BW not stopping gold farmers because it benefits them?

[lightSaberzFan]

This must have triggered you. Fortunately I wasn't bothered by the OP's terminology and knew exactly what he meant.

 

You obviously had nothing intelligent to counter the OP's arguments with, so you try attack him in a different way, and this time, it's his terminology.

 

Have you even bothered to ready any of andryah's posts? I have been reading through, and they are pretty much a complete argument why there is no inflation, and what inflation is. So whether you feel opposite or not, I think your post is completely invalid.

 

So rather then try and insult, why don't you try to actually explain in detail your issue? Because if you actually look up the word "Inflation" before you try and use it in an argument, it may help your post be taken a little more seriously.

[ZETA_SCORPII]

Of course "gold sellers" benefit BioWare! Anyone with common sense can see this. Now, does that mean BioWare allows "gold selling" just because it benefits their bottom line? No. They don't allow it and prevent it when they can. How do I know? BioWare has taken credits from me that I bought from "gold sellers" and I'm out real $. I don't care though because I've evolved and found easier ways to make hundreds of millions in credits. Hell, I'm sitting on so many credits I'm buying guild ships and guild strongholds just for fun.

The one thing that caused inflation more than "gold sellers" was the 90cc server xfers. This allowed you to xfer hundreds of millions of credits worth of merchandise between servers for cheap. Now that it costs roughly $10 to xfer it's not worth it, but the damage is done.

Edited September 6, 2016 by ZETA_SCORPII

[CaptRogue]

Have you even bothered to ready any of andryah's posts? I have been reading through, and they are pretty much a complete argument why there is no inflation, and what inflation is. So whether you feel opposite or not, I think your post is completely invalid.

 

So rather then try and insult, why don't you try to actually explain in detail your issue? Because if you actually look up the word "Inflation" before you try and use it in an argument, it may help your post be taken a little more seriously.

 

No, DarthWoad is right, Andryah had nothing intelligent to say on his first post aside from attacking OP's terminology which is very lame & down right ridiculous. Everyone knows what "gold farming" is, everyone knows gold & credits equal the same thing. Don't split hairs.

As for the rest, I didn't bother nor care to read the "age old" debate of whether or not inflation is at play in this game or not. Same old argument that's been going on for over a year now.

[Savej]

Right now on Jung Ma there are 14 level 65 shadows on Yavin 4 (in two instances) and one guardian (62). That's all that's on Y4 (pub side). Maybe not all of them, but I'd bet that 95% of those shadows are bots. The funny thing is that there are only 31 65s on JM at the moment, so I guess if half your players are bots you can't go banning them, right? Edited September 6, 2016 by Savej

[AllisonLightning]

@Tsillah,

 

I'm not saying it is irrelevant, what I am saying is that the issue is being blown out of proportion. It is only the ultra rare highly sought after items that are out of reach of most players - like the unstable lightsaber, or the vented lightsaber. All other CM items are not in that stratosphere and are quite attainable if a player puts their mind to it. If a player REALLY wants a 10m to 25m credit valued CM item, take a month, work heroics and daily areas and crew skills and save the credits to buy that item.

 

The flaw in that suggestion and what truly amazes me is how each month when the new pack comes out, everyone just dumps on the "old shiny" as **** and clamors for the "new shiny." That old shiny that they wanted SO BADLY is now ancient history. This tells me that too many players only want the ultra rare items because of the fact that they are ultra rare and are only complaining because the value is out of immediate reach; they cannot buy it when it is the "new shiny" so they complain about not being able to buy it.

 

I've bought a 10 million armour set with a week's work, when I really want something- I put my mind to it and achieve that than sit around, complaining a shiny is out of reach. I've only been seriously trying to earn credits since late June, started playing a year ago and I've earned heaps- enough to know what things to put on GTN, which Heroics to do and what to craft, when to craft. I've bought character slots, extra character creation appearance options and armour shiny sets, all on a 'occasionally can't play because migraine is attempting to fry her brain' basis.

 

New players have to work harder and I find it hard to feel sorry for people who have been here longer than me, with access to stuff whilst it was at its cheapest and most common, complaining they can't afford anything and thus inflation is out of control and it's the fault of people being able to earn credits for their shinies. Pro-tip? The threads popping up asking for credit nerfs are started more often than not by angered credit sellers, who want us to have no choice. Pro-tip, those super expensive things you see on GTN aren't necessarily at a price someone will buy at- it often takes relists to find out what people will actually spend on an item and it all hinges on server population. Some GTNs are fairly cheap whereas others are expensive because there's so few of the items in circulation. An expensive GTN on a low population server won't be fixed by nerfing credit sources.

[darkwarrior_]

I seriously understand perfectly why prices go where they go and honestly do not give the slightest who has the most credits or why you have a billion credits!

 

I also know for a fact that some of you try to show how smart you are by explaining in economic terms what can easily be defined with simple addition and subtraction.

 

To the OP ......the gold farmers are in game because of supply and demand quite simply.

The prices set are where they are because someone decided to price them that high!

The less people on this game the less demand and the higher the price will go.

If ten people have the same shiny and highly sought after pet, if they want to sell it they will undercut each other until someone sells.

Where that starting price begins is really up to the seller and who is willing to pay for it!

I personally have bought way too many cm packs to talk about it and honestly do not care who has the most stuff!

The important part of playing is to have fun and it still is for the most part!

 

Here is a little bone for you to chew on.....who is going to benefit the most from selling credits????

[banimoka]

- why not just ban " gamereasy.com " word ? , thru a word filter , i'm pretty sure there's an admin on the server most of the time

- and it will cripple them alot to make new webpages with a new company after each ban

[Red_Eye_Jedi_]

- why not just ban " gamereasy.com " word ? , thru a word filter , i'm pretty sure there's an admin on the server most of the time

- and it will cripple them alot to make new webpages with a new company after each ban

 

I had this idea also. They should ban that and every variant it could possibly be, "GaMeReAsY . CoM" as such.

 

All they need is a moderator or something, ready to /disconnect playername as soon as they see it happening. I was a moderator on an MMO years ago, nowhere near the scale of SWTOR but it was as simple as that back then. If they are bots as well, hopefully they not be straight online.

 

Another idea I had was making each account require a security key, that would mean each and every account running bots would need a phone/device to issue a security key, then when they are found botting/spamming, ban the account. Then they have to contact CS to change the security key on the phone:) Maybe it wouldn't help 100%, but it would absolutely slow them down.

[PlagaNerezza]

+1

 

I am one of those wealthy players. The last thing I bought off the GTN for multiple millions of credits: An Arbiter's Unstable Lightsaber...it was posted for 28 million, then next cheapest was 45 million. That 28m was close enough to my "upper limit" of 25m that I said screw it and bought it...and yet I have not used it yet . You know what else I paid for recently? The eradicator warsuit, that 55% off caught my attention, and I said to myself "even if I just acquire it to unlock it, it's worth it." I even completed the set with a 5.8m mask . The CC cost of buying it and unlocking it now was cheaper than buying it at full price.

 

When hypercrates were 10-15m I would buy one at least once a month. Now that they are 30m+ I do not bother. The thrill of opening all those packs and cubes is not worth 30m+ to me.

 

The point is we wealthy are ALWAYS looking for ways to SAVE our credits and CCs not to spend them. We constantly look for bargains, not ways to piss our credits away.

 

 

 

But let me ask you this though: how often are you re-posting that stuff? When I post stuff I craft, I am surprised when I get it back after two days. Stuff like augments and augment slot kits, and color crystals, and mods and biochem consumables all sell so quickly that I frequently have trouble keeping up with demand. Can you say the same thing about those multi-million valued CM items?

 

 

 

But you are still talking about luxury/collector items. You can acquire a mount for as little as 8000 credits from a vendor on fleet. Color crystals sell for as little as 10k. Decorations like mounts can be acquire for a pittance. They may not be the design/color you want but mechanically they are no different than the multi-million credits versions.

 

 

 

I COMPLETELY disagree with this statement. In my experience, most players have somewhere between 10m and 30m available at any one time. When I tell them that I have 575m they are legitimately shocked. That being said, those same players may gripe amount the pricing of stuff in the 50m+ range but they do understand it and accept the fact that if they want something that is high value they have to work toward it, but pray that by the time they get the credits to buy it...the price has fallen .

 

 

 

When they are crafted by players they are. Yes you can get consumables from vendors with fixed prices but for the most part they are not the best available. If you want the "best available" consumables the only way to get them is from players who craft them. And the GTN values are NOT inflated at all, between 3.x and 4.x the value of stims, adrenals and medpaks has been flat.

 

 

 

So you want BW to "print more credits". I advise you to watch just the first few minutes of

and then come back and tell me you still believe that the dev company should openly sell game currency. (hint hint, what you are suggesting would ADD TO not subtract from inflation).

 

 

 

But the proof is in that segment. I have been a dedicated crafter since 1.2 (when augmentation slot kits were first introduced). and for most crafted items of similar level with regard to the game have remained roughly the same value or have decreased in value:

 

rating 186 augments (top end rating for the content) at the peak of 3.x were valued between 75k and 125k each. rating 208 Augments (again top end rating for the content) in 4.x...you are LUCKY to get 75k. More commonly they are valued between 30k and 45k each.

 

OTOH, top end Augmentation slot kits have gone up in value but not by much: 3.x they were valued between 45k and 55k each. Now they are 50k to 60k each.

 

rating 178 mods and enhancements (that's the blue quality crafted just below entry end game purple) ran 25k to 35k each. Rating 200 versions, I personally cap at 35k each (I do not gouge). And at both time frames they sold and sell like hotcakes. And the value of rating 208 vs rating 186 is in fact lower. in 3.x 186 rating mods went for 75k to 100k each. Now they are valued at 50k to 60k each.

 

left side static stat equipment: ear, implant, relic in 3.x rating 186 went for 75k to 120k each. now 85k is the high end. More commonly they are valued between 50k and 65k each.

 

The value of ops level crafted items has not changed all that much either.

 

color crystals...depressed in overall value although the profit margins are incredibly high

 

entry end game hilts and barrels and armorings are the tank (cannot give them away ) where before 4.x they were at least somewhat desirable and profitable

 

biochem consumables are flat; top end stims, adrenals, and medpaks are roughly the same value between 3.x and 4.x (specifically, stims a slightly higher, but adrenals and medpaks are lower)

 

The valuation on a variety of items makes no sense. Its a pet peeve of mine when it comes to the marketplace. For instance, the sale price on crafted 220 gear. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me when you look at the materials cost, but that has been crafting in this game for a while. The mats used to make items sell for more than the final good. Then I look at the pricing for Universal MK-2, and Universal MK-3. I constantly see MK-2 for more than Mk-3 and the underworld missions are double runs at mat lvl 4/5. Its got some oddities in a market.

 

Stupid things I profit on. Selling 4 mats for 27,500 each at the start of the week because of the Odessen droid mission yields a huge margin over someone buying the 100 lot of the mats for under 10k each. People just make really odd decisions with credits.

 

I don't even craft at this point as I see next to no credit benefit from assembling the materials into the item. The amount of people who don't harvest is astonishing to me. While playing the game running underworld trading and slicing harvesting missions will return you an abundance of mats. How these mats are not worth 1k per unit is astonishing to me. We should have a gut of purple mats if people bothered with it. Right now even if you were a cheapskate. 10k per mat x3 is 30k per critical. With your level 50 companion alone that is 300,000 every 10 crits. Multiple that across someone with 6 companions and you are generating 1.8 million in a matter of about 1 hours time.

 

The lack of trying accounts for being broke. Or the lack of using a calculator. Its not hard to find margin in the GTN of huge varieties. I just laid out 2 obvious instances where you can get a bank roll. Frankly, you just need a basic bankroll in the game and can get stupid rich. The general F2P player is capped out at 350k per. The basic math tells you they cannot afford 100 item stacks of materials over 3,500 per unit. Nor are they willing to go to literal zero.

 

Decorations, materials, stims, items that you can sell between 100-300k will sell to the F2P as they simply lack the ability to spend more. You can make a mint. Then target the high-end with a reasonable strategy around packs. Enhancing your credits isn't rocket science.

 

To the original posters point. Botting is a problem. Its been around in various forms. I am surprised they bot yavin and not Odessen. The Odessen boxes are higher level and just as frequent and easy to harvest. You can yield 1000 mats in about 1-2 hours just running spot to spot. I do this with slicing and get like 500k and 1000 mats for crafting. Hopefully they do away with bots some how. If you run. UT, Scavenging, slicing on an alt you can crush it on Odessen.

[omaan]

I'm just zipping around Yavin 4. I've got a character that runs the weeklies there. When I hit the "slicing node" area I find no less than 6 people moving from node to node as they spawn. Each one of them has no more than 300 achievement points - these are your classic gold farmers.

Now I've been away from the game for about four months and I assumed that BW were going to get to the bottom of this.

But what I also see is that there has been a massive inflation in the cost of "desirable" items. I almost fainted when I saw items going on the GTM for 50 million or more.

I'm in a good position credit wise. I started playing this game on the first day of pre-release and I've got a great many credits spread across characters. I can really buy as I like. However I am also very aware lots of people cannot and certainly cannot drop 50 million credits on an item.

 

So, what has inflation done for BW. Well, if you want those desirable items you're gonna have to gamble for them. Or, buy the cartel packs, sell them for credits and buy the items this way. Either way BW see an increase in the number of cartel market sales.

 

So really - why would BW want to stop people farming for gold? As long as there is a massive inflation going on in-game and the items people really want cost more credits than the average player has, then cartel market sales and BW profit will always keep on increasing.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm putting 2 and 2 together and getting five. But really, BW have had quite literally years to solve this issue and haven't.....but why?

 

I made even worse assumption - credit sellers are working on BW and BW gets money from selling credits for real money.thats why credit spammers are not banned.

[PatT]

I'm just zipping around Yavin 4. I've got a character that runs the weeklies there. When I hit the "slicing node" area I find no less than 6 people moving from node to node as they spawn. Each one of them has no more than 300 achievement points - these are your classic gold farmers.

 

Well they will have to work harder than ever. The amount of credits from one of those nodes has dropped by 75%. Or did you know how severely they have been nerfed? It's not worth it to bother any longer.

 

Now I've been away from the game for about four months and I assumed that BW were going to get to the bottom of this.

 

What gave you that idea? Their previous speedy action?

 

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm putting 2 and 2 together and getting five. But really, BW have had quite literally years to solve this issue and haven't.....but why?

 

Well that is the question, isn't it. Every change they do make, is to penalize actual players. they do nothing to eliminate the accounts that generate these farmers/sellers. You'll have to ask them. I'd certainly like to know as well.

Most reliable ways to make money have already been nerfed to oblivion. It hasn't helped.

 

The real thing is this: Would there still be gold sellers if people weren't buying from them??? So, if you want to eliminate the supply, GET RID OF THE DEMAND. PEOPLE NEED TO STOP BUYING FROM THEM.

[Andryah]

Hahahhahahaha! Now i totally understand and you are defending the gold spamming credit farmers because you are one!!!!!

 

NO.. I am not defending RMTs or their supporting efforts (which by the way are mostly legit players until they decide to sell off credits to an RMT broker). People thinking that RMTs are actually farming their own credits these days are completely out of touch with reality.

 

Nor am I an RMT. Stop the nonsense.

Edited September 6, 2016 by Andryah

[Andryah]

It's interesting you mention this, it's also something that helps maintain the pricing of items that are crafted. I've seen some interesting pricing when I've been selling some crits lately (I haven't really done much crafting in 4.0 as I've been lazy ). I also tend to price cap certain items, purely because I'm making a profit anyway, as well as being mindful of F2P / Pref players spending limits.

 

Pricing for certain Armours / Mods / Enhancements / Hilts / Barrels / Crystals / Dyes / Stims / Aug kits etc tends to remain fairly static (with a small variance midweek and weekends).

 

Price capping in general, I feel is a good practice by good sellers. It's not required of course, but it is a socially responsible thing to do in the context of your server.

 

I don't do a lot of crafting, mostly for my own characters, so I generally only sell off surplus from crits. When I do, I sell at what I know the average price over time for the item is, even if the current list prices on the GTN may be at a premium to that. I'm making a profit.. so I see no need to price gouge. Most buyers are smart enough to wait out price gougers anyway.

 

For CM items, I tend to play the lower end of the item market (bronze and silvers) and buy them up in bulk when they are being dumped by impatient players chasing the super rare gold items. I then hold them for a while and begin reselling them. Generally, since I have a lot of inventory, purchased at very low prices from other sellers, I can and do set a ceiling price for an item and continue to sell at that price even if the market tries to price inflate. Again, I'm making a great profit at my pricing, so no need to wear-hat-as-keester as a seller.

 

Now... If I have a super rare gold item in my inventory, and since I buy copies of almost everything.. I generally do, when it comes time to sell these I DO sell them at the prevailing market pricing since this segment of the market is the wealthy collectors market.

[Andryah]

No, DarthWoad is right, Andryah had nothing intelligent to say on his first post aside from attacking OP's terminology which is very lame & down right ridiculous. Everyone knows what "gold farming" is, everyone knows gold & credits equal the same thing. Don't split hairs.

As for the rest, I didn't bother nor care to read the "age old" debate of whether or not inflation is at play in this game or not. Same old argument that's been going on for over a year now.

 

Feel better now?

 

Enjoy counting and spending your "gold". Me, I count and spend credits.

 

:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p

 

I'll add you to my ignore list now... right next to Mr Woad who has been there for some time now.

Edited September 6, 2016 by Andryah

[Andryah]

To the original posters point. Botting is a problem. Its been around in various forms. I am surprised they bot yavin and not Odessen. The Odessen boxes are higher level and just as frequent and easy to harvest. You can yield 1000 mats in about 1-2 hours just running spot to spot. I do this with slicing and get like 500k and 1000 mats for crafting. Hopefully they do away with bots some how. If you run. UT, Scavenging, slicing on an alt you can crush it on Odessen.

 

Botting IS a problem, an ongoing one that every studio struggles with.

 

Do you report them when you see them? Because that is the single most productive thing we as players can do to help.

 

The next most productive thing we can all do is NEVER do business with an RMT... not selling them credits, and not buying credits from them. If everyone did this.... the RMTs would find it less and less profitable to ply their trade in game.

 

Honestly... the bigger issue with RMTs these days is the players that sell their credits to them, thus fueling continued easy trade in credits. Ban credit sellers, including those that sell to RMTs.

Edited September 6, 2016 by Andryah

[jimmorrisson]

- why not just ban " gamereasy.com " word

 

the term 'gamereasy.com' is banned. In fact real players have been banned for using it. GAMEREASY.c0m and other permutations still filter through.

[Andryah]

the term 'gamereasy.com' is banned. In fact real players have been banned for using it. GAMEREASY.c0m and other permutations still filter through.

 

Yeah... it's almost impossible to make a filter that will block a clever spammer. They just morph the spelling a bit, so that you can still see who they are, but they escape the filter.

 

Best way to address this is to report them. Autofiltering alone simply won't get the job done.

[Transcendent]

Yeah... it's almost impossible to make a filter that will block a clever spammer. They just morph the spelling a bit, so that you can still see who they are, but they escape the filter.

 

Best way to address this is to report them. Autofiltering alone simply won't get the job done.

 

I'm slightly surprised that in this day and age, when enough players report the new permutation of said site (I'll not name it, because, rules) that it doesn't get automatically added to the filter. Considering it's mainly one site (I can recall others but haven't seen them being so persistent), it should be fairly easy to code the filter to update itself and stop the spam. Both for fleet / planetary chat as well as my inbox (although I've found a novel way to stop it getting to the inbox on my DvL characters )

[DarthWoad]

Yeah... it's almost impossible to make a filter that will block a clever spammer. They just morph the spelling a bit, so that you can still see who they are, but they escape the filter.

 

Best way to address this is to report them. Autofiltering alone simply won't get the job done.

 

Do you have any evidence to support your theory?

[DarthWoad]

Feel better now?

 

Enjoy counting and spending your "gold". Me, I count and spend credits.

 

:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p

 

I'll add you to my ignore list now... right next to Mr Woad who has been there for some time now.

 

That's what happens when you can't get your own way, you block people.

Edited September 6, 2016 by DarthWoad

[CaptRogue]

Feel better now?

I'll add you to my ignore list now... right next to Mr Woad who has been there for some time now.

 

lol Well hope that lets you sleep better. Seriously though, Andryah you need some help if you ignore someone because they make a factual based statement. lol

 

Do you have any evidence to support your theory?

 

No he doesn't. He just likes to sit on the forums & through terminology around while trying to sound important.

 

BTW he can't see what you or I stated as we are now ignored by him. lol

[rklontz]

lol Well hope that lets you sleep better. Seriously though, Andryah you need some help if you ignore someone because they make a factual based statement. lol

 

 

 

No he doesn't. He just likes to sit on the forums & through terminology around while trying to sound important.

 

BTW he can't see what you or I stated as we are now ignored by him. lol

 

Unless of course if someone quotes you

[Tsillah]

Feel better now?

Enjoy counting and spending your "gold". Me, I count and spend credits.

 

He is right though about gold spammers or farmers. It's just a general term regardless of the game's actual currency. I don't know why you feel the need to make that a point of contention.

[CaptRogue]

He is right though about gold spammers or farmers. It's just a general term regardless of the game's actual currency. I don't know why you feel the need to make that a point of contention.

 

Careful now! He will put you on ignore as that seems to be his trigger! (Because that's pretty much what I stated on my original post as well as DarthWoad said the same. lol)

[Thoronmir]

He is right though about gold spammers or farmers. It's just a general term regardless of the game's actual currency. I don't know why you feel the need to make that a point of contention.

Gold, credits, wampum, Kriegerrands, ducats, coin, virtual currency obtainable via participation of in-game activities as opposed to virtual currency one may purchase (e.g., CCs) ... it all means the same thing, and one's choice of otherwise generic nomenclature seems like a pretty silly thing upon which to get hung up.

 

As for the premise of this thread, I found it quite helpful. I have re-scrunched my tinfoil hat to fit a little snugger.