GTN Inflation and Inviting New Player Friends

[Nisime]

So prices on the GTN have skyrocketed within the last year and a half or so. I know this isn't a problem or many people who are in-game billionaires. But what do you do if you are trying to sell your friends on starting this game and you know they won't be able to afford anything fun on the GTN? Do you give them credits? They won't really be able to buy anything anyway if they are F2P., but if they subscribe it is not much fun to start out flat broke in this economy. Although I suppose if someone helps you learn what to sell and you start making money quickly enough you'll have a little something to work with.

 

I see things going for 5 million that went for 500,000 a little over a year ago. Things going for 40 million that were going for 5 million six months ago and 500,000 last year. It kind of boggles the mind how much prices have skyrocketed and I am honestly having trouble keeping track of what a reasonable price is for anything anymore and I sell but rarely buy because of the sticker shock, even though I have raised my prices to match the going rate.

 

I am a millionaire but I have not reached the billion credit mark. I just don't like to devote that much of my game time to making credits. I can remember many years ago when making my first million credits felt like a big deal.

 

It's hard for me to imagine how it would be to get established as a new player in the current economy. It seems like it would take forever to be able to buy any of the fun stuff and it didn't used to.

 

There probably isn't really a solution to this. I've seen the market rise and fall before. I just can't remember ever seeing it rise so high so fast.

[iankalo]

The GTN prices are ridiculous. All the prices are 100,000,000 - 999,999,999....

I thought they will fix that in 7.0 by removing the last 3x000.

There is no point of such big big numbers ingame.

Just make the thing that cost 100,000,000 to be 100,000.

[BRKMSN]

The more people complain about "inflation" within the game's credit economy regarding player to player sales, the more the developers nerf credit rewards like we are witnessing with the launch of 7.0.

 

Tell your friends to sub, and play Galactic Seasons with you on more than 1 server. They will earn Cartel Coins each month for subbing and additionally for setting up a security key. Various game achievements also reward CCs. With the additional CCs earned from GS, they will be able to purchase Cartel Market items directly from the game without needing the GTN. Encourage them to take advantage of sale prices in order to not waste their CCs.

 

Of course you can always buy them things if you desire and you can, like you said, teach them how to make credits easily. I do both of those things for my relatives that play the game. This "inflation" doesn't change the cost of obtaining things sold by venders. Things sold on the GTN are merely vanity items and the CC cost to obtain them through Cartel Market purchases does not go up, but does have a real "cost" if the player buys CCs directly from SWTOR. What players charge other players for these items using "credits" should not discourage people from playing the game or enjoying the aspects of this game.

 

But I do promise you that the only reason we continually see credit rewards nerfed in the game is because of threads like these.

[illgot]

This inflation improves sales on the Cartel Market. I have read many replies of people buying their items directly from the Cartel Market now because it is easier than spending billions in credits or locating someone who is actually selling what they want.

 

Earning billions is not hard, you can sell many in game items like resources or a single CM item and instantly have billions of credits. The hard part is finding the one item you want on the GTN. Since a lot of CM items are exceeding the 1 billion credit cap on the GTN, fewer and fewer items are being posted daily.

 

Even if a person has billions of credits, they have to stand around on fleet for hours or days looking for someone who happens to have the item they want for sell.

 

It's just easier to buy directly from the CM which I think is what Bioware prefers.

 

I do not see Bioware even touching inflation for a year or more considering the development issues we have seen for 7.0. There are too many other important issues with SWTOR, fixing the in game economy won't even be a consideration until it starts negatively impacting their CM sales.

Edited February 20, 2022 by illgot

[SteveTheCynic]

The GTN prices are ridiculous. All the prices are 100,000,000 - 999,999,999....

I thought they will fix that in 7.0 by removing the last 3x000.

There is no point of such big big numbers ingame.

Just make the thing that cost 100,000,000 to be 100,000.

How do you persuade the players to reduce their prices that much?

 

Key point: those are player-to-player prices, not studio-to-player prices. The studio sells CM gear on the CM, and players sell it on the GTN.

[MaraNebesna]

The GTN prices are ridiculous. All the prices are 100,000,000 - 999,999,999....

I thought they will fix that in 7.0 by removing the last 3x000.

There is no point of such big big numbers ingame.

Just make the thing that cost 100,000,000 to be 100,000.

 

This, in turn would mean that the 1000 credits you have, will also have their 3x000 removed, and will become 1 credit. I'm not sure that's what you want.

[Dylanof]

How do you persuade the players to reduce their prices that much?

 

Key point: those are player-to-player prices, not studio-to-player prices. The studio sells CM gear on the CM, and players sell it on the GTN.

 

I think the idea was more of a consolidation take a look how safemoon handled it with V2, It needs to happen here also brings back the value of the currency.

[BRKMSN]

I think the idea was more of a consolidation take a look how safemoon handled it with V2, It needs to happen here also brings back the value of the currency.

 

There are different forms of currency.

 

CCs are purchased directly using real money or earned as a reward for subbing or playing the game.

 

Credits are generated purely through game play and game mechanics.

 

CCs can only be traded to SWTOR.com for items, while credits can be traded from player to player. Most Cartel market items can be bought with CCs and traded to another player for credits. They can also be traded for other items (cartel market items, crafted, items, unbound loot items, etc... ) So when a player buys armor set A and another player buys armor set B, Assuming both A and B have the same perceived value, they can be traded straight across. No matter what the value of credits is, A is still worth B. So if there was never inflation in this game and A was worth 500,000 credits, B also would be worth 500,000 credits. After inflation, A is worth 1 billion credits, so B is also worth 1 billion credits. The value of the items has not changed, only the value of credits has. As explained by a poster above, the things we have to sell are worth a lot more credits now, so it doesn't take anymore time today to make 1 billion credits (using player trades) than it did to make 500,000 at launch. It's all relative.

 

Unfortunately, threads like these only provoke Bioware to nerf credit rewards rather than adding viable credit sinks that remove credits from the game. So people that are just starting out see an unbearable grind through game activities to acquire credits. If you want to trade with other players, you have to learn to trade too. If that is not a person's cup of tea, then that person should stick to earning (or buying) CCs.

[Pricia]

The GTN prices are ridiculous. All the prices are 100,000,000 - 999,999,999....

I thought they will fix that in 7.0 by removing the last 3x000.

There is no point of such big big numbers ingame.

Just make the thing that cost 100,000,000 to be 100,000.

 

... how about no.

 

Some people like me have actually been working on getting their money. And it's not quite proportional when someone loses 10000 and someone loses 10000000, considering how easy it is to get 10000...

 

OP, it's super easy to make money. Sell mats. They go ridiculously high nowadays. Or spend some CCs and sell a character server slot on the GTN or something.

 

People always complain that they can't buy anything because the prices are so high, but it also means that you can sell everything for a lot of credits...

 

Anyway, what we need is a credit sink, period. Again... GIVE US A VENDOR SELLING MODS FOR CREDITS.

[CarolineQZ]

Well, I see this not as bad as many people do… but from my perspective, of course.

I returned to the game and found this hyper-inflation that already make some items not tradeable in GTN because the price exceed the 1B cap there.

I think GTN will be used in the future just for materials or other “cheap” things. Because the good stuff will be sold by directly trading.

 

But BioWare will not solve this because this encourages us to buy CC.

I wanted to start a new toon with a Peacemaker double saber, and as I left some billions in game I tried to ask in trade who was selling it. One player answered me asking 3 Billions for it. I just said: LOL and decided to buy directly with real money.

After all BioWare benefits from this and I don’t think they want to fix it.

 

But there is a good point of it just for us the old players: For example, I left my account for a while after buying all the cosmetical stuff I wanted. I bought many mounts, armors, outfits, dyes, weapons, etc.

And I got very nice feeling discovering that inflation turned my main toons into a billions worth toons, just in their outfits, toys and weapons.

So all our accounts value got increased and more exclusive because many of the items we bought in the past for 500m now are beyond the economical capacity of the players that doesn’t have them.

 

Is not a good thing for the new players, I recognize it, as they must spend a lot of money now to get cool stuff.

But depends on the point of view

 

I’m happy to found my toons with a so exclusive gear nowadays.

Edited September 2, 2022 by CarolineQZ

[Deaconik]

The GTN prices are ridiculous. All the prices are 100,000,000 - 999,999,999....

I thought they will fix that in 7.0 by removing the last 3x000.

There is no point of such big big numbers ingame.

Just make the thing that cost 100,000,000 to be 100,000.

 

As a person who has some experience with this, let me tell you, what would happen, if BW would do this. Players would leave. They would leave in such big numbers, that even your worse dreams are happy future. And it would solve literally nothing, as the next person who would buy 50 billions from some seller would just start it freshly from the start after buying literally everything in the game.

[xordevoreaux]

The GTN prices are ridiculous. All the prices are 100,000,000 - 999,999,999....

I thought they will fix that in 7.0 by removing the last 3x000.

There is no point of such big big numbers ingame.

Just make the thing that cost 100,000,000 to be 100,000.

 

Addressing the current state of inflation by devaluing the currency but without eliminating the various sources of inflation is meaningless. With no controls on inflation, they'll just have to devalue the currency again down the road.

 

And, as mentioned, the devs tick off the player base in so many creative ways already that it's hard to imagine they'd need yet another means.

[Ardrossan]

The more people complain about "inflation" within the game's credit economy regarding player to player sales, the more the developers nerf credit rewards like we are witnessing with the launch of 7.0.

 

Tell your friends to sub, and play Galactic Seasons with you on more than 1 server. They will earn Cartel Coins each month for subbing and additionally for setting up a security key. Various game achievements also reward CCs. With the additional CCs earned from GS, they will be able to purchase Cartel Market items directly from the game without needing the GTN. Encourage them to take advantage of sale prices in order to not waste their CCs.

 

Do nothing. Get your friends to not use the GTN at all. Make vague threats about how merely drawing attention to the problem will prompt a kneejerk reaction from the devs. Make scare quotes " " around inflation as if it doesn't really exist, as if doing so will magically avoid the problem.

 

I'm sure you've heard this a lot, but, Eric Musco's alternate account, I presume?

Edited September 2, 2022 by Ardrossan

[BRKMSN]

Do nothing. Get your friends to not use the GTN at all. Make vague threats about how merely drawing attention to the problem will prompt a kneejerk reaction from the devs. Make scare quotes " " around inflation as if it doesn't really exist, as if doing so will magically avoid the problem.

 

I'm sure you've heard this a lot, but, Eric Musco's alternate account, I presume?

 

Scare quotes? You're too much.

 

The reason I put the word inflation in quotes is because we are only talking about player to player trade. The items within the game itself do not increase in price. So when I talk about inflation in the game, I want to clarify that what we see as inflation is not universal to everything in the game, but only to the credit value put on items that players trade.

 

I will continue to argue that it's all relative regardless. If Item A is equal in value to item B, it doesn't matter if they were worth 5 million credits (in player to player trade) 3 years ago and worth 200 million credits today. They are still equal. The amount of time it took to make 5 million credits through trade is also equal to the amount of time it takes to make 200 million credits through trade today.

 

Like anything in the game, it takes a time investment to learn the most efficient path to trade success, but I don't feel sorry for the have-nots that don't try. Of course, they can go through life playing the victim card, hoping to get something from that. Speaking of that, did the Devs ever apologize to you yet for 7.0?

 

p.s. If I was Eric Musco, this game would have ample credit sinks and I wouldn't nerf rewards... or conquest points... or the kick start tactical...

Edited September 2, 2022 by BRKMSN

[Ardrossan]

Pedantic rant about how it's not exactly synonymous with the real world inflation therefore I'll unnecessarily attach quotes to "inflation" like it's not happening when it is (scare quotes). Blah blah "entitled" blah blah "victim card" blah!

 

ok boomer.

 

But I think we'll keep on talking about it anyway despite your irrational misgivings and trying to find a solution somewhat more helpful than "give up on the GTN entirely". Maybe they'll listen, maybe they'll rethink their approach, who knows, maybe they'll even acknowledge that they screwed up 7.0 and a gesture of humility is needed. Maybe maybe not. But I'm quite certain that you acting as their self-appointed cheerleader here to "well ackshually" any discussion doesn't help anybody.

Edited September 3, 2022 by Ardrossan

[BRKMSN]

ok boomer.

 

But I think we'll keep on talking about it anyway despite your irrational misgivings and trying to find a solution somewhat more helpful than "give up on the GTN entirely". Maybe they'll listen, maybe they'll rethink their approach, who knows, maybe they'll even acknowledge that they screwed up 7.0 and a gesture of humility is needed. Maybe maybe not. But I'm quite certain that you acting as their self-appointed cheerleader here to "well ackshually" any discussion doesn't help anybody.

 

Typical strawman rebuttal.

 

I never said it was different than "real world inflation." I stated that the game itself has fixed credit pricing. Only the player to player trade is affected by inflation, which is caused primarily by a lack of sufficient credit sinks.

 

Far be it from me to have and share my own opinions on a topic. Put me on ignore if you can't handle disagreement. It's pretty simple... almost as simple as not paying for a product that doesn't live up to a consumer's standard. I wonder if Musco would say that?

[RikuvonDrake]

its not really a major issue since the vast majority of the expensive items are simply cosmetic armor sets and other cartel market items, if you want to play space barbie you can just buy them using cartel coins directly. it would have been a problem if the items were not available through other means but with them all being sold for cartel coins as well as credits I think its fine to stay as is

[Samcuu]

I do agree being a new player is difficult. I just rolled a toon a few months back on Darth Malgus to play the seasons on a different server, and I didn't transfer a toon over with credits. I was basically brand new, and there's a lot of stuff that's difficult to get when u only have one or two lowbie toons. You can make a lot of credits easily but that mostly revolves around having lvl 75-80 toons and finishing conquest.

 

However, if you are just starting in an mmo, should you expect to have all the coolest in game stuff right off the bat? I don't think so, gotta play the game to get the rewards. Agree with the dood before me anyways that all the cool stuff is cosmetic that u can buy from the shop if u really want it and don't wanna do the work. A lot of times u can find cheap gear that looks a lot like the gold/platinum cartel market stuff anyways. The part I found difficult was the millions u have to pay to unlock extra cargo bays and buy legacy perks ect, it's slow going being new but fair imo.

[ShardTosk]

Who could have possibly predicted that making CC more scarce would increase prices?

 

youplayedyourself.jpg

Edited September 6, 2022 by ShardTosk

[SteveTheCynic]

its not really a major issue since the vast majority of the expensive items are simply cosmetic armor sets and other cartel market items, if you want to play space barbie you can just buy them using cartel coins directly. it would have been a problem if the items were not available through other means but with them all being sold for cartel coins as well as credits I think its fine to stay as is

OK, sort of, except:

* How do I, today, buy Jori Daragon's armour set directly with my CCs? (Hint: it's not listed in the CM.)

* Don't forget the current top-tier augments, which people list on the GTN at *ludicrous* prices...

[BRKMSN]

OK, sort of, except:

* How do I, today, buy Jori Daragon's armour set directly with my CCs? (Hint: it's not listed in the CM.)

* Don't forget the current top-tier augments, which people list on the GTN at *ludicrous* prices...

 

You trade a set (or item) of equal value and you either craft your own augments or trade the mats to a guildmate that can craft them for you.

[EllieAnne]

I'm still confused why new players expect to immediately be able to buy the best of the best stuff. There was a time it was reasonable to grind for the credits to buy the best gear. Edited September 7, 2022 by EllieAnne

[JediQuaker]

Make scare quotes " " around inflation as if it doesn't really exist, as if doing so will magically avoid the problem.

The proper term is "air quotes" not "scare quotes" and it only applies to hand gestures, not written text. 🙄

[HypSpec]

OK, sort of, except:

* How do I, today, buy Jori Daragon's armour set directly with my CCs? (Hint: it's not listed in the CM.)

* Don't forget the current top-tier augments, which people list on the GTN at *ludicrous* prices...

 

Good point that has not been raised in this thread - you can't buy everything you see in game or collections on CM. Maybe BW should bring back more items to the CM and drive more CC purchases. It won't pull credits out of the game but could compel certain players to use real money vs B's for items on personal trades and maybe bring down credit prices due to a hit in demand. This may hurt Hypercrates sales though as BW benefits from the gamble many players will make to get those unavailable items even though the odds are ridiculously bad.

 

At least you can craft the best augs. I have crafted all mine, and it's a tech frag grind for sure, but less so since the price per OEM/RPM is now only 4K frags. I would never buy the OEM/RPM, CM, or actual augs at the prices being asked.

[Ardrossan]

The proper term is "air quotes" not "scare quotes" and it only applies to hand gestures, not written text. 🙄

 

The proper term is scare quotes and besides being an actual English teacher for several years, I looked the term up before using it. Your pedantry adds nothing to the discussion, as usual.

 

In spoken conversation, a stand-in for scare quotes is a hand gesture known as air quotes or finger quotes, which mimics quotation marks. A speaker may alternatively say "quote" before and "unquote" after quoted words, or say "quote unquote" before or after the quoted words,[27] or pause before and emphasize the parts in quotes. These spoken methods are also used for literal and conventional quotes.

 

Next I'm sure you'll be criticizing wikipedia's reliability because it contradicts you? Why don't we mark that as 'read' and move on, eh?

Edited September 7, 2022 by Ardrossan