ANSWERED:Cap market prices

[MissK.]

20 hours ago, Natayah said:

So - why don't we just ask why there such a HUGE Gap between supply vs. demand for these specific dragons and how we might fix that before we try a bandaid that will actually make the problem worse, in my opinion based on many economists and historical resources. I do apologize to anyone who do not feel supply and demand do not necessarily work this way and/or can be resolved greatly via various caps and controls. This is just my personal experience with life and this game and education.

 

As others have said, applying real life market logic to a dragon adoptables game seems a bit excessive. I do agree with you to a degree that the gap between supply and demand is kind of insane for stats. However, keep in mind that that's not the only thing affecting the market. Sometimes prices are insane for seemingly no good reason, really, for example magmas being the most expensive thing on there for a good while with no noticeable changes in their rarity. This suggestion would not necessarily address the root cause of the stats exploding in price, but it would make sure everything is attainable in the long run even when weird things happen to the prices for unknown (to us) reasons. 

 

Since I don't think I've posted here before, just to be clear I support this suggestion. Personally I will never buy a stat at this kind of price even if a cap is introduced, just doesn't seem worth it since I thankfully have a few, but unless TJ intends to re-evaluate the system between market pricing I think this would at least help people work towards a goal. Who knows what other prices might shoot up with time.

[UnicornMaiden]

They're up to 5,000 now.

[Firefury Amahira]

200% support. I've been "one more week of shards until I can get a stat" for over a month and a half now because the price just keeps climbing.

[aqua17]

Fully support. 

[IzzyCat91]

Full Support

 

[caseytalk]

'Supply and Demand' presumes costs of the supply side, such as the cost of creating, transporting, and marketing an item.  For example, if it costs me 100 rupees to create, transport, and market my item, I will never agree to supply it to a buyer it for fewer than 100 rupees no matter how many buyers demand the item because I will not break even.  If I am selling them, I will happily sell a lot more at higher prices than at lower prices because I will make more money, and buyers will buy more if the prices are lower.  The balance point (equilibrium, in economic terms) comes where the sellers will produce the number of items that the buyers will buy at a given price.  If I'll supply 500 items at 200 rupees and buyers will buy 500 items at 200 rupees, we have equilibrium.  I'd rather sell 500 items at 250 rupees, but the buyers might only buy 400 at that price, so I'm stuck with the extra cost of producing 100 items that no one buys.  

 

In Dragon Cave, there are no costs on the supply side.  The game can produce all the stats people want regardless of the price.  Therefore, real world economics do not come into play. 

 

The price of the stat has again gone up by the amount of shards that can be earned.  With the economic model that TJ is using for the market currently, if you cannot afford a stat now, you will never be able to afford a stat.  

 

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by caseytalk
gramatical error

[caseytalk]

Is there any way to know if TJ or a moderator has looked at this suggestion?  

 

I hope that the site managers will at least consider the proposal and, if there will be no cap or no way to earn more than the prices rise each week, let us know.  I would love to know their reasoning, too, but I'd like an answer to if they will even consider it, please.  If the price of staterae will continue to rise without a cap and at the same rate that we can earn shards, it would be useful information to have.  I would know that continuing to save is as futile as it appears to be.  

 

 Thanking you in advance.   

[purplehaze]

31 minutes ago, caseytalk said:

Is there any way to know if TJ or a moderator has looked at this suggestion?  

TJ is the sole decision-maker on this sort of thing and unless he posts a comment, there is really no way to know what he thinks.

[Fuzzbucket]

One can sometimes get his attention with a ping - @TJ09 - any thoughts?

[steeve]

stats are still at 5000 this week and didn't seem to increase... a good sign, maybe?

[caseytalk]

Three more weeks of holding steady and I may be able to buy one.  I still think that there should be a limit of a year (or less) of saving for any egg.  

[Shinketsu_Karasu]

Supported, fully.

As a relatively new player, even when I'm able to make 100 shards a week, which was not a thing at the very beginning, so many of the market dragons seemed very far out of reach. Seeing the math done, as far as saving up 3 months, 6 months, and so on, it becomes more reasonable, until you see the huge disparity with stata. Saving for over a year for a single egg seems excessive, and if even veteran players are saying it, I'm backing them on this.
Coupled with the fact that most users want a breeding pair, the price is even more absurd...

[caseytalk]

14 hours ago, Shinketsu_Karasu said:

Coupled with the fact that most users want a breeding pair, the price is even more absurd...

And heaven forbid they should try to breed them and find out they refuse to even go near each other.  Then it could be 3 or more years just saving for stats.  That's assuming you can't catch them in the cave.  I have tried and will continue to try to catch one, but that would be incredibly lucky.   So far, my luck has not gone that way. 

[Electric-Borealis]

Please, I support, I'm begging for this 😭

[FireTail411]

Full support. I have no hope of being able to get a Stat, let alone a breeding pair, without a cap or something to keep the prices from going up constantly.

[soullessheartofsteel]

Supported-- I don't use the market often but some things definitely should be rebalanced, either by a cap or changing the rates at which prices fluctuate/we earn shards. 

[random_dragon_collector]

I think a better thing to do is cap it at 2 months of shards.  Make the cheap ones a ton cheaper--practically free, like 5 shards, and make the rare ones 2 months worth of saving.  Why make the game agony?  I never even use my shards--I have over 13,000 of them.  I bought 2 stats the first week they were out and cheap.  I'd do that again for anything rare, before the price goes up.

Edited February 8, 2022 by random_dragon_collector

[_Charky]

Definitely support some changes here. I'm not focusing on Stats rn (I'm chipping away at hybrids and commons) and I do have a gen1 prize to help me when I do go after stats so I don't even really have a horse in this race... but a year is just ridiculous.

 

It's one thing if you take over a year to find something rare or low-odds or one-off like a leetle tree or curled alt black or a "cb" prize. What does not make sense is putting in hours of effort every week to see no results after a year. If you spent hours a week refreshing the biomes, it would probably be easier to catch rares yourself than it is to spend those hours playing the game for shards... and isn't that defeating the whole point of the marketplace? 🤔

[caseytalk]

Still holding at 5000.  Perhaps @TJ09 has put a cap of 5000 on?  I appreciate that very much if it is so.  

[caseytalk]

I spoke too soon.  5100 now.  

[Melusina]

Support! 

I would love to save enough for a market Stat and have been trying to.  I've long since passed the amount needed for a Gold (which I also don't have a first gen of) but didn't even realize how frequently the price had been increasing for Stats in the meantime.  It's depressing.  

 

Support especially the notion that you shouldn't have to save for more than a year for anything in the market.  Honestly, I think past that point it might be the lesser awful to remove them from the market altogether and make some things unbuyable.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Melusina
I am tired and messed up a sentence

[Alymarie]

Support! The fact I have over half a year's worth of shards and still have a long ways to go before I can afford a Staterae is very discouraging.

[Ruffledfeathers]

Support here also! I think that when unchecked, certain breeds will just keep going up indefinitely. With a max of 100 shards/week, there is little hope unless they introduce some sort of clearance section/sale mechanic   

[Nalyua]

I support this as well.

 

While I do think it is OK to save up for something I do find it quite ridiculous that a Pixel Game should require a substantial amount of time (say significantly over a year) of careful planning to get some sort of goal. Don't get me wrong, DC ist a fun game, but at the end of the day it is a game, and I don't think it is even healthy for any online game to expect the sort of focus to get things done.

 

So yes at a certain amount of time and energy needed to get to this goal I just think it is just turning plain unhealthy and wrong.

 

Aside of that, raising the bar you need to jump over every time the player jumps just a little bit higher thus putting the prize always out of reach is frustratig. And I do not think this is were a recreational game should go.

 

It's alright that some things are harder to do than others, that's perfectly fine. And I also do not mind that some things require more planning ahead than others. And it's alright that you don't get everything instantly. You can still have fun and work up to something at the same time.

 

But at the end of the day DC is a game, and if there is no way to win a game (or save up for a dragon in this case) then it is not a fun game. And while I understand that online games that pay for themselves (and in some cases pay employees) need to keep their players playing and focused, I do not think it is appropriate, that it requires players to think year(s)(!) ahead, just for one single goal.

 

Partly this is also why I am against raising the amount of shards that can be earned: Many people spend enough time online as is. I do not feel this needs to be further encouraged and I do wish that games/companies/people pushing the buttons there would feel more responsible for their customers.

 

 

[reddof-f6]

i support, i hate the idea that slowly this market and shards earning is seeming more like a job or chore rather then a open way for everyone to easier obtain the hard to catch.
i dont want to work a year+ to buy a single egg.

for a gold dragon i gotta work this game for half a year. i don't want to be forced on every week to make that goal in a "timely" manor. what game demands half a year from you for a purchase?

i understand giving a challenge and making them still hard to get, but half a year? that seems a bit ridiculous.