Topic

Glitchonomics 101

These are just some of my initial observations about the Glitch Economy and could be considered applicable to most virtual economies.

As an initial caveat I would say Glitch is a relatively small game.  Compared to most MMORPGs Glitch's number of resource items and craft-able items is pretty small.  Before I talk about the Auction/Market economy it should be noted a large part of the community make use of barter, player-trading and community donations.

Game economy isn't necessarily as central to the Glitch experience as compared to a game like EVE Online for instance.  Glitch is more of a game that rewards social and communal progress.

With that caveat in mind, I'll move on to discussion of the auction/market.

=PRICE FACTORS=

Vendor Prices:
NPC Buy and Sell prices act as a semi-limiter/stabilizer for market prices.  Players are unlikely to buy items off the market if they can buy them from an NPC for the same price or less.  Items not available from the NPC are unlikely to be sold on Market for less than the NPC will buy them for.

Market Supply & Demand:
Glitch has a supply and demand economy like most games, the caveat being that for most part the supply is potentially infinite.  Actual market supply for most common resources are practically infinite as long as Glitch maintains a healthy playerbase.

A sub-factor to Market Supply is Rarity.  While most items have an infinite supply or can be crafted by players some items are random or have very low drop rates such as rare music boxes, seasonal items, beta items, etc..

The lower the market supply and the higher the rarity, the higher the price is likely to be.

Time:

Time is a factor in Market prices for non-vendor items.  Items that require more time to craft/harvest will likely have a higher price.

Energy:
Energy Cost is a factor in Market prices as well.  Simple items with low or zero energy cost to harvest are likely not to include energy cost as a factor however, uber items that have a high energy cost to harvest/craft or have a high chain cost (i.e. refining, crafting ingredients, etc.) will likely include energy cost as a price factor.

=MARKET STATES=

Stagnant:
Items that are highly common, have a large market presence and/or low demand are most likely to succumb to stagnation.  This can effect uncommon items as well that may not be viewed as cost-efficient.

This is less likely to effect basic resources, rare items and high-end items but rather items that fall somewhere in the middle that may be viewed as over-priced.

Under-Valued:
Any items being sold at below Vendor buy price are considered under-valued and can yield immediate profit at vendor.  Items that are not sold by vendor that are sold below average market sell price (also factoring list and commission cost) can also be considered under-valued although weekly, monthly, yearly averages may vary.

Over-Valued:
If there is a low supply and few or no market lists then the seller is in a better position to over-price such items.  Usually you can wait out low supplies however a few items move so fast that you either have to wait or you have to accept the higher prices.

=MARKET STRATEGIES=
Market Cornering:
Rare items that sell fast and are in very low market supply or none can basically be sold within reason for very profitable prices.

Buying out the Competition:
This is really only recommended if the "competition's" item is under-valued, meaning you can sell it to vendor for a profit or sell it on auction at a profit (factoring in list/commission costs)

Undercutting:

If you're just trying to make a quick buck and are willing to make a little less yourself you can undercut the lowest market price.  When undercutting you should make sure you're still profiting when factoring list and commission costs.

Be aware of over-selling, since in Glitch all auctions you post are sold as a single unit, i.e. you post 10 quantities of an item for sale a buyer must buy all 10 of them.  For less fluid items (i.e. fast selling) you may want to avoid posting too many auctions for sale at once or of posting too many units for sale in a single auction for higher end items.

Price Control:
Having mentioned undercutting it's important to note that it's not always smart to undercut.  Undercutting your competition can lead to further undercutting by other sellers.  If players continually undercut each other then buyers will end up just buying lowest/last listed items.

Now, if an item is selling for say 500C and you post the same item for 500C and the seller after you posts the same item for 500C then it is more likely that everyone's items will sell quickly.

You can see undercutting occur in real-time in Glitch by watching auction listings for Teal-White Triangle Keys.  These items often start at 2500C, average around 1750C and are often undercut to around 1600C with sellers undercutting each other by 1C at a time. 

When undercutting like this occurs it can takes hours for a seller to sell just one key.

=CONCLUSION=
Generally, the Glitch economy isn't suspect to a lot of abuse.  This is in part due to the fact that you are limited to stack sizes of items you can post and also because all lots must be sold/bought as one unit, i.e. you can't post 500 units of an item and have someone buy just one unit.

Also, with some items being non-auctionable it forces players to trade privately or barter for said items.

I'm not saying that it would be inherently good or bad if such features were implemented but at the moment, it's not a factor.

I'm not advocating serious market manipulating by players and in fact there are nastier ways which players can use to drive prices up or down that I haven't mentioned but, since it is a part of Glitch I felt like analyzing it to an extent and discussing it.

This was just meant to be a very general guide along with observations about Glitch economy.  Feel free to comment or add your own insights.

Posted 13 months ago by Glitchard Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • In considering the Glitch economy, my thoughts lie somewhere between those of Karl Marx and Groucho.
    Posted 13 months ago by dr_loplop Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Let me put forth a simple theory: excluding certain items which are truly scarce, such as keys, prices on Auction will always tend towards a certain value, that is approximately 89% of their listed price. Can you see why?
    Posted 13 months ago by Boom and Bust Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Your "Market Strategies" totally miss one of the most important cultural economic goals in Glitch:  Giving away as much as you can.  Try using the lens of a potlatch culture, otherwise your assumptions will be unreliable and your conclusions laughable.  You haven't even covered the basics for Glitchonomics 101.
    Posted 13 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • looks like a copy n paste job with the Glitch content edited in. 
    Posted 13 months ago by Jehannum Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @WindBorn: That's why I prefaced by saying Glitch is a game that rewards social/communal progress.  The economy in Glitch isn't as central to the gameplay as it might be in most other games.  It really depends on how you prefer to play.  In fact, Glitch's inherent brotherly attitude does make "playing the market" more difficult.

    I realize market manipulation probably isn't a savory topic of discussion for most Glitchians but regardless I think it still deserves a little analysis and discussion.  Not talking about it doesn't mean it doesn't factor into gameplay anyway.

    @Jehannum:  It's not a copy/paste job.  They're my own words.  I have however written similar guides and breakdowns for other games I've played in the past but Glitch is by far the simplest.

    Compared to games where players must decide on one or two skills to master which cost not only time but large amounts of game money (and real money in a lot of cases) and that also have a vaster number of items and crafting disciplines in Glitch it is a lot easier to master all or most all crafting professions and to obtain nearly all items.
    Posted 13 months ago by Glitchard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Try using the lens of a potlatch culture

    That's never worked for me.  Most of what I see in the game, parties excluded, is people trying to amass what they can for themselves.  There are small give-away efforts but they don't seem to be the norm.   What am I missing?   Street projects?
    Posted 13 months ago by WalruZ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You're missing people mailing stuff to one another; handing off in game; dumping outside their homes; hiding stuff in hidden places, setting up piles of stuff on the take what you need and leave stuff principle, and so on.

    Most of what you see in game is visible.

    Therefore, what you're missing must be invisible.
    Posted 13 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Also missing seems to be your participation in trading groups that are set up to help each other find items.  Many of these (cubimals, emblems, icons) include giving newbies free items and trading one-for-one for other items that had a variable cost.  
    Posted 13 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • What you're also missing is knowledge of the end-goals people may have.  For example, I recently set for myself the goal of amassing 1M currants in order to then give away my fortune.  (I might change my mind, but this is guiding my current game strategy.) 
    Posted 13 months ago by Splendora Subscriber! | Permalink