This game's economy could use some work.
Fri, 04/22/2011 - 17:11
inhanzt
Legacy Username
I'm pretty much this game's target audience; I have a job, enjoy video games, and I pay for in game content. However, this game's economy has left me annoyed enough that I'm probably going to avoid paying for it. The specific issues that I've experienced are extreme difficulty selling items, and relatively low value provided by purchasing CE.
The difficulty in selling items is my biggest issue with this game. I've spent hours trying to sell materials, and I could only ever sell the few materials that go into the recipes sold in town AND are relatively hard to find, like iron gears. Additionally, because I don't have a lot of time to play during the week, I used my steam energy to create an item to sell and logged off. As of now I've got a UV 3* item in my inventory that I've spent an hour or two trying to sell while watching TV, for just the alchemy fees required in its creation (8k crowns), and I've been unable to sell it.
The low value provided by CE is also a problem. I purchased $10 worth of CE last weekend on friday and proceeded to play this game for just about the entire weekend, running dungeons and crafting gear for myself. During the week I played solely using steam energy ( and frankly I didn't have the time to even use the full 100 on any day of the week), and crafted a couple of items (again, for myself) at the end of my runs. As of today, I'm sitting at 168 CE. This, to me, seems ridiculous. $10 a week is too steep a price for such a simple game.
That's not to say that the game isn't fun; on the contrary it's got solid core gameplay. However, its lackluster economy is a major obstacle for me liking this game, and I figure it's probably a turn off for others as well.
Fri, 04/22/2011 - 19:51
#2
Shani
Legacy Username
>They are buying the
>They are buying the benefiets that mask brings them, and that is what you must sell them.
A statement that extends to sales universally! Reminds me of something I heard years ago: "You're not selling insurance. You're selling peace of mind."
Sat, 04/23/2011 - 07:35
#3
inhanzt
Legacy Username
trade chat isn't really fun.
The problem is not the economy, its you.
Alright, opening up with something offensive; I can see you're a real whiz at dealing with people from this line.
From the rest of your post, it seems like we're playing 2 different games. You're playing trade chat, whereas I'm playing this other game where you kill monsters and occasionally try to buy and sell things. When a game becomes this job that you're describing, it's time to find a different game; I recommend this one where you kill monsters and occasionally try to buy and sell things, most of it is fun.
Aside from that, I'm not as bad at selling things as you're assuming. I'll type out specific mats, UV bonuses, and prices, but it rarely gets me anywhere. I think we have very different tolerances for playing trade chat.
Sat, 04/23/2011 - 09:24
#4
Fractals
Legacy Username
OOO is working on money sinks
OOO is working on money sinks and CE sinks to keep the economy from exploding too hard, but give it a little time. This is a development team of seven people. Just have faith and sit tight. Keep using your mist energy, but be cagey with the CE.
Sat, 04/23/2011 - 09:52
#6
bleary
Legacy Username
I'm working on a third-party
I'm working on a third-party tool (in beta now!) that could someday help making buying/selling easier. There's a thread in the Bazaar forum: http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/4715
The problem is not the economy, its you. I payed for 20$ of ce at launch, shared half of it with my wife, and am now currently sitting on 4x the amount I had, and a large amount of crowns.
Now, your first complaint is that it is hard to sell anything. This is not because of the economy, its because your bad at selling things. I'm going to copy and paste my reply to another thread because it is relevant and it might help you.
The market is flooded with mats, way more then needed for the gear being crafted. Don't let that stop you. I work in radio advertising and sales so here are a few tips on selling:
1. Work on your sell message. You need to give your customers a REASON to want to buy from you. Give them something nobody else is offering, or communicate the benifiets of buying from you better. Heres an example.
Bad at selling: Selling lots of mats super cheap! pst me!--- zzzzzz.....
Good at Selling: Selling EVERY mat 0-4 stars. Sword Stones for 300! Fine Fabric for 600! MANY more great prices just ask for a deal and I'll have what you need!
Bad at Selling: Selling Salamander mask 30k!
Good at selling: Selling -4 star- Salamander Mask. Has Bonus Dmg to Slimes(Perfect for Jelly King) has fire resist! Great for firestorm citedal and Looks AWSOME!
Now, the reason those messages are good is because they tell the customer why buying that thing from you is good.
For mats, your offering EVERYTHING at low prices. The person that needs something wants it now and with little hassle, if they know your gonna have what they want at a great price right now, then your gonna get more sales. Sure you may not have every mat, but the point is that you need to give people a good reason to buy from you as opposed to the other mat sellers.
For the mask, remember, your not selling the mask. the customer is not buying the mask. They are buying the benefiets that mask brings them, and that is what you must sell them. You also educate your customer, so that people know why that thing your selling is good.
You just turned a player who didn't even know what a salamander mask was into a customer.
Develop good relationships with your customers: Give them what they want when they want it, and you will have repeat business. I cant even count the number of times I sold an Iron gear to someone for very cheap, only to have them pst me 5 seconds or 5 minutes later with another mat request. I tell them to friend me if they wish and I will always have what they need at a good price. 95% of my business is now repeat business.
I can barely keep up with the requests for items and most of my play time is spent heat grinding right now. (Not Anymore! I'm done.)
Hope that helps!