May 17, 2009
Money, Money, Money.....
by Belladain
As of now most of us have probably heard about
the new change coming to Medievia by the end of the year......taxes!
Sort of.
For those who don't read the Vryce journal, or have
generally been living under a rock, once implemented, all gold will
have a daily charge on them. That charge will come out to be
just under 31% a year. Vryce has said for years he has wanted
to do something about the rampant inflation that has plagued the
game. In my own experience, after being away from Med for
around 8-9 months, the price of many items, such as portable holes,
scales, and dragon crystals have gone up around 300% or more.
Vryce believes this to be caused by the amount of "old gold" in the
game. Players from years past who come back with billions
sitting in their bank accounts. Current players who farm all
day, sell their loot, and sit on their profits.
The player
base quickly reacted, and to the surprise of many in mostly a
positive way. There were a few who were outraged and soon had
their chat abilities taken away, and in one case I know of their
character taken away, but in general the debate was healthy.
The general idea of the change is to help drive prices down, and
give newer players a chance to compete - after all when was the last
time you saw a double or triple class, who does not have any alt
heroes or a rich bloodline, buy a portable hole for 200mil?
The debate has so far focused on how fast the market will drop, and
how to avoid it.
Many people suggested buying aurellium bars
would be the best way to go, and that could be true as reflected by
today's "economy" command which showed over 1.5 BILLLION removed
from the economy via shop purchases. Either someone bought a
ton of oak staves or people are buying bars. I asked V in chat
today if that would be addressed. His initial response was
that all gold, whether on person, in ATMs etc. WILL be subject to
charge, and there will not be a reasonable way to avoid it - further
in response to the aurellium bar question - when the change is
implemented, all bars will be converted to gold, and charged
accordingly.
Hexadelium suggested we could buy
green potions to avoid the tax - which V admitted you could do, but
are you really going to take the time and buy a million green
potions just to avoid the cost? Others are suggesting to buy
high value items such as dragon scales or reclass coins.
The inherent problem with buying those items is the same as anything
else - supply and demand, what happens if a new way to reclass using
fae is introduced, and the price of coins drops to nothing?
Further, although some do not see it this way, if you buy a coin
today for 100mil, even though the value relative to the economy may
remain high, if not higher, the question remains on how fast the
prices will drop. in 1 year would you rather have a reclass
coin worth 10mil(which may be high value compared to everything
else) or would you rather have 70mil(minus the 30% price drop).
There are many variables, and despite some people thinking
they know everything and can easily predict how things will shake it
- I personally have my doubts about their supposed clairvoyance, but
there is risk in everything we do.
The general consensus is
of course the people most hurt from this are the ultra rich, which
most admit are few and far between. If the average hero truly
only has 50mil at any given time, the effect for them will,
hopefully, be an increase in purchasing power as the value of gold
increases.
Along with the announcement of a new god
position - the Treasury god - expect many more changes, if none so
drastic, coming soon
Belladain
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