Tinfoil hat time . . .

[Ape_Man]

Everyone should love a good conspiracy theory . . . here the one I just thought of while taking a dump . . .

- Turbine wants to setup a cash AH to fleece the players.

- For years the currency of choice was Flawless Reds

- Turbine Release EGH (for "free") which has black-scale armor which is easier to obtain by an order of magnitude and better armor.

- Value of Reds plummets. They simple aren't worth as much any more as better armor is available and is esier to get.

- The player base needs a new "currency." Plat's been "worthless" for years and when EE GH items start trading for 20 reds each it's clear they're now wortless.

- ASAH release in the next patch with a currency obtainable by cash and a 30% tax.

Dr. Evil would be proud, why make trillions when you can make billions?

[AZgreentea]

Everyone should love a good conspiracy theory . .

- Turbine wants to setup a cash AH to fleece the players.

Ah, classic. All good conspiracy theories are based on:

An informal fallacy is an error in reasoning that does not originate in improper logical form. Arguments committing informal fallacies may be formally valid, but still fallacious. An error that stems from a poor logical form is sometimes called formal fallacy or simply an invalid argument.

Fallacies of presumption fail to prove the conclusion by assuming the conclusion in the proof. Fallacies of weak inference fail to prove the conclusion with insufficient evidence. Fallacies of distraction fail to prove the conclusion with irrelevant evidence, like emotion. Fallacies of ambiguity fail to prove the conclusion due to vagueness in words, phrases, or grammar.

[dpadan17]

Ummm you're doing it wrong. The stuff is supposed to come out the other end when you are in the John.

But seriously. Good thoughts.

[gradeyshane]

Hmmm I think you are on to something there...like ONE MIIIIIILLLION DOLLARS! <:-)

[Gkar]

Do you think Turbine execs actually understand that game and the game economy that well? We've never had any evidence that they are aware of what happens in game before.

[fco-karatekid]

Do you think Turbine execs actually understand that game and the game economy that well? We've never had any evidence that they are aware of what happens in game before.

Rofl +1

[Krelar]

Everyone should love a good conspiracy theory . . .

This seems appropriate...

I like the conspiracy theories, though, so keep those up!

[Ape_Man]

Do you think Turbine execs actually understand that game and the game economy that well? We've never had any evidence that they are aware of what happens in game before.

The tinfoil keeps out the logic.

[HalfORCastrator]

Everyone should love a good conspiracy theory . . . here the one I just thought of while taking a dump . . .

- Turbine wants to setup a cash AH to fleece the players.

- For years the currency of choice was Flawless Reds

- Turbine Release EGH (for "free") which has black-scale armor which is easier to obtain by an order of magnitude and better armor.

- Value of Reds plummets. They simple aren't worth as much any more as better armor is available and is esier to get.

- The player base needs a new "currency." Plat's been "worthless" for years and when EE GH items start trading for 20 reds each it's clear they're now wortless.

- ASAH release in the next patch with a currency obtainable by cash and a 30% tax.

Dr. Evil would be proud, why make trillions when you can make billions?

I'm not going to touch on the silliness of conspiracy theories, but regarding plat being worthless, that's not true. It was made much stronger with btcoe items and swapping destiny ap. This increase of value with plat is part of the reason reds were devalued in relation to plat(in addition to higher supply of reds and other items being used as currency, or barter enablers). And even with Reds, their value also held up in part due to the new red armor(where previously the old red armor was more a status symbol than an actually optimal equipment piece). The real devaluation of plat comes from the new U17.1 ASAH by splitting the desired items up into two categories, one AH and one ASAH. (and obviously as they come out with more uses for AS this will further attract the better items to the ASAH)


Sorta long, didn't read:
Plat value increased post u14.
Red value decreased in relation to plat.
These two things happened due to better and more barter options.
Yes, 17.1 ASAH is devaluing plat.


EDIT:
This doesn't touch upon TP code trading how this actually isn't as big a deal as made out to be. But I do think TP trading was a bit niche(due to possible risk with Turbine or untrustworthy people), where ASAH makes TP trading a much more acceptable game earning point and directly takes attention from the AH.

[Chai]

Just wait til they datamine that thang to find out what the best sellers are, and when there arent enough of them on the ASAH on an as needed basis, they populate it with the items needed themselves. 40% profit? pah-leez. 100% profit.

They just solved the issue of selling stuff in the store, because they would only really need to populate whatever they want to sell into the ASAH.

In other news, I prefer this model tinfoil hat. Its modern style suits me.

[Ape_Man]

Just wait til they datamine that thang to find out what the best sellers are, and when there arent enough of them on the ASAH on an as needed basis, they populate it with the items needed themselves. 40% profit? pah-leez. 100% profit.

They just solved the issue of selling stuff in the store, because they would only really need to populate whatever they want to sell into the ASAH.

In other news, I prefer this model tinfoil hat. Its modern style suits me.

WOW . . . so you suspect Turbine themselves will just put loot in the ASAH . . . and keep 100% of the profit . . . effectively putting loot in the DDO store . . . but making it look like we're selling it.

I need some more tinfoil . . .

[SiliconScout]

Sad thing is, to be honest, is that if they don't take that step then from a purely capitalist standpoint they are incompetent.

There is demand, and they have infinite and monopolistic supply of that demand. Therefore they have the ability, in effect, set the price AND be a single source supplier.

Even more devious would be to list said items at or below the current threshold on the servers. It makes theirs sell fastest, AND brings the price down to a point where more sales are likely. Given that they retain 100% of sales from themselves AND 30-40% of any other sale they have the ability to efficiently, and anonymously drain currency supply increasing sales of Astral Shards as well.

I suspect they have higher morals to stop them from doing so, that said the recent history of Corporate America (Corporate anyone really) suggest that I would be wrong in this regard.

This could become an excellent way to bring in pay to win without drawing the ire of the hard core vets.

Should they do it from a moral view point: No.
Should they do it from a monetization stand point: Yes.

With a former Zynga Exec in charge of monetization and THAT companies moral history ... well sometimes the theory is there because there is a conspiracy!

[Chai]

WOW . . . so you suspect Turbine themselves will just put loot in the ASAH . . . and keep 100% of the profit . . . effectively putting loot in the DDO store . . . but making it look like we're selling it.

I need some more tinfoil . . .

Yeap.

I fully expected that if it didnt take off to their satisfaction in the first week or so that they might populate anyway, to get the juices flowing and make it appear like a more popular idea than it actually is. But now that I think about it, they might as well just datamine what the best sellers are and keep it stocked reasonably enough. After all, only one thing matters:

The shards must flow.

Pretty soon suggestion threads will read: Turbine, if you would just price that EE quiver at 25 shards or less, Id totally buy it.....

[squishwizzy]

I'm sure Turbine has a code name for this type of scheme.

I'll bet it is: "The Alan Parsons Project."

[gradeyshane]

Yeap.

I fully expected that if it didnt take off to their satisfaction in the first week or so that they might populate anyway, to get the juices flowing and make it appear like a more popular idea than it actually is. But now that I think about it, they might as well just datamine what the best sellers are and keep it stocked reasonably enough. After all, only one thing matters:

The shards must flow.

100% agree on this.

[Eilierie]

What no car analogy?

[Hafeal]

It just warms my cockles that D&D has always been able to feed on itself and create drama. I mean, really, Gygax and Arneson knew what they were doing.

[gradeyshane]

What no car analogy?

It would be like a car...with a tinfoil sun roof. While driving it I had the idea that DDO was getting creative in their ways to get more of my money. I understood instantly (due to the filtering effect of my tinfoil sun roof) that it was an attempt to compete with uncle Samish to collect as many baubles as possible before end times. Because we all know..the end is nigh.

[Charononus]

Just wait til they datamine that thang to find out what the best sellers are, and when there arent enough of them on the ASAH on an as needed basis, they populate it with the items needed themselves. 40% profit? pah-leez. 100% profit.

They just solved the issue of selling stuff in the store, because they would only really need to populate whatever they want to sell into the ASAH.

In other news, I prefer this model tinfoil hat. Its modern style suits me.

Wow, I want to say you're crazy but I just can't, from a business perspective it's genius. All the profit, none of the rage from selling it in the ddo store.

[Gkar]

Wow, I want to say you're crazy but I just can't, from a business perspective it's genius. All the profit, none of the rage from selling it in the ddo store.

You know first I thought, "wow, Chai has his tinfoil hat on too tight tonight", and then I thought about it again and realized that if Turbine hadn't thought of it yet, it would be a pretty bright thing to do and it could never be proven or disproven by anyone other than a Turbine employee.