The Future Economy Of Warframe

[Meyrink]

I love this game, but I'm worried about its longevity after something was brought to my attention today.

 

What really bothers me is that, according to DE, this game is supposedly trying to mimic features of the Diablo franchise. I'm wondering if that means we're going to see a lot of the same problems that franchise went through? I mean, how familiar are the devs with that game? Are we talking about a casual reference here? Because Diablo went through a lot of hell before it managed to iron out the wrinkles in it's drop rates, and it wasn't just about trying to get players to feel individually rewarded, the real issue hit when it came to trying to reward the entire community as a whole.

 

Of course, I'm trying to allude to the whole idea of a thriving in-game market. What is going to keep Warframe alive (or kill it off) in the long-run, even more than simple bugs, glitches, or broken game mechanics - and even more than lots of available content - is the game's economy.

 

Let's assume that DE manages to "fix" the RNG tables in a way that perfectly suits them to each and every individual player's wants and needs (unlikely to say the least). Even in that kind of perfect (and impossible) scenario, what happens when the value of certain rares - which is inherently based on scarcity - makes them so valuable that they never get traded because it would be irrational to do so? What happens when commons become so common that they have absolutely no value?

 

Are we going to see Stones of Jordan eventually? Those of you who played Diablo extensively can see (if you didn't already) where I'm trying to go with this.

 

I think this is really going to become an even bigger can of worms than just broken RNG tables and I'm bringing this topic up for discussion now because I'm hoping that some people will have some good ideas to contribute in order to make sure that Warframe doesn't repeat the same mistakes made by Diablo and end up becoming more of a niche title than it already is. I'd like to see Warframe remain popular for many many years, because I really love this game despite its flaws. I've been beta testing it for a while now, and I love how far it's come, so hopefully either DE is already thinking about this subject, or we can collaborate to get them to think about it.

 

Thank you for your patience if you read all of my OP. I apologize for the length.

[Miose]

Trading will be extremely limited as in if you don't trade in that match then there is no trade and you can only trade what has been acquired during that match and maybe somethings in the clans can be traded. The point is that I don't think we have to worry about trading evolving that far as to cause such a problem...

[Meyrink]

Trading will be extremely limited as in if you don't trade in that match then there is no trade and you can only trade what has been acquired during that match and maybe somethings in the clans can be traded. The point is that I don't think we have to worry about trading evolving that far as to cause such a problem...

 

It would still be an issue, because where and when you can trade won't influence the base value of items on their own. If people can trade at all, then a market exists, and that market will adhere to supply and demand.

 

I really don't think this is something that can be swept under the rug. We really need to talk about this and not engage in any kind of wishful thinking or positive biases. Let's assume the worst and plan for that, because in reality, things often end up being far worse than you can imagine. I'm not even trying to be pessimistic either, this is just plain realism.

[Ripcat]

It seems to me that DE is pretty reluctant to add trading. When it does come down the pipe, I'm sure it'll be watch and tweaked to prevent people from cheating.

 

I can see it between clan members, so they can help each other out, but that's about it. You make it bigger and then you end up with a marketplace.

[Meyrink]

It seems to me that DE is pretty reluctant to add trading. When it does come down the pipe, I'm sure it'll be watch and tweaked to prevent people from cheating.

 

I can see it between clan members, so they can help each other out, but that's about it. You make it bigger and then you end up with a marketplace.

 

Cheating is a completely separate issue entirely which I have no doubt they will come down hard on, and should with no remorse.

 

On the other hand, a marketplace exists anywhere that two or more people can exchange goods or services. It doesn't matter if it happens on the moon, or in secret, or with special membership, or through a third party. A market is a market, and if it exists, it adheres to the rules of supply and demand.

 

If they add trading of any kind whatsoever, then a market will exist, and it will be either a good one or a bad one, and limiting a problem doesn't make it not a problem, it just makes it less of a problem, which, maybe YOU can ignore, but you don't necessarily represent the majority of people who are, or will, be playing this game.

 

I'm not saying I do either, but again, I'd like to see DE err on the side of caution with this subject because, as the saying goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

[Miose]

It would still be an issue, because where and when you can trade won't influence the base value of items on their own. If people can trade at all, then a market exists, and that market will adhere to supply and demand.

 

I really don't think this is something that can be swept under the rug. We really need to talk about this and not engage in any kind of wishful thinking or positive biases. Let's assume the worst and plan for that, because in reality, things often end up being far worse than you can imagine. I'm not even trying to be pessimistic either, this is just plain realism.

You make good points, but with the always worse thing it's funny because it's usually better than for me! lol

 

P.S not trying to start an argument just thought that was ironic....

[Meyrink]

You make good points, but with the always worse thing it's funny because it's usually better than for me! lol

 

P.S not trying to start an argument just thought that was ironic....

 

Lol, it's okay. Sometimes you get lucky otherwise heck, nobody would ever gamble at anything right?

 

I'm sure I'm exaggerating the true importance of the issue a bit, but that's intentional because I just like to be cautious and I would hate to let myself just think, "oh, it's no big deal" when it really ends up being yet another *@##$-fest down the road that gets yet another group of already disenfranchised players to drop an otherwise great game. I'm the kind of driver who actually slows down almost to a stop before hitting a speed bump he can see down the road.

[neKroMancer]

I don't want trading to be featured in Warframe, ever. The problem which it creates far outweighs the benefit. Have a 'mod scrapping' feature which turns mod into material or combine excess mods into different, randomized mod would be a better deal.

I come here to play the game, not to play a stock market.

[Miose]

I don't want trading to be featured in Warframe, ever. The problem which it creates far outweighs the benefit. Have a 'mod scrapping' feature which turns mod into material or combine excess mods into different, randomized mod would be a better deal.

I come here to play the game, not to play a stock market.

the combine thing might be cool

[Meyrink]

I don't want trading to be featured in Warframe, ever. The problem which it creates far outweighs the benefit. Have a 'mod scrapping' feature which turns mod into material or combine excess mods into different, randomized mod would be a better deal.

I come here to play the game, not to play a stock market.

 

Honestly, I'm inclined to agree with you here. I would rather there be no market than a bad one, because as I already said, there being no problem is better than there being another small one that takes years to fix and just creates more drama and tension in the meantime.

 

I hope they just abort the whole trading thing entirely, but my intuition tells me that they are going to go ahead and do it anyway because once you start dangling carrots in front of gamers, the social contract kicks in and it makes it a lot harder to say, "we changed our minds" later. They really should not have even mentioned trading of any kind anywhere at all and kept that really tightly under wraps until they were damn sure they wanted to implement that system. Secrecy about this kind of stuff is just, really really important, but I guess now it's too late.