DevTalk: GIL SINKS! Ideas to Stabilize the Economy and Curb Inflation

[Platinumstorm]

I doubt that would seriously fix the problem at hand, the fact there's nothing to really spend gil on (that's actually taken out of the system) would mean those who have millions would eventually build gil back up in no time. I myself have only been playing about three or four months and I'm sitting on a few million gil I don't know what to do with.

It doesn't matter whether or not people would build back up gil again; that's okay, and we want them to do that - what it fixes is the total amount of money in the economy. So say there is 5 trillion gil in the game right now. You take all of that value and reduce it down to 1 billion gil [or whatever fits with the current income/inflation levels]. Everyone keeps their relative wealth, but prices for all items will instantly adjust lower. The people who were the richest continue to be the richest, although a few will be less wealthy than they originally were, while others become more wealthy based on how tiered structures work. The poorest remain the poorest, and their position is maintained by the new income structure from the new economy.

The object isn't to tell people they can't be wealthy - the object is to make bow worth 100,000 now worth 10,000 tomorrow - but still maintain the same amount of wealth burden on the economy and players.

Just to repeat again the problem isn't that some people are rich [I'm relatively wealth in the scheme of this], the problem is that there is massive hidden inflation due to a low player base and low demand, even though there is a massive amount of gil floating around in the game.

There's no falling behind with this idea, because the new economy is structured with an expected income level, so it's not like someone is going to magically fall in their wealth position, because they're going to have the same purchasing power position and the same ability to continue making money; it's just in smaller; more manageable denominations that eliminates the pre-rewards adjustment/ pre-implemented gil sink inflation gap.


http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...182#post474182

[Platinumstorm]

and it's not going to stop the amount of gil in the game. i have quite a bit of gil and rarely ever sell anything in the wards. if you took my gil i'd just dedicate myself to making more instead of stockpiling mats like i have been so i'd build back to above what i have soon. i have gil and always will. no matter how much of my gil you take i will gain it back faster than i did the first time.

even if you only gave me 100k for every million i have i will still have the same percentage of gil in game as long as it happens to everyone else as well. even if it didn't i would still have more than they did shortly.

Again, that's fine. The idea is to take away your gil without taking away your wealth. Under this system I would want you to continue excelling at selling; the inflation rate just has to be adjusted for by removing the massive amount of gil from the game and balancing it at something that is going to have this massive advantage towards players who were in the game before rewards were adjusted eliminated. The prices of items need to be attainable for newer players that are going to constitute the bulk of this game's population.

[XStruckX]

Only read a few certain ideas but I gotta go to sleep... 3 Ideas that really stood out from the ones I read.

1. Triple Triad card games with booster packs!!!! OMG reminds me of MTG back when I was a kid. A real good innovated card game with booster packs could drive players to spending some gil and also making some gil by selling/trading cards.

2. Anima potions are a great fucking idea. I like Anima, no need to remove it. Use it sparingly or just use it at will and spend all your gil.

3. Vanity/Cosmetics Costume items that go over your real gear but doesnt affect stats. Make everyone look different so its not the same red haubergeon army everyone you go... face paint / funky mounts / hair dyes / a huge baseball bat instead of the same old tired Ifrit axe...Maple Story uses this but with real cash. I disagree with a cash shop, instead use gil. 100k and you weild a baseball bat instead of Ifrit's axe for 14 days. Hell you can even use packages, look like Cloud Strife for 14 days for let's say 500k? I mean we look at these tired character models for hours/days/weeks/months at a time. I am sure people can see the value in a little variety. If you like this idea about a vanity/cosmetics shop LIKE this post. Just trying to see how people feel about it.

[SwordCoheir]

It doesn't matter whether or not people would build back up gil again; that's okay, and we want them to do that - what it fixes is the total amount of money in the economy. So say there is 5 trillion gil in the game right now. You take all of that value and reduce it down to 1 billion gil [or whatever fits with the current income/inflation levels]. Everyone keeps their relative wealth, but prices for all items will instantly adjust lower. The people who were the richest continue to be the richest, although a few will be less wealthy than they originally were, while others become more wealthy based on how tiered structures work. The poorest remain the poorest, and their position is maintained by the new income structure from the new economy.

The object isn't to tell people they can't be wealthy - the object is to make bow worth 100,000 now worth 10,000 tomorrow - but still maintain the same amount of wealth burden on the economy and players.

Forcing it on people like that only ends up frustrating the populace, and besides it doesn't solve the issue when the flow of gil into the server remains the same you would need to reduce all gil rewards and vendor costs to really nip the problem in the bud and to be entirely fair to both sides of the field.

Anywho, with the billing process starting next month I imagine a good chunk of gil will be removed for those who can't, won't, or outright refuse to pay for the game till 2.0. Yeah it'll still be there, but it wouldn't have any influence on the server w/o the player actually playing.

Only read a few certain ideas but I gotta go to sleep... 3 Ideas that really stood out from the ones I read.

Dunno about 1, but 2 and 3 would definitely be popular among the populace.

[PSxpert2011]

This isn't directed to anyone, just my own take on the matter:

People are the cause of a good/bad economy. Gil sinks aren't the problem, it stabilizes the economy. I you rather by from the shop, spend your gil on an airship, rent a chocobo or use anima for teleporting then why complain or try to fix "needless" gil-sinks.

In game rates serve a purpose whether you like it or not. If everything went the way of each an every person in the world, do you guys think it would make balance?

Prices only serve a function to control spending either it be for your benefit or detriment. I'm probably the poorest of everyone with less than 500k on me (ingame) and that's for saving cuase I don't care for wearing the best gear or using the best weapons(my highest class is 34 btw).

I still manage to get by with gil-sinks whether they're dumb or making sense.

[Platinumstorm]

Forcing it on people like that only ends up frustrating the populace, and besides it doesn't solve the issue when the flow of gil into the server remains the same you would need to reduce all gil rewards and vendor costs to really nip the problem in the bud and to be entirely fair to both sides of the field.

They have already reduced the rewards. Maybe you weren't around at the beginning, but the gil we were receiving was insane for the first several months. That's where the bulk of this problem came from. Like I said, I also acknowledged that it would infuriate people, but a lot more people will be furious when they can't afford to continue in the game. The people who aren't playing are much more important than those who are right now.

[Kio]

I'm not a fan of players being nickle and dimed for trying to do everyday necessary interactions in the game in order to play.

I do feel, however, that the amount of gil introduced into the game as form of rewards is too grand. I actually miss days in FFXI when if you got a 5,000 gil reward off a difficult BCNM, you were elated. Or getting an item you knew sold for 2,000 gil you were satisfied with that haul. Because, albeit small, that amount was still significant and the opportunity to obtain gil rarer which made it much more meaningful and fun to amass enough to buy something which you wanted.
There are a lot of obvious and plentiful cons to this though, such as encouraging gold selling trade, slower moving of goods, harder upstart for new players to name a few.
I wish there was a balance we could strike midway without putting a gil price tag on everything that would make the game enjoyable to play.

I think eliminating or greatly reducing the amount of gil rewards would be a nice start though. Do we really need leves that people do for xp to toss 4k gil at us each go? I think the idea someone mentioned of npc's which could be paid for instant transport to somewhere. I'd even pay to be warped from one end of our giant cities to the other.

XI had dynamis too which gobbled up extreme large sums of gil at a time which helped. Maybe make a raid which requires a gil fee for entry. Or somehow work Yojimbo as a summon. Bring back the lottery that players have to pay gil into and a portion goes to some random winner. Or make card game tournaments which require gil entry and then the gil is recycled as the winner's prize. Make the gold saucer mini games all require small amounts of gil to play, like a real arcade.

There are a lot of ways we can move gil out of the economy in a fun and productive way. I don't think players will mind parting with their coin if they're getting some form of entertainment in return. But putting a fee or a heavier cost on things you are forced to do anyway like sending items through the mail system is a quick way to kill the fun in the game. Players shouldn't be punished for just trying to do the mundane, but if they want to do optional extra activities in the game for a little spenditure that's something they can see as a positive. I'd just hate to see that price tag on literally every new addition to the game like some have suggested.