I wonder if MA should get away from the flat fee auction model. The shill bidding could get dicey if the shill got stuck with a % fee.
Phew…at least I am not being paranoid!
One solution would be for MA to increase the drops of items (more items with the PED) until it a. the speculators can’t control the market and b. reduces the cost of items to a reasonable level?
[QUOTE=ViagraFalls]
Pssssst. That’s in-game Western Union. Just money being transfered from one account to another…
[/QUOTE]
I haven’t thought about this yet. Fairly good observation 
For the rest, I wanna state that single traders with one avatar, as me, may manipolate the market, provided they have a big economical potential and a huge cash flow. One typical example is the GSI market. For a case study, I lately manipolated the prices, buying and selling always with a little income (2-5%). With this strategy I was able to evaluate the current market potential, and the effective number of strong sellers, which is actually pretty low (I’d estimate about 20 serious traders game-wide).
However, all strong traders are fair, nobody of them damage willingly other gamers, although they follow strict market rules and risk at each exchange their budget, because prices may drop from one day to the other, or simply a lot of players quit or don’t show up for some time.
The current overall damage to the market was actually provoked by MA itself, causing a critical deflation by introducing new game rules (meteors) and favouring already rich gamers to become richer, while common players to which I count myself, were dumped into mud. Also, few of rich gamers, probably the ones who have deposited less often, have been in great disadvantage and lost much, so they sold out, in the best case, and quitted, making the game quite poor, and left us with a huge stock of un-sellable materials of all kind.
Most of us gamers don’t like much “Uber’s” but the fact is they have a powerful control over the game, and most of them execute that power with a fair compromise. The deflation however has caused them to be more rigid, and because they don’t like to loose the rest of their goods, they simply apply high prices to everything, and hope another player will buy.
This leads to the creation of price cartels, below that nobody would sell, and because they have most goodies in stock, they dictate how the market flows.
The only real solution would be, MA would make it more easy to get loot for common gamers, as it has been in the past, and raise the looting percentage form currently 65%, up again to 85%.
Despite these unhappy gaming days, I still like to play the game, since the idea is great. I only hope the case studies of MA will terminate soon and all turns out to be better for the medium-low skilled gamer at the end, too.
As always, IMHO.
4 Likes
[QUOTE=y2ksw]
I haven’t thought about this yet. Fairly good observation
For the rest, I wanna state that single traders with one avatar, as me, may manipolate the market, provided they have a big economical potential and a huge cash flow. One typical example is the GSI market. For a case study, I lately manipolated the prices, buying and selling always with a little income (2-5%). With this strategy I was able to evaluate the current market potential, and the effective number of strong sellers, which is actually pretty low (I’d estimate about 20 serious traders game-wide).
However, all strong traders are fair, nobody of them damage willingly other gamers, although they follow strict market rules and risk at each exchange their budget, because prices may drop from one day to the other, or simply a lot of players quit or don’t show up for some time.
The current overall damage to the market was actually provoked by MA itself, causing a critical deflation by introducing new game rules (meteors) and favouring already rich gamers to become richer, while common players to which I count myself, were dumped into mud. Also, few of rich gamers, probably the ones who have deposited less often, have been in great disadvantage and lost much, so they sold out, in the best case, and quitted, making the game quite poor, and left us with a huge stock of un-sellable materials of all kind.
Most of us gamers don’t like much “Uber’s” but the fact is they have a powerful control over the game, and most of them execute that power with a fair compromise. The deflation however has caused them to be more rigid, and because they don’t like to loose the rest of their goods, they simply apply high prices to everything, and hope another player will buy.
This leads to the creation of price cartels, below that nobody would sell, and because they have most goodies in stock, they dictate how the market flows.
The only real solution would be, MA would make it more easy to get loot for common gamers, as it has been in the past, and raise the looting percentage form currently 65%, up again to 85%.
Despite these unhappy gaming days, I still like to play the game, since the idea is great. I only hope the case studies of MA will terminate soon and all turns out to be better for the medium-low skilled gamer at the end, too.
As always, IMHO.
[/QUOTE]
Excellent post. I think it describes the situation pretty good.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The economy in PE is not free - it’s indirectly controlled by MA through drop rates.
I also believe that it doesn’t take multiple avatars for a single individual or a group of people (with one avatar each) to fully manipulate a certain market, especially without any institutions to keep them in check. Taking turns in camping the auction and checking latest offers every 5 seconds is enough.
Also, there have been various discussions about a similar situation with the GSI market in the past, now resellers are trying to take control of other markets (classical GSI market, furniture, Starkhov rifles, ML-35, and others) as well.
Of course it sucks, but like some people already stated, there’s a very simple solution to it - be patient and don’t buy for those prices.
Ok don’t flame me for this one but, MA can’t just drop more stuff.
I agree with some of the above post about Ubbers have a potential to steer the market, as do many people with lots of cash that are trying to do it. Obviously there are many people who aren’t Ubbers, but they do have a lot of cash. So first of all many of the rich people can drop 500-3k PED in ammo a day, that alone and decay is only a dream for me. Any how by spending that much they do have a better chance at getting the bigger items. So when they spend all that resource and get an item back they wanna get the PEDs back too like the rest of us.
Throw all your economic thoughts in here and you still get one burning answer.
Don’t buy.
Seriously since they past 2 VU’s I don’t buy jack really unless a good deal comes my way. I just wait untill I get that deal. As long as someone will buy at a high price someone will be willing to sell it.
Also if MA started droping more stuff can you imagine how that would impacted the market? Just imagine if Nemesis droped to like TT+300. That would be pissing alot of people off cause they would lose 1k PED, I know I would get ticked off about that if I had a set.
1 Like
I think nobody would mind if hides, wools, iron, belkar, nexus and oil would be found or looted by a wide public regularily. Rare items should be rare as always though 
Hmmm 1000 new apartments on their way & lots of pages of apartments still for sale. I recon this manipulation of the market is having a negative effect on the game (current market prices indicate that a shelf costs about the same as the apartment).
I for one would like to see a lot of furniture/ decorations being dropped. These items shouldn’t stay rare…
there is much more than just furnature being manipulated in the auctions, pretty much anything that can be…is.
One my favorites is watching low-lifes in bidding wars for GENETIC skill implants…Ive seen 'em go for stupid prices just so they can relist them 15minutes later and try to SCAM someone into thinging they are Generics by listing them as 95+ped items.
I agree 100% with composing a list of Market Manipulators with suspected multiple accounts. There would be no sweeter justice than for then to suddenly have all their accounts locked and deleted and all their items returned to the loot pool. That would be a 100% win-win situation for MA, PE, and the players.!!!
Star has been pretty good at keeping the GSI manipulators in check…she prob has more in stock than all the manipulators combined ( I/we (team hunt) have sold my last 2 to her for lil below market price for this purpose)…when the market starts to get a lil out of control then she lists a bunch without a buyout starting 1ped…so all the manipulators loose their multiple 1 ped listing fees for the ones they have listed…thus increasing their cost and raising their panic skills Perhaps this is an option for the few honest furnature dealers here, to combine forces do something simular. 
1 Like
[QUOTE=P-J]
Phew…at least I am not being paranoid!
One solution would be for MA to increase the drops of items (more items with the PED) until it a. the speculators can’t control the market and b. reduces the cost of items to a reasonable level?
[/QUOTE]
I agree on this, drop more items (a whole lot more) so furniture will be cheaper.
And maybe more people will buy an appartement.
:beerchug:
[QUOTE=Morg]
there is much more than just furnature being manipulated in the auctions, pretty much anything that can be…is.
[/QUOTE]
Yep totally right … resellers have their eyes on all the markets these days - since it’s quite interesting in some way to follow all that, I’ve spent some time at the auction the last few days.
There are the more “honorable type”, they will only buy cheap stuff that noone else wants at that moment and will stop bidding when they notice someone else, who’s not known as a reseller, wants something.
Then there seem to be the professional “manipulators”. It appears that they’re not people trying to make a deal or two here and there but people who deposit huge ammounts of cash into the game to buy all there is of (a) certain item(s). They’re actually causing the problems.
I can only repeat what was said before: Don’t buy for artifically inflated prices, and have the money they spend on auction fees go back to the lootpool on a regular basis
[QUOTE=y2ksw]
I think nobody would mind if hides, wools, iron, belkar, nexus and oil would be found or looted by a wide public regularily. Rare items should be rare as always though
[/QUOTE]
but…that’s how it is at the moment…
[QUOTE=gurkha]
but…that’s how it is at the moment…
[/QUOTE]
I’ve been hunting today, spent 100 ped in ammo and got: 20 ped, 12 fine hide, 2 soft hide, 3 wool, 4 molisk.
Before the meteor thing i got frequently (= every day) about 60% the in peds, and 5-25% of material, thus around 80 generic hide, 20 soft and 2-10 fine, and tons of wool. As other players too.
I think a hunter with a medium of 2500 hunting skills (rifle, blp, ecc) should get a bit more.
MA’s reply to my case:
Hi! Thanks for reporting. Unfortunately we cannot find sufficient evidence to prove that these accounts are actually run by the same person. Therefore, we cannot do much about this right now. PE is supposed to be a free market and we do try to interfer as little as possible. It is not likely that one person can attain the monopoly on all furniture items and therethrough ruining the market. However, we will keep the auction under close observation and if we can prove any illegal activities we will take the necessary steps.
*** snip ***
I will gather data tonight, and post it here. I’ll let YOU decide whether my findings are too vague…
eyes the withdraw button
[QUOTE=ViagraFalls]
I will gather data tonight
[/QUOTE]
Will not sell my stash of snarg loot tonight then… 
I really wanted to buy a focus chip, ANY focus chip after the new VU came out, but people posted them with no buyouts so they could see what the price went to, the buyers bid them up beyond reasonable and now they are re-posted at TT+90 for a minor chip, i will fight back by not purchasing any focus chips until the price becomes reasonable again… (praying for a focus chip drop!)
its good soem furniture and lamps can be crafted now, even a noob can craft his own chair and lamp now.
manipulation is normal and its naive to think u can deal with it easily;
- the offering of goods and items is limited and not depending on price/demand, if prices on molisk rise, molisk wont drop more. (if that woudl be the case MA would be influencing) what it should do is like Falls said, atract more peopel too hunt that animal. Molisk price is now over 1000%, that means u can economically profit from huting molisk, and there for maybe influence price. But it will be al long hutn till u break the buyer behind it.
But the crafter using molisk buttons is lazy too, why doesnt he go out, and shoot them ? its a not all balck &wide - Poeple in game have more cash then u might suggest, someoen earlir said, 20 uber traders, well thats a shitload of peds too control market, closer to a few million ped then a 100 k
- check refinend enmatters: nowhere else manipultion is more clear.
- check mkII prices, i sold one for tt +80 last night, and it aint the noobs movign on too MKII yet, they aint that far. Its traders stockign up for prices aroun tt+100 - 120. i failry admitt, i also bought my mk Ii for cheaper.
- try sellign yoru stuff to traders u know that sell fair, or contact crafters direcly, there are often posts fpr crafters askign steady supplu at reasonable price.
6, the market just aint free, its fun to see how GSI market is goign donw and will completely crash soon. Soc mate looted 5 in 1 hunt, and every nobo who deposits gets in the first loots aftehr deposit, think most of us knwo that , first deposit GSI. Problem is, if u big player and buyer of GSI , u wont loose: u ll buy 80 more of them when prices hit bottom, keep the currnt ones in stock and wait till prices go up and make more profit, leadign to point 7 - MONEY MAKES MONEY, liek real life rich get richer, poor deposit. me personally, i gave up depositing my ass off, u can find me or here me as trader these days, altough every profit goes in ammo as quicky as possible hehe