RE:krono inflation

Discussion in 'General Gameplay Discussion' started by steo, Sep 12, 2013.

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  1. Balbasur Active Member

    Oh. Give. Me. A. Break.

    Kronos are a good price, there was a pretty big arbitrage opportunity if you bought plat via a third party site since 600p was like 4 usd on many servers.


    Honestly, in terms of non arbitrage Kronos should be about 2000 plat. Since that is the going rate for plat/USD in the plat seller market. TBH Kronos should always be less than the plat/usd rate since the plat/usd have a risk premium associated with it, account suspension, ban, reroll etc.
  2. Kraeref Well-Known Member

    He was talking about posters who talk alot about economic rw theories and rules of engagement like they can trully work in the game. Games are not real economies. Their rules of engagement are those that created by an owner (developer). Therefore, talking about capitalism or socialism or monopolies and such is silly. Rules can be changed any time by a single decision of an owner. So soe any time can set a max price or min price just by writing a code that restrict to get for a single transaction first time selling or reselling lets say no more than ... plats and nobody can be wiser. That's pretty much what he was trying to say.

    EDIT: The way they got rid off PR and such plat supply. Then turned around and start a plat supply through loyalty tokens. And so on. These are examples of corporate decisions to maximize real profit. Want to get a money bag go gold. Either by opening rl wallet or buy krono from a broker. At the end of the day it's all in hands of an owner of eq2.
  3. Raff Well-Known Member

    Krono's are worth whatever the market says they are on the day that you are looking for them.

    But check back another day...it could change.
  4. Kraeref Well-Known Member

    Yep. Until soe would decide otherwise.
  5. Nocturnus Member

    Distilling the argument down to as basic a form as I can, I think that it comes down not to the fact that Krono are too expensive, but that people are wanting a stable way to purchase game membership (Gold) for platinum.

    IE: They are looking for a reliable way to ensure that they can bypass the monthly membership requirements by using in-game currency.

    This was, also, the same argument that was made when distilling the Protector's Realm cash nerf.

    In response to that? I would question you as to why SOE would want to do something like that. With Krono, somebody is paying the company for your membership should you buy it. It's not some mythical magical free item that appears on the market. The 18 dollars is being spent on your behalf to earn money. SOE Offering a Plat-to-Membership option would immediately mean that SOE, therefor, doesn't get any money for that transaction.

    In short, I would never see SOE doing something like this. Krono are a source of cash for SOE. Apparently some people don't see it that way, as they are trying to circumvent the payment entirely, but that's exactly what it is, and offering any alternative to that directly impacts said cashflow.

    Beyond that analysis, though, I will state in opinion that it amazes me to what lengths people will argue to try to justify spending nothing on a title like this.
  6. Wingrider01 Well-Known Member

    Krono is going for 700 to 900 PP, just checked, 2 players under pricing me, bought their stock and put it on my broker character, buy low, sell high, the corporate way. Players I bought them from don't care if they are resold or used, they got their asking price.
    Wirewhisker and Avirodar like this.
  7. Shadrac Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the clarification.

    His post seemed to me to be poopooing this entire thread by claiming that, because it's inside of a game and SOE regulates and tampers with the game economy, it's not a real economy, and so we cannot analyze it using basic economic principles. Here is why I think that claim is false:
    • RL economies are regulated and tampered with, too. That doesn't alter the fact that they're actual economies.
    • The laws of supply and demand are based on hypothetical societal conditions, like the MPG rating on vehicles are based on hypothetical world conditions.
    • Economic principles are more specifically based on the study of human nature, and people act like people in game worlds and RL.
    • MMORPGs are social gathering places where millions of those humans buy and sell. Millions of humans + buying + selling + speculating = economy.
    • Academics in the social science of Economics have studied game world economies and documented that they mimic RL economies in many ways.

    Here are some examples of how supply and demand works in game economies. Common items are cheaper than rare ones. Novilty, fashion and trends raise demand and prices. Speculators raise price. New regulations from SOE (the "government") can totally alter the economy.

    Now I believe that SOE wants to maximize profits by selling the maximum number of Krono, keeping players who cannot afford the monthly membership fees in the game. If Krono speculation raises prices to a point where fewer players are able or willing to buy them for plat, then profits aren't maximize for SOE. And while Krono resellers also want to maximize profits for themselves, their commitments and motivations aren't the same as SOE's. The two may be at odds here.

    And I am not criticizing you when I say that it's okay for everyone with a basic understanding of Economics to discuss the topic. Nobody criticizes people who discuss graphics for not being digital or 3D artists. Let's chill out about Economics. It's not "rocket surgery". ;)
  8. Shadrac Well-Known Member

    Raff said: "Krono's are worth whatever the market says they are on the day that you are looking for them. But check back another day...it could change."
    That may be true, but I am not arguing against that.
  9. Shadrac Well-Known Member

    What if they simply made Krono bind on purchase from brokers, thus cutting out the speculator's markup? The questions is, would SOE sell more Krono if the price were cheaper in game? Seems to me they would.
  10. Nocturnus Member

    Because Krono is not a service to you. It's a commodity like anything else. It's at the discretion of whoever buys it from SOE to do what they want with it.

    About that simple.
  11. Shadrac Well-Known Member

    I buy tons of things in the market for real $, and I don't think I can resell any of that on the broker. How's that different?
  12. Oldtimer Active Member

    see if i can get this thread.

    Some1 cant afford krono.
    Everyone is quitting.
    SOE needs let us pay our sub to them for plat(LOL?!)
    Everyone argues.
    10 pages later, no one has quit and kronos are 10% more expensive.
    Wirewhisker likes this.
  13. Shadrac Well-Known Member

    And what about the question of whether or not SOE would sell more Krono if speculators were cut out?
  14. Mermut Well-Known Member

    The fault with this premise is that the person who bought the Krono from SoE gets their plat whether it is speculators who buy the Krono or somebody who uses it for a subscription. From the point of view of the person spending the RL money, what is done with the Krono once they get their plat is irrelevant.
  15. Shadrac Well-Known Member

    So you don't believe that price affects supply and demand? Because that's what I'm talking about. As broker prices rise, in game demand falls, and so RL demand falls.
  16. Mermut Well-Known Member

    If demand was falling, people wouldn't be complaining about the price being too high. People still want the Kronos (demand), but some don't want to pay the current price (or can't).
    And, again, if the speculators buy the krono, that's all the 'demand' the people spending RL money need.

    (I am not a consumer of krono in any aspect. I'm just commenting on the logic aspect of the arguements.)
  17. Nocturnus Member

    Because it all boils down to the same thing. People keep spinning round and round and round the central point.

    That central point? They won't spend money on a subscription. They want to buy it for plat. They can't afford it in plat anymore, so they're coming to SOE to try to intervene on things like Krono Sales and the Market Economy.

    And I'll just repeat what I said earlier: that's not SOE's issue, nor should it be.
  18. Raff Well-Known Member

    Someone is always trying to to get more for less in this game. Its almost criminal. Where else can you get 90 levels of content for squat? Unless you're raiding and need max gear (in which case, you oughta be paying for a sub somehow)...
  19. Shadrac Well-Known Member

    It sounds like you're saying that, as the price rises and demand falls, some people won't complain that they can no longer afford to buy them. People complain about the high prices of things they can no longer afford, don't they?


    Correct. However, as the price rises, demand falls. Don't you agree?


    Need? What about what they want? Everyone wants to maximize profits.

    Generally speaking, as the in game price falls, in game buyer interest (demand) is raised, but in game seller interest (supply) is depressed. I would buy Krono if they sold for 100p, but I wouldn't pay SOE $18 for them if I knew that's all I could sell them for. And many people who don't buy Krono from SOE would start if they could sell them for 10,000p in game.

    What does SOE want? They want to sell as many Krono as possible. If the in game price is 100p, SOE won't sell any because nobody wants to supply them, and if the in game price is 10,000p, SOE won't sell any because nobody wants to buy them. So, what is the optimal in game price where you attract the maximum number of players willing to buy and sell, and how is that affected by the speculators market?
  20. Shadrac Well-Known Member

    SOE owns the game and the economy. SOE wants to maximize profits. They now have the means and the motive. Why wouldn't they modify the economy if they thought they could sell more Krono and have more people play their games in doing so?
    Now they may decide to leave things just as they are. Maybe the current structure is perfect. I doubt it, but maybe cutting out the useless middleman profits would not increase Krono sales.
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