MMORPGs need more common cents

“Ya wanna buy some deathsticks?” asked the over-cologned punk who sat down at the bar.  “You don’t want to sell me deathsticks.  I don’t have any friggin credits,” replied the agitated Jedi.  Although the economy in Star Wars: The Old Republic is arguably still stabilizing, ask any player and they will gladly share their opinions about it.  Like it or not, even in the virtual universe, money makes it turn.  This is especially true when it comes to The Old Republic’s unique crafting system, but it does not necessarily have to be so difficult to churn a profit.

_{"Yes, that's right… I want to buy you for myself and carry you around like Chewie carried Han.  Yes, I think I can afford it…"}

The friendly folks at Bioware have taken one of the most time-consuming parts of a MMORPG and streamlined it.  Instead of pausing your questing, PVP, or exploring, your crew of companions handles the business end of the crafting boomstick for you.  All the player has to do is give the word, and they dutifully disappear to essentially produce results, and eventually, more money for your bank account.
Ask any experienced MMO crafter, however, and they will surely agree that it takes money to make money.  Gathering missions in The Old Republic cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand credits.  Spend a few hours sending your crew out gathering required materials for a certain crafting project, and you’ll quickly realize that you’re going broke, more or less.  The amount of credits you gain for completing quests or selling unneeded items can potentially provide some funding for your crafting addiction, however, once your crafting skill levels up to a certain point, the amount of money needed can quickly outpace the amount of income you’re earning.  This is especially evident if you begin crafting from the get-go.

Bioware realized this would be an issue for some players, so they included a gathering skill called Slicing, which has the potential to earn the player secure lockboxes filled with credits as rewards.  The profit margin for Slicing tends to increase as the player’s skill in slicing also increases.  The only downside to Slicing is that it takes up one of the player’s two available gathering skills.  This means that the player is either going to have to buy needed materials from other players, or create another character as a “farming” character to gather those materials for the main toon.  It’s a convoluted process, but it is one way of making things work.

Just as with the economy that exists in countries around the world today, demand for different products fluctuates from time-to-time, and from player-to-player.  The Old Republic does not use an “auction house” format – the game uses the Galactic Trade Network, which is essentially a giant flea market, where players set the prices for their goods, and customers can buy the goods immediately.  No bidding ever takes place on the “GTN,” as players call it, so players dictate the price of the goods themselves.  A default suggested value for each item is listed automatically, but the safest bet to take is to increase the item’s sale by a solid percentage more, so you can profit.  The key is, however, not to get off on a tangent of price gouging.

Aside from being able to pay for gathering missions, some of the in-game goods on the market are ridiculously expensive.  Speeders (The Old Republic’s version of mounts) range anywhere from 20,000 credits upward to 1.5 million credits.  This is fairly reasonable.  What is not reasonable is the cost of the skills to be able to use said speeders.  The first rank of speeder piloting is available at level 25, at a cost of 40,000 credits, and it provides a 90 percent speed boost to the player’s movement.  Rank 2 speeder piloting becomes available at level 40, and costs 210,000 credits.  It only boosts the top speed up 10 percent from Rank 1 to a 100 percent boost.  Finally, Rank 3 speeder piloting costs 330,000 credits, and it only adds a meager 10 more percent speed boost, for a total speed increase of 110 percent.

_{"An arm and a leg you say? Well, I just so happen to have this handy dandy energy blade that can cut and cauterize at the same time!"}

If I had my way, I would get my credit’s worth from what I was charging.  Make the Rank 1 speeder boost 100 percent, and then make Rank 3 something significant, such as 150 percent or a little less!  The point is to esentially get what you pay for, and unfortunately, The Old Republic’s economy misses the mark in this regard.  Everywhere else in the game, prices are fair and reasonable, and become affordable with a little bit of work.  However, my philosophy has always been that when playing a game begins to feel like toiling work, then you should find a more enjoyable game.