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How to stop the crowns inflation
WereElf
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Disclaimer: This topic's purpose is not to discuss if anything SHOULD be done about the inflation of the crowns, but rather if the devs were willing to do something, then which would be the most efficient way.
A year ago, crowns used to cost 200 gold each. Now they cost around 1500 gold each, or 7,5 times more. The reason for this is simple: as time passes, more and more gold is generated and stored within the player population. And the more gold they have - the more gold they are willing to spend. Since the biggest gold transactions happen between players, the gold is only being redistributed, instead of being "consumed". There are very few things that you need to buy from NPCs for gold, and they are usually cheap. The expensive things (like houses) are one-time-purchase. So the game is simply lacking a "gold sink", which is the cause of the gold accumulation and the price increases.
On the other hand, we are constantly getting new things to spend crowns on (such as crates), so there is a constant "need" for crowns, and unlike gold - all of them are being disposed of, rather than being redistributed.
When on one side of the scale you put a resource that is constantly accumulating, and on the other side you put a diminishing, scarce resource, then it's normal for you to need more and more gold to purchase the same amount of crowns.
Before I go into "how can we deal with the inflation", I'd just state what would be the pros and cons of this:
Pros: It will be easier for new players to get into the game. The gold generation rate for new players hasn't increased much, unless they actually know what to farm, and sell what they get in the Auction House. But that is not the profile of the average new player (afaik), and therefore the majority of new players is facing bigger obstacles that they need to overcome, than old players had to face in their early days.
Cons: Dealing with the inflation may lead to less crown purchases, depending on the way it has been dealt with. So the management team would have to think if they want to bring more new players into the game, or keep milking the current ones for as long as possible.
And now let's get to the main part of the topic:
1) Introduce a gold sink - bring something to the game, that costs a lot of gold, and is not a one-time-purchase. Like some extremely potent food/drink, that costs 1 mil gold per piece.
Pros: this is the least intrusive way to deal with the inflation. It targets the "accumulative" property of the gold. Would be healthy for the game to have a gold sink, even if its purpose is not specifically to reduce the price of the crowns.
Cons: it may be the least efficient way, if the "gold sink" items are not desirable enough.
2) Make a 1-time gift of 5000 crowns to all players. When the amount of crowns in the game is increased, their value will drop. Players, who needed 3500 crowns for something, and were looking to buy them, will now have 1500 crowns, that they'd want to sell. The market will be saturated quickly, and this will lead to reduced prices.
Pros: It will be highly effective, and it can be presented as "a Christmas gift", for example.
Cons: It's a short-term solution, and would need to be repeated occasionally, if it's to be effective. This solution may lead to losses in revenue, and it doesn't take care of the core of the problem.
3) Gift every player 150-250 crowns every month, even if they don't have ESO+. Similar to solution 2, but in a more balanced manner.
Pros: It will reduce the demand for crowns and thus their price.
Cons: It will not take care of the core of the problem. It will require a few months before the effect of this is felt.
4) Allow players to buy crowns for fixed amount of gold (and vice versa), from designated NPCs. This way the value of crowns will be determined by the game, rather than by the "free market" within the game.
Pros: simple, secure, effective. It works as a gold sink, since players will be disposing their gold, when they are purchasing items for crowns, that they've bought with gold.
Cons: may lead to a loss of revenue, if the price is set too low. Could be counter-productive, if the price is set too high.
Additional thoughts: Introducing new, desirable items for crowns, will be an effective way to control inflation in the future, even after this system has been implemented once. Since this system will be depleting the players' gold, if the demand for crowns is too high, then players will still need to be purchasing crowns the regular way.
In my opinion, solution (4) is the best one. Although, a combination between solutions 1, 2 and 3 could also be effective. Introducing a gold sink, while also starting to give players a sustained amount of crowns every month will keep the crown price in check. While the immediate gift of higher amount of crowns (could be 2000, if done in combination with the rest) will help with bringing down their price more quickly.
I highly doubt that anything will be done in this regard. Especially when we take into consideration how Zeni refuses to even give us a secure way to trade crowns between each other. But sometimes it's nice to speculate, and I kind a wanted to bring their attention to this problem, regardless if they're willing to solve it or not.
A year ago, crowns used to cost 200 gold each. Now they cost around 1500 gold each, or 7,5 times more. The reason for this is simple: as time passes, more and more gold is generated and stored within the player population. And the more gold they have - the more gold they are willing to spend. Since the biggest gold transactions happen between players, the gold is only being redistributed, instead of being "consumed". There are very few things that you need to buy from NPCs for gold, and they are usually cheap. The expensive things (like houses) are one-time-purchase. So the game is simply lacking a "gold sink", which is the cause of the gold accumulation and the price increases.
On the other hand, we are constantly getting new things to spend crowns on (such as crates), so there is a constant "need" for crowns, and unlike gold - all of them are being disposed of, rather than being redistributed.
When on one side of the scale you put a resource that is constantly accumulating, and on the other side you put a diminishing, scarce resource, then it's normal for you to need more and more gold to purchase the same amount of crowns.
Before I go into "how can we deal with the inflation", I'd just state what would be the pros and cons of this:
Pros: It will be easier for new players to get into the game. The gold generation rate for new players hasn't increased much, unless they actually know what to farm, and sell what they get in the Auction House. But that is not the profile of the average new player (afaik), and therefore the majority of new players is facing bigger obstacles that they need to overcome, than old players had to face in their early days.
Cons: Dealing with the inflation may lead to less crown purchases, depending on the way it has been dealt with. So the management team would have to think if they want to bring more new players into the game, or keep milking the current ones for as long as possible.
And now let's get to the main part of the topic:
1) Introduce a gold sink - bring something to the game, that costs a lot of gold, and is not a one-time-purchase. Like some extremely potent food/drink, that costs 1 mil gold per piece.
Pros: this is the least intrusive way to deal with the inflation. It targets the "accumulative" property of the gold. Would be healthy for the game to have a gold sink, even if its purpose is not specifically to reduce the price of the crowns.
Cons: it may be the least efficient way, if the "gold sink" items are not desirable enough.
2) Make a 1-time gift of 5000 crowns to all players. When the amount of crowns in the game is increased, their value will drop. Players, who needed 3500 crowns for something, and were looking to buy them, will now have 1500 crowns, that they'd want to sell. The market will be saturated quickly, and this will lead to reduced prices.
Pros: It will be highly effective, and it can be presented as "a Christmas gift", for example.
Cons: It's a short-term solution, and would need to be repeated occasionally, if it's to be effective. This solution may lead to losses in revenue, and it doesn't take care of the core of the problem.
3) Gift every player 150-250 crowns every month, even if they don't have ESO+. Similar to solution 2, but in a more balanced manner.
Pros: It will reduce the demand for crowns and thus their price.
Cons: It will not take care of the core of the problem. It will require a few months before the effect of this is felt.
4) Allow players to buy crowns for fixed amount of gold (and vice versa), from designated NPCs. This way the value of crowns will be determined by the game, rather than by the "free market" within the game.
Pros: simple, secure, effective. It works as a gold sink, since players will be disposing their gold, when they are purchasing items for crowns, that they've bought with gold.
Cons: may lead to a loss of revenue, if the price is set too low. Could be counter-productive, if the price is set too high.
Additional thoughts: Introducing new, desirable items for crowns, will be an effective way to control inflation in the future, even after this system has been implemented once. Since this system will be depleting the players' gold, if the demand for crowns is too high, then players will still need to be purchasing crowns the regular way.
In my opinion, solution (4) is the best one. Although, a combination between solutions 1, 2 and 3 could also be effective. Introducing a gold sink, while also starting to give players a sustained amount of crowns every month will keep the crown price in check. While the immediate gift of higher amount of crowns (could be 2000, if done in combination with the rest) will help with bringing down their price more quickly.
I highly doubt that anything will be done in this regard. Especially when we take into consideration how Zeni refuses to even give us a secure way to trade crowns between each other. But sometimes it's nice to speculate, and I kind a wanted to bring their attention to this problem, regardless if they're willing to solve it or not.
9
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DreamsUnderStars✭✭✭✭✭It's a myth that gold sinks drain money from players to get it out of the system, like the filthy rich keeping the economy afloat myth. Players with millions of gold got that way by hoarding their gold, not by spending it. And in MMOs we will never run out of gold unless the generators that make it (the mobs) stop spawning. [snip]
I do think Zeni should do like GW2 and put in an npc that trades gold for crowns at a fix rate that way we don't have a potential for scamming and it will be fair to everyone.
[edited for bashing]Edited by ZOS_Icy on October 24, 2021 3:54PM47 -
tonyblack✭✭✭✭✭I like your suggestions but you missing crucial part about why crown prices went wild: zos fixed regional prices, account bans from steam and zos for abusing vpn, rmt value of gold is low and major suppliers of unlimited crowns wasn’t housing enthusiasts, frequent trial carries or ambitious leaders of trade guild, they was doing it for personal profit or laundering of illegal money. With all these loopholes fixed I doubt crown prices ever become cheaper, only higher, because farming gold is very easy.10 -
WereElf✭✭✭DreamsUnderStars wrote: »It's a myth that gold sinks drain money from players to get it out of the system, like the filthy rich keeping the economy afloat myth. Players with millions of gold got that way by hoarding their gold, not by spending it. And in MMOs we will never run out of gold unless the generators that make it (the mobs) stop spawning. [snip]
Even if the richest players remain the richest, by hoarding their gold, it will still be essentially out of the economy, and will not be affecting it.4 -
Kiralyn2000✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭DreamsUnderStars wrote: »It's a myth that gold sinks drain money from players to get it out of the system, like the filthy rich keeping the economy afloat myth. Players with millions of gold got that way by hoarding their gold, not by spending it. And in MMOs we will never run out of gold unless the generators that make it (the mobs) stop spawning. [snip]
Well, it's not a "myth" that currency sinks reduce the supply of that currency, thereby changing exchange rates/value/etc.
How effective they are, is another story.
That said, the "crown exchange rate" is nothing that ZOS has any connection to, or reason to intervene in. It's entirely a player-driven concept. Yes, there's less Crowns now (driving the exchange rate up) because before crown trading existed, ESO+ players just built up Crowns if they didn't use them. Now that any of them who wanted to sell all those old Crowns have done so, there's less Crowns up for sale. Supply down, demand up, price up. Simple. And nothing really to do about it. /shrug2) Make a 1-time gift of 5000 crowns to all players. When the amount of crowns in the game is increased, their value will drop. Players, who needed 3500 crowns for something, and were looking to buy them, will now have 1500 crowns, that they'd want to sell. The market will be saturated quickly, and this will lead to reduced prices.
Pros: It will be highly effective, and it can be presented as "a Christmas gift", for example.
Cons: It's a short-term solution, and would need to be repeated occasionally, if it's to be effective. This solution may lead to losses in revenue, and it doesn't take care of the core of the problem.
Wait, WHAT?
ROFL
Dude, why would they ever just give everyone their cash currency? It's how they make money.
And again, they don't care about, or have any reason to care about, the "crown exchange rate". If people want to buy Crown items, they can buy Crowns - like they did in all the years before Crown trading happened.Edited by Kiralyn2000 on October 24, 2021 4:32PM16 -
Hallothiel✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Can there be some clarification that this is a PC problem only, as there is no such inflation on PS4 (cannot speak for xbox).
Maybe you should be looking at WHY there is so much gold on the pc <cough things like master writ add on? cough>4 -
wolfie1.0.✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭DreamsUnderStars wrote: »It's a myth that gold sinks drain money from players to get it out of the system, like the filthy rich keeping the economy afloat myth. Players with millions of gold got that way by hoarding their gold, not by spending it. And in MMOs we will never run out of gold unless the generators that make it (the mobs) stop spawning. [snip]
I do think Zeni should do like GW2 and put in an npc that trades gold for crowns at a fix rate that way we don't have a potential for scamming and it will be fair to everyone.
[edited for bashing]
I have tons of gold. I have it because I earned it one way or another and people where willing to give it to me in exchange for goods. It sits in a bank because I don't have a reason to spend it. Some of it was crown sales, some was farmed, and others from in game sales. I diversify. The secret to having tons of gold is to ensure that your expenses don't exceed you income. Much of my income in game is from sales of items that are easily farmable if you put the time into it. I put the time into it. Others are not willing to do that so they buy my stuff for my gold because they don't want to put in the time.
The other reason I have tons of gold is that I don't have a reason to spend it. Items that I wish I could spend gold on include:
Event tickets
Mounts
Transmute crystals
Undaunted keys
Seals of endeavors.
But none of those are options.
6 -
Maya_Nur✭✭✭✭1) An idea for a gold sink: [City management] We have so many ruined villages, towns and cities so we may reconstruct them by investing a huge amount of gold!Edited by Maya_Nur on October 24, 2021 4:41PM14
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Soulshine✭✭✭✭✭
✭Hallothiel wrote: »Can there be some clarification that this is a PC problem only, as there is no such inflation on PS4 (cannot speak for xbox).
Maybe you should be looking at WHY there is so much gold on the pc <cough things like master writ add on? cough>
More like PC EU. I play PC NA and EU, and never seen such prices being floated around on NA.6 -
wolfie1.0.✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭The only way to lower crowns to gold conversion rate is for zos to increase how many crowns you get for IRL funds. The only reason they would do that is if it would increase their revenue to do so.
If you want to change the crown to gold exchange rate, stop buying them at current prices. As a seller though I have a floor. There is a price I will not go below, I will just stop selling at that point.4 -
WereElf✭✭✭How to bankrupt a company 101
Yeah, the average Joe, who has no interest in business would think that. He'd think "since I give away stuff for free, why would people PAY to buy what I offer?". But in reality, bringing more potential customers also pays off. The trick is to find the balance.
Even if solution #3 is the one that's embraced, and everyone is constantly getting small amounts of crowns, the amount they'll be getting will be insufficient to even buy the next DLC every year, let alone buy anything extra. There will still be a demand for crowns, but it just wouldn't be quite as high as it is now.
And I dare say, that the demand is higher than the supply at the moment, so it's not like ZOS will be losing revenue. Just the ingame prices will stabilize.3 -
wolfie1.0.✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭How to bankrupt a company 101
Yeah, the average Joe, who has no interest in business would think that. He'd think "since I give away stuff for free, why would people PAY to buy what I offer?". But in reality, bringing more potential customers also pays off. The trick is to find the balance.
Even if solution #3 is the one that's embraced, and everyone is constantly getting small amounts of crowns, the amount they'll be getting will be insufficient to even buy the next DLC every year, let alone buy anything extra. There will still be a demand for crowns, but it just wouldn't be quite as high as it is now.
And I dare say, that the demand is higher than the supply at the moment, so it's not like ZOS will be losing revenue. Just the ingame prices will stabilize.
They wouldn't do a direct conversion or gifting mechanism though. They will either put the crown item in daily rewards or they will extend the seals of endeavors mechanic to the rest of the guild store.2 -
WereElf✭✭✭wtlonewolf20 wrote: »If you want to change the crown to gold exchange rate, stop buying them at current prices. As a seller though I have a floor. There is a price I will not go below, I will just stop selling at that point.
Problem with this is that the whole community would need to stop buying at this price. And it's impossible to make EVERYONE hear the voice of reason. Especially when everyone is competing with each other who's gonna get the goods.
As I already said, the demand is currently exceeding the supply. And whoever offers more gold is the one to get the deal.
I fully agree. That's what I would've been expecting as well. It's just that I was pointing out what could they do, and was leaving out the "how to do it" part. I think that it wasn't important for the topic.wtlonewolf20 wrote: »They wouldn't do a direct conversion or gifting mechanism though. They will either put the crown item in daily rewards or they will extend the seals of endeavors mechanic to the rest of the guild store.1 -
kargen27✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Crowns are not in game currency. Crowns are something players spend real money on outside the game to be able to purchase cosmetic items they can use in the game. ZOS has allowed gifting of crowns to increase the sale of crowns. Giving crowns away to players takes away from ZOS selling crowns to players. That cuts into their revenue and that revenue would need to be generated elsewhere.
There is no "need" for crowns. There is a want for crowns. Almost everything in the crown store is cosmetic. There are a few time saving items. ZOS allowing NPCs to sell crowns would be about the same as ZOS allowing NPCs to sell ESO+. It isn't going to happen. If you mean players would put their crowns in some repository and the NPC would then sell those crowns that will not work either. Players are spending their real world money on those crowns. They should be able to determine what they think that is worth for in game currency. Also the NPC idea takes away from people being able to gift crown store items and that does happen.
ZOS is not going to take a cut in revenue to introduce a gold sink into the game. They also are not going to risk a cut in revenue by dictating what price players can trade crowns for gold in game.and then the parrot said, "must be the water mines green too."8 -
Ballermfrau✭✭✭Yeah stop crafting dailies spam. Worst game-play I can think of.
But its already too late.3 -
xgoku1✭✭✭✭✭There is no real incentive for ZOS to bring down crown prices on PC-EU. At some point people are just gonna shell out real money if it's too much hassle to farm that much gold. Time is money and all that.
But I agree that the high prices are definitely not great for new players. Especially people who wanted to play ESO without subbing, you could buy the DLCs with gold-traded crowns. All the DLCs cost total 18k-ish crowns I believe, so it's really not viable to grind toward.
Adding a goldsink just to introduce a goldsink is not a good idea from a gameplay design perspective. Even the current big sinks like guild trader bidding, housing furnishings/plans, trial carries, etc. are priced by the community.
Gifting crowns is pure loss to the company.
Adding a WoW-token like system for gold-to-crown conversion is going to introduce a lot of problems of their own. Even then, the cost of a token is probably going to be decided by the community so its more secure but still inflated.
Unfortunately there's not many solutions apart from buying crowns during a discount sale.0 -
llande✭✭✭Crowns are too expensive for OP, I get it. No need for [Snip] intervention in game economy to fix that I guess.
[Edited for real world politics]Edited by ZOS_Volpe on October 26, 2021 12:17PM4 -
WereElf✭✭✭There is no "need" for crowns. There is a want for crowns. Almost everything in the crown store is cosmetic. There are a few time saving items.
Ehem... the DLCs (when they stop being "expansions") are bought for crowns. Even if they aren't "needed", they are pretty close to it.
Like imagine not having Summerset. You can not level your Jewelry crafring. And therefore, you are getting the lowest tier of mats from the nodes. Your income is drastically lower than that of other players. On top of the inability to craft your own accessories. You'll also be missing 1 daily quest, which would've otherwise increased your daily income.
Or imagine not having Greymoor - you are unable to scry. The leads you are getting (regardless) are just wittering away after a month. You can not make "easy money" from excavating. And you are unable to get mythic items.
Or Orsinium - you can not participate in the annual event for it. You can not get items from the Maelstorm arena.
It's not just cosmetic items...Adding a goldsink just to introduce a goldsink is not a good idea from a gameplay design perspective. Even the current big sinks like guild trader bidding, housing furnishings/plans, trial carries, etc. are priced by the community.
From what you listed, only the guild trader bidding and the housing are actual gold sinks. The rest are gold redistribution mechanisms.Edited by WereElf on October 24, 2021 5:55PM3 -
Ippokrates✭✭✭✭✭[Snip]
1. Remember you are talking mainly about PC. Other platforms have things under control. Relatively. So any solution you will propose, might have negatively impact other platforms. Why is that? Well, probably because of addons & bots, but this is only my assumption. Nevertheless, it must be taken into consideration.
2. There is no bigger gold sink than inflation. Check how much you had to pay for 14k crown mansion year ago, and how much you need to pay now. So we already have that. Adding more efficient riding lessons or something like that could be nice, but i don't think it will drastically change economy. Bah, we got whole new mechanics with Blackwood, and companions equipment are veeery good gold sink, yet it doesn't change the situation.
3. Giving crowns for free... well, we had similar discussion regarding making ESO free to play, and most users were against, imho right, cause that would only attract bots and fake accounts. Also, remember we already have endeavours that could work as crowns, cause they are covering more or less the same stuff.
So we have that too.
4. Option for buying crowns for gold from engine... well, it is extremely bad idea, that would not only do not support in anyway ZOS, but will put an additional pressure to servers - cause people would start grinding as crazy. And in result, everyone will lose: zos & players.
So, what is the solution? First, ZOS must balance the RNG, because now it is not working properly and cannot offer reasonable and constant relation between time & money. Players should know that after spending this and that amount of time, they could get an item they want. If they see that this is not worthy of their time or they simply do not have this time to spend, they could just simply buy the item from the trader. In this scenario also traders would have better position to evaluate how much their time is worthy and how much they can charge for particular item to make it worthy.
First step has been made with introduction of weighted rng to weapon drop in U32, so maybe we wouldn't have to run hundreds of times to get this one item we need to made our build work (yes, this process also influenced a market because of limited trade options we have during dungs and trials). With this every player could decide if they want to spend whole day looting world bosses in Overland zone, or they could spend those few thousand crowns they have from writs to fill their stickerbook in the first place or MAYBE trade the particular item during dung or trial run -_-
Now, introduction of weighted rng to other stuff like motifs, recipies, parts AAAAND crown crates, would imho stabilize the market. People would be able to calculate more precisely how much money or crowns they need to get the item they want, and maybe this would help to end this galloping inflation.
[snip]
[Edited for bashing and discussing disciplinary action]Edited by ZOS_Volpe on October 26, 2021 12:26PM2 -
FluffWit✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Hallothiel wrote: »Can there be some clarification that this is a PC problem only, as there is no such inflation on PS4 (cannot speak for xbox).
Maybe you should be looking at WHY there is so much gold on the pc <cough things like master writ add on? cough>
As a console player I often wonder this too. Our economy seems much more stable.1 -
Blinx✭✭✭✭✭
✭I'm on xbox, I see no inflation, shrugs...(PC master race prob, all the more reason to keep the servers seperate)1 -
Kezzic✭✭I posted a very similar topic on the WoW forums, pre-Shadowlands, and it was met with extreme vitriol because people don’t want their gold stashes diminished in any way. Though I did suggest something more radical, like a seasonal, flat % reduction across all player gold reserves.
Link to me getting roasted:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/
0 -
WereElf✭✭✭
I don't think you understand what gold sink is. When you buy a house for 14k crowns from a player, you just give the gold to the other player. It doesn't leave the economy, it's simply redistributed.Ippokrates wrote: »2. There is no bigger gold sink than inflation. Check how much you had to pay for 14k crown mansion year ago, and how much you need to pay now. So we already have that. Adding more efficient riding lessons or something like that could be nice, but i don't think it will drastically change economy. Bah, we got whole new mechanics with Blackwood, and companions equipment are veeery good gold sink, yet it doesn't change the situation.
While a gold sink is meant to drop the gold out of the economy and balance out the gold players are making from farming and stuff.
Or an example:
If there are 20 mil in the economy. Player A has 10 mil, Player B has 10 mil. If Player A buys something from Player B for 8 mil, Player A will have 2 mil, and player B will have 18 mil. There will still be 20mil in the economy.
While with an actual gold sink Player A will buy something from an NPC for 5 mil and there will be 15 mil in the economy remaining. And Player B will be unable to sell his thing for 8 mil anymore, since there is only 5 mil available.7 -
phairdon✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Agree Dreamunderstars idea. Either have a npc or add it to the store UI for crown/gold trading. I was gobsmacked at the conversion rate on EU. Lot higher than PC/NA.Your immersion is breaking my entitlement. Buff Sorc's. Darkshroud the cremator Death by furRubeus BlackFluffy knight BladesThe Fat PantherPsijic Fungal SausageFlesheater the VileCaspian Rafferty FernsbyArchfiend Warlock PiersThe Black BishopEvil Wizard Lizard (EU)Neberra Vestige Fajeon (EU)Salanis Deathstick (EU)Blood Mage Alchemist (EU)2 -
zaria✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭
This, the initial crown / gold cost was low because people wanted to sell eso+ gold, now that marked dry and its mostly players wanting to buy gold and have money to spend. Downside is that its not so much to spend gold on outside of the 1 mill to kite you out and housing.Kiralyn2000 wrote: »DreamsUnderStars wrote: »It's a myth that gold sinks drain money from players to get it out of the system, like the filthy rich keeping the economy afloat myth. Players with millions of gold got that way by hoarding their gold, not by spending it. And in MMOs we will never run out of gold unless the generators that make it (the mobs) stop spawning. [snip]
Well, it's not a "myth" that currency sinks reduce the supply of that currency, thereby changing exchange rates/value/etc.
How effective they are, is another story.
That said, the "crown exchange rate" is nothing that ZOS has any connection to, or reason to intervene in. It's entirely a player-driven concept. Yes, there's less Crowns now (driving the exchange rate up) because before crown trading existed, ESO+ players just built up Crowns if they didn't use them. Now that any of them who wanted to sell all those old Crowns have done so, there's less Crowns up for sale. Supply down, demand up, price up. Simple. And nothing really to do about it. /shrug2) Make a 1-time gift of 5000 crowns to all players. When the amount of crowns in the game is increased, their value will drop. Players, who needed 3500 crowns for something, and were looking to buy them, will now have 1500 crowns, that they'd want to sell. The market will be saturated quickly, and this will lead to reduced prices.
Pros: It will be highly effective, and it can be presented as "a Christmas gift", for example.
Cons: It's a short-term solution, and would need to be repeated occasionally, if it's to be effective. This solution may lead to losses in revenue, and it doesn't take care of the core of the problem.
Wait, WHAT? ROFL
Dude, why would they ever just give everyone their cash currency? It's how they make money.
And again, they don't care about, or have any reason to care about, the "crown exchange rate". If people want to buy Crown items, they can buy Crowns - like they did in all the years before Crown trading happened.
And yes this is not really ZoS problem.
Grinding just make you go in circles.
Asking ZoS for nerfs is as stupid as asking for close air support from the death star.0 -
Einar_Hrafnarsson✭✭✭✭✭I am still fairly new, but i already came in posession of my first few millions thanks to lucky drops (Especially Maarseloks Mask motif that went away for nearly 2 million) and my trading guild. I really cannot find anything to spend much gold on. I got myself a house, it is furnished. I do not need a second House. Was looking for Mounts or pets. There are 3 plain Horses you can buy in the Game, the Rest of the mounts are locked behind DLC or the crown Store.
It is only natural that the Gold becomes more abundant as there is not much to spend it on.5 -
Evil_Rurouni✭✭✭There is inflation here on PS4, but its nowhere near as big as PC's inflation rate.
Until recently, it was only really noticable if you'd been playing for years.
**current world event** has made the inflation rate more noticable by increasing the number of hours people spend playing generating digital currencies out of thin air and less time at work earning money that they then turn into crowns.
Since **current world event** will likely be here for years or even decades, it might be worth ZoS adding better currency sinks to at least partially balance the situation.
Add sinks for gold, AP, tel var, and master wit vouchers that people will use repeatedly, instead of as oneoffs.
Options:
Create alchemical mats out of thin air in exchange for surplus currency.
Already partially implemented via tel var.
Create top tier potions and foods out of thin air in exchange for surplus currency.
Already partially implemented via AP.
Create furnishing mats out of thin air in exchange for surplus currency.
As a bonus, this would help fix the mundane rune shortage too.
Create rare style mats out of thin air in exchange for surplus currency.
Ebony style mats can already be created this way, but at an absurd exchange rate.
Set the rate to something less absurd and extend it to more desirable style mats such as Culanda Lacquer and Dragon Bone.
Create gold upgrade mats mats out of thin air in exchange for surplus currency.
I'd favour this sink because it'll help reduce player frustration with the wildly unstable game meta caused by ZoS changing their mind on game direction every few months as well as sink out digital currencies.
Golding out dozens of sets each year to keep up is quite the obnoxious time sponge, turning it into a currency sink would be great.1 -
Nagastani✭✭✭✭Yeah I think this was an unintended consequence that ZOS never thought about until it became a thing.
My advice is this, there really is no set price for Crowns per say, however whatever the price is depends on your supplier. So some Guilds I'm sure are going to have a set price as part of a policy directing Crown sales within the Guild.
But personally I found it better to sell not low low, but selling at a notable discount actually nets you more money and also helps make long time customers. I was in a Guild for a long time and did nice things like this for them until this stubborn fool took over and stabbed alot of us in the back.
All I can say is I wouldn't pay 1500/per Crown or at the same time, waste my time dealing with anyone who is not reputable. But people need things to spend their gold on, why not Crowns right
Edited by Nagastani on October 24, 2021 8:28PM1 -
Tigertron✭✭✭✭Everything you mentioned would destroy the game. You want a gold sink? Just add a taxes to our houses. Kill the game real fast.
No there is not too much gold, there is not enough crowns. I know plenty of crown sellers and they sell to the highest bidder. There was a hole that was plugged by ZOS where cheap money was exchanged for dollars or euros and then used to purchase crowns to resell. With that gone we have less crowns on the market. Demand remains and price goes up, basic stuff.
The crown exchange is self balancing. There is an unlimited supply of gold. If it takes 2 hours to get enough gold to buy 1 crown then that is the exchange. What is your time worth? I prefer to spend my gold in game on motifs and diagrams. In the past I would exchange gold for crowns but after it hit 700:1 on NA I stopped. I would rather spend RL money to get what I want and from my perspective I get what I want either way. From ZOS perspective they get more money.
BTW ZOS is a business. Businesses make money to employ people and provide a service that has value to the customer. I support that. If they don't make money they don't exist. Remember that great MMO where all the best mounts, armor styles and fully furnished houses were free? yeah. Neither do I.
I have my gripes about ZOS but their money making method is not one. Nothing irks me more than when people argue that ZOS has a predatory marketing system. It is anything but. I actually feel guilty for the little money I spend vs time I play.
I wont ever sub for a game so that is an instant nope for me. Here I don't have to. I buy crowns on sale and keep a stock of 8k-10k for items that appear that I may want. Like a new DLC. But they gave me the latest for free. They gave me Imperial City for free. They gave me all my mounts for free. I am currently sitting on 500+ gems I got from crates they gave me for free. All my pets I got for free. All my houses I got for free. I got all my personalities and emotes and mementoes for free. You get the point. This game has the LEAST amount of predatory marketing I have seen. Seeing as there is nothing you can not ever get, even the rarest radiant mount is achievable with money. If you really want it you can get it.
This is why crown crates are NOT gamboling. Gambling means you can spend all of you money and never get what you want. I guarantee you will ultimately get enough gems to buy outright what you are after if your luck is that bad. Once you have everything even an addict would stop at that point. Crates are just fun way to maybe get lucky.
A slot machine will bleed you dry and never give a payout, or tempt you with another payout to make up your loses. That is gambling. The potential to lose everything.3 -
zaria✭✭✭✭✭
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So mat prices will go up as people prefer to keep their valuables in easy to sell tempers than gold before the devaluation.I posted a very similar topic on the WoW forums, pre-Shadowlands, and it was met with extreme vitriol because people don’t want their gold stashes diminished in any way. Though I did suggest something more radical, like a seasonal, flat % reduction across all player gold reserves.
Link to me getting roasted:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/
And yes will hurt the cp 180 trying to gold out his first weapons most as usual.Grinding just make you go in circles.
Asking ZoS for nerfs is as stupid as asking for close air support from the death star.0
