Open Suggestions for increasing trade

[Sparky]

When you think about how things work in the real world, it sort of doesn't make sense the way things are at the moment. We are experiencing what you might call a 'Square Enix enforced recession'.

In this game, any and all Gil that you spend (aside from face to face trades with other players) includes a percentage of Gil that is destroyed by the mechanics of the game. If you buy an item from a vendor for example, then 100% of that Gil is destroyed, never to re-enter the economy ever again. If you spend Gil on the marketplace, up to 10% of the trade goes towards tax. Again, the Gil is destroyed and will never re-enter the economy.

This directly contradicts what we know is true about real world economics. Shopkeepers sell items but they buy stock, therefore the money keeps moving along, however NPC vendors are just an exit point for Gil. Governments tax sales in the real world, so while they stockpile currency, the currency still exists and can still be spent. In this game, all tax revenues are destroyed.

This causes a significant problem. In order for the economy to remain functional, the sum of all Gill spent received and kept by players must equal the sum of all Gil both in circulation, and entering the game, be that through quests, sales to vendor, or new players etc. I can guarantee that when the new players stop coming (they are already slowing down), then the economy will crash unless SE think up ways of balancing the Gil leaving the game with the Gil entering the game. And to cap it all off, players are expected to save millions of Gil for housing, if they want a house. So players who do have Gil are not spending it.

I liken the current flow of Gil to a swimming pool with a massive hole in it. If the pool is losing 1000 litres an hour, then a simple hosepipe isn't going to stop it from drying out. You could chuck in an extra bucket or two of water (new players and their Gil), but ultimately the pool will still be empty in a week or two.

So SE do not want massive stockpiles of Gil, and I understand that. However, they can not then justify extortionately large prices for housing because it is causing a detrimental effect to the economy. The very mechanism that would allow people to stockpile Gil is unfortunately the very mechanism that is needed to keep the economy alive. The game needs more Gil fountains to balance out the Gil sinks. In the real world, people can earn money to spend by doing their respective jobs, but in this game the only realistic way to 'earn' Gil is to craft and sell. Imagine a world where everyone was a shopkeeper! Yes that is ridiculous isn't it?

[itschowda]

In this game, any and all Gil that you spend (aside from face to face trades with other players) includes a percentage of Gil that is destroyed by the mechanics of the game. If you buy an item from a vendor for example, then 100% of that Gil is destroyed, never to re-enter the economy ever again. If you spend Gil on the marketplace, up to 10% of the trade goes towards tax. Again, the Gil is destroyed and will never re-enter the economy.

If you're comparing the game to real-world economy, then you might be forgetting about the minting process within the game. Gil is minted when you vendor trash something, kill mobs in higher level dungeons (AK for example), participating in a fate, completing quests, the list goes on. The high housing prices aren't exactly a detrimental effect on the economy, they're just a way to remove stockpiled money that had no intention of re-entering the economy anyways.

[Vespar]

The high housing prices aren't exactly a detrimental effect on the economy, they're just a way to remove stockpiled money that had no intention of re-entering the economy anyways.

But they have become detrimental, as the stockpiled money has quickly run out or is being shoved into FC chests for those FC's that still have yet to buy a house. The gil is still not making its way back into players hands effectively. If it was these threads regarding gil would not be popping up as frequently.

[Sparky]

If you're comparing the game to real-world economy, then you might be forgetting about the minting process within the game. Gil is minted when you vendor trash something, kill mobs in higher level dungeons (AK for example), participating in a fate, completing quests, the list goes on. The high housing prices aren't exactly a detrimental effect on the economy, they're just a way to remove stockpiled money that had no intention of re-entering the economy anyways.

We aren't just talking about a few tens of thousands of Gil here. We're talking tens of millions of Gil if not a few hundred million, that people are not planning on spending on anything else but housing. If you can think of any reasons why that would not be detrimental to the economy, then I think we'd all be very interested to hear them.

[CurrySonic]

I liken the current flow of Gil to a swimming pool with a massive hole in it. If the pool is losing 1000 litres an hour, then a simple hosepipe isn't going to stop it from drying out. You could chuck in an extra bucket or two of water (new players and their Gil), but ultimately the pool will still be empty in a week or two.

I like this analogy.

I can appreciate the Dev's for seperating dungeons and combat from the economy... But it be nice to have the market to be a funner thing to participate in. If the game branches out into dungeon/combat in one branch then crafters/markets in the other. It feels like one is much more nurtured than the other, however as a whole it makes game mediocre. I am really just looking at more ways to have fun in FFXIV and get the enjoyment in every aspect of the game.

If combat/dungeons is independent on crafting why is crafting still dependent on combat/dungeons?

[Vespar]

@ Nicobo, I think what CurrySonic is saying is that from now on, we should only be able to specialize one of our level 50 crafting classes so it alone can make 3-star items. Right now we only have 2 star items but if you have all crafts leveled you can make everything, and if you have all gathering classes maxed you never want for mats unless you are lazy. If CurrySonic's suggestion was implemented it would make it so people had a reason to buy from other people. In the future I think this would be nice to see.

[DarkJack]

Not gonna retype everything, but here's my suggestion that I posted in another thread:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post1878235

The basic problem is that most people don't need the crafted gear, even when leveling. Sure crafted gear can be "consumed" to make materia, but endgame gear has no use for materia. How to fix it? Well read the above link. (TL;DR version: make it so we can attach materia to everything, but subject to the same materia rules we have now)

[MPNZ]

Questions:

1. Would you support increasing the gil earned from leves and quests by a multiplier, and by what value would be ideal? Ex: (current) x 1.5

2. Do you believe that past lv.45-47 that there should be no NPC venders for normal quality (NQ) wares, that there should be NPC venders for NQ, or none at all?

3. Would a price hike on NPC wares help get more players purchasing wares on the Market Board?

4. Would you k=like to see much larger FC-only housing or FC-run shopping (Like Malls) with purchasable storefronts? Note: this is an "or" question so you can say both.

5. Should current housing prices be cut in half?

6. Would more non-combat craftables, not aimed at high-wealth players, with some use to player be welcomed? ex: a customisable bike mount that requires replacement parts after a while, but gives you no aggro while using the mount.

[CurrySonic]

1. I would support something like this, not sure what the best multiplier would be but I get the general idea. The value of 1 gil has gone way up perhaps by making gil less scarce people will feel less scared to spend it. Though this may have no hope of passing due to RMT concerns... Do people actually buy gil in this game anyways? I mean what do you need like 1000k for?

3. I definitely think so. Especially on items like raw materials. Unfortunately, again, once something might get alot of need and is profitable Bots will be all over that just like they are with shards. On the flip side gathered materials doesn't have crazy demand anyways for bots to avoid super saturating the market.

4. I think I may be missing something, but I don't see the point considering the market board kinda consolidates all sales and buys on a server. If anything I think FC's should have their own FC retainer so they can participate on a market board as a FC, with the proceeds going into the FC chest.

5. No. The price will naturally be cut in half anyways. I don't think cutting it half straight away or decreasing its "devaluation period"/half-life is fair the to people who bought houses already.

6. I'd be all over more craftable minions or clothes, rich or not.

[MPNZ]

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4. I think I may be missing something, but I don't see the point considering the market board kinda consolidates all sales and buys on a server. If anything I think FC's should have their own FC retainer so they can participate on a market board as a FC, with the proceeds going into the FC chest.

On mall: Part of it stems from some concerns from a conversation I had with someone over worrying that they might be contributing to RMT services if they bought something off of the market board, and a part of it is me wanting to expand player experiences and markets. The MB would be for individual gain while the mall would work for FC's to compete with each other with their wares, which would be crafted items. You could have it with unique features like selling pre-arranged sets of gear, and display the items on mannequins. You could make restraunts and cafe's too. Personally I think it would be fun to see what the players would come up with. A little redundancy wouldn't be too bad, but your suggestion is much more feesable. They should add a symbol, or use a different but readable color for the FC retainer's font.