Implemented The Economy Megathread

[TheDeNuke]

@Robert @Fruity

Since we have been getting a rather large amount of threads that specifically focus on issues with the economic balance. I've created this thread as a way to accumulate all current and future criticism regarding the balance of the server economy in a single location. You can mention the balance of crafting recipes, the price of the bartering items, the business system, workcycles, the rations system, or the exp gained by these recipes.

I would also like to note on this thread that the lack of Smuggling means that specific aspects of the economy are NOT final and are entirely SUBJECT TO CHANGE. So it may seem that some recipes are currently grind-focused or unfair, but that's because they are designed in that manner due to being far cheaper through the Smuggling system (which does not yet exist).

Anyway, I'll start off this thread by posting the previous economic related threads:

Implemented - Let Crafting Be Less Overwhelming & Grindy

Problem Claim I've complained about this before, but it was only that - a complaint. When the test server went up, I noticed that a lot of skills had very steep material prices for different crafting, cooking, or medical recipes. I suggested lowering the prices of the items it was possible to...

willard.network

Implemented - Spicy Glue

Make it slightly less difficult to make Strong adhesive crafting recipe: 2 cans of Breen water Easy enough to get from rations 2 pieces of useless plastic Go out to the beach, it'll be in the water. People toss this everywhere 4 bottles of adhesive Easy-ish to get, pretty cheap from vendors up...

willard.network

Implemented - Lower the Ration Timer

Suggestion: Low the time it takes to get a ration. I understand that you aren't supposed to live off of rations, and the amount of tokens you get is fine, but the timer should be lowered from the current ~5 hours to 1-2 hours.

willard.network

Implemented - Adhesive

Adhesive is nearly impossible to find or make in comparison to how much its used for. The rebel economy is literally built off of adhesive yet it's so hard to find Should be easier. My suggestion would be to remove it from some recipes where it's really not needed, or entirely alter the adhesive...

willard.network

Implemented - Adjust Medicine xp

XP gained for crafting medicine items is considerably lower than basic crafting XP, despite often being significantly harder. Making mixtures which is a basic requirement on the road to making most medical items can't even be crafted without GM help as the alcohol item is not craftable, so GMs...

willard.network

 

[Stevebot]

Simply put, it is very evident that the staff team and actual players have vastly different numbers in mind (material-wise) for the items that are craftable currently. Players expect to be able to consistently advance and hone their craft but hit roadblock after roadblock. Staff don't want to flood the economy with too much stuff too frequently.

If this truly is that big of a problem, consider making an economic advisory board consisting of community leaders and the staff responsible for balancing the economy and listen to each others feedback.

 

[AdamCF]

Referencing "Spicy Glue"

Strong adhesive, for many of the items it's used in, is extremely expensive. I'd recommend removing it from items such as the old handheld radio and repair plating. For what these items are worth, it's too expensive.

Instead, replace these with 4 regular adhesive bottles and up the quantity of other items required as well.


Either this, or reduce the amount of items required to craft strong adhesive. 9 cans of breen water, 2 pieces of palstic, 4 bottles of adhesive, 7 bottles of alcohol, and 7 items you can't even craft is a little much.

 

[cunt]

Referencing "Spicy Glue"

Strong adhesive, for many of the items it's used in, is extremely expensive. I'd recommend removing it from items such as the old handheld radio and repair plating. For what these items are worth, it's too expensive.

Instead, replace these with 4 regular adhesive bottles and up the quantity of other items required as well.


Either this, or reduce the amount of items required to craft strong adhesive. 9 cans of breen water, 2 pieces of palstic, 4 bottles of adhesive, 7 bottles of alcohol, and 7 items you can't even craft is a little much.

 

[AdamCF]

Cool

 

[Maroon]

economic advisory board consisting of community leaders and the staff responsible for balancing the economy and listen to each others feedback.

oh god @Denny @Black Flag its happening ABORT ABORT WE CANNOT ESCAPE PARASHOCK

 

[Stevebot]

Referencing "Spicy Glue"

Strong adhesive, for many of the items it's used in, is extremely expensive. I'd recommend removing it from items such as the old handheld radio and repair plating. For what these items are worth, it's too expensive.

Instead, replace these with 4 regular adhesive bottles and up the quantity of other items required as well.


Either this, or reduce the amount of items required to craft strong adhesive. 9 cans of breen water, 2 pieces of palstic, 4 bottles of adhesive, 7 bottles of alcohol, and 7 items you can't even craft is a little much.

I also believe the developers should consider including how 'rare' certain components are as part of their name (i.e. 'Quality - Common' or 'Quality - Uncommon') if not in game then out of game in some table on the forums. There are already plenty of other RPG elements (skills, levelling, etc) so I don't see why this would be too big of a deal.

This would serve a singular primary purpose:
1). Everybody now knows how rare or common certain things are. This makes it easier when it comes to balancing recipe costs, because you can equate 5 common materials = 1 uncommon material, or 2 uncommon materials = 1 rare material. However the team wants to decide is fair. Likewise, it gives some players an additional sense of progression ("Oh hey, I have all of these advanced materials I found in the dump, I bet I can use this for something useful or bartering!")

oh god @Denny @Black Flag its happening ABORT ABORT WE CANNOT ESCAPE PARASHOCK

Could you elaborate for people who weren't around for this?

 

[Maroon]

Could you elaborate for people who weren't around for this?

This was in a different community but basically our owner was some sort of Business major and he'd try to apply what he studied to the server's economy. We had these long, drawn out meetings where he would drone on about items and their value and supply and demand and it was ... quite something.

Love that guy to death though.

 

[Stevebot]

This was in a different community but basically our owner was some sort of Business major and he'd try to apply what he studied to the server's economy. We had these long, drawn out meetings where he would drone on about items and their value and supply and demand and it was ... quite something.

Love that guy to death though.

That sounds a bit more than what I had in mind. I don't think that level of detail is really necessary.

What I had in mind was just getting various players (i.e. a resistance cell leader or two, a business owner or two, some staff members and faction representatives) to chime in about what items they utilize/encounter the most and what seems to be a 'fair' number of required materials to assemble them. This only needs to happen for the base resources and a few key items for reference, which the staff can then use to make decisions on other items with.

These people would have much more insight to how fast or slow resources are acquired, since they're typically the ones managing the intake/scavenging of them.

 

[Kaligni]

Contact local black market dealer and buy strong adhesive for 30 breen waters kek

 

[Black Flag]

oh god @Denny @Black Flag its happening ABORT ABORT WE CANNOT ESCAPE PARASHOCK

TIME IS TOKENS!!!!

 

[TheDeNuke]

Contact local black market dealer and buy strong adhesive for 30 breen waters kek

Smuggling is not going to be BMD based and similar to the Bartering system with a drop box in a specific location. A very hard to access location.

 

[registry: brush him]

XP gains are a huge part of this. The more efficiently you can get XP, the more effectively the economy will flourish. XP gains should be consistent and steady, maybe even exponential.

I also don't like how the skills system forces you to create big groups. You should only need to pair with one, two, maybe three people. Forcing players to create entire parties and gangs in the name of consistent XP gain is... misguided. This server should cater to all sorts of playstyles and, more importantly, ROLEPLAY styles. Forcing them to specifically play like they're in Dungeons and Dragons is simply not a good move.

 

[TheDeNuke]

The idea so far (as I heard) is that the rate you get skills is fast till 25 then it becomes harder.

So its easy to be a jack of all trades but much harder to become a expert or master in specific skills without building far more complex items.

 

[registry: brush him]

You can't become a "jack of all trades" when you can only have three skills at a time. If this is how your systems are going to work, you may as well capitalize by not making levelling a hassle.