Combat the Inflation

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parsec
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Combat the Inflation

Post by parsec »

Hey guys, im totaly new to the Shard but managed to notice that, since its an pve shard, the inflation is quite a problem. I was the admin of three arma servers that all were persistant and economy based and know my fair deal about gaming politics, gaming markets, etc. and i had an idea as to how to combat inflation.

You could introduce Gold sinks in the form of Dungeons that need either a rather high amount of money to enter or a very expensive item that can only be bought. In turn, those Dungeons would give super extreme abnormal rare loot, that in itself would not do much but can be used in i.e crafting to create the need to grind the dungeon before getting any really useable reward so that people really will want to grind the dungeon and spend their millions on it and to combat the "the entry is 2 million, im going to sell the loot for 2.4" attitude that surely would ensue. This could be potentialy frowned upon by newer players but they will understand that better than you just taking cash from their accounts, as ive heard that that is the way you deal with inflation at the moment and i dont think that this is too much fun, no matter how you wrap it up.

Id love to discuss the subject with you.
parsec
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by parsec »

Also the idea of escalations came to my mind after posting.
If there would be an item in the first dungeon that has like a 5% chance of dropping that you would need to enter another, even more valued dungeon, then people would deffo grind the living hell out of it. you could practically escalate endlessly with ever higher valued loot but in the same time even higher amounts of needed grinding hours to acquire the keys for the next level of dungeon and also ever higher ammounts of needed gold to even get in there in the first place cause the base level dungeon costs a shitton to enter and start your grind chain.
parsec
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by parsec »

ill try to explain the escalation chain in detail.


loot is considered to be extra hi leveld and late late late end game stuff, so if i say "ok loot" i mean its still unbelievable good for any players that arent top tier yet.

dungeon 1 has an entry fee of i.e. 2 million. has ok loot and a 10% drop chance for a key for
dungeon 2 needs two keys to be entered. has good loot and a 7% drop chance for a key for
dungeon 3 needs three keys to be entered. has great loot and a 5% drop chance for a key for
dungeon 4 needs four keys to be entered. has rare loot and a 3% drop chance for a key for
....

the iteration could continue endlessly if you change the numbers.
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patrix
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by patrix »

This could be potentialy frowned upon by newer players but they will understand that better than you just taking cash from their accounts, as ive heard that that is the way you deal with inflation at the moment and i dont think that this is too much fun, no matter how you wrap it up.
Hmm can't say I have noticed anything being taken from my account except for stabling my pet. I also didn't realise inflation is such a problem on the shard. Only been playing here for 4 years so clearly missed it. :roll:
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Yoda
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by Yoda »

I am wondering where on earth you came to the conclusion that staff take gold from player banks to combat inflation?
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Entora
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Re: Combat the Inflation

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Opopanax
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by Opopanax »

Yoda wrote:I am wondering where on earth you came to the conclusion that staff take gold from player banks to combat inflation?
Maybe they thought that those cheques in the town centre area that have a message about combatting inflation are generated through staff removing gold from accounts. That is quite an assumption though.
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Wil
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by Wil »

I haven't noticed any particular problem with inflation. I have wondered at locating the rich-player vendors at town center where the new players start but I haven't noticed any particular inflation in the cost of items.
parsec
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by parsec »

well, in that case i am sorry to have said anything in the first place. i overheard that it is a problem and that it is combated this way.
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by Opopanax »

I think maybe your post wasn't that well received as it didn't give much context at all and started diving into how we can fix this terrible problem with our shard that we know very well and love. There are players that have played here for many years and contributed a lot in different ways

Maybe it's better to start at the beginning:

where did you hear this; what have you seen that makes you think that it is such a problem for us here?
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Yoda
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by Yoda »

Wil wrote:I haven't noticed any particular problem with inflation. I have wondered at locating the rich-player vendors at town center where the new players start but I haven't noticed any particular inflation in the cost of items.
I have wondered the same thing sometimes myself
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parsec
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by parsec »

Ive first seen the prices in the shops, then the scrolls stating "thanks for help fighting the inflation" with 2.5bil in there after a player told me that the wealthy players keep giving aways huge amounts to that avail. because of that and the fact that usualy pve servers in any game have to deal with a good amount of inflation made me have the conclusion that inflation is a big problem and i told him about my idea. he then said that i should create a post about it. I just wanted to help here by giving an idea to fix this in a fun way and wouldnt have guessed that id be memed upon lol. If this isnt a problem what so ever, then i am sorry for the fuss.
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by GreenBar »

parsec wrote:Ive first seen the prices in the shops
Are you saying that since you've joined UOEX prices on shops have been increasing? What shops are you referring to?
parsec wrote:the scrolls stating "thanks for help fighting the inflation" with 2.5bil
The commemorative checks displayed in Town Center are the result of regularly held "Grand Auctions" Search the forum and you'll find more details about Grand Auctions. The auctions are just one of the ways UOEX staff have already implemented inflation controls. Vendor fees, EXEX fees, Trinsic Gold stone, house customization, and guild fees are just some of the other methods that come to mind.
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by mrsdeshon »

Hi, I do not see any inflation problem here. Been playing for years and its worked beautifully. Some of the vendors at TC or Tukono have very high prices and some low for the same item. So what. Its up to each person to buy or sell at their discretion. When the shard starts getting involved in pricing, really what's next. Lets just have fun and let the "control" go.
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Re: Combat the Inflation

Post by +Nyx »

Generally it's a good idea to educate oneself via independent research and inquiry, rather than just based on what one heard from someone else. Also generally a good idea to play somewhere for a good while before making posts like these. One can't really provide educated, thoughtful input when one hasn't been here long enough to learn about it, or had enough experience with the various ways that inflation is combated.

I would absolutely refuse to implement pay-for-entry dungeons. Some dungeons in my facet will require atunement and keys that need to be acquired each time, but not a simple 'pay to win'. Simply taxing the everlivin' heck out of the players (like with your dungeon entry fee idea), is IMO a very good way to alienate the majority of the players, and it would prevent newbies from feeling encouraged and wanting to stay. Your suggestion would ostensibly help combat inflation, but the game (uo, and uoex especially) is not a numbers-only game. It is first and foremost a gameplay game. Every time we want to add something, we need to take the effect on gameplay into account. Gamers play games for emotional satisfaction and pleasure, not because the numbers add up. I think it's easy to forget that, and to instead focus too much on the numbers, treating the game like a checkbook that needs to be balanced. That would make for a very nice, clean mathemetical equation, but it would make for absolutely crap gameplay.

Some taxes are to be expected in a game, such as the fees inherent to the [exex, the fees lost on changing house customization, etc. But adding fees to participate in custom content.. no. That's a very lazy way to handle an issue that is complex and thus needs a complex solution. I try in all things not to be basic, to use a current slang term ( :lol: ). It's better to instead combat inflation by implementing things that encourage players to spend their money in ways that they derive satisfaction from. An excellent example would be the grand auctions mentioned previously. These methods are more "organic", and don't disrupt the overall feel and flow of the game.

All in all, the inflation isn't particularly bad here. The shard is just over 11 years old, and I've been here for 6 of those years. In my time here, the inflation has barely grown. We always keep inflation in mind and make changes and additions with an eye toward preventing it. That helps keep it from being a major issue and ensures that the inflation rate is managed in a more gradual, cohesive way rather than just slapping taxes on everything in the game. Because of this, inflation really isn't an issue that needs additional, immediate attention.

I'm glad to see that you're beginning to care for UOEX the way I and so many of our players do, it's a good thing. :) Just maybe take a bit of time to independently verify your information and to form educated opinions based on your own game play over time. Remember that while it's a game, UOEX is very heavily community based and it's not generally a well-received social practice to walk into someone else's house and immediately begin telling them how they should be decorating it or what they've done wrong with their cooking. We love constructive input here, so once you've been here awhile and had some time to research and learn the reins of this crazy lil shard, I think you'll find that you're much better received. :D
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