Someone Please Explain the Insanity in the BazaarFollow

At any given moment (especially in PoK) one hears "Looking for Kei, V, Conviction, Wunshi, Rez"etc...right on down to "OMG I need a curse removed someone PLEASE help me I'm dying!!!!" These services are by Clerics, Enchanters, Shaman,Druids,,,not by BOTS...but by persons that put out the time and the plat for their spells.
Some people do not have the resources or the group affiliations to kill the mobs that drop the spells (example Divine Intervention and Greater Remove Curse). They rely on the bazaar for some of their spells. Recently the going price for these 2 spells mentioned are: (low) 25000p to (High) 65000p. Or was it 650000 - either way - a really exorbant price to provide a service to others.
There are many casters that refuse payment or donations for their services. My wife is one of those Clerics that will not take more than a "Thank You" as that is what a pure Cleric is. What a Cleric is [/b]NOT is a money making machine that provides a service...those [/b]do that use their power as such, well, I'll just say I am personally against it and leave it there.
The point is - the majority want MGB's (a free buff)- and usually a joint effort with others - makes for a brief joyful moment for all. This too was gained at a cost to the caster.
And individual buffs are high in demand as well. But - to walk into the Bazaar and see the spells so high priced - is as my father-in-law use to say [/u]"Like getting screwed without any kissing or hugging". And if you ask the buyer "Why the high price?" they will either ignore you, or even tell you that they have recently sold it even higher - of course they're in it for the money.
But the plat they earn will not give their main toon a rez or cure their ills or prepare them for battle. As the prices continue to rise, I suspect the availablity of the casters will continue to diminish slowly.

Thank you for your input. I have looked into collecting the pages and rune for the individual spells. Some pages are easy to find. The pages and runes that are (I assume) rare, are so highly priced - that once again I wonder...
So far my research skills only cover alc. Those that do have high research skills for the spells aren't really available at present. In fact a lot that I know that were have more or less just dropped from the game for now - as they are tired of the over-demanding of them, which takes away from their game time overall (a catch 22 all around). Maybe with the new extention some new life will be brought back, but the same demands will remain and probably worsen.
Has S.O.E. considered maybe producing npc bots (like vendors) that would cast the buffs? <sigh>

"It's the economy stupid."

A rare spell should be more expensive than a more common one. An indispensible spell like virtue or kei will be more expensive than one that a caster need not obtain. I could make the same argument for melee gear. Melee characters rely on gear whereas a caster relies on spells. Should I kick and pout as a melee because the best and rarest gear is the most expensive? If the price of a spell is truly exorbitant (Exceeding all bounds, as of custom or fairness), then no one should buy it and the price will eventually be undercut by a price that one is willing to pay. Yet, if one or more is willing to pay a current price, then the price may not be exorbitant.

Furthermore, as a caster you need not make money off buffing or porting or rezzing, but if you need money then what's the problem? A cleric casting conviction and rezzing is going to make a lot more money than a warrior bandaging your wounds for 20 minutes. The point is, you could easily make the money for your spells buffing or soloing (if you're necro or druid or shaman, etc.), while a melee can't buff and can hardly solo.

Another, more novel aspect is that you too could take advantage of the bazaar. If you made lots of money off of buying low and selling high, perhaps ******** others without kissing and hugging would feel pretty good. Just a thought.

Please name the store bought potions that equal to:
K.E.I., Virtue, Conviction, Haste, Temperance, Tranquility...
etc.

That reasoning makes absolutely no sense. People could charge a ridiculously high price for an item or spell that is easily attainable, but, as economics would have it, no one would purchase said item or spell. Thus, those pricing out all customers will, in fact, never sell that item. In a free market, greed is irrelevant. Furthermore, setting an item or spell at a high price is hardly equivalent to everyone jumping off of a cliff. Your reasoning is specious to that regard.



Warriors don’t charge casters for protection because they are grouping together. It’s not entirely selfless unless the warrior was power leveling the caster. Casting buffs in pok can be entirely selfless if you want it to be. The same can be said for power leveling someone, but I’m sure you don’t spend the majority of your time doing that for people you don’t know. By your reasoning, you would consider yourself “greedy” because you probably wouldn’t power level someone who asks you to do so (or maybe you would PL anyone who asks because it’s the right thing to do). By buffing people in pok or wherever without charging them, you are, as a practical matter, power leveling them. Kei, conviction, hos, etc are not indispensable to any character. I remember when casters didn’t have to be constantly kei-ed and they were able to get by just fine. Perhaps people are just too spoiled nowadays.



First off, many groups choose a tank based on their ac/hp. Therefore, a tank has to worry about 20 or so slots to gear up as opposed to a few spells that make the caster. In terms of cost, a melee is shelling out way more than a caster. I can only imagine what “exorbitant” prices you are referring to as well. For example, a cleric is going to have to drop 10k or so on virtue and divine intervention as well as 10-20k per rune, but that’s it (I realize that clerics have a handful of runes to get to conviction). For top end gear in the bazaar for a tank, you’re talking about half a million plus depending on class. (note: I’m assuming this discussion is only considering the higher end). Secondly, no one will pay 650k for anything unless it no longer drops or (FV not included).



This has got to be my favorite part of your argument. Apparently you’ve never been asked repeatedly to tithe at church. “10% of your gross income for eternal salvation” is the going rate I think. Oh, and people surely pay that and pastors have multiple condos and fancy cars and mega churches. I suppose such things aren’t present in your socialist paradise where everyone has mediocre gear and no money. If people made no money off of selling spells and gear then there would be no point in looting and selling such gear. Thus, you would never have that spell in the bazaar that you can’t afford because no one would be selling it. Ultimately, the bazaar would be rendered useless if everyone took your draconian view of a controlled market where pricing is based on what you can afford as a caster who could sell buffs, solo or group for the majority of your spells, gear, or money.

As an aside, as a high level character, which what I am guessing your because you’re whining about a spell being 650k, you could easily make a ridiculous amount of money grouping in wos, or you could sell don crystals, or whatever (of course you will sell it for the market price or far below…what ever that is).


Edited, Wed Aug 17 20:00:04 2005 by Addikeys

Clarity of Elixir X isn't open to all characters that can have the K.E.I. buff. The "X" after the elixir means level 70 characters. So, what about everyone else? They have to wait til then to be self-sufficient? Seems a bit lop-sided doesn't it?

Reality seems to escape you my friend. Although I agree with regarding giving to churches the fact remains that the majority of people on this planet do it. How do you think the big three religions have so much money? Perhaps they earn it somehow. Whatever the case, your analogy of:



doesn't seem to hit the mark.



Those with weak arguments usually fall into attack mode. I'm glad to see that you are no different. I'm also glad to see that you will powerleve anyone who asks because to do otherwise seems, in your view, to be un-"humanity." Whatever the case, you don't know me, nor do you know how I play EQ. I don't charge for buffs or rezzes. I answer /oocs questions whenever I can. And, I'm always glad to help out a fellow player...even on Zek. I don't need to charge for buffs because I have learned how to make money. I don't belong to a guild. I have never bought pp or a char. I have never been PLed. I've never gotten a raid drop. I have geared my chars by hard work and and I would estimate that I've earned around 1.5 million pp over my time playing (which is not that much by today's game standards). I've farmed gear, tradeskill items, vendor dived, and played the bazaar (which is by far the greatest aspect of EQ imho) to make all my money on my own. In EQ and in real life people usually don't give things away because they usually spend time on and work for those things.

I've also checked the prices on Bristlebane, which I believe is your server. Brother, I don't know what prices you're talking about. I didn't see anything even remotely in the price ranges you're talking about. But, if you think 30k is a high price for a spell then you need to check your head. With that type of thinking, your warrior must be sadly equipped. Further, your rune prices and research item prices seemed rather reasonable to me. They were lower than on my server. Apparently, you seem to want handouts (or the services of someone who bothered to master a skill) because these prices you speak of seem imaginary.

It's complete sophistry to base your argument on aberations on the prices of a couple items when you don't even understand simple economics. So, to aid in your epistemology I have provided some articles from a couple of economists regarding the very real nature of the EQ economy (although dated, I think they make my point):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/864283/posts

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-823260.html



Why on earth would you think people were going to call you stupid? You must not have a strong argument if you feel like people are going to call you out. Yet, with so many real problems threatening to destroy the EQ economy (i.e. Scammers, Platinum sellers, or a Sony store selling pp and items), you sure picked a weak point of view ("Someone Please Explain the Insanity in the Bazaar": I think I did pretty well).


Edited, Sat Aug 20 05:41:35 2005 by Addikeys

Sheesh Pdar, you started the stupid thread and then when someone acutally takes the time to answer your pointless and unfounded rant you call them a loser. You fill your posts with misinformation. Hell you didn't even have a clue about potions. Yet, you still take the time to post. Finally, you've run out of arguments and resort to name calling. Why did you post anything at all??? Go play WoW or beg from people in pok. You obviously don't understand how anything works and I'm sick of your pithy and infantile arguments.

If you don't want prices to be the way they are, then what do you suggest? Should all prices be forced down some how? Maybe some GM could monitor pricing to make sure they don't amount to greed? And idea that people will leave EQ because of pricing is ludicrous. There are so many other tangible reasons to stop playing the game. For you to attack the bazaar with such a weak argument is sad and I will vehemently defend one of the best aspects of EQ, in my opinion.

OMG you are so right. How silly of me to give a real answer (an answer that you don't like is still a real answer) and provide some real discussion when all you really wanted is "yeah I think the bazzzaaar is sutpid to. yor so smrt Pdar. Yoru arguments make so much best sence. They aren't not supported by lotsa awesome facts..."

Apparently you believe that everyone must agree with you, but everyone who bothered to post provided information that countered your point.

Go find another forum where you can be coddled and quit your whining.

Wow, guess some people do marry someone JUST like them....even down to the grammar and lack of paragraphs.

Ya it sucks to have to buy stuff in the bazaar at exhoribatant prices, I myself can't afford to buy my all spells or better gear. ( I am probably on a higher end then you, I have probably nothing worst then Vex-Thal level gear and am 70 with a bunch of AA so like cheapest I can find in bazaar that will upgrade me even marginally is like 50k and for it to be worth it to buy over biding my time on Time/Ikky raids really we are talking like 250k+)

But, I made a choice, I am aware each day of that choice and although I will admit I begrude it a little, I am concious that I have made a choice. Anything I loot that will upgrade a guildy I give to them. Be it murmite runes, cloaks, shields, spells whatever. I am sure I could go into the bazaar and with minimal effort make more in plat by just taking the average price and cutting it in half. I would probably sell out all the stuff I had like that in an hour maybe two. However, none of it would go to the people who imho would need it, use it, wear it. It would most likely be quickly bought up by people who play the bazaar for profit and inflate the prices of things. The way I figure it they have 2 accounts and can afford to leave one sitting 24/7 in bazaar to catch that person who has finally saved up or impulse buys something real expensive. They have the patience/ability to hold onto the item for days or weeks to get that inflated price, I dont.

So ya I can kind of see where both of you are coming from but like Joph said you have options, you can try and hunt them, or you can do like me and just save your money til you can afford them. (ya I save the coin and sell the gems, guildies can sue me if they begrude my 2-3k a night, when they are gettin my 10-100kish drops)

It is a game. Have fun and try to enjoy every aspect of it. If you cannot enjoy a certain aspect of it...don't participate in that part. But who am I? I'm still a bright eyed newb who literally is in awe every time I turn a corner. But I am having fun.

Actually I posted the remark at the front to say that I think you are full of **** and really the same poster trying to claim his little brother or whatever really was posting for them.

I did let up a bit in offchance that you werent full of crap and really not the same person trying to play the it was my "alterego" to gather sympathy.

But congradulations I stand corrected. You're the same person as the OP and deserved the attack and not the stroking.

just for info elix potions come in different lvls IX and X are usually avalible in the bazaar and sell for less than 20 plat each