Safe storage of Cash

jgortner

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Dec 2005

Saints of Sin

W/Mo

Hi guys,

Just a few questions:

I need to convert my gold into commodity. Is there good choice for this with factions comming out? I don't know if ecto is going to go down or rubies go up or whatever. I'd like to think that ecto is just going to stay normal.

Questions:
Are there materials that are guaranteed to be used in factions? ecto?

What do you think, based on factual information, is good for me to buy?

I'm not looking to make money, just safely store mine.

nomed

nomed

Banned

Join Date: Feb 2006

At the moment I'd suggest black dyes. The price has been constant for a long time.

Lady Erighan

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Nov 2005

Defenders of Gods

E/Me

Well, I don't think anyone can "confirm" which materials will be used in Factions. The only thing you can do is look at the FPE as a reference and "hope" the same materials will be used.

Steel, silk, tanned hides, vials or ink, monstrous fangs, etc, where all used during the preview. Jadeites and Amber were also used, but those are not "exactly" attainable in large quantities right now.

Just about everything is increasing in price except for weapons. Upgrades, runes, black and silver dyes are all increasing in price at a large rate. It's safe to say people are getting ready to mod and equip the new Factions items as quickly as they can.

Ecto, shards, rubies, sapphires, spirit wood, monstrous eyes, claws, and fangs are all staying at a steady pace. These are the items people are most unsure of. There shouldn't be any huge movement, but as soon as their usages are determined in Factions, they will either skyrocket in price or turn into worthless junk.

AxeMe

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2005

Atlanta

HEX

W/

If you have less than 1.4 million in gold, I'd stick with gold. Things are just too uncertain until Factions is out.

If you have more than 1.4 million, I'd keep the first 1.4 million in gold (1 million in storage, 100,000 gold with each character) and then do what is always smart with the stock market -- diversify.

If, say, there is another million or so I'd split it equally between black dye ectos and shards. (Shards have done a decent job of staying around the 4k mark).

But the safe way is to keep as much in gold as you can. That's sort of the game equivalent of short term investment grade money market funds.

Rayne Nightfyre

Rayne Nightfyre

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Dec 2005

Acolytes of Lyssa [AL]

Me/A

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady Erighan
Just about everything is increasing in price except for weapons. Upgrades, runes, black and silver dyes are all increasing in price at a large rate. It's safe to say people are getting ready to mod and equip the new Factions items as quickly as they can.
For that reason alone, I also agree that investing in Black Dye is a good choice. About a month-ish ago, Black Dye stayed about 7-7.5k at the traders, and sold for 6-6.5k from players. Now, Black is at a constant 8-8.5k at the traders, and sells for about 7k from players. So I really can't see Black Dye dropping in price as Factions nears. My favorite color combo is Navy, so I'm probably going to be spending much gold on Black + Blue for my new armor. Just about every other item is subject to fluctuation, including Ectoplasms, Shards, Rubies and Sapphires. So I would also suggest Black Dye as a means of converting your gold.

Dav85

Dav85

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

the most reliable and safe mean keep more then 1.4mil golds are obsidian keys. i have nearly 500 of those payed 950-1000g each. i call sell to the merchant when i want for 750g each if i need money really soon. or i can sell them to chest run ppl for 1k each with ease...
black dyes are good too. but there's a potential risk of different drop rates in factions.

Silent Kitty

Silent Kitty

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2006

Netherlands

[TYW] "The Young World"

A/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by nomed
At the moment I'd suggest black dyes. The price has been constant for a long time.
Lol, black dyes have gone up from 7.5 to 9K, in just 3 days. This is most definitely not a good time to invest in dyes at all.

I paid 750g today, for a silver.

Alleji

Alleji

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

The problem with black dye is that you can't get your money out when you need it as fast as you could by selling ecto/shards, unless you wanna toss your dye to the trader.

With shards or ecto you can pop into ToA and spam WTS 50 ecto or whatever and you'll probably find a buyer pretty fast. To sell 50 vials of black dye, you'll likely need several hours because people will want 1-5 vials.

But I suppose that's a small inconvenience compared to potentially losing your money.

Lady Erighan

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Nov 2005

Defenders of Gods

E/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alleji
The problem with black dye is that you can't get your money out when you need it as fast as you could by selling ecto/shards, unless you wanna toss your dye to the trader.
That's the biggest reason why I won't invest in black dyes. I think too much time is wasted trying to recover your money. I would get maybe a few dozen, but nothing more. Diversity is the best choice. But then again, it's fake money - invests all of it in rubies and sapphires...

Dj Tano

Dj Tano

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Mar 2006

Dude just find people who give you things like damn cheap and buy them. That way you put your money into stuff, but can still earn a lot more if you sell em. Plus in case the prices go down, you still dont loose money...

BloodBrooder

BloodBrooder

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2006

Jeepers Kreepers

W/Mo

I remember when i first started playing silver was up to like 1- 1.5 k and i ended up getting a bunch of them and held on to them and the price dropped lol. So now, i don't bother with trying to do that stuff cause it usually turns out worse for me lol

Mournblade

Mournblade

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: May 2005

Houston, Texas

Dawn Treaders [DAWN]

W/Mo

What about superior absorbs and vigors? The prices are going up gradually right now, but overall they seem to maintain a rather high value and they will always be used.

Alleji

Alleji

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mournblade
What about superior absorbs and vigors? The prices are going up gradually right now, but overall they seem to maintain a rather high value and they will always be used.
Completely impractical because they do not stack. If you have 500k you want to store, buying 10 sup absorbs and cluttering that much inventory space isn't exactly the smartest thing to do.

Nevin

Nevin

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jul 2005

If you have 1.4 Mil, you can't get gold though.

SnipiousMax

SnipiousMax

Perfectly Elocuted

Join Date: Sep 2005

I'd invest at least part in Weapon Mods. They'll be easy to sell (though not as easy as materials) cause everyone is going to be looking for new weapon skins. I think I'd avoid Ecto's and Shard's for the moment. Although it could be argued that the sudden drop in farmers (with opening of factions) could breed a price spike. I think it much more likely that people will be looking for new armors. And I think at least initially, it won't be hard at all to get rid of black dyes, with all the new armor sets. Rubies/Sapphires are a bigger gamble...but if they are used for something that people really want...then the payoff is much bigger.

Phaern Majes

Phaern Majes

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2005

Anywhere but up

The Panserbjorne [ROAR]

R/Mo

Problem with weapons mods are they don't stack in your inventory. So space gets filled up fast. Really I think there will still be a fair number of people who'll want ectos and shards. I for one will, as I still need 2 pieces of the FoW armor. I don't see the prices of them skyrocketing, but I doubt they will fall through either.

eudas

eudas

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Feb 2006

Tx, USA

The Infinite Monkeys [TYPE]

W/

hm... 20 squares in stash + 1000 pp.
each char with 2x bags(runed) + belt pouch = 20 backpack + 5 belt + 2* 10 bags = 45 spaces + 100pp.

so, max is 1000 + 4*100pp + 4*45 spaces = 1400pp + 180 spaces
i'm curious to know exactly how much wealth you need to store, really...

eudas

Lexar

Lexar

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2005

Organised Spam

W/

I can see a potential new job in guildwars: the banker. Someone who will keep big sums of money for someone else for a small fee. For example I have only once in almost a year's worth of playing needed to store my money in the storage, I'm sure the vast majority has never had more than 100k in gold, so there's a large potential of storage out there, but the problem is to trust each other.

ShadowMagus

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2005

What I currently collect for money storage is dark remains from Fissure of Woe - a few problems with this but one HUGE advantage over other methods of storing money

Takes up lots of inventory space
Difficult to obtain as most people just sell them to the merchant

Will ALWAYS hold their value at 15k per stack, immedeat cash as you simply sell it to the merchant

Count to Potato

Count to Potato

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Feb 2006

Imagination Land

I Swear She Was Eighteen [Gwen]

W/

Black Dyes are the most stable of the materials, other than that ectos and shards but not stable, if rubies and saphhires go up then take those

MMSDome

MMSDome

Raged Out

Join Date: Sep 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady Erighan
Well, I don't think anyone can "confirm" which materials will be used in Factions. The only thing you can do is look at the FPE as a reference and "hope" the same materials will be used.

Steel, silk, tanned hides, vials or ink, monstrous fangs, etc, where all used during the preview. Jadeites and Amber were also used, but those are not "exactly" attainable in large quantities right now.

Just about everything is increasing in price except for weapons. Upgrades, runes, black and silver dyes are all increasing in price at a large rate. It's safe to say people are getting ready to mod and equip the new Factions items as quickly as they can.

Ecto, shards, rubies, sapphires, spirit wood, monstrous eyes, claws, and fangs are all staying at a steady pace. These are the items people are most unsure of. There shouldn't be any huge movement, but as soon as their usages are determined in Factions, they will either skyrocket in price or turn into worthless junk.
where were fangs used? And Eyes arent staying at the same they jump around alot, i know this because they are my favorite material and i keep a close eye on them

Lord Iowerth

Lord Iowerth

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

Atlanta, GA (#guildwarsguru FTW!)

Biscuit Of Dewm [MEEP]

R/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by MMSDome
where were fangs used? And Eyes arent staying at the same they jump around alot, i know this because they are my favorite material and i keep a close eye on them
Ba-dum-ching.

But a full 1 mil in cash, and 100k on each character is a bad idea, imho. When it comes time to merchant some junk, or sell an item to another player ... where are you going to put the cash? You're out of cash space on each toon.

You'd have to manually destroy all the drops you didn't want (or just not pick them up) in which case you're missing out on materials.

I agree with others in this thread about black dye, it seems to be the most stable (reasonably expensive) item on the market. And you know people are always looking for them

LifeInfusion

LifeInfusion

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

in the midline

E/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by AxeMe
If, say, there is another million or so I'd split it equally between black dye ectos and shards. (Shards have done a decent job of staying around the 4k mark).
I'd say shards not black dye. Black dye has dropped from 20k to 9 to 6k in the past couple months.

Shards dropped from 6.5k to about 4.5k. So shards are a more stable investment than black dye. There is less fluctuation in price because people cannot obtain them as easily as ecto, which solo farmers get hundreds of a month. Shards cannot be solo farmed (well, not easily) because FoW is so diversified with mobs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dav85
the most reliable and safe mean keep more then 1.4mil golds are obsidian keys. i have nearly 500 of those payed 950-1000g each. i call sell to the merchant when i want for 750g each if i need money really soon. or i can sell them to chest run ppl for 1k each with ease...
black dyes are good too. but there's a potential risk of different drop rates in factions.
Not a good idea since you'd be losing half what you paid. (unless you sell to people for merchant price)

zankoku

zankoku

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2005

Teh Academy [PhD]

Quote:
Originally Posted by LifeInfusion
I'd say shards not black dye. Black dye has dropped from 20k to 9 to 6k in the past couple months.
That's like saying ecto dropped from 38k to 8k. These prices were at highs when the Merchant economy was crazy and before Anet stabilized the market. Black dye was never at 20k for very long. Rather, since the game came out, black dye has risen from 2k to the present 7-8k.

I'd say it's a fairly safe investment going into Factions. Think about it. Players are most looking forward to two things that'll cost money in the Factions economy. (1) New weapons (thus explaining the rise in perfect upgrades, i.e., a +30HP sword pommel is regularly going for 100k+10ectos in trade). (2) New armors (whether they be new Factions 1.5k, 15k, or new professions FoW/High End). And players will want to dye their new armors. Black is certainly popular by itself, and is certain to be used in dye mixes. Unless Anet decides to introduce white dye, I think black will remain the priciest and most desired dye.

Someone already noted that weapon upgrades don't stack. Dyes do stack, so go with black dye.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LifeInfusion
Shards dropped from 6.5k to about 4.5k. So shards are a more stable investment than black dye. There is less fluctuation in price because people cannot obtain them as easily as ecto, which solo farmers get hundreds of a month. Shards cannot be solo farmed (well, not easily) because FoW is so diversified with mobs.
I'd say this is why shards are a more stable investment than ecto. In the last two months, ecto has fluctuated between 5.5-13k or so. I'm guessing that's due to a number of factors, but you're right in saying that shards are harder to solo or dual farm than ectos.

That said, one might wonder why ectos cost much more than shards, especially now since ALL FOW armor requires the same amount of ectos and shards. By that accounting, they should be the same price, right? Or ectos should cost less, right? (Because the UW is so farmable by 1 or 2 players--yielding 2-3 ectos drops per run, versus FOW that require teams or 5-8--yielding about 3-4 shards per run.)

The price of ecto is largely maintained by two factors: (1) to craft FOW armor, and (2) in 100k+ trades. So while some people buy and use ectos to craft, many other people hold on to ectos to trade and a large number of ectos never get circulated back "into" the game, keeping the prices high. But this trader's premium for ecto is based in part on the idea that ecto is useable to craft premium armor if you want to use it.

If Factions release armor more desirable than FOW armor, however, you can be sure ecto will drop some. Maybe not totally (because there will still be people who will want FOW armor and there's likely to be FOW armor for the new classes), but ecto's price may get hit on two counts (first, price of material for a less desireable armor will go down with demand, and, second, because of that some traders may shy away from trading with ecto, thus driving the price further down). And if it drops by several thousand, it may no longer make a nice +xk commodity to trade with (if it's value is, say, just 4k, why not trade with black dye or jadeite, or something else stackable and worth more?).

Sorry if this is a bit long and thick. That's just my views on black dye and ecto, and the game economy in general.

Ken Dei

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jan 2006

W/Mo

Investment? Stick with the basics if you're a small fish...

-wood
-iron
-tanned hide
-cloth

-Steel
-Linen
-Silk
-Leather
-Parchment

Even if Factions armor don't pivot around these items, there will be a market of new players who buy both Factions and Prophecies so their would be new buyers for armor in both.

But a better idea is kick into farming mood and stockpile raw materials...

Currently I have:
-1515 iron
-1208 wood
-645 tanned hide
-475 Bone
-29 Leather
-21 Fur
-57 Ink
-84 Steel
-12 Deld. Steel
-327 Chitin Fragments (Formerly Shells)
-380 Scales
-72 Silk
-500 Cloth
-8 Linen
-28 Monsterous Fangs (The price of which has doubled in two weeks at the merchant much to my dismay)
-4 Monsterous Claws

While I am showing off a little bit, the point of the numbers was to give you an idea of at least some minimal stockpiling. I'm not a big time farmer, so I'm sure some people have 3x-5x as much as I do in their storages. Also don't put all your money into items, keep some as cash.