Energy price?
So energy cost.
200 energy, .75, that's about 38 cents per 100.
750 for 2.50, that's about 33 cents per 100
1600 for 5, that's about 31 cents per 100
3500 for 10, that's about 28.5 cents per 100
7500 for 20, that's about 27 cents per 100
20,000 for 50, that's about 25 cents per 100
... so I know these are nice round numbers, but the first observation is that the unit size was 20-25 cents per unit for YPP, and is 25-33 for SK.
Is the energy per pricing point too low? Should you get more bang for the same buck?
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Entirely separate: What is the expected/intended crowns per hour of play for SK supposed to be, and how does it compare to the expected/intended poe per hour of a YPP pillage?
(Trying to get some sense of where the exchange may end up pricing in the future.)
I don't think that everything should be like YPP.
I do consider "what happens" to the economy as the game grows. But at the moment, I don't know the game's economy, and I don't even know that the game's economy is finished.
The basic unit of exchange in YPP is about 22-25 cents. Here, it is more.
People complain about the time required to get a unit on the YPP exchange; if the value per unit is more, that implies that the time per unit will be more, and people will have a larger complaint.
I fully expect that energy costs of activities will change. The question is, is the cash price of one exchange unit of energy (100 units) really at a good price point? Is the 200 for 75 cents way too pricey? (just making that 220 units would make the price closer to the rest; that might bring in some extra first time buyers).
I'm going what seems like a reasonable assumption: that the game designers are, in some sense, tying the consumption of energy to the cost of playing the game. You'll pay so much per hour of play. And, the game will probably also have some sort of designed payouts -- you'll earn so many crowns and heat per hour of play. Deadlier areas? More crowns, more heat, but more risk of energy for revival or aborted dungeon visits.
Given that, I'd like to try to make some educated guesses as to where the exchange will level off. Seeing 1200 buy, 5000 sell, tells me that there is basically no spare/surplus energy in the system. That's not a healthy sign for an exchange based game. B!H didn't last with that.
So, if this is going to wind up as a typical MMO, with crowns being dirt cheap, and energy the only scarce item, what will consume crowns and not energy? (I think I asked that, and gave some ideas). What's the balls/rum/jobber pay/blockade costs for this game? What's the commodity cost if alchemy parts are mob drops?
Yes, I'm very concerned with the economy.
Yes, I know it's not finished.
Yes, I know that I know nothing about it yet.
So, if this is going to wind up as a typical MMO, with crowns being dirt cheap, and energy the only scarce item, what will consume crowns and not energy?
At the moment, you can't buy a whole lot with crowns - except for recipes, weapons and armor (if you don't want to spend the time collecting crafting items), and most importantly, energy.
crafting stuff consumes crowns too (although a lot less than buying the same item outright), also the energy per dollar costs are published RIGHT THERE on the website you buy energy from
also, per cory in http://forums.spiralknights.com/node/217#comment-1090
>This is a dangerous topic for developers to tread upon, but I do want to let you guys know:
>This is the first phase of the Preview Event. Right now, we're mostly just trying to get players into the game, see some early behavior patterns, and most importantly, make sure things on the technical side aren't horribly broken.
>In subsequent phases, we're going to be focusing much more closely on the energy system, payment models, and getting all of that stuff where it ought to be.
>So! Do know that we're listening to your ideas and concerns. If you don't see movement right now on things, it's not because we're not interested; we're just not to that phase yet. We'll be shaking things up in the future, and though it might be a bumpy ride, in the end, we hope to provide options for numerous different playstyles.
so don't expect changes immediately to the energy system; the complaints you're making are well-known and it's not the focus of the dev team to address them right now. read some existing forum posts.
> also the energy per dollar costs are published RIGHT THERE on the website you buy energy from
I did not see a web site. I saw a panel in-game. With a drop down that you had to adjust to see all the options.
I know this is a beginning stage of the game. I've seen the discussions (at least some) about changing the revive cost. I fully understand the whole idea of "energy to do things", and understand the idea of dungeon levels, operating stuff in the dungeon, charging special features of your suit (aka additional slots), etc.
What I can't see is things like guilds costing energy; that seems to be something that both for game background / concept reasons, AND for game balance / crown sink reasons should be lots of crows and no energy.
The point I was trying to make here: In YPP, or B!H, you spent about 25 cents per token. Here, you are spending about 30 cents per "token", and a token has 100 micro-tokens. Is that (30 cents per token) excessive? Should be "mini" trial give you a little more for your 75 cents (and it doesn't take much more to bring it closer to the other packages).
if you click the panel it takes you to the website where you actually make the transaction, which lists the information
the value of the 'tokens' are arbitrary and depends entirely on the game they're being spent in so your cost comparison is actually pointless
If you compare everything to YPP then it's better for you to play that instead..... if you think everything here should be like YPP then you really should just play it and stick with it.
Also I would like to remind you again this is a preview, nothing is solid as of the time been and if the system needs a tweak it'll most likely going to get it during a more formal lunch.
You'll also have to consider what would happen when the economy of SK grow and what things would it change.