Inflation
Ever since I started participating (read: dying horribly) in Garrison, I've wanted a Military Pick.
That is one sweet axe. It's got great damage and has +1 accuracy.
This would make a great weapon for my usual duty shifts in Yhoator.
Also, I really want to get one and shove it through the face of one of those damned Garrison NPCs.
A goblin needs goals, you know.
Anyway, these axes don't come cheap and, as it doesn't look like I'm going to be winning one in Garrison any time soon, I decided I'd just have to buy one.
I saved and saved and saved. I looted every adventurer's corpse. I sold everything I (read: Pathfinder) had.
Finally, after almost a month, I was able to save up enough to buy the axe.
I was practically giddy.
Clutching my wallet, I ran to the nearest Auction House to buy one.
I look through the Auction House listings...
What the hell?
The axe that cost 300,000 gil last week is now well over 400,000.
400,000.
Why would people suddenly start raising the price of an item until it's practically unbuyable?
I mean, I respect the cruelty required for such an act, but even I think that's cold.
Hmmm... Maybe it's time to educate a few people about economics.
I found the name of the guy who started jacking up the price in the first place. Then, I called a few Beastmen friends to keep an eye out for him.
It took a few hours, but one of my Goblin friends spotted him leveling in Yuhtunga.
Perfect.
I hopped on the first Airship and was off to Yuhtunga.
I stepped into the jungle quietly.
Shhhhhh. Be vewwy, vewwy quiet. We're hunting fo' wetards.
There he was, a Hume warrior.
Doing that to your own people. That's just wrong.
I snuck up on him and his entire party. As soon as he went out to pull another Mandragora, I went to work.
The White Mage went first. Then, the Black Mage. After that, the rest fell in a few seconds.
Then, it was just me and him.
He ran back, an angry Mandy in tow, only to find his entire party dead.
The look on his face was priceless.
The Mandy was just about to kill him, when I waved him off. He didn't look too happy about it, but there's not much a walking flower can do to a Goblin with a sword.
Warrior>> Uhh...
Warrior>> Thanks...
GoblinSmithy>> Don't mention it.
GoblinSmithy>> Did you happen to sell a Military pick recently?
Warrior>> Yeah... A few days ago.
Warrior>> Why do you ask?
GoblinSmithy>> I was just wondering why you'd raise the price.
Warrior>> Well, there were none for sale at the time.
Warrior>> I knew someone would want it, so I put it up for more.
GoblinSmithy>> Do you really think it's fair to do that?
GoblinSmithy>> To just raise the price because people want it?
GoblinSmithy>> Do you?
Warrior>> If people want it bad enough, they'll pay for it.
GoblinSmithy>> True, true.
GoblinSmithy>> I just had one more question.
Warrior>> Sure.
Warrior>> What?
GoblinSmithy>> How much would you pay for your spine?
Warrior>> I don't know what you mean.
That's when I stabbed him.
And stabbed him.
And stabbed him.
Now, some of you probably think I stabbed him to death, but no.
The idea crossed my mind, but no.
GoblinSmithy>> Now...
GoblinSmithy>> What's it worth to you?
Warrior>> Guh...
Warrior>> What's what worth?
GoblinSmithy>> Your life.
GoblinSmithy>> What will you pay for me not to kill you?
Warrior>> You can't do that.
GoblinSmithy>> Are you sure?
Stab, stab, stab.
GoblinSmithy>> Those holes in your chest would seem to disagree.
Goblinsmithy>> And I think the blood loss speaks for itself.
Warrior>> Okay, okay!
Warrior>> How much do you want?
GoblinSmithy>> 300,000 gil.
Warrior>> WHAT?!
Warrior>> 300,000 gil?!
GoblinSmithy>> Well I could just go back to stabbing...
Warrior>> NO! NO!
Warrior>> I'll pay!
GoblinSmithy>> Oh, I'm sorry.
GoblinSmithy>> It's 320,000 now.
Warrior>> That's ridiculous!
GoblinSmithy>> Well, it's the only life you have.
GoblinSmithy>> I figure you'd pay more.
GoblinSmithy>> If you really wanted it.
Warrior>> ...
Warrior>> Fine.
GoblinSmithy>> Whoops.
Goblinsmithy>> It's 340,000 now.
Warrior>> OH COME ON!!!
That went on for about another twenty minutes. Eventually, I got him up to 450,000 gil and he told me that was all he had.
I kindly took the money.
I then unkindly stabbed him in the neck.
In the end, I think he learned a valuable lesson. Something like "a penny saved is a penny earned".
Or "if you act like a prick and jack up prices for no reason, someone will find you and stab you in the neck".
That's a good lesson to learn.
That is one sweet axe. It's got great damage and has +1 accuracy.
This would make a great weapon for my usual duty shifts in Yhoator.
Also, I really want to get one and shove it through the face of one of those damned Garrison NPCs.
A goblin needs goals, you know.
Anyway, these axes don't come cheap and, as it doesn't look like I'm going to be winning one in Garrison any time soon, I decided I'd just have to buy one.
I saved and saved and saved. I looted every adventurer's corpse. I sold everything I (read: Pathfinder) had.
Finally, after almost a month, I was able to save up enough to buy the axe.
I was practically giddy.
Clutching my wallet, I ran to the nearest Auction House to buy one.
I look through the Auction House listings...
What the hell?
The axe that cost 300,000 gil last week is now well over 400,000.
400,000.
Why would people suddenly start raising the price of an item until it's practically unbuyable?
I mean, I respect the cruelty required for such an act, but even I think that's cold.
Hmmm... Maybe it's time to educate a few people about economics.
I found the name of the guy who started jacking up the price in the first place. Then, I called a few Beastmen friends to keep an eye out for him.
It took a few hours, but one of my Goblin friends spotted him leveling in Yuhtunga.
Perfect.
I hopped on the first Airship and was off to Yuhtunga.
I stepped into the jungle quietly.
Shhhhhh. Be vewwy, vewwy quiet. We're hunting fo' wetards.
There he was, a Hume warrior.
Doing that to your own people. That's just wrong.
I snuck up on him and his entire party. As soon as he went out to pull another Mandragora, I went to work.
The White Mage went first. Then, the Black Mage. After that, the rest fell in a few seconds.
Then, it was just me and him.
He ran back, an angry Mandy in tow, only to find his entire party dead.
The look on his face was priceless.
The Mandy was just about to kill him, when I waved him off. He didn't look too happy about it, but there's not much a walking flower can do to a Goblin with a sword.
Warrior>> Uhh...
Warrior>> Thanks...
GoblinSmithy>> Don't mention it.
GoblinSmithy>> Did you happen to sell a Military pick recently?
Warrior>> Yeah... A few days ago.
Warrior>> Why do you ask?
GoblinSmithy>> I was just wondering why you'd raise the price.
Warrior>> Well, there were none for sale at the time.
Warrior>> I knew someone would want it, so I put it up for more.
GoblinSmithy>> Do you really think it's fair to do that?
GoblinSmithy>> To just raise the price because people want it?
GoblinSmithy>> Do you?
Warrior>> If people want it bad enough, they'll pay for it.
GoblinSmithy>> True, true.
GoblinSmithy>> I just had one more question.
Warrior>> Sure.
Warrior>> What?
GoblinSmithy>> How much would you pay for your spine?
Warrior>> I don't know what you mean.
That's when I stabbed him.
And stabbed him.
And stabbed him.
Now, some of you probably think I stabbed him to death, but no.
The idea crossed my mind, but no.
GoblinSmithy>> Now...
GoblinSmithy>> What's it worth to you?
Warrior>> Guh...
Warrior>> What's what worth?
GoblinSmithy>> Your life.
GoblinSmithy>> What will you pay for me not to kill you?
Warrior>> You can't do that.
GoblinSmithy>> Are you sure?
Stab, stab, stab.
GoblinSmithy>> Those holes in your chest would seem to disagree.
Goblinsmithy>> And I think the blood loss speaks for itself.
Warrior>> Okay, okay!
Warrior>> How much do you want?
GoblinSmithy>> 300,000 gil.
Warrior>> WHAT?!
Warrior>> 300,000 gil?!
GoblinSmithy>> Well I could just go back to stabbing...
Warrior>> NO! NO!
Warrior>> I'll pay!
GoblinSmithy>> Oh, I'm sorry.
GoblinSmithy>> It's 320,000 now.
Warrior>> That's ridiculous!
GoblinSmithy>> Well, it's the only life you have.
GoblinSmithy>> I figure you'd pay more.
GoblinSmithy>> If you really wanted it.
Warrior>> ...
Warrior>> Fine.
GoblinSmithy>> Whoops.
Goblinsmithy>> It's 340,000 now.
Warrior>> OH COME ON!!!
That went on for about another twenty minutes. Eventually, I got him up to 450,000 gil and he told me that was all he had.
I kindly took the money.
I then unkindly stabbed him in the neck.
In the end, I think he learned a valuable lesson. Something like "a penny saved is a penny earned".
Or "if you act like a prick and jack up prices for no reason, someone will find you and stab you in the neck".
That's a good lesson to learn.
posted by Goblin Smithy at 7:48 PM
17 Comments:
Woot first!
now if you could only stab the people raising all the chocobo raising item's prices <.<
LOL
People who inflate the prices really deserve to be strangulated with their own organs.
Not only it's one hell of a selfish act, but you can bet they'll be the firsts to complain because the price of something they want to buy went up twofold in a week.
at least you got the pick right?
Yeah, he got the pick. He paid 400k for it.
Sorry, if there isn't any for sale and I have one to sell, the price I set will always be more expensive.
... and that's where the gil-buying comes in.
We could function as a relatively normal marketplace -- Supply & Demand and all of that. If someone sets a price so high that nobody will pay it, the price will have to come down... until people buy game money & the game money really loses its in-game value... and the rest of us get screwed.
Sure -- I could buy enough gil to get a Noble's Tunic (now down to 7.5 million or so on Ifrit) -- but that would just be wrong. I'll keep slaving away, killing BCNM40 worms until I have enough gil. By that time, the Noble's should drop a couple million more. *crosses fingers*
Oh -- and thank you, Mr Goblin Smithy, Sir. Your tales amuse me greatly. ^^
Wow, you should try that more often. Nice way to make cash.
...and next thing we'll know is you'll start hunting down undercutters when you won't be able to sell back the axe anything over 200k.
I'm pretty sure "But there was a dozen others for sale..." won't cut it for you.
oh yeah. I feel your pain. I needed Thief Kote:14K across the board except for one at the end for 100K. I waited two weeks for the price to drop but after having Maat slaughter me unmercifully a few times I paid 90K in hopes it would ease my pain. That old geezer still resisted my stealing efforts and now I have the shame of paying that much over what was the going rate. These things alway seem to work against our needs. I like your idea. I think I'll find that seller, do a nice sneak attack-trick attack-hide and rob him blind. I even have a gobbie mask on hand so I can blame you for the crime if the need arrises. Fun times await!
Supply and Demand is irrelevant and is not applicable to this game.
Throat stabbings, however, are always relevant and every AH whore (whether seller or buyer) needs one.
Shayde said...
... and that's where the gil-buying comes in.
We could function as a relatively normal marketplace -- Supply & Demand and all of that. If someone sets a price so high that nobody will pay it, the price will have to come down... until people buy game money & the game money really loses its in-game value... and the rest of us get screwed.
Sure -- I could buy enough gil to get a Noble's Tunic (now down to 7.5 million or so on Ifrit) -- but that would just be wrong. I'll keep slaving away, killing BCNM40 worms until I have enough gil. By that time, the Noble's should drop a couple million more. *crosses fingers*
Oh -- and thank you, Mr Goblin Smithy, Sir. Your tales amuse me greatly. ^^
Nobles will never go down. one of the main ingrediants for it is shining cloth, which is 2-5 million gil. You also need 90+ clothcraft, which is expensive to get to. Overall, if the price goes down, shining cloth would have to be easily obtainable, wyich it is not since only hnm drop, and ones that can 1 shot people.
Um... yeah, still thinking supply & demand applies to FFXI. Things that are in abundant supply sell for very little, especially if there's not much demand for them. Things that are rare, in demand, and hard to obtain become more expensive -- that whole "charge whatever the market will bear" thing. You can't really escape from real-world economics when you have an open marketplace within the game.
As for the Noble's... I'm not expecting it to become widely affordable. However, the price has dropped by over 50% since the widespread gil-seller banning. They used to be 16 million each -- now they're under 8 million. Once gil became a little harder to obtain, people weren't able to throw it around with such wild abandon. Mild abandon, perhaps...
"Shhhhhh. Be vewwy, vewwy quiet. We're hunting fo' wetards."
Guybrush Threepwood reference!!! Instant win!!!
Here's a thought.
Treat all those items that are "big ticket" items, and vary greatly in price (SH, Haubergeon, etc.) as if they were R/ex after you buy them.
This is why the cursed gear is such a brilliant idea--not only are the stats great, but their value is determined by their utility to whoever has them, not by some abstract number in the price history on the AH.
Noone holds a gun to your head telling you to buy items, if the price is too much for you, dont buy it.....
.......I surely hope the word "Gimp" never leaves your mouth then.
Smithy got cranky and stabbed an idiot, sounds like normal smithy behevior. Smithy then went on to blackmailing the same idiot, also reasonable smithy behavior. Then people started a discussion about suply and demand, again, reasonable... NO, WAIT! NOT REASONABLE!
Read the funny story, laugh. If you then want to talk about whether supply and demand is applicable to FFXI you can go do that on lolallakhazam or something like that. Geeez...
Oh by the way, good read. Did Smithy enjoy that pick? >.>
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