Z-keys, the new currency?

Ectos are easier and more sensable to hoard, and have have a defined value because of the Rare Material Trader.

Tough I suspect that eventually, the keys will be tied to Ectos in price simply due to convenience.

I personally hope key prices will stay tied to ectos.

As mentioned in the r12 zrank thread, alot of players are unloading zkeys like crazy right now; after this initial influx there won't be such a ready supply of zkeys except after mATs. Not saying prices will actually go up, just that they'll most likely stay where they are.

Ectos have an NPC that sells them. This allows for a price to be set, and easily monitored. Z-keys have no trader, only a provider. The price for them is completely supplied by the player base. This means there is no easy way for someone to check the current price of them. If ecto is selling for 5.5k at the Rare Material Trader, a trade of 100k+ecto can be determined based on that price. Z-keys, however, don't offer the players a way of determining the value, and people can easily claim a price that makes the trade 'better' for them.

More importantly, the people who want to make purchases that are above 100l have no way to acquire z-keys. The people who don't play PvP will not have 5k Balthazar Faction, won't have reward points, and the time it would take them to earn enough faction to get 5-30 z-keys would take quite a while. Finding a seller for them may or may not be easy. Ecto can always be purchased from the Rare Material Trader, while the only way to purchase the z-keys is to find a player or have enough Faction.

RFE: Trader NPC for z-keys?

Z-key trader isn't going to happen. Z-keys are a reward, not a drop.

Outside of being lottery tickets in the "everlasting tonic lottery", Zaishen keys hold no value. .

The chest itself has the worst loottable of all chests in the game. Usually players will get nothing, even if it is a gold drop, the chances of it being a good skin are nearly Zero.

Opening the chest is playing the highest odds in the game.

Z-chest is a numbers game. You can't open 10, and expect good drops. Now if you open a 1000, then you can expect something of value to drop.

It's much the same as chest running, but with the added benefit of getting these sweet tooth and drunkard points.

If you have 1000 Zaishen Keys to open that chest, you don't need some elusive drop from it, you just buy whatever you want. Because there are very few items 3.000.000 Gold won't buy.

I've just been in GToB and there were a worrying (or funny, depending on your outlook) number of players who were trying to sell creme brulee and firewater for 5k each...

This is true, however, you credit the average Z-chest user with intelligence. Bad move.

Reward with market value which is much much more likely to be sold than used by person who obtained it. Hence it makes sense to stabilizes price with trader.

possibly. when hardmode came out ectos were about 9k. since then ectos have fallen in price to about 4.5-5.5k. in the same time period, lockpicks are still ~1.25k. ie, if someone exchanged all his ectos for lockpicks at that time, he'd be "wealthier" now due to ecto price deflation. it's fairly safe to say now that prices will only decrease.

as it stands now, for most high-end trades, lockpicks will do just fine (eg armbraces, crystaline swords). there are only a minority of high-end trades in which a higher valued item is really needed (eg mini kanaxai)

z-keys will never became a currency because everyone is guaranteed an X amount of them every month, thanks to the Xunlai Tournament House.

Ectos will never remain a currency, since everyone is guaranteed an X amount of them every month, thanks to Underworld and Rare Material Trader.

No one is guaranteed an X amount of them, in fact it is perfectly possible to do Underworld and never get a single one to drop (outside of the chest). Ectos are a drop, Z-keys aren't.

No

Ectos will remain the currency of choice because, not enough people have a large amount of z-keys.

Even if they did, the market for them is too fragile. Once enough people realize that they are not worth 5k, the prices will go down, especially when the next AT is over and 8 people all get 4,500 RP enough to make 900 keys each person.

Zaishen Keys are, for the moment, an alternative to cash and/or ectos. However, they are not commonly used so, even with the current high demand. I have seen occasional high end trades in Kamadan go something like "WTS ded Naga 100k+40e (or 60 zkeys)." My guess is that this will happen for a little bit, but not as a long term factor. Some people will be willing to trade items for Zaishen Keys still (as a few people had been before the title), but it will not be enough to validate itself as a currency.

~Tru

Pardon me if I am repeating stuffs that have been mentioned (lazy to read 3 pages of posts). But ...

Ectos will never be replaced ...

Unless Anet come out with something pink and round.

Z-keys eventually will take over, simply because the formally massive supply of them is dwindling FAST.