General Discussion

There's a disagreement in this thread: mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/182960

Concerning which type of economy is generally preferred by crafters.  I know not everyone is the same, but I'm hoping to get a feeling of the general sentiment here.  So here are your choices:

1.  A free market economy where you set your own prices and sell things directly to other players.  You might have tools such as player vendors or an auction house to assist you in finding customers, but you only sell things when someone wants to buy them.  You attempt to find a niche in the market and sell items and services needed by other players.  Supply and demand determines the value of things, and it's possible to make money speculating on prices.  The game would be designed with interdependence in mind to encourage trade.  On the downside, it's possible to be scammed or lose money on a bad investment.  There are ups and downs in the economy and price fluctuations which can either work to your benefit or detriment.

2.  A planned economy where the devs set the prices before the game launches based on predictions about the time and effort it will take to make various items.  You sell you items to NPC merchants at the given price regardless of supply and demand.  Other players can then buy those items, again at a set price.  The game would be designed to let everyone make money doing what they enjoy without risking anything or having to interact with anyone.  Your income is constant.  There is no way to fail or directly lose money, but no way to win big either. 

Apologies if I didn't do justice to one or the other in my descriptions of them, but hopefully that gives you the general idea. 

free market all the way babeh :)

I want 95% of all items in-game to be manufactured by players and players alone. And no simplistic AH system.

It generates a lot of in-game depth and other ways to profit, besides the more standard ones.

I really don't understand how anyone could like a pre-made in-game market.  Of course thats just how I feel, and doesn't make it the "truth" in any way.

I played EVE and loved the market, completley player driven in every way.  with no teleporting it actually opened a way for players to buy-low sell-high... not just when they find some newbie selling something way too low.  Back in my day with some help from my corp in the form of BPCs i was able to run the cruisemissle/torpedo market in caldari space for almost a month.  trying to keep up with demand and keep costs low... it was the most fun i've had crafting in any game.

I love crafting in every game, and even though I liked EVE's most I still enjoy completely diffrent systems.  But thats just my personal view, I'm not trying to bash more ridged in game markets.

anything other than a free market is not a real ecconomy.

swg's economy before it got destroyed.

Hmm, do I like the economy that depends on player interaction, or the one that is completely void of player interaction.  Wait, what genre is this again?  It's a damn MMORPG FFS.  Player interaction is crucial.

Both.

By that, I mean that there should be some sort of way to sell goods on the open market, but also some way you can sell goods to an NPC wholesaler at a baseline minimum price.

It's what EVE does, and what Everquest II used to do.  That way, crafters of all different skill levels can craft for cash.

I favor a system similiar to swg pre-cu with the additional possibility for top elite mobs to drop better then crafted loot (or equivalent to top crafter loot), albeit at a very low drop rate.  Also, no bind on pickup/notrade/whatever you want to call it.  There is no economy with bind on pickup.  If I'm a mage and I find the super duper sword of mass pwnage, I should be able to trade that very rare item for the super duper staff of mass damage.  You get my drift...

Originally posted by Beatnik59

...but also some way you can sell goods to an NPC wholesaler at a baseline minimum price.

Gotta disagree with this.  Vehemently.  Junk Loot vendors do nothing but inflate the economy.  They're a huge faucet of cash that only works one way.  They suck.

#1. No looted ready-to-use items whatsoever, only crafting materials or, at most, pieces of equipment that must be assembled by crafters.