10-03-2012, 12:35 AM
WARNING: Nerdy soap-box moment.
As for profitability, this is a misconception that exists in EVERY video game that uses a crafting system (WoW comes to mind). Players like to think of crafting like one would think of a real-world profession. This is a mistake. In the real world, a profession is an uncommon (relatively speaking) skill that takes time and labour to produce a product that could not otherwise exist. It is therefore an investment on the part of the laborer to earn a profit. In a video-game however, it is just another game aspect and another way to develop your character. There is no real skill involved and no significant time either. Therefore the "labour" should produce no profit (and indeed it almost always doesn't). Yes, there IS an investment involved (namely, the raw materials consumed), but with everyone making the investment, the profession isn't uncommon enough to yield the necessary demand, so there is no margin for profit. If the professions were rarer, perhaps the prices would start to come close to profitable, but this isn't the case. EVERY player has a crafting profession (presumably), and MOST (I would wager) choose to try and level it up. So the raw materials are naturally going to be more valuable than the finished product since they also contain the inherent "experience" one receives from using them which the finished products do not. I don't see this as problematic at all, I'm just saying that this is the reason the pricing of all these items seems backwards. It's simply a reflection of players' priorities. We all want to make money of course, but I think most players care even more about leveling their characters in any way and as much as possible, even if they don't realize it. Hence we have so many "craftsmen".
Therefore, if you just want to make money, ignore the crafting professions (indeed, pretend your character just never got interested in them) and focus on selling raw materials in the AH to the "craftsmen". Become a "gatherer". Assume you can buy the crafted equipment you want for probably less than the cost of materials and unquestionably less than the cost of training the skill to the appropriate level yourself. This is essentially identical to WoW, where many players eventually figured out that they should just train two gathering professions and ignore the crafting professions to make money more quickly. Once players begin to diversify their priorities more, perhaps true "crafters" will be rare enough relative to the "gatherers" that their products will in fact be profitable. Only time will tell. Aren't virtual economies fascinating beasts?
As for profitability, this is a misconception that exists in EVERY video game that uses a crafting system (WoW comes to mind). Players like to think of crafting like one would think of a real-world profession. This is a mistake. In the real world, a profession is an uncommon (relatively speaking) skill that takes time and labour to produce a product that could not otherwise exist. It is therefore an investment on the part of the laborer to earn a profit. In a video-game however, it is just another game aspect and another way to develop your character. There is no real skill involved and no significant time either. Therefore the "labour" should produce no profit (and indeed it almost always doesn't). Yes, there IS an investment involved (namely, the raw materials consumed), but with everyone making the investment, the profession isn't uncommon enough to yield the necessary demand, so there is no margin for profit. If the professions were rarer, perhaps the prices would start to come close to profitable, but this isn't the case. EVERY player has a crafting profession (presumably), and MOST (I would wager) choose to try and level it up. So the raw materials are naturally going to be more valuable than the finished product since they also contain the inherent "experience" one receives from using them which the finished products do not. I don't see this as problematic at all, I'm just saying that this is the reason the pricing of all these items seems backwards. It's simply a reflection of players' priorities. We all want to make money of course, but I think most players care even more about leveling their characters in any way and as much as possible, even if they don't realize it. Hence we have so many "craftsmen".
Therefore, if you just want to make money, ignore the crafting professions (indeed, pretend your character just never got interested in them) and focus on selling raw materials in the AH to the "craftsmen". Become a "gatherer". Assume you can buy the crafted equipment you want for probably less than the cost of materials and unquestionably less than the cost of training the skill to the appropriate level yourself. This is essentially identical to WoW, where many players eventually figured out that they should just train two gathering professions and ignore the crafting professions to make money more quickly. Once players begin to diversify their priorities more, perhaps true "crafters" will be rare enough relative to the "gatherers" that their products will in fact be profitable. Only time will tell. Aren't virtual economies fascinating beasts?