Pricing/claiming discussion

[Lairiodd]

If your competitor magically has 10 times your production capacity (remember, the extra capacity doesn't cost him anything) then you cannot compete. He can choose to either produce units cheaper and price you out of the market, or put more time into each piece and make a product you cannot match.

The person is putting in the extra time, so it does cost him something. Why should someone who plays twice as much not get twice as much stuff?

The point here is that market forces are only fair when all players within the market have equal ability to produce cash. If I make 1p a week through my normal playing habits, and someone else makes 5p a week through normal playing habits, I have less spending power.

This is inflation and can be a problem, but I think it isn't as big an issue as you think it is. However, if a casual player was to attend raids, they could then sell what they don't want. The reason that artis are so costly is that they are rare/hard to get. The price just reflects that.

A loot split where they are not competing against the whole raid is often their main chance of gaining an item they need. In the time they have online they cannot generate enough cash to cover today's prices.

Do they have enough time to attend the raids to get the stuff ? If they created arti groups that got everyone in the group an arti, I think it is likely that they wouldn't have time to get fully equipped. The problem is not the price of artis, but the time needed to get them. The market lets you bypass the time requirement nearly entirely and/or use time spent on one raid to offset the time on another.

A casual player might think that getting TOA'ed is just about doing each arti encounter once. However, in effect, you need to either do a raid once per group member or pay for the arti.

The problem is that getting artis is an (intentional) time sink. I don't see how need before greed can solve this unless you want non-casual players to donate their time to help casual players get the stuff. If they do, then that's fine, if they don't then it's not greed.

[Norcott]

you two still at it.. :kick:
<wanders off shaking head>

[Cryn]

The person is putting in the extra time, so it does cost him something. Why should someone who plays twice as much not get twice as much stuff?

Leaving aside game balance and real life issues, there's nothing wrong with people getting stuff proportionate to their time online. But if you are relying on a free market to provide all your items to people then those players spending more time online will drive the prices up massively for casual players.

If everyone spent 30 hours a week online, everyone's money is worth the same (i.e. they all have a chance to earn comparable amounts). Prices are high, but everyone has loads of cash.

If everyone is casual and spends 5 hours a week online, same deal. Prices are low but people have less cash.

The problem comes when some spend 30 and some spend 5. The earning potential of the casual players is much less, but their source of items is the same marketplace as the one used by people with more money. Prices are high (because a price is set at what the market will pay for it, which is the same as saying what the person with the most cash will pay for it), but some people have very little money.

Do they have enough time to attend the raids to get the stuff ? If they created arti groups that got everyone in the group an arti, I think it is likely that they wouldn't have time to get fully equipped. The problem is not the price of artis, but the time needed to get them. The market lets you bypass the time requirement nearly entirely and/or use time spent on one raid to offset the time on another.

It doesn't work out like that. Do they have time to attend raids to get their stuff? No. However, they may well attend raids for other reasons then have a decent shot at an item they need if not forced to roll against everyone on the raid.

The market DOESN'T let them bypass it. All it does it put a load of items on display that they can't afford.

Maybe the net effect is the same, I dunno. If they spent all their online time farming cash they could prolly get an item or two but it's not much of a fun game if you have to do that

You two still at it?

I'm bored with playing DAoC, but that leaves me a lot of time on my hands. Thanks to Lair being up for a debate, at least I'm kept of the streets