How do I make money in this game?

[Zierk]

Where are you getting all the orange gear? I see a few pieces on the comm vendors as you level up and found a few random pieces on the GTN.

 

Where are you getting enough orange gear to also fully equip your companions?

 

(also is orange gear from Underworld Trading come as a schematic for crafters to make or is it a empty shell only needing mods dropped in?)

 

Do side quests.

[Syrocc]

Well, I've got many toons. I have a 40+ agent, and he's poor as hell. Went for the exact same skills as OP, and riding on 400 armormech now. Bottomline? At the current market, definitely not worth it. Why? Because people don't spend 10k on a lvl 35 purple item you crafted. And you aren't even making a profit at that price, just covering expenses.

 

It will balance out in 1-2 months, when people will level up alts and have money prepared for that, but for now, ignore it altogether.

 

Skills alone at lvl 40-45 cost from 28k up to an amazing 40k each. So you end up praying that you only need to buy 1-2 skills when you lvl up!

 

On the other hand, on several alts, I went for slicing/treasure hunting. Conclusion? It's a breeze. Slicing, even though is nerfed, is getting you a small profit if you gather while questing. Not much, but hey, it's money out of bare rock...sort of.

 

As for Treasure Hunting, whenever I don't need companions, I send them for lockboxes. Usually, the result covers for the mission expense. When you get lucky, you get items as well, which you either sell to vendors (green stuff), or can throw unto Global Market (Blue and purple), even if for 2-3k each. It's not a lot, but it adds up.

 

Also, I use PvP warzone commendations to equip both myself and my companions around lvl 20 and 40. Saves some money too.

 

Remember that things after 35 get really expensive, you'll need savings. Speeder training lvl 2 alone costs 210k.

 

Also, do daily space missions. Good xp, even better money, and for the 20-30 minutes invested into that, it's really worth it.

 

Hope this helped, sorry for the tl;dr wall of text!

[Iheamylap]

My first suggestion is to relax. My second, is to do some questing.

 

If you are Cybertech, you should easily be able to watch what kind of Mods and Armoring and Earpieces are being sold, and fill in the gaps on the market to what's missing. I do that all the time, and can make 5-20k a night simply from crafting and supplying the missing things on the GTN. On my server, there is especially a plethora of jedi based mods, and less of others, so when I putt up pieces with CUnning and Aim, they sell quickly.

 

If you have Scavaging, be sure to collect as much as you can from your questing and from in the world resource nodes. Even if you collect enough just to make lower level skill mods and armoring, selling them for cheap is essentially pure or high profit. When you've paid nothing to gather the resources (and gained credits in the looting process of Strong/Elite Droids), or minimal (for Conductive Flux, etc), you make a lot even if you sell the crafted goods for cheap.

[The-Light-Shadow]

I make plenty of money by hanging out in the fleet and supplying new arrivals from Ord and Coruscant with purple weapons and barrels. It's Better than all the drops and commendation stuff so they happily buy it. I've been equipping practically my whole server with low level purples and it's extremely profitable. I may be only level 22 as a result of ignoring the actual game but it's fun to build myself up as a known arms dealer in the server, and I'm in no rush to 50.

[RamzaBehoulve]

You can't just level up your crafting skill to max and expect a profit.

 

The majority of players are below level 30. Powergamers do not buy crafted goods so crafting anything above lvl 35 is a big investment risk right now.

[IcyMind]

I am having a hard time making money too. I am Biochem, I put everything in the GTN at a fair price. But somehow is not selling.

[RamzaBehoulve]

I am having a hard time making money too. I am Biochem, I put everything in the GTN at a fair price. But somehow is not selling.

 

There is no fair price, there is only market price.

[GamerInDallas]

There is no fair price, there is only market price.

 

True. But the current market price for eveything I've found is zero credits. Actually... it's negative, but my point is that the market is broken because fair market value is zero profit because zero demand makes supply irrelevent.

[AWDBAHL]

You can't just level up your crafting skill to max and expect a profit.

 

Thats a sign that something is wrong. I mean just listen to what you said. You cant get your crafting to max and expect to make a profit? Really? If you cant make a profit at that point then when can you expect to?

 

For armormech i can tell you that it probably never gets profitable. The existence of orange gear seems to subvert the purpose of the entire craft.

[Lynkfox]

Thats a sign that something is wrong. I mean just listen to what you said. You cant get your crafting to max and expect to make a profit? Really? If you cant make a profit at that point then when can you expect to?

 

For armormech i can tell you that it probably never gets profitable. The existence of orange gear seems to subvert the purpose of the entire craft.

 

 

 

Your missing half the point.

 

1) The Game is -young- - There is no one to buy this high level stuff yet, not a lot of raids other than the bleeding edge of hardcore raiders. Nothing going ont hat is going to demand a constant influx of new gear.

 

2) The market is still in huge flux because there is no credits in the system yet. People are looking at this crafting system like it should feel the same as any MMO thats been alive for multiple years... it wont. There is no money in the system yet, (Despite peoples yells about Slicing OP before) there is no one who /needs/ the gear yet, and there are very fewpeople leveling alts in comparison to those running their mains still up and are still below 35!

 

3) Patience. Ive been saying this before and saying this again. Patience. the game is friggin only a couple of weeks old. It needs time for people to get to 50, have a viable and healthy raid community, and continue.

 

 

and OP:

 

Yes. It is extremely reasonable for crafting not to make you a profit while you level.

 

a) Alts are what keeps the game going for Bioware. they -want- you to make more than one character because then you will (hopefully) be spending another month or two leveling that character! More subscription fees. So yes, they are going to make a system that encourages you to start a second or a third or more characters after your main gets to 50.

 

b) Choice. That is what Economics is all about in the end. Choice. Do you buy your skill or do you craft? Do you keep up with your gathering or do you get that Speeder? CHOICE. the world is about choice. You dont get everything handed to you because you want it, you have to -work- for it.

 

and believe me. When you work for it? Its that much more satisfying. That mount you buy with your own hard earned cash feels better than if it was handed to you. You may not think so now when your not able to get it, but it will feel much better. Later. And keep you interested in the game longer. Which is what BW wants. You paying for a subscription longer.

 

Sure they may loose a few people who want it all handed to them now, now now. But really? they probably would have lost them in a month or two anyway when they dont have any satisfaction invested in the game.

 

 

 

I am a 37 Imp Agent Operative. I have 250k in the bank. I have my speeder and i have 5 oranges on my toon, one on my companion. I have Cybertech, Scavaging, and UT -

171/257/153 respectivly. Is it behind? Yeah. Do i care? No.

 

What have I done for this money?

 

I) ONLY Kaliyo gets upgraded. I never buy anything for her, she only gets her quest rewards or drops that fit. That is it. Why bother buying gear for her that is going to be replace din a few levels?

 

II) I never buy gear for myself. Why bother? Everything I'm wearing is a quest reward or a drop. I dont even need to buy mods with commendations - all my orange peices are Rating 84+ - with all blue or better mods. The last quest Item i got was an Rating 80 Green - there for my gear is better than what the quests are giving me, and therefore i will have the gear to be able to complete the quests.

 

III) Look carefully at the skills. I dont need Headshot as a Healer. I have Evicierate, which does the -exact- same thing except at melee instead of range, and my only stun is melee. Why would I ever bother with a skill Im not going to use? Ill buy it when im maxed, just incase i spec into the range tree, but ... why bother?

 

IV) Use all those commendations to buy blue lock boxes and sell the items inside. I make a good 10-20k profit after each world for this. Its small but it adds up.

 

V) Sell everything.

 

 

Once I hit 50, and the Quests start giving me pure money rather than xp, ill start pushing my crafting. But why should i worry about crafting until I hit 50?

 

You say you never will have an alt. Well dont you have friends who will? then you can craft stuff for them - at price if your nice, but still. If you -never, ever, ever- make an alt, then you wont need to worry about any of those crafting skills... so why are you bothering leveling it now? Why not just power it when you have free cash coming in for dailies and quests at 50, in order to get what you need for raids? the only reason ic an thinkt hat youd never want an alt is that you plan on raiding and raiding heavily. Thats cool. do that. But you wont need anything till 50, why spend the cash now?

 

Choices. Its all abotu Choices.

[Dabrixmgp]

Crafting in a new MMO is always bad. The mats are always way overpriced and unless you are a power gamer online most of the day rushing to 50 you wont be able to afford mats. Wait a few months when prices start to drop then pick up a crafting skill if you want one.

[The-Light-Shadow]

I am having a hard time making money too. I am Biochem, I put everything in the GTN at a fair price. But somehow is not selling.

 

Don't use GTN unless you have to. I use a multiple-step process that took a long time and a lot of credits, but definitely works.

 

1 - Get your crafting skills way higher than average for the planet you are on. For instance, on Coruscant the average crafter is somewhere between 60-80. I am 185. This gives me access to all the gear any other person on this planet could ever hope to need.

 

2 - Invest in re-engineering lower level items to purples.

 

3 - Target people who are either A) barely starting out on the planet or B) about to leave to the next planet. New people don't have anything worth while and will be happy to pay for purples that can get them through black suns. People just about to leave will like to buy purples for levels they are just about to reach so that they have an epic weapon waiting for them as soon as they kill a couple mobs in the new zone.

 

4 - Keep up with people looking for groups for heroic quests and flashpoints. Especially the harder ones. They might be willing to pay for better gear to get through the difficult flashpoints, especially if it's purples because purples are better than fully modded oranges depending on the class you are selling them to.

 

5 - Never give up. Some days are slower than others, you just need to find the right market for your stuff.

[Ellintor]

Money is no issue if u actually do quests and not spend every credit u make. I have spent well over 200K in the pays few days in getting my crew skill up (and running crew missions), buying my speeder license, and trying to upgrading my companions (and no I have never had slicing). Since I hit lvl 23 I tend to make about 30-40k in a few hours of play, just by doing planet quests, and a space quest or two.

[Cacia]

I find that equipping myself and my companion with PvP gear has negated the need for most stuff of GTN. I have picked up a few pieces here and there though.

 

I would spend the money on better weapons but all I see on the GTN is blue world drops at my levels (20-22). So I'm holding out for the PvP level 24 weapons.

[The-Light-Shadow]

I find that equipping myself and my companion with PvP gear has negated the need for most stuff of GTN. I have picked up a few pieces here and there though.

 

I would spend the money on better weapons but all I see on the GTN is blue world drops at my levels (20-22). So I'm holding out for the PvP level 24 weapons.

 

I wish you were on my server then lol. I supply purples for every level from 9-25. Apparently I'm the only arms dealer that actually takes the time to get good quality stocks.

[LiLGhettoSmurf]

I'm an armstech and I've been making a purple lvl 33 pistol, with reasonable to get mats for 9k credits on a consistent basis. After missions I probably make 6k on each pistol.

[VodinGade]

Let me lament the days of yore...

 

In WoW I was rich. I had nearly all the crafting professions maxed out, I had the best patterns, and I made bank by selling them. I didn't farm for a anything.

 

I tried to do that in this game. Silly me. In WoW there was a thriving market. This game has no market. I made the mistake of leveling my crafting and getting all the nifty purple gear. Now, I am poor. Very poor. I was thinking about pimping out my companions on Nal Hutta for cash, but scrapped that idea.

 

Anyway, moral of the story is: don't level crafting until higher levels. Level your gathering skills, store up mats, hit level cap, do dailies, and then power level crafting. Maybe by then the market will be better. I decided that I would stop leveling my crafting today and just focus on leveling my toon. I have already made good money. It's just sad that those epic purple pieces I can craft are worth nothing compared to all the orange slotted gear out there. GJ Bioware.

[Amaann]

Let me lament the days of yore...

 

In WoW I was rich. I had nearly all the crafting professions maxed out, I had the best patterns, and I made bank by selling them. I didn't farm for a anything.

 

I tried to do that in this game. Silly me. In WoW there was a thriving market. This game has no market. I made the mistake of leveling my crafting and getting all the nifty purple gear. Now, I am poor. Very poor. I was thinking about pimping out my companions on Nal Hutta for cash, but scrapped that idea.

 

Anyway, moral of the story is: don't level crafting until higher levels. Level your gathering skills, store up mats, hit level cap, do dailies, and then power level crafting. Maybe by then the market will be better. I decided that I would stop leveling my crafting today and just focus on leveling my toon. I have already made good money. It's just sad that those epic purple pieces I can craft are worth nothing compared to all the orange slotted gear out there. GJ Bioware.

 

It's not Bioware's fault that you mistook a brand new economy for a 7 year old one.

[Dabrixmgp]

It's not Bioware's fault that you mistook a brand new economy for a 7 year old one.

 

Even when Rift first went live I made 1000s of plat the first few weeks by finding a niche market. I was the only one on my server selling 18 and 20 slot bags and everyone has to have bags. Now just need to find an item in this game that everyone needs yet very few people are making lol.

[VodinGade]

It's not Bioware's fault that you mistook a brand new economy for a 7 year old one.

 

Granted it's not their fault. However, it is their fault that they made their economy take an arrow to the knee (hehe) by making the crafting pointless when everyone can just by commendation gear on every world that is better than the best purples I can craft at the same level. I know a guy who has 600,000 credits and he didn't have slicing, but he did sell a lot of niche market **** to slicers pre-nerf. Now he says he can't sell ****. That's a problem.

[Synalon]

I mostly buy purple instead of orange at lower lvls because the stats are better, if I get lucky and have a purple with mod slots I use my alt char to craft purple mods for it and get a significant boost to stats.

 

Granted I have 3 chars and my crafting is about lvl 35 while all my chars are only lvl 25, but I can do synthweaving, artifice, cybertech and because two of my crafts both use archaelogy I decided to switch that out on one for slicing so I can make credits from that as well as treasure hunting.

 

As biochem I would recommend making those reusable med kit things, I even dropped one of my gathering skills so that I could get the mats to lvl up biochem to 60 to use one. And as I get higher lvl I'll need a much higher lvl reusable medkit for my tank.

 

Hell I'd pay 20k for a lvl 20 one and double that for a lvl 30 version.

[zulefivepointo]

No? In most MMO's crafters with max skill often turn out a much better profit then most. While this is not the case in old republic as of right now, yes they CAN expect it because it is a fact in every other major online game. The primary reason people craft is divided into two reasons. A: things they can make for themselves, and friends that can save THEM money, and what makes them the best cash in their opinion. So Yeah..they can lol.

 

 

[Bandrashu]

I have never had issues with money in game.

 

I sell quite a few things on the GTN and I have the same crew skills as you. I am lvl 36 at the moment.

 

Questing is a good option, pvp also gives you some cash you can use.

 

When i do sell things I usually sell crafted armor, orange, purple mainly, sometimes blues as well and I sell mats as well.

 

When questing I loot everything, even junk and then sell everything to vendors. I managed to buy extra slots for the inventory and can buy everything I need.

 

I hope this will help.

[zulefivepointo]

Granted it's not their fault. However, it is their fault that they made their economy take an arrow to the knee (hehe) by making the crafting pointless when everyone can just by commendation gear on every world that is better than the best purples I can craft at the same level. I know a guy who has 600,000 credits and he didn't have slicing, but he did sell a lot of niche market **** to slicers pre-nerf. Now he says he can't sell ****. That's a problem.

 

Thats great, but they didnt make their economy take an arrow to the knee. People are still working on this game, people are still buying it and just getting into it. For god's sake they've only had ONE REAL patch so far. You expect it to suddenly be a completely stable economy? Have you EVER entered an mmo fresh out of beta? Imo, MOST of the times the economy will suck unless it's completely mimicing another game. Rift was SO like WoW people picked up on it almost instantly. This economy is less strait foward because the items, set ups, crafting are all different and all pretty unique. you have to THINK before you sell stuff and have to look into what makes you money. People are not used to that, they think they can just "craft sell craft sell craft sell" and be golden. Not when it JUST came out of beta lol. Read my earlier statment, people can and WILL expect it to happen as it should, BUT they should THINK about what they SHOULD craft first. look at the market, and wait. It's a player driven economy right now, and that means that we decide how things sell. Not them, they can change **** but we ultimatly decide demand and supply. Gunna blame anyone? Blame players.(not that they are wrong.)

[PlayLoud]

Mats definitely sell my on my server. Sometimes people don't now what they go for, and sell them at below-bargain-basement prices. When this happens, I buy them, and turn around and sell them for 5x the price I paid. If it's a purple quality Underworld Trading component, I'll pay the 600 credits for the pair, and craft a breastplate with it, selling it for 5500 credits.

 

Scavenging higher level components is also good, since there is no cost to doing it (other than time). Get a couple stacks of mats, and it should be worth a few thousand credits (please no more Desh/Silica on the GTN. Far too much of that. Get the higher level stuff).