Noob-nomics 101
Welcome to our very first installment of Noob-nomics!
Every MMO has a set of currency, usually used to get items, consumables, and other things to revamp your digital-self.
Wherever there is currency, there is economics. In MMOs however economics are limited to several mechanics, like personal stores, trade chats, forums, Auction houses or brokers. To make the most money (to homogenize terms) there are some things we need to figure out.
Economics is all about playing with buy and sell prices. Marketing, distribution channels, target markets all influence the effectiveness of playing with said prices. In the end it’s all about selling stuff at a higher amount of currency than what it took us to get it. Even if it just took us time, there is an implied cost to it. The market usually defines said cost, as many people selling that item will flood it and its price will lower, or if it is rare only a few will show up and its price will be higher.
First and foremost the number 1 rules of MMO economics is:
There will always be a bigger noob than you
Yes, when we buy stuff we let our emotions influence in our decisions. Much of our expenses can be considered as very noob useles actions.
Tip 1: Anyone leveling, should save up their money, spending 100k kinah or 100g on an item is useless since it will be replaced in 2 or 3 levels, which in playtime sums up to a couple of hours. Many of use have spent money while leveling, and many more will. So make sure you are there to cater to those people’s needs.
Tip 2: Keep an eye out for those things you know will always be in demand, you never know if a noob is practically giving one away.
Aion: i have found in many personal stores crit manastones going for 200 kinah which i later resold for 3k-4k kinah. (for example)
Wow: i have bought several epic gems for 100g, and later resold for 200g, same with a couple of other items like frost lotus (usually go for 25g, bought em at 10g and made em flasks ended up making 300% profit)
Tip 3: Trash for you isn’t always trash for everybody. All the trash dropped by mobs in game tends to sell really well. Also some items while they may look lame for you, someone else (a much bigger noob) may see it like an upgrade. Emotion based purchases can be bad. I sold several cloth items with defense (a stat for plate users/tanks not cloth users) to people who felt they needed it. In reality they just saw a green/blue (uncommon/rare) item that should be (but not necessarily was) better than the common item they had.
Tip 4: Noobs will always be noobs. Almost everything in an MMO can be sold to a vendor, usually at a reduced price (25% of the buy price) even if some items can be sold for much much more than that to another player directly. What we need to keep in mind is that noobz will sometimes forget to check the vendor sell price, and you can find items in auction houses and brokers that can be bought and sold to a VENDOR (not a player) fora profit. The importance of this is that we can make a lot of money with almost no time spent and no work. The downside is that we need to be on the lookout everytime we check a broker or auction house for said items. Specially if in bulk (as it provides the most profit), we must be always aware of the vendor price. If you can buy an item for 100k and sell it to a vendor for 125k, you have already earned your money.
