Will we ever see NPC Merchant prices turn to something relatively reasonable?

[Avina]

I know that the reason for NPC merchant's high prices has a lot to do with the initial desire to push players to use the auction house. But as the theme of the game has changed and lower level partying has decayed into a Gusgen Mines spam to level 70, the demand for lower level (this includes level 60-75 gear at this point) has dropped considerably and so crafters simply don't make the gear anymore because there's just no point in wasting the time.

High NPC merchant prices weren't such a big deal in the past when you could check the auction house and have a reasonable chance of finding the piece you wanted. Since we are no longer in those days, I wonder why Migran is still in Tavnazian Safehold selling individual pieces of Barone gear 4,042,200 gil, 7,276,200 gil, and even, for the feet, 25,210,200 gil. I can't see anyone in this day and age willing to spend that much gil on those items. I can't imagine any purchasing those items for anywhere remotely near those prices ever, in the game's history!

While not as ridiculous, prices for statless level 40 gear at Durable Shields in Upper Jeuno have prices ranges from 21,859 to 51,105 gil. People would only buy that stuff if they were just straight up confused, or they were a new player who someone had given a ton of money to and they made the mistake of actually turning to NPCs for gear options.

I can't imagine that it would be too hard to change their sell values to something... more reasonable. Something... unlike what it is now. That or, seriously, remove the NPCs entirely to save game memory to put something else more useful in their place, cus right now resources or being spent on things no one is ever going to turn to.

[RAIST]

Think the issue is more that people don't generally NEED to buy pieces from level ~30 to ~70 anymore. The leveling structure has taken such a dramatic shift the past two years, that most of the "intermediate" gear has been rendered virtually obsolete and only good for leveling a craft now. Not so much an issue with the prices dropping per se, it's more that the demand just isn't there to support a decent sell rate. When you start having to list what used to be common items 2 or 3 times to sell it, it removes all incentive to craft them simply for the purpose of selling them.

[Aarahs]

If you need a low level gear, you're better off searching for a crafter through ffxiah. I haven't bothered with low level stuff anymore since it's no longer profitable to.

[Reiterpallasch]

It's not just gear that needs an adjustment though. Even low lvl meds that NPCs sell are a ridiculous price. 946 gil for a potion that gives 50 HP? To a new player, that means they only have to kill roughly 100 beastmen to get a tiny fraction of their HP back :D

[Alhanelem]

NPC sell values are generally high so as to not step on crafter's toes. i guess they figured, at least in the case of the earlier shops, that they had to make the prices high so that people could still craft those items and make a profit.

[Mifaco]

rest in peace, tavnazia npc gil exploit ;_;

[Nala]

ya know i heard about that back in the day but what item was it exactly that you could buy and resell, and how much of a profit margin was it?

[Avina]

Well, I'm not really debating that the demand has changed. That much is obvious. I'm not faulting crafters over SE basically encouraging wild "ding 99 over night" burn fests. But that's a whole separate discussion.

I'm basically saying though, instead of having these NPCs around who more or less do nothing and selling gear that crafters don't craft anymore, to update the NPC merchants to provide reasonable prices for these gear options. There isn't competition anymore,and I do know that the "cheap" lower level gear is often prohibitively expensive for new players, from the AH and NPCs. New and returning players still need to win their Maat fight and we all know the free AF is often not enough.

While those of us who have been around for some time have no problem gaining money these days, its very hard for new players and honestly, pretty boring to wear the same gear until you get to 70. And for those who think that they aren't trying to market the game newcomers, I think they are trying to. They've reintroduced trial accounts, are making vast improvements to the UI to decrease learning curve, and started that VanaTV thing which showed new characters starting out the game and traveling to the dunes (like we do that anymore). But I think they know FFXIV isn't ever going to be what they wanted it to be in terms of population,and they'll wanna keep XI around for their online operations since its basically straight profit for them at this stage.

And I'm not saying that this is a cure all to retain new and returning players to XI. Its one factor of many. But its also an easy one to fix. They'd just have to change the buy from values for merchants.

[Okipuit]

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your feedback regarding NPC merchant prices. We talked to the development team and received some information to share with you all.

The NPC merchants in Tavnazia have their prices set high from a lore perspective, so there are some items that are extremely expensive. Barone gear sold from NPCs is a good example of this case. The idea behind the lore is that the residents of Tavnazia were living disconnected from others in Vana'diel and when visitors come to their town they try and sell things on the pricy side.

Regarding items such as meds, as Alhanelem mentioned, setting the NPC sale prices high revolves around giving consideration for the circulation of items that can be created via synthesis. If items were purchasable from NPCs for a cheaper price than synthesized goods, it would remove the motivation to craft, so adjustment wise we will not be making these cheaper than it is to synthesize.

It may be alright to revamp the prices now with the above taken into consideration. However, the standard today may change down the line, so we need to proceed with this carefully.
Please let us know what you think and as always it will be taken into consideration for future improvements.

[Phafi]

people craft potions?

[Ophannus]

5 million gil for a pair of underwear is kind of humorous.

[hideka]

ok seriously, that was a cop out. people are talking about scrolls and dice that can ONLY be obtained Via NPC.
the prices on them are ludicrous.

[Kraggy]

If you need a low level gear, you're better off searching for a crafter through ffxiah. I haven't bothered with low level stuff anymore since it's no longer profitable to.
So your solution to the chronic shortage of low and mid level gear (pre-AF and even up to the level 78 stuff) is to use a third-party web site driven by players using scripts and bots that SE would ban them for using if they [SE] bothered to check.

Really?

[Myrrh]

So your solution to the chronic shortage of low and mid level gear (pre-AF and even up to the level 78 stuff) is to use a third-party web site driven by players using scripts and bots that SE would ban them for using if they [SE] bothered to check.

Really?

Would you prefer someone shouts for days, possibly weeks on end in Jeuno asking for a crafter that fits his/her specific needs? I don't know about you, but I know my chatlog would just love that~

Edit: Also, I have no idea how FFXIAH does what they do. I always assumed it was magic.

[Neisan_Quetz]

Who seriously cares about low level gear?

Next thing I know you'll call FFXIcalculator cheating too.

[cidbahamut]

Edit: Also, I have no idea how FFXIAH does what they do. I always assumed it was magic.

I'm pretty sure Scragg is a magician, so that would make sense.

[Daniel_Hatcher]

So your solution to the chronic shortage of low and mid level gear (pre-AF and even up to the level 78 stuff) is to use a third-party web site driven by players using scripts and bots that SE would ban them for using if they [SE] bothered to check.

Really?

lol, really!? Please tell me you're trolling.

[Tamoa]

So your solution to the chronic shortage of low and mid level gear (pre-AF and even up to the level 78 stuff) is to use a third-party web site driven by players using scripts and bots that SE would ban them for using if they [SE] bothered to check.

Really?

You really have no idea what you are talking about, do you.

[Yinnyth]

It may be alright to revamp the prices now with the above taken into consideration. However, the standard today may change down the line, so we need to proceed with this carefully.

What sort of change do you foresee which could possibly make it fun and profitable to synth low-level gear again? The only thing I could think of would be a Disgaia-style rebirth system where you nuke all your character's levels down to level 1 in order to have stronger stats and abilities by the time you reach level 99.

[bungiefanNA]

Would you prefer someone shouts for days, possibly weeks on end in Jeuno asking for a crafter that fits his/her specific needs? I don't know about you, but I know my chatlog would just love that~

Edit: Also, I have no idea how FFXIAH does what they do. I always assumed it was magic.

No, it works in tandem with a program reading the Linkshell Community pages, parsing the AH servers from outside of the game, and getting updates from the GuildWork Windower plugin. Bazaar contents, prices, and player locations are provided by other players running GuildWork, as well as the Jeuno shouts/yells server pages. If your shout shows up in the log, you were standing within someone in range of it running GuildWork.

So yeah, much of the community functionality relies on programs like this. Hopefully they implement the user program add-on system soon. Otherwise, they need to hire the people making these services so they can do an even better job.

[Vivivivi]

5 million gil for a pair of underwear is kind of humorous.

Comfort is priceless.

[newmonkey]

Can we got a npc that sells minnows/sinking minnows without going out of stock. These are popular fishing bait and it's very hard to get a hold of them these days.

You could even set the price of them higher than the cheapest guild merchant ones, as long as they don't go out of stock.

[RAIST]

Can we got a npc that sells minnows/sinking minnows without going out of stock. These are popular fishing bait and it's very hard to get a hold of them these days.

You could even set the price of them higher than the cheapest guild merchant ones, as long as they don't go out of stock.

May be better off just making them....the skills/mats needed to NQ them are pretty reasonable to obtain if you don't know someone with the skills already. Especially the second recipe, all you really need is a decent alchemy skill:

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Minnow

Alchemy (26), Goldsmithing (10)
Yield: Minnow
HQ 1: Sinking Minnow
HQ 2: Sinking Minnow
HQ 3: Sinking Minnow
Fire Crystal
■1 x Glass Fiber
■1 x Brass Ingot

Alchemy (31), Goldsmithing (<4)
Yield: Minnow
HQ 1: Sinking Minnow
HQ 2: Sinking Minnow
HQ 3: Sinking Minnow
Fire Crystal
■1 x Copper Ingot
■1 x Glass Fiber

[Sarick]

I'd like to not only see them sell stuff at better pries but sell more stuff. If you're worried about crafters then selling more crafting supplies is the answer.

A lot of times materials are so rare they need farmed logged or camped just to get something simple made. The guild shops don't help.

[Zerich]

tldr; SE loves their shitty grind of a crafting system on the level of SAM

[Smeggles]

People don't XP in lower level areas anymore (Aybssea burn GG) means no lower level crafting materials are gotten, no lower level gear is required therefore it's never crafted meaning anyone WANTING to xp old school can't get the gear.

Vicious cycle. GOV / Aby burning has removed the profit from crafting lower level gear, which has in turn removed the supply of lower level gear.