Revert Back To Old Source ITCG Crafting

I don't think the solution is as "simple" as increasing the drop rates of these new ITCG items from gacha. If increasing supply was the most appropriate solution, as @StaticShock mentioned, WS/CS prices would not have continued rise despite the rates being increased. In case you didn't know since I don't think you play anyway, @Matt, WS are at around 420 (cheapest in FM stores right now is 433m), while CS are at 470-490 (cheapest in FM stores right now is 485m). That's notably upwards of 150% of old source prices, even despite the meso-hacking saga that occurred about a month or so back. So quite evidently, it's not just about the supply of these items from gacha, but rather in my personal opinion, attributed more to the reasons below.

1. Increasing affluence of the server in general
With the cash shop only coming into function after ~4 months (April 19) after the new source was implemented, players had plenty of time to save up mesos and anticipate the return of gacha to purchase WS/CS/other valuable items, and relating to this thread, the ITCG items. There was a momentary dip in prices just after gacha came out (WS dropped to around 280m if I remember correctly), but from there, it has been an uncontrollable upward spiral because of the immense amount of mesos everyone has. The fewer amount of meso sinks available (e.g. HT, onyx apples, hair coupons plz) has not helped either.

2. Increased demand for end-game items
Given point 1, more and more players are working towards their end-game items, which again, include the highly sought after WS/CS/ITCG items (e.g. Crystal Ilbis, Facestompers, SCGs > Naricain Jewels, Taru Totems etc.). The increased demand has, as @GodlyBread stated, made SCGs and FSes experience a ~200-300% increase in prices.

3. Over-diversification of ITCG items from gacha
While I appreciate that more players are gacha-ing at different places now (e.g. Henesys, Perion, CBD), as compared to old source where the 3 main places were NLC, Shrine, and Kerning, and we are seeing a larger variety of items on the market (perfect Dragon Shiner Bows, BWGs, Ele Wand 7s) the drops are really not as enticing (especially for new players who are looking to make quick cash) as desired to promote the introduction of the ITCG items into the server. Everyday, there would be people smega-ing to buy Naricain Jewels, Subani Ankhs, etc., but there are far fewer sellers.

So while in economics terms, increasing the supply of these items would logically lead to a reduction of prices, in this case, it would hardly have any effect, at least in the foreseeable short to middle-term, mainly because demand and purchasing power now has increased drastically. Not to mention, the advent of new players joining, and creating bishops to sell leech, have only escalated the issue (fyi, low level leech prices have also increased by about 20%, amongst a multitude of other things, but I try my best to stay on topic).

With that said, I think a more plausible solution could be, not only to increase drop rates, but to encourage players to actually go and gacha these items. Perhaps this could be done by changing the item drop locations to mirror that of old source slightly more? For an example, since BVMs (used in the old SCGs, CIlbis, FS) were attainable from NLC previously, maybe Taru Totems or Naricain Jewels could be moved there as well. Of course, congregating too many items into the same gacha will defeat the purpose of new source's diversification, so maybe just one or two items would be a good limit. There will also not be a need to revert entirely to the old crafting system, since an NPC exchange was not the objective. This, together with higher rates, could help to bring more ITCG items into the market, and potentially WS/CS too, depending on the location that they are added to. I'm not sure how feasible it is from the coding perspective though, but it's just my two cents worth, and I hope it is useful feedback.

I've only played this server for slightly more than a year, and I might not be seeing the whole picture and long-term effects, so please forgive and enlighten me where I've made unreasonable assumptions or oversights. But I believe that when the players (especially those who have been around long enough) bring up issues of concern (cue FM button, ~bosshp, the like), and go one step further to propose possible solutions or generate constructive discussion, they should be treated a little more seriously, instead of being curtly dismissed with an alternative that has proved insufficient and ineffective in another similar instance already, what more from someone who, correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't even play the game anymore.

This has been going on for months now, and we can't keep saying "Let's wait for full functionality", "Let's give it a chance, I'm sure it will be like back when smegas were removed from monster drops", or "Once you get used to it, it'll be like it was never there in the first place". We have played the game through much of the implementation of the new source, and we are voicing out our concerns from the ground. Realistically, I don't think we can "wait" to solve this problem anymore. Yes, you are the owner. Yes, it is your vision to recreate the nostalgia (and we're all truly grateful for that). Yes, the power to make decisions lies with you. But ultimately, who are you making these decisions for? Your loyal player-base? Or for your own gratification? Paternalistic governance hasn't always been the most appropriate path to take, and in this case, I feel it isn't, as we the players (and I'd go as far as to say major stakeholders in the game) are experiencing the full effects of the now-turbulent economy. Everyday, the real value of our time and money (mesos) is depreciating and it's frankly quite worrying.

 

Perhaps this is a bit off topic, but have you guys also discussed about nx drop from boss? With new and more ingredients needed among several other gachapons, more nexon is needed; however we are still stucked with the 8k nx income daily. I used to gacha daily with my 8k from voting + what I used to get from zak/ ht and are bosses. Part of the inflation is, I feel, that the need for nx is higher but the income of nx insufficient.

Best

 

You need to also look at other items from Gachapon and not just the 'jackpot' items.

Earring INT 30% is now selling easily at 45m, while in old source it was 30m.
Claw Att 30% is now 40m.
Shield Magic Att 70% is now 50m (wtf is this?).

Increasing the rates of certain Gachapon items won't have a significant impact on the economy (looking at CS/WS prices even after rates got 'buffed'). The best method to fix the economy, even if it will take more effort from the staff, is to revert back to old source ITCG crafting.

 

I'm sorry you don't understand that I do understand and that you don't understand the problems of your own server. I'll just sit by and watch this market burn while everyone here tries to help fix it including the staff but nothing changes...

 

When lord js spoken =O

 

I reread your replies to this thread and I'm just wondering its "impossible" and "not feasible"?

From what I read it seems like you just gave a alternate solution to this, which was to buff the rates from gachapon.

In my opinion I would think it would be more than "feasible" revert back because it'll generate way more sought out items to the economy to fight inflation. With the re-implementation of Horntail, doesn't that mean the demand for these items will only increase? Supply =/= Demand and it'll only get worse as time passes. In the old source, there was constantly enough supply of ws/cs/itcg equips to meet the demand of the buyers hence, the prices didn't fluctuate much overtime. I know prices should fluctuate over time in a free market but, prices being 2.5x of what it was once was is quite ridiculous.

Why is it "impossible"? (you didn't state why so I was wondering)

The only reason I can think of is that it would be tedious to exchange back the new itcg items for "x" amount of mesos or etc. Why not just evaluate the market and decide a good amount?

This. Action needs to be taken before the the inflation gets worse, day by day.

 

So that means for me, a noob in maple and economics, that I should save my nx and spend it in gacha tickets once the changes are out, right? I'm selling ap resets atm, it isnt bad money, but not nearly enough to fund my corsair in the near future =S

 

Maybe making a npc for manual exchange for mesos rather than automatically swapping/exchanging the itcg etc for mesos? Would that make it more feasible?

Glad to hear that there has been some internal discussion about this issue and that it'll be taken care of soon. Hopefully the suggested counter solution works out. You also have to take in account that the server has been well established for 4 years so mesos will come easier, and players would want to strive for more. You know the saying that "a dollar years back is not worth the same as a dollar today", this is a prime example of this.

Here's a prime example of a new player that's probably struggling/confused on what to do next. My point is that it was quite different if you started Royals a year back vs. now, everything is inflated like crazy. Kind of like if living expenses were to increase, but wages did not. The point is you have to do way more to achieve the same results than before.

 

Many common farming/leeching spots already have lower spawns compared to old source, so I'm pretty sure equip droprate is not a significant factor for the inflation.

(Spawns for some farming spots were buffed a few months into new source, but still weren't anything close to old source spawns. You pretty much gain the same amount of mesos in old source and new source from equips).

 

Why you even bothering? He understands just can't accept the fact you told him no.