Inflation really should be dealt with early

The problem is inflation, as in all MMOs. Gold is being perpetually generated. What is needed is that the gold needs to be destroyed at a rate comparable to the rate that it is created.

What I propose is institutions be setup by the devs to comsume large amounts of cash using algorithms based on the total amount of gold in the game world.

One idea I have is perhaps a sort of sales tax tacked on any trading of gold from player to player. The percentage would be based on how much money there is compared to how many players there are. This might reign in the freight train of inflation going on, although there might be a negative impact on the trading scene.

Another idea is something along the lines of the gambling system in Diablo 2. If I remember correctly from my D2 days, the value of gold was brought up significantly by the gambling system. I must say though, that this is another thing that would have to be setup in relation to the number of players and the amount of gold in the game world.

The last thing I would suggest is an auction house or some kind of more streamlined trading system. Perhaps sections of town that are seperate areas that are specifically for trading and have entirely different setups toward trading.

The basic thing is to keep the money circulating and to maintain some stability over the value of gold. Inflation will happen and cannot simply be eliminated, but it can be guided in such a way that is stable and does'nt interfere with ones enjoyment of the game.

I'd appreciate any constructive criticism of my ideas. Perhaps if we talk enough the devs might make some changes.

Hmmm .. gold is perpetually being generated but it sure isnt filling MY pockets.

I can't justify a tax when so far I have only mustered 16K in gold and others seem to have 16K dribbling out of their pockets. It would hurt ME more than them.

Personally I would ok to it if I was piling on coin like crazy but it's a pain in the butt to march around killing, picking up drops, rinse, repeat unless it's for a purpose like missions.

Great, now I am ranting. =o

lol... well the tax system could take into consideration on how much gold you have at that point in time, deduct something from it oh say like 0.9% a day or something... in your case that'd be 150 gold per day that would be destroyed while the people who have something like 100000 gold, can fit into a biger tax bracket say like 3% per day... that's like 3000 gold per day that's destroyed... (tax brackets and current gold in char and storage will all have to be taken into consideration...)

Lets say for example there was a 10% tax of gold to be destroyed per trade. If I bought something for 1000, the recieving person would only get 900. Now thats not a realy horrible amount. I don't even trade that much and would'nt lose any sleep over the lost gold. But lets say someone buys a guild hall for 100k. Then 10k is destroyed. Thats more considerable. perhaps this is a pipe dream, i don't really know. Well the idea of some kind of gambling to spend massive amounts of gold for. Or maybe lots of more custimization that costs stuff. I guess what is needed is NPCs that sell Lots of cool things....or perhaps services? that could kill alot of money.

I totally disagree with a tax idea... What is needed is a money sink, something that people will want to spend money on that is cool or fun but not needed. Such as furniture, decorations for guild halls, other large scale additions similar to the guild halls mentioned.

perhaps the desired "practice arena" add on for the guild hall could actually be purchasable in the same way the hall is and not included with the hall. Likewise the market, market npc or whatever.

But to give 1 plat to my guildie and have him receive 900 g? That's not such a cool thought, and when you're starting to deal in high numbers like 100 plat, you're talking about losing ten plat, that's 10,000 gold, on a single cash transfer... Not flaming here, trying to give my constructive opinion.

Note: I pretty much echoed rotreb... so be it...

the tax idea is after each day not per trade (so i suggested)... tax deductions wouldn't be 10%... eh, furniture is good and all but u need to actually be able to use them... oh i just thought of another idea i can put in my topic!

A good gold sink would be a trading hall with a deposit requirement to put an item up for sale. Even if it's not large, like 3-5% of a buyout price or a flat fee or something like that it would still work to move gold out of circulation. (It would also allow easier trading than spamming channels in lion's and Ascalon, but that's another topic)

lol, and you didn't put it in the topic because... ?

It's a bonus!

If they put in taxes, I would simply evade them...

Also, just putting in money sinks would be the best idea, because making gold undesirable just completely eliminates it from the trading process...and we want to help the value of gold, not kill it

i agree that the value of gold needs more meaning
but for many but the upper tier of players...there are still things like 15k armor, and sigil/guild halls to buy, so there is PLENTY of things to sink money into for most people

that is why i think a tax system would not work properly...but a sink would, a 'casino' outpost, or a couple of trade specific towns, with streamlined trading abilities or some such there.

A-net has talked about working on "observer" mode. Perhaps betting on the winner of a GvG match? With the "house" (all this done through a "bookie" NPC) taking their cut, of course

In FFXI, they included a sales tax, but only in the main city of Jeuno. This was one of the larger cities, and it had the busiest, most populated Auction House. This is where you came to get the good stuff, and many people would travel here to set up their Bazaars -- basically, it was a trade city, even though it also existed to involve quests, events, etc..

There was a tax everytime you wanted to sell in any city's Auction House (a small percentage), and it was charged upon posting an item, so even if it did't sell, you paid tax. There was also tax for selling in a bazaar (personal shop) in Jeuno, on all transactions.

If they ever introduce an Auction House, perhaps impose a fee for selling in one.

.. but I hate taxes.

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Definitely introduce more money sinks into the game - that would destroy gold. Sure, there is still the 15K armor and Celestial Sigils -- but already, many people have these things.

FFXI had some useless, but fun, items: like fireworks. They were SO EXPENSIVE, and created about 5 seconds of fun, but people still wanted them. I remember a lot of my money went into crafting, but I don't think crafting will ever be a part of GW other than the weapon/armor crafter NPCs. Another possible money sinks for the future: furniture for guild hall (or as someone suggsted in another thread, a personal home & furniture).

I kind of like the idea of a casino outpost -- maybe there could be a tiny city of gambling, RUN BY NPCS (not those scam /roll ones), where people would pay to enter, and then gamble their money to win fun little extra items (again, also money sink stuff - furniture, fireworks, etc.)

Oh, and I like that above mentioned idea - betting on winners of matches. I LOVE the idea of watching an HoH or GvG match and betting on who will win.

See this thread about the increasing prices of runes and your see the growing problme in this game.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=18747

I don't know that there's any way to avoid the growing problem without more money sinks.

BUT...

One really good thing keeping the cost of goods low is the lack of inventory space. When I can only carry a total of 200 items it makes it hard to justify holding on those 40 purple weapons until someone can pay me the 10 platinum I want for it.

20 (Vault) + 4 * [20 (inv) + 5 (belt) + 10 (bag) + 10 (bag)] = 200

I believe the limited storage space, while helping keep ANet's costs down for online storage, is also helping to limit the amount of inflation we'll see in anything but the most rare of items.

Note that the prices of minor and major runes seems to be holding steady at around 300 and 700 respectively. It's only items that people can't get in larger numbers that's really pushing the limits of prices. And even those will fall eventually.

I mean, who wants to carry around 100 Sigils?...eventually they'll want to liquidate.

Two words and 3 letters. Hair Salon NPC.

Talk to him, and you can chnage your hair style and hair color.

I personally would be running around with a different hair style/color everyday.

Chrgae like 1p to change the style and 1p to change the color.

HUGE money sink for everyone that has a female char and some with male chars.

I've been all over that rune thread; I have it subscribed to watch new posts as they come.

The problem with single traders is that eventually, we'll need a trader for everything - and why clutter a town with multiple traders, when it can all be regulated in one place, such as an Auction House.

And as for money sinks, there should be a few that are one-time use and only available through NPCs. So, using the example of a Firework (though I'm not saying we have to have fireworks, it is just an example) -- let's say a pack of fireworks will be available from the merchant for 2 platinum. After 5 uses, it will be destroyed, in a similar fashion to the ID and Salvage kits. No worries about other players trying to scam people with fireworks either, since the merchant will sell them at a constant price. I don't ever walk into towns and see people selling "USED ID KITS - 10 USES LEFT!! pst offer - c/o = 2K" lol.

I wish I could change my hair style. I've grown tired of it and want something a little more plain. Nice idea.

Houses, clothing, furniture ... yes that works.

Look at dye, its was so looked for that it inflated its price, a full set of black dye will push the cost towards the 25.000 gp ... my gold trim costed me 5.000 gp with all that mixing.

As for cluttering the towns ... true but look at Lion's Arch that have a lot of empty space.

The hair salon idea sounds really nice, being able to re-customise or even allowing some players to access unseen styles with a higher price attached. Though this is sounding like something they'd include in a later expansion pack.

"I mean, who wants to carry around 100 Sigils?...eventually they'll want to liquidate."

Thing is when you have it all you wouldn't care too much about gold either, unless it's for aesthetic reasons like dye or a weapon with the perfect mods but just a better look than the plain collector's longsword.

So I guess moneysinks like the hair salon are becoming more necessary.