How is dunes and what happened to the economy?

[Shiro_Hayate]

I took a long break, I came back now and noticed the following things
1. XBox 360 was released
2. Crystals dropped more then 400% on Ifrit

What the hell happened to the economy? (I'm happy for it btw) And would you gamble as to buying tons of cheap items in hopes of selling them off for big $$$ in the future?

Also, with the release of 360 should I bother leveling subjobs for my DRK? How frustrating is dunes now?

[Caspian]

Re: How is dunes and what happened to the economy?

Well, there are a lot of high levels playing new jobs and such, so last time I was there the dunes weren't too bad.
The economy? SE did some stuff to take money out of it and try to reverse inflation. Seems to be working so far. They said they banned a bunch of gilseller accounts (not sure which ones though, as I still see the same ones running around, perhaps the actual ones who handled the money). Crystals are nearly back to what they were when I started, a few weeks before ps2 release here in the states.

[Eue]

Re: How is dunes and what happened to the economy?

I have a related question : does any of the advice on how to (legally) support your character still apply ? There were many detailed guides on how to level crafting and such - many of which were written at a time when inflation ran away with the economy. I was pleasantly suprised to FINALLY get a Bronze bed for 39k last night - as opposed to 185k when i stopped playing at the end of Feburary. (Unicorn) When i log in tonight, I am looking forward to 60 spaces in my MH. Definitely want to max that out.

I am now seriously thinking of leveling some crafts - getting into Cooking, Gardening, Fishing for a start - does any of the old advice still apply/work ? Or have the changes to the economy been too profound ?

[Jarre]

Re: How is dunes and what happened to the economy?

I can only speak for my server (Garuyda) but Moat carps are selling for between 10-15k a stack at the moment, beehive chips are 20k for a stack so if you have a theif farm from bees in Taronghi, sheep leather is around 30-35k a stack (great profit if you farm your sheep skins) lots of profit synths you can do, best advice check out your AH spend some time going through teh crafts area and see whats sellign and what you can level cheaply and create most proffit from.

[Telera]

Re: How is dunes and what happened to the economy?

Well, on my server about the only thing that can support the cost of the equip my character needs anymore is Beastman Blood, which is still going for 100k/stack. Everything else I used to farm has fallen to almost negligible. Beehive chips are maybe 20k, but more likely than not 17k. And silk is around 28-30k. Which might be good gil if I had the time to farm 10 stacks but I don't.

And at 42SMN I don't have alot of options. It's chips, silk, or blood. I used to do alot of crystal farming, but the market on those has been flooded. And Crafting? heh. I do cooking. And I've noticed anymore that almost always the ingredients cost more than the final product would in the end. And the things I *could* make to make money, I can't farm well just yet (maybe in 8 more lvls), and won't make me good money until I can HQ them nonstop which makes it rather discouraging to level a craft any further.

I don't have the gil to just toss out on sucking up another 20 levels of loss on cooking. o.o So I'm slowly farming up blood and just hoping for the best.

Another good way, I guess, would be to get in some BCNMs or Garrisons. If you're lucky you can get some drops that sell for a pretty nice bit. My rl boyfriend and I play together. And he and I pooled our lots from Garrison and made 500k each. Which kept me going for a good lil while.

[Ellipses]

Re: How is dunes and what happened to the economy?

These days I make almost all my money running teleports. It averages out to about 30-40k an hour (rush hour is like 100k but then there are slow times), without Vahzl (which would increase my income). It's not the most lucrative trade, but it takes absolutely no effort or planning. I can just switch jobs and go. Cooking on one of my mules also provides a slow, steady stream when I bother to do it. I haven't checked lately, but I'm pretty sure sheep leather is still a fantastic source of income for a level 2 synth.

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: How is dunes and what happened to the economy?

I have a related question : does any of the advice on how to (legally) support your character still apply ? There were many detailed guides on how to level crafting and such - many of which were written at a time when inflation ran away with the economy.

Crafting profitability, in my view, is generally inflation neutral. Except for skill up synthesis items, crafters would not want to put items up for sell unless it's profitable. So when prices for something is too low, the item price will rise (due to lower supply), and ingredient price fall (oversupply due to lack of crafters using them). Things tend to balance out this way, so there's always something profitable a high level crafter can synth. Price doesn't determine if a crafter will make something--profitability does--no matter if the server is experiencing inflation or deflation.

That said, you are in competition with other crafters--if something is VERY profitable, sooner or later other crafters at your level or higher will catch on, and be either as good as you are at making it, or better--by HQ'ing more (or break less). That makes supply go up, and profit fall. (I used to make a killing on poison potions on Ifrit as Alchemy 23--but no more. heh.)

I think the key to surviving rapid inflation/deflation is to be adaptable--more (craft) skills you have, more adaptable you can be. The most important thing is your mind set, though; be quick to move to some different synth (or farming area) when things don't work out.

p.s. I ended up giving up synthesis for profit for the moment, and just used my Beastman's Seals on BCNM's for money. But, I started leveling Alchemy again (25 now), just in case...

[Myaku]

Re: How is dunes and what happened to the economy?

As others have said, the economy is basically the same, just overall prices have inflated a bit. There was a huge ammount of inflation during the Christmas season, and the economy has finally settled back down from that. As far as synthesis, you should never follow any guide exactly. Prices change too much server to server and month to month. Use the guides as just that - guides - and then do your own research.