Post by thedomicron on Feb 26, 2007 4:17:07 GMT
let me start this off by saying that i'm not dissatisfied with the way the economy and loot works, merely stating what i've noticecd lately in trading with people and by perusing the trade list forum.
let me note that i'm not going to be addressing the bur-hells loot because atm i feel that a relatively small percentage of the server is going to the hells often enough to really get the sought after items, and that they will be doing most of the trading of those items between themselves, so that the currency which they collect won't be part of the bigger economy of HG.
i've noticeed lately that the demand for items is not universal throughout each tier of rare-ness (not sure if that's a word). while its certainly understandable that the lvl35 rapier is more valuable than most other lvl 35 weapons, or that hawklights is more valuable than other armors, i feel the inequality in a different sense.
to me, whenever i'm trading, i see ur jewelry and subrace books as the universal wants. i definately understand why jewely and books are so valuable, because the books open up access to better builds and dissappear with use, and the rings are transferable and are valuable everywhere.
i bring this up because i see great ur shields, helmets, gauntlets, and boots which hold relatively little value. this discrepancy of value might just be from the fact that players can get by with one or maybe two pairs of gloves/character, and the easily available rare gloves and boots are often able to tide a character over until they find a pair of their own.
despite the fact that there are so many rare rings out there, (it seems to me more rare rings than rare guantlets, boots, helmets, etc) UR rings are still in demand by newbs and vets alike.
what i guess i'm getting at is that i feel the playing field should be a bit more level. that while titan's top is generally considered the best dexer helmet, it has nowhere near the demand of hawklights, the king of the ur armors. i understand that the bur armors are definately going to make urs obsolete, for the veteran hell-runners. a few of the uber-rich non-hellrunning vets will be able to afford bur/hells loot, but not many others.
i propose that several items be created in the categories of shield, gauntlet, helmet, boots and cloak be created which are as closely competetive in terms of stat/immunity terms as possible. with shields, i believe that there are a few standouts but that all the shields soughtafter can be found for relatively cheap. in my experience most people favor a few shields and trade the rest off pretty easily, which is good. but with shields and cloaks, where the current favorites are often illithid set-drops, parsons, blackstaffs, loki's etc aren't very highly sought after. even the elemental cloaks seem to appeal to a niche-market and don't hold much value.
i could go on about many of the item groups, but i feel that the story is similar: that you were very thorough in balancing items relative to each other, so that hawklights and ur full plate, for example, are equally important for their users, but that you didn't account for the popularity of certain builds (dexers) over others which creates this imbalance of vlue.
i feel that having a few more items on the same UR-tier of value will help to create more diversity in the economy. right now, people willing to trade hawklights, planewalker, are able to obtain large amounts of gear, however it usually takes items like hawks and pw to trade up for bur subbies and stuff, if at all possible. what i think adding better urs will do is limit the hoarding of the most popular urs and turn them into currency. if there are hawklight-equivalent boots, helmets, gloves, and cloaks, then 2 big changes would happen.
1) people would be more apt to trade their popular urs for equivalent value of slightly lower tier gear, knowing that there are more out there, and knowing that the gear they just aquired would help them trade for more. example: i have my hawklights and someone else has the shiny new cloak of equal value, but they don't want my armor. no problem: i'll just trade my hawks to someone who needs it, in exchange for several urs such as bastion, ygrettes whatever, and turn around, take those urs, and trade up again for said cloak. this doesn't happen now because people with extra hawklights hang onto them hoping "if i can just get one more good item to add to this hawk i can get that new bur" hence, less trading
2) it'll mean that people with new hells loot/burs will be willing to trade them down, knowing that they'll have items which are turning into currency (urs, afterall, are available in more areas than burs, or at least areas which are tamer and easier to find) while still being in high demand (burs often require level 60, hells loot needs tags etc)
anyhow this is just my observations and ideas, i know they're not perfect but hopefully i can stimulate some kind of dialog and see how you guys feel. like i said from the outset i think that the system works well now, but i know you're always looking for input.
let me note that i'm not going to be addressing the bur-hells loot because atm i feel that a relatively small percentage of the server is going to the hells often enough to really get the sought after items, and that they will be doing most of the trading of those items between themselves, so that the currency which they collect won't be part of the bigger economy of HG.
i've noticeed lately that the demand for items is not universal throughout each tier of rare-ness (not sure if that's a word). while its certainly understandable that the lvl35 rapier is more valuable than most other lvl 35 weapons, or that hawklights is more valuable than other armors, i feel the inequality in a different sense.
to me, whenever i'm trading, i see ur jewelry and subrace books as the universal wants. i definately understand why jewely and books are so valuable, because the books open up access to better builds and dissappear with use, and the rings are transferable and are valuable everywhere.
i bring this up because i see great ur shields, helmets, gauntlets, and boots which hold relatively little value. this discrepancy of value might just be from the fact that players can get by with one or maybe two pairs of gloves/character, and the easily available rare gloves and boots are often able to tide a character over until they find a pair of their own.
despite the fact that there are so many rare rings out there, (it seems to me more rare rings than rare guantlets, boots, helmets, etc) UR rings are still in demand by newbs and vets alike.
what i guess i'm getting at is that i feel the playing field should be a bit more level. that while titan's top is generally considered the best dexer helmet, it has nowhere near the demand of hawklights, the king of the ur armors. i understand that the bur armors are definately going to make urs obsolete, for the veteran hell-runners. a few of the uber-rich non-hellrunning vets will be able to afford bur/hells loot, but not many others.
i propose that several items be created in the categories of shield, gauntlet, helmet, boots and cloak be created which are as closely competetive in terms of stat/immunity terms as possible. with shields, i believe that there are a few standouts but that all the shields soughtafter can be found for relatively cheap. in my experience most people favor a few shields and trade the rest off pretty easily, which is good. but with shields and cloaks, where the current favorites are often illithid set-drops, parsons, blackstaffs, loki's etc aren't very highly sought after. even the elemental cloaks seem to appeal to a niche-market and don't hold much value.
i could go on about many of the item groups, but i feel that the story is similar: that you were very thorough in balancing items relative to each other, so that hawklights and ur full plate, for example, are equally important for their users, but that you didn't account for the popularity of certain builds (dexers) over others which creates this imbalance of vlue.
i feel that having a few more items on the same UR-tier of value will help to create more diversity in the economy. right now, people willing to trade hawklights, planewalker, are able to obtain large amounts of gear, however it usually takes items like hawks and pw to trade up for bur subbies and stuff, if at all possible. what i think adding better urs will do is limit the hoarding of the most popular urs and turn them into currency. if there are hawklight-equivalent boots, helmets, gloves, and cloaks, then 2 big changes would happen.
1) people would be more apt to trade their popular urs for equivalent value of slightly lower tier gear, knowing that there are more out there, and knowing that the gear they just aquired would help them trade for more. example: i have my hawklights and someone else has the shiny new cloak of equal value, but they don't want my armor. no problem: i'll just trade my hawks to someone who needs it, in exchange for several urs such as bastion, ygrettes whatever, and turn around, take those urs, and trade up again for said cloak. this doesn't happen now because people with extra hawklights hang onto them hoping "if i can just get one more good item to add to this hawk i can get that new bur" hence, less trading
2) it'll mean that people with new hells loot/burs will be willing to trade them down, knowing that they'll have items which are turning into currency (urs, afterall, are available in more areas than burs, or at least areas which are tamer and easier to find) while still being in high demand (burs often require level 60, hells loot needs tags etc)
anyhow this is just my observations and ideas, i know they're not perfect but hopefully i can stimulate some kind of dialog and see how you guys feel. like i said from the outset i think that the system works well now, but i know you're always looking for input.