Your thoughts?

[jachovie]

I've long thought they should add stock markets into mmo's. I'm curious as to your thoughts on if you guys think it would be a positive thing in game.

The basic idea is to have the market fluctuations affect things such as AH posting costs, how much you get for selling greys. Things like that. And allow people to play with their money in the market rather than just sit on it with it in the bank.

Make the companies affected by the players. For instance a republic weapons company will move up a bit for every x number of trooper classes created. For every x number of troopers killed in pvp it goes down. Every time a trooper gets x number of kills it moves up. Make various world pvp objectives. Let the opposing side try to destroy a weapons factory and if they're successful, it drops the stock.

The hard part would be balancing the market so it fluctuates properly and doesn't just always go up or always go down. But personally I feel it would make world pvp a little more interesting if I knew what I did could affect the opposing factions pocketbook. Make repeatable quests for affecting certain companies. Things like that.

The issue would arise of what if it's a very one-sided server? My thought is, if one side has a terrible market compared to their couterpart, give them a % boost to pvp dmg. Give them help in making a come-back.

Too much work for too little pay off? or does this seem like something you feel would be plausible and fun? Terrible idea? Let me know

[Gurges-Ahter]

It sounds like an interesting idea, but maybe not something I'd want to spend time on while playing a Star Wars game. For me it's all about the lore, so I'd ignore that part of it. It might make a great game of it's own though.

[Snarils]

As long as the Empire doesn't save any failing banks.

[Deft Aklin]

Honestly, if it's anything like WoW, the AH pricing fluctuates throughout the day. You can literally buy up a ton of things underpriced and sell it all at a killing during prime time. The fluctuations are already there, just not in the artificial sense you're looking for. I made all of my characters gold playing the AH for profit. All hail Auctioneer...

[ChAiNz.2da]

Originally Posted by Deft Aklin

Honestly, if it's anything like WoW, the AH pricing fluctuates throughout the day. You can literally buy up a ton of things underpriced and sell it all at a killing during prime time. The fluctuations are already there, just not in the artificial sense you're looking for. I made all of my characters gold playing the AH for profit. All hail Auctioneer...

Seriously

The first thing I expect to get "broken" in ToR is the AH economy. Happens to every single MMO I've ever played.

Not sure about WoW.. but DDO's AH economy was so outrageous, half the reason DDO went free-to-play and introduced micro-transactions was to counteract the plat farmers. Guess they noticed that people were paying real money (often more than their subscriptions) for mundane consumables/ingredients. Offering it via micro-transaction was cheaper (and better stats) for the players that normally bought them (illegally).. and were now made legal to buy to tempt the "good-guys".

Saved DDO's life honestly. New cash flow, plus tons of new subscribers since there was no price associated to playing other than a few optional perks (extra character slots, bank space, etc.) to the more grinding stuff (basic ingredients, consumables & crafting).

All of that restructuring because of the in-game Auction House Economics.. hehehe.

[Darth Avlectus]

No. Not in a game with so many variables. Maybe a cyclical game like Saints Row or Grand Theft Auto.

Now I do believe there ought to be things like where one event has happened it ought ot affect price and availability everywhere else--which looks like it's the MO of this game.

I know in older games they had conditionals where what you did in one area of the game affects another area.

I.E. the first game I know of to actively incorporate a cyclical conditional element affecting gameplay was CastleVania 2. Day and night: Daytime people were out to talk to, you could enter buildings, enemies outside were at normal vitality. Nighttime nobody was out (except the ferry man and the ghosts of friends provided you have the ability to see them), undead now occupy towns so you aren't any safer from enemies, you can't enter buildings (like a church to heal from wounds), enemies are now at double vitality.

Or how instead of a constant cycle, it's a matter of what affects what, I.E. MegaMan X where if, say, you beat Storm Eagle at some point before you go after Spark Mandrill, you will notice the power plant stage where the latter resides is now a bit wrecked and less than fully functional. That is because the ship of the former crashed once you killed him resulting in autopilot failure.

So basically, I understand the whole idea what you're getting at, OP, but I already think there is enough conditional programming to affect parameters of gameplay. Besides as other pointed out already, the market functions of other games ends up not being functional or enforceable.

[Zakhodit]

Careful what you wish for, you may just get it.

The problem with creating such a feature is it would require a lot of work on the developer's side to make something that, honestly, most of the playerbase will never use.

For example: Holochess.

Wouldn't it be great to have Holochess on your ship? Seems like a simple thing to add right? Nope. Lets throw out that they have to come up with some actual rules for holochess. (and before you link something from the interwebz, we must ask: Who made those rules and who has the rights to them?) Using good old chess, what engine to you use for single player? Chessmaster? Deep Blue? Do they write it themselves?

I know some people already want more ships. Well, do they hire more designers to draw the aliens for the chess game or do they design more ships? What about playing with others? How do you get them on your ship to do so? Can you play games with others via some sort of interlink? Maybe a server full of chess moves sent back to each other?

The list goes on and this is not as complex as the stock market suggested by the OP.

A game developer has to prioritize what aspects of the game they will focus on. Almost all AHs in MMOs are not on the top of that list. Thus they are simple, and usually easily exploited. And I don't care. I'd rather the Dev's focus on the character classes and ensure they function well rather than the AH.

Everything on an Auction House was put there by a player. It didn't grow there. Don't buy another man's fish. Learn to fish and sell them to those who don't know how. If you really want to geek out in the world of buy and sell, I suggest Ameritrade. It has the same monthy fee as any MMO, but the rewards and risks are much higher.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by Zakhodit

Careful what you wish for, you may just get it.

The problem with creating such a feature is it would require a lot of work on the developer's side to make something that, honestly, most of the playerbase will never use.

For example: Holochess.

Wouldn't it be great to have Holochess on your ship? Seems like a simple thing to add right? Nope. Lets throw out that they have to come up with some actual rules for holochess. (and before you link something from the interwebz, we must ask: Who made those rules and who has the rights to them?) Using good old chess, what engine to you use for single player? Chessmaster? Deep Blue? Do they write it themselves?

If not Holochess then Pazaak would be nice. (But seriously it baffles me that that isn't in the game)

[RoxStar]

Originally Posted by Jeff

If not Holochess then Pazaak would be nice. (But seriously it baffles me that that isn't in the game)

Pazaa is right up there with Rakghouls and plot twists for the Kotor universe for me

[Jae Onasi]

I follow the stock market every day, mostly so I know when to buy gas (if the price per barrel of oil goes up, I gas up that night, because I know the very next day that the gas stations are going to raise gas prices). Stock markets are depressing enough these days. I don't want it in my gaming, too.

That being said, if I see good prices on the AH, I buy low, sell high, make lots of gold.

[Droma Nise]

Originally Posted by jachovie

I've long thought they should add stock markets into mmo's. I'm curious as to your thoughts on if you guys think it would be a positive thing in game.

The basic idea is to have the market fluctuations affect things such as AH posting costs, how much you get for selling greys. Things like that. And allow people to play with their money in the market rather than just sit on it with it in the bank.

Make the companies affected by the players. For instance a republic weapons company will move up a bit for every x number of trooper classes created. For every x number of troopers killed in pvp it goes down. Every time a trooper gets x number of kills it moves up. Make various world pvp objectives. Let the opposing side try to destroy a weapons factory and if they're successful, it drops the stock.

The hard part would be balancing the market so it fluctuates properly and doesn't just always go up or always go down. But personally I feel it would make world pvp a little more interesting if I knew what I did could affect the opposing factions pocketbook. Make repeatable quests for affecting certain companies. Things like that.

The issue would arise of what if it's a very one-sided server? My thought is, if one side has a terrible market compared to their couterpart, give them a % boost to pvp dmg. Give them help in making a come-back.

Too much work for too little pay off? or does this seem like something you feel would be plausible and fun? Terrible idea? Let me know

I think something like that would work more along the lines of the Smugglers class, after all it what they do and such needed items in a stock market feature would tend to create a foundation for the aspect of that class.

[Hallucination]

Originally Posted by Droma Nise

I think something like that would work more along the lines of the Smugglers class, after all it what they do and such needed items in a stock market feature would tend to create a foundation for the aspect of that class.

I don't think gunrunners and drug dealers do much investing in companies that have to publicly release quarterly statements. . .

[Droma Nise]

Originally Posted by Hallucination

I don't think gunrunners and drug dealers do much investing in companies that have to publicly release quarterly statements. . .

But a Planet that blockade may need the product, tus that where the smuggler comes in.

[Hallucination]

I don't think you know what a stock market is.

[Lynk Former]

Someone is confusing the stock market for the black market.

[Hallucination]

Originally Posted by Lynk Former

Someone is confusing the stock market for the black market.

These days neither are held in high esteem.

[Ascended_Mike]

I like stockings?

[Jae Onasi]

Originally Posted by Hallucination

These days neither are held in high esteem.

I think they're nearly one and the same these days.

The devs are working on the economy and AH features for the game. There are going to be ups and downs in the economy--that's normal. I expect that, especially at release when no one knows what's good or not for their characters.

[Deft Aklin]

Originally Posted by Jae Onasi

I think they're nearly one and the same these days.

The devs are working on the economy and AH features for the game. There are going to be ups and downs in the economy--that's normal. I expect that, especially at release when no one knows what's good or not for their characters.

That's what backpacks and banks are for... lol