of these materials to make maybe one item. There might be two or three missions available at once that actually return these materials. On my server (Vornskr), I'm lucky to sell a lower-level blue item mod on the GTN for 2000 credits. And it's nearly impossible to sell a purple version of the same thing at a profit (lower-level players simply don't have the funds). And that doesn't even account for the stacks of materials consumed reverse engineering items to get better schematics. Sometimes, I get lucky. But most of the time, I have to RE an item like 15-20 times to get a blue schematic and then go through the same dance trying to get a purple. Because of this, I would tend to focus on getting schematics that directly benefited my own characters and companions at lower levels. Again, I would never make back what I put into it on the GTN.

 

3. Earpieces seem to be the only thing Cybertechs make that there's a market for throughout the course of the game. Ship upgrades tend to only be profitable towards end game and droid parts are pretty useless (you're crafting for T7-01 and ship droids...big deal). And I don't know anyone who actually uses grenades.

 

 

All in all, I think a lot of crafters outside of Biochem are in this same boat and get easily discouraged from crafting. I have also have an Armstech and notice a lot of the same thing. Most of the main hand weapons I make are useless to most players because they're already rolling with orange weapons they can upgrade throughout the course of the game with commendations. Armtechs don't get orange schematics till 400. By that time, players are already getting better main hand weapons running end game flashpoints. Blaster barrels share the same annoying economic imbalance with practically every other item mod (outside of perhaps color crystals, which are pretty rare outside of crafting before end game).

Edited February 7, 2012 by ChunkCohen

[Garroda]

You level too fast in this game...period. Why buy a Purple item at lvl 20 so that it can be useless in 3 hours of in-game time. Once you get to end game items...it is really a matter of customization and time.

 

The lvl 50 player base (potenmtial customers) will always grow until the game/server starts to lose poplulation. So, it is almost always better to go right to the end game unless you can find a niche market for your mid level gear that players are willing to pay for.

 

Basically all MMO economies face this a month or so after initial launch...the economy follows the mean level of the population. Supply and Demmand.

[TrevNYC]

2. commendations always award blue level mods of every type and are easy to get .. seriously easy.

 

That's not entirely true, like the OP said. They sell *some* kind of commendation for your type, but they don't sell every type there is. For example, many vendors only sell "Force wielder" mods, which have more Endurance than Willpower. The OP wants "Resolve" mods, which are the other way around.

 

There also are level gaps sometimes. A vendor might sell "___ Mod 13" when you could use "___ Mod 14", but the next planet in your progression would sell "___ mod 15."

Edited February 7, 2012 by TrevNYC

[DervimNorth]

That guy probably didn't literally mean a day, either.

 

Bingo.

 

It took me my usual, after work day gaming day, which was, like couple hours. I really learned all the sweet spots for Voss while going through the story on that planet.

[TheRealRainier]

And I don't know anyone who actually uses grenades.

 

I find it hard to believe there are cybertechs running around that haven't figured out how awesome grenades are. Serious failure here.

[Eyevan]

The problem is that people sell the artifact metals for too much. To make a level 49 artifact mod you need to spend 40k on artifact metals alone. You need 4, and each costs 10k. AND that's not including the cost for all the other mats.

[Raani]

You don't make artifact mods because the ones from dailies are identical. Here, Artificers have an advantage, because their enhancements have more stat combinations than the ones you get from dailies, and some of the daily ones are just awful for any spec.

 

It depends on your server, but the things that sell are 49 epic earpieces, 49 augmented blue earpieces, ship parts, some droid parts, and blue leveling armorings/mods. I have sold the 49 blues for a while, at good prices, but that might not work on every server.

 

I just find it extremely ironic that the poor guy wants to buy things and can't find them, and people are trying to convince him that demand is non-existent. Demand is there, but there's only so many things we can craft and post at once. Short of calling a server-wide crafter meeting and divying up niches to cover all levels, there will never be enough supply.

[mightysword]

The problem is that people sell the artifact metals for too much. To make a level 49 artifact mod you need to spend 40k on artifact metals alone. You need 4, and each costs 10k. AND that's not including the cost for all the other mats.

 

There is a reason for that though. I'm assuming you're talking about Consurant gems which come from the Grade6 Gemston mission from Treasure Hunt. The problem is for some reason - bugged or intended - there is no Bountiful or Rich yield mission for it by default. So you have to send out your best companion and ... pray. And let me tell you about my out put last week. I sent out Kira with 10k effection + 1 Treasure Hunt critical twice a day every day, and I got 3 gems in total.

 

 

THe stupid thing is why Treasure Hunt is gimped like that, since Underworld Trading have Rich/Bountiful mission for both Silk and Metal. This is why Mandalorian Iron are usually much cheaper then Consurant gems, and it's not because the seller want to jack up the price. Before you tell me "use mission", those are selling at 30k-40k a pop, and they also usually return only 3 gems. This is compounded by the ease of getting pre-raid craft equivalent making wasting those cosurant gems in making lvl22 items a no no.

 

I'm an artificer, I have quite a few purple item, and also have slicing. But I can tell you right now, when I have the mission, I sell them, when I get the gem, I sell them. There is no point for me to make lvl22 item right now on my server.

[TrevNYC]

As a reminder, the OP's complaint is that he's level 28 and can't find any items of the types that he wants that are for less than level 41 on the GTN. I mention it because several posts are talking about demand/supply for max-level items.

[Battilea]

THe stupid thing is why Treasure Hunt is gimped like that, since Underworld Trading have Rich/Bountiful mission for both Silk and Metal. This is why Mandalorian Iron are usually much cheaper then Consurant gems, and it's not because the seller want to jack up the price. Before you tell me "use mission", those are selling at 30k-40k a pop, and they also usually return only 3 gems. This is compounded by the ease of getting pre-raid craft equivalent making wasting those cosurant gems in making lvl22 items a no no.

 

Incorrect.

 

UT has neither rich nor bountiful missions for silk or metal. Well, to be exact, it has one mission, No Redeeming Value, that claims to be rich for metal, but it is not. Its cost, time to do, con color, and rewards are all at the moderate level. A moderate mission with a bug in that it claims to be rich, basically.

 

There's just more people doing UT than TH, as it is used by 2 skills and they use different parts of it. Each 340 wealthy UT missions reward 4 purple iron and 4 silk, as well as 8 each of the blue metal and silk. So a lot of the time, one or the other will go on the market.

[ccpl_fisher]

You don't make artifact mods because the ones from dailies are identical. Here, Artificers have an advantage, because their enhancements have more stat combinations than the ones you get from dailies, and some of the daily ones are just awful for any spec.

 

It depends on your server, but the things that sell are 49 epic earpieces, 49 augmented blue earpieces, ship parts, some droid parts, and blue leveling armorings/mods. I have sold the 49 blues for a while, at good prices, but that might not work on every server.

 

I just find it extremely ironic that the poor guy wants to buy things and can't find them, and people are trying to convince him that demand is non-existent. Demand is there, but there's only so many things we can craft and post at once. Short of calling a server-wide crafter meeting and divying up niches to cover all levels, there will never be enough supply.

 

The problem isn't demand, it's the fact that I am not going to sell a piece of gear or mod for less than it cost to make it. It cost me 200k to get the schem for a pair of level 30 boots. It cost me 25k to make them, I am not selling them for less than 35k a pop.

[Selgard]

As long as my Cybertech can RE the itme to get mats to make more items to level up the skill, why am I going to waste my time going to the GTN to try to sell it? I RE 100% of what I make to skill up. I never craft to sell because that takes mats that I could have used to skill up.

 

When I'm done skilling up (400) then i'm not going to make level 27 blues to put on the market for someone because they can just run to the commendation vendor and get something decent.

 

I do agree it sucks that they don't always have *exactly* what you want from the comm vendors but until its worth the credits to RE items I don't need, and sell them in hopes someone happens to walk by and buy them.. its just not gonna happen.

 

Heck folks don't even buy the 49/50 mods half the time since you can just go do your dailies and get equivalent/near enough and do HM's for the rest.

[Battilea]

The problem isn't demand, it's the fact that I am not going to sell a piece of gear or mod for less than it cost to make it. It cost me 200k to get the schem for a pair of level 30 boots. It cost me 25k to make them, I am not selling them for less than 35k a pop.

 

You'd sell that low? At a price that means you'd have to sell 21 before you get your first bit of profit. That's just crazy.

Edited February 7, 2012 by Battilea

[mightysword]

Incorrect.

 

UT has neither rich nor bountiful missions for silk or metal. Well, to be exact, it has one mission, No Redeeming Value, that claims to be rich for metal, but it is not. Its cost, time to do, con color, and rewards are all at the moderate level. A moderate mission with a bug in that it claims to be rich, basically.

 

There's just more people doing UT than TH, as it is used by 2 skills and they use different parts of it. Each 340 wealthy UT missions reward 4 purple iron and 4 silk, as well as 8 each of the blue metal and silk. So a lot of the time, one or the other will go on the market.

 

No, I am not sure about your claim it being a bugged for UT, but there are both Rich yield for both Silk and Metal, not just Metal. I have both on my toons, and I know I reel in a lot Mandalorian irons and silks than Treasure hunt. In fact I had so many Iron that when my consular hit 49 I was able to craft full suits of Resolves Armor/Mod for both me and Nadia. I know sometime those "rich" mission return with only 2 blue, but they;re usually accompanied by a "Fail result" announcement.

 

In any case right now even when I can sell an enhancement for 50-70k a pop, I still see it as not worth the effort to do so. And this comming from a self sufficient crafter, if you're the one relying on market for your mats, forget it.

Edited February 7, 2012 by mightysword

[Battilea]

No, I am not sure about your claim it being a bugged for UT, but there are both Rich yield for both Silk and Metal, not just Metal.

 

There aren't. UT is no different than any other mission/gathering skill. It tops out at Abundant. Unless missions differ between factions or something. But for Imps, abundant is as good as it gets.

 

Also worth noting that, on my server, gems cost the same as iron, pretty much. 8k for gems, 8.5k for iron. Silk is cheaper, about 60% of what iron goes for. And at that cost, it really isn't worth doing either mods or enhancements, when those things take 4 of the purple material.

 

Now, I pretty much only run the wealthy missions with my treasure hunter. Got 2 characters with max slicing, so when I get a TH mission, that's where it goes. And I run them using Vette, who has a crit chance bonus. So I've got no experience with what the normal gem missions give. When they crit, is it always the purple gems? Or can it be other stuff, like the annoying relics that replace lockboxes?

Edited February 7, 2012 by Battilea

[GnatB]

There's just more people doing UT than TH, as it is used by 2 skills and they use different parts of it. Each 340 wealthy UT missions reward 4 purple iron and 4 silk, as well as 8 each of the blue metal and silk. So a lot of the time, one or the other will go on the market.

 

3 skills, actually. Synthweaving, armortech and cybertech. (though I believe only synth uses the fabrics? Not sure, maybe armor tech does too.)

[TrevNYC]

When I'm done skilling up (400) then i'm not going to make level 27 blues to put on the market for someone because they can just run to the commendation vendor and get something decent.

 

Why not? It doesn't take up much of your time, especially when you consider ...

 

Heck folks don't even buy the 49/50 mods half the time since you can just go do your dailies and get equivalent/near enough and do HM's for the rest.

 

So people don't buy the high level stuff, and you won't make the low level stuff that people are asking for because they have less-than ideal alternatives?

[pokota]

No, I am not sure about your claim it being a bugged for UT, but there are both Rich yield for both Silk and Metal, not just Metal. I have both on my toons, and I know I reel in a lot Mandalorian irons and silks than Treasure hunt. In fact I had so many Iron that when my consular hit 49 I was able to craft full suits of Resolves Armor/Mod for both me and Nadia. I know sometime those "rich" mission return with only 2 blue, but they;re usually accompanied by a "Fail result" announcement.

 

In any case right now even when I can sell an enhancement for 50-70k a pop, I still see it as not worth the effort to do so. And this comming from a self sufficient crafter, if you're the one relying on market for your mats, forget it.

 

You might want to check again, and maybe provide screen shots. Besides the false Rich mission, which is really a Moderate, the highest UT missions are Abundant; one for cloth, one for metals.

[ChunkCohen]

I find it hard to believe there are cybertechs running around that haven't figured out how awesome grenades are. Serious failure here.

 

Perhaps I should have elaborated here. Grenades ARE awesome, but their usefulness leaves something to be desired when they have a 5-minute CD on use. Right now (at least on my server), grenades rarely pop up on the GTN - not a huge market for them. I imagine there would be a much more lucrative market for them if the CD was perhaps, 2 minutes.

 

As a reminder, the OP's complaint is that he's level 28 and can't find any items of the types that he wants that are for less than level 41 on the GTN. I mention it because several posts are talking about demand/supply for max-level items.

 

And a lot of us are giving the OP reasons why this is - and sadly, this can attributed to how easy it is to end game on gear that costs nothing. The way crafting in general is currently implemented, people are easily power-leveling all the way to 50 using blue item mods purchased from commendation vendors. And then when they hit Lvl 50, running the dailies on Belsavis and Ilum yields better item mods than Cybertechs and Artificers can actually make (upgraded color crystals being the notable exception - these sell for obscene prices because there's no other way to get them).

 

So in the case of Cybertechs, they'll likely focus on making item mods that directly benefit themselves and their companions while leveling the skill and simply ignore the others. Why bother making other variants knowing it's so easy for players who want them to obtain them by other means? Profit killer, if you ask me. Hence, the scarcity of specific blue/purple mods available for sale on the GTN at times.

Edited February 7, 2012 by ChunkCohen

[Battilea]

3 skills, actually. Synthweaving, armortech and cybertech. (though I believe only synth uses the fabrics? Not sure, maybe armor tech does too.)

 

Doh, yeah, correct. Forgot there were two metal users, which is a bit silly, since those are the two tradeskills I have at 400. And, yeah, only Synth uses Fabrics. Armortech doesn't.