Whats the reason bioware decided to make items on the cartel market tradable? Meaning you can buy stuff with cartel coins ( real money) and sell those items for in game credits.

 

Is that the most effective way of making credits now?

 

You know "The Wealthy" title? Meaningless now. Before the CM existed, I was pretty rich, I spent time into making those credits in game, and my guildies used to ask me all the time how I made those credits, I felt like I achieved something when I reached my first 10 million, now, people are richer than ever because they spent their real money to buy things off the CM and sell them.

 

I used to do dailies with my guildies considering that was the best way of making money back then. Since the CM, I haven't done a daily with any of my guild members. The only time we meet up is when we raid, but other than that, I never see them in-game. This disappoints me.

 

In my opinion, I think there should be a way of either earning CC in game (achievements give very, very little CC), such as completing a weekly mission, you get 50CC or something, or earning the items from the Cartel Market in game, without spending credits or spending cartel coins. They could be found from seeker droid missions or something.

 

Just an idea, please don't troll. I'd like to know your constructive opinions on my idea

This is the model BWEA chose. Other games (LotRO, e.g.), store purchases are bound. BWEA's model goes with the whole CM gambling pack thing.

 

And for someone who keeps harping on the same basic topic in multiple threads, you're a fine one to tell others not to troll.

Can't you just consolidate all of your anti-CM rants into the same thread instead of creating new ones for basically different versions of the same rant over and over? Credits are easy to make in this game. Just having the most amount of free time to play and grind dailies, etc. to make credits doesn't exactly make someone a special player. It just means you have the most free time on your hands. The fact that almost everything on the CM can be traded or sold means that people can obtain those items without having to spend real-life money. So that makes everything on the CM more accessible to everyone.

I think it's good that stuff bought with cartel coins can be sold on the GTN after a reasonable amount of time passes. If you want to spend the real cash on coins to try and get something, you can, but if you refuse to do that and want to pay the going credit value on the GTN you can do that too. Everyone wins.

Some people have more money, some people have more time. This model accommodates both, imo.

Because this would be a garbage model if things on the CM weren't tradeable, as it is that's the model's saving grace. Also, you can get 860 CC on every server. Demanding more than that on top of the monthly stipend is just idiotic.

It's not an either/or situation IMO. They can add a method for subs to earn a bit more CC in game and still allow items purchased on the market to be sold on the GTN.

 

I believe allowing the items to be sold on the GTN is one of the greatest features of the market.

Is that the most effective way of making credits now?

 

It's NOT the most effective way of making credits now days. It is however a convenient way for a brand new player to get starting capital for their characters (so that they are not dirt poor in a sea of overly wealthy cap level veterans).

 

You know "The Wealthy" title? Meaningless now. Before the CM existed, I was pretty rich, I spent time into making those credits in game, and my guildies used to ask me all the time how I made those credits, I felt like I achieved something when I reached my first 10 million, now, people are richer than ever because they spent their real money to buy things off the CM and sell them.

 

10 million was a modest level of wealth for a majority of veterans in this game before the CM even went live.

 

The "Wealthy" title means the same thing it always has: You have earned 10M credits in game. It's just not a special feeling to you personally I guess.

 

By the way... the total credit supply in the game is not increased by the CM.. it's actually modestly decreased (see below). So wealth may be move around.. but nobody is printing credits with the CM.

 

In my opinion, I think there should be a way of either earning CC in game (achievements give very, very little CC), such as completing a weekly mission, you get 50CC or something, or earning the items from the Cartel Market in game, without spending credits or spending cartel coins. They could be found from seeker droid missions or something.

 

Freemium MMOs don't work this way though. They all dole out meeger amounts of shop currency for in game achievements (or whatever they might be called inside a game). Some are a little more generous then others, but they all represent a huge grind for shop currency (in terms of time and effort). They are designed to wet your appetite for more..and eventually purchase some.. though subscribers all get allotments with subscription.. so it really only pressures non-subscribers.

 

Making CM items unbound has been extremely good for the community because it inoculates players who do not like micro-transaction shops from having to access them in order to access fluffy and QoL content they offer. It's a win for the players and a win for the company. It's also healthy for the overall in game economy because it injects content into the economy and by virtue of selling through the GTN.. it extracts 6% of every credit spent on CM content on the GTN out of the economy. So it's mildly deflationary and allows Bioware to go softer on credit sinks in other parts of the game.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Andryah

Think of the Cartel Market as an inheritance. Some people get them; some people don't. You can be envious (one of the seven deadly sins) or you can just admit that that's the way the cards are dealt. Some people who inherit spend their money wisely; some do not. I have a lot of respect for people who inherit money and use it wisely, such as for education, or to start a business. I have no respect for people who take an inheritance and blow it on stupid stuff. In this case every sub gets a monthly inheritance, like a trust fund allotment, to do with as he or she pleases. If you use your allotment to buy system-wide unlocks, you're pretty smart. If you use it to buy Cartel Packs, you're pretty stupid. Still: Your choice.

 

Now the fact is I don't like to play poor. Maybe that's because I grew up poor. A penny or a nickel meant a lot to me. Mind you I didn't know I was poor; I just thought we didn't have any money. I don't mean that to be funny; it's a matter of attitude. So I worked myself out of it and now I'm "rich," though bear in mind that is a relative term.

 

But even in the game, you don't just buy credits. You have to work at it. So I bought an adaptive armor set on the Cartel Market and sold it on the Galactic Trading Network for a couple million credits. I'm as amazed as anyone that someone would pay for an armor set with no mods, but if it's Gold Scalene, they surely will. They'll buy Cartel Packs at outrageous prices, too. I think it's kind of stupid, but hey, I'll take their credits. To do that I had to learn how both markets work, then I had to apply common sense and get the most credits I could.

 

The way this is set up people can play the way they WANT to play. I'm not competing with you, OP. I don't know how many credits you have unless you brag about it. All I know is what level you are, maybe how you've decked yourself out, though frankly, you are moving too fast and are too small for me to see really well, and maybe how well you play, should we be on the same HEROIC or whatever.

 

The point is that I don't interfere with how you choose to play the game. If you want to deck yourself out looking like a bumble bee, have at it. I have a feeling you would take offense if I told you you look stupid. By the same token, if I choose to manipulate the CM/GTN system to gain some credits, what's it to you? Leave me the hell alone. That's what you expect of me, is it not? Well, I expect the same from you. It's really none of your damned business.

Edited July 1, 2013 by MSchuyler