scarcity of cards in card shop

[FrankieT]

Originally Posted by bailey

I post buy orders and people fill them even if they are wildly below last 10.

Note: you have to buy cards before everybody else wants them, though.

That's exactly right and it works both ways.
That's how the perceived scarcity happens. Mission comes out--then watch the "must have" cards that are the critical path for multi-missions and you buy them up cheap 10 at a time and hold at higher sell prices...if multiple accounts then you do this multiple times. Then there are multiple people doing this, because it is relatively easy to see the critical paths on the missions. But certainly worth posting a low buy order. I fill those just for convenience.

OOTP does a great job keeping missions fresh consistently, and there is no way to eliminate such critical paths. That's the whole idea--otherwise why bother with a mission if everyone automatically gets it without much effort. That's enforced parity and at that point why play.

Scarcity creates value. The players create the scarcity, not OOTP.

[LeeD]

Originally Posted by FrankieT

Scarcity creates value. The players create the scarcity, not OOTP.

True. Also false. Players create scarcity by hoarding cards. OOTP creates scarcity by creating new cards for new missions. Good example is the 103 Utley. Yesterday, you could have purchased it for a little over 100K. Today, it's going for three times that because it's a cornerstone to a three-mission set. Once the small handful of existing Utleys are locked or sold, you'll have a hard time finding it. When you do, it will probably be listed for 500K or more.

[usa_hank]

Big money grab. Time for a sale and to release a bunch of missions that create scarcity even in some iron.

With the going rate of cards not only in the newest mission drop, but even still from the last mission drop from 2-3 weeks ago...it isn't worth buying the cards to complete the missions yet.

And the whales get fatter.

[Fabtron7]

It’s almost like they’re trying to run a business or something.

[usa_hank]

Originally Posted by bailey

I post buy orders and people fill them even if they are wildly below last 10.

Note: you have to buy cards before everybody else wants them, though.

I feel like I'm doing something wrong. I never have a big pot of PP sitting around for prospecting. I'm always putting the best team on the field that I can buy. At most I'll have 150K PP if I'm saving up, but on average I'm closer to 40k-50k at any given time.

[bailey]

Originally Posted by usa_hank

I feel like I'm doing something wrong. I never have a big pot of PP sitting around for prospecting. I'm always putting the best team on the field that I can buy. At most I'll have 150K PP if I'm saving up, but on average I'm closer to 40k-50k at any given time.

If you are trying to keep up with the meta from day 1 on a Tampa Bay budget then that is a mistake that leads to a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth. I used to determine the success of my team by the number of weeks spent in perfect league, but now if I can get there just once it's a successful year.

[usa_hank]

Originally Posted by bailey

If you are trying to keep up with the meta from day 1 on a Tampa Bay budget then that is a mistake that leads to a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth. I used to determine the success of my team by the number of weeks spent in perfect league, but now if I can get there just once it's a successful year.

It's hard to even compete in low diamond the last 8 weeks. I've been relegated even with a good team (all the way to LG), so I keep thinking I have to tweak something to get back. Drives me crazy.

I've actually given up going to streams at this point and getting the free drops, even stopped with tourneys. Selling off the cards sitting in my system. I've gotten tired of fighting the fight, so I figure I'm on my last couple of weeks in PT for this year before I call it.

[Hawkwing7423]

Fred McGriff is quite a chokepoint for the Playoff Moments missions. Always seems to be at most 1 in the store, currently listed at 110k with an L10 of 47k.

People love to list at 1.5x or 2x L10 price on weekends, or more, hoping for whales I guess.

My goal this year was to finish all missions, but even as a mid spender, that is seeming harder and harder.

[cwhitman]

Originally Posted by Hawkwing7423

Fred McGriff is quite a chokepoint for the Playoff Moments missions. Always seems to be at most 1 in the store, currently listed at 110k with an L10 of 47k.

People love to list at 1.5x or 2x L10 price on weekends, or more, hoping for whales I guess.

My goal this year was to finish all missions, but even as a mid spender, that is seeming harder and harder.

yet if you put up buy orders, they're generally filled! kind of like how i sold an adley for 88k earlier, and had a BO filled for 44k same day. you need to play the game, you can't just sit and wait if you want a card

[Hawkwing7423]

Originally Posted by cwhitman

yet if you put up buy orders, they're generally filled! kind of like how i sold an adley for 88k earlier, and had a BO filled for 44k same day. you need to play the game, you can't just sit and wait if you want a card

I see a pattern of weekend gouging, I posted about it. You get so defensive about this game.

I put up buy orders quite often. Sometimes filled, sometimes not. Yesterday, for example, for Eovaldi, close to L10, and they just jacked up the price another 5k in the morning.

[LeeD]

It's a buyer's market Wednesday and early Thursday, especially for older mission cards, as players try to build points for the new releases. Sunday is a seller's market as players try to improve rosters for the upcoming season. Nothing nefarious. That's normal behavior.

[Hawkwing7423]

Originally Posted by LeeD

It's a buyer's market Wednesday and early Thursday, especially for older mission cards, as players try to build points for the new releases. Sunday is a seller's market as players try to improve rosters for the upcoming season. Nothing nefarious. That's normal behavior.

No one used the word nefarious. I don't think anyone but a whale is paying 110k for a 47k L10 card that's been in the quest line a few weeks. I stand by my statement.

I guess if I had to use a word, I'd call it greed by whoever has particular cards. I know the market will eventually move closer to the normal value.

[cwhitman]

it's not greed. it's playing the game. whenever i see a card with no sell orders, i list it higher than L10. why wouldn't i?

[Hawkwing7423]

Originally Posted by cwhitman

it's not greed. it's playing the game. whenever i see a card with no sell orders, i list it higher than L10. why wouldn't i?

I can come up with two reasons easily enough. You have to update your price when someone undercuts you. I guess if you enjoy constantly updating auctions, that may be for you.

I like my low value cards moving in quick sale instead of sitting in the market for a long time. There's always more that can be listed.

I can see for high value cards, patience may pay off.

[usa_hank]

Originally Posted by cwhitman

it's not greed. it's playing the game. whenever i see a card with no sell orders, i list it higher than L10. why wouldn't i?

What if someone buys that card. The person who buys that card has a little kid at home, and those PP would have gone to great use buying that kid some much needed medicine? Poor kid, now little Johnny has to keep dealing with his troublesome condition, no medicine, no fix, he's just gotta deal with it because his father spent all those PP on a 102-rated Johan Santana.

[LeeD]

Originally Posted by usa_hank

What if someone buys that card. The person who buys that card has a little kid at home, and those PP would have gone to great use buying that kid some much needed medicine? Poor kid, now little Johnny has to keep dealing with his troublesome condition, no medicine, no fix, he's just gotta deal with it because his father spent all those PP on a 102-rated Johan Santana.

102 Santana has better stuff than little Johnny, and Johnny can be happy that dad's team has pushed Variant Stieb into the bullpen after he started 4-9 with a mid-5 ERA. Snark aside, yes, it's just a game. It's not like hiking gas prices or interest rates or swindling people out of real money.

[usa_hank]

Originally Posted by LeeD

102 Santana has better stuff than little Johnny, and Johnny can be happy that dad's team has pushed Variant Stieb into the bullpen after he started 4-9 with a mid-5 ERA. Snark aside, yes, it's just a game. It's not like hiking gas prices or interest rates or swindling people out of real money.

lol agreed. Everyone wants to tout the "free market" of the PT economy. It's not a free market in the same way as the retail market is. It's a bunch of people playing a game, where it doesn't really matter if they make 50k PP over L10 or -5K PP over L10. PP aren't used for anything else - PP doen't buy groceries or gas, PP doesn't buy medicine, PP doesn't buy transportation, PP doesn't buy a house or your kids' college. It's a game where people don't have to care that they are not selling a card worth 500K PP now when it's just a card they pulled from a random pack not truly something they earned.

The point is that this isn't a true economy here. It's a game. One can try to apply economic theories to it, but the reality is that's not going to change whether players X, Y, or Z are going to sell their Scruff McGruff card for 60652 PP over L10 because it's the only card available. There's no inherent need or long-term gain to sell anything here, like in the real retail market.

[cwhitman]

Originally Posted by usa_hank

lol agreed. Everyone wants to tout the "free market" of the PT economy. It's not a free market in the same way as the retail market is. It's a bunch of people playing a game, where it doesn't really matter if they make 50k PP over L10 or -5K PP over L10. PP aren't used for anything else - PP doen't buy groceries or gas, PP doesn't buy medicine, PP doesn't buy transportation, PP doesn't buy a house or your kids' college. It's a game where people don't have to care that they are not selling a card worth 500K PP now when it's just a card they pulled from a random pack not truly something they earned.

The point is that this isn't a true economy here. It's a game. One can try to apply economic theories to it, but the reality is that's not going to change whether players X, Y, or Z are going to sell their Scruff McGruff card for 60652 PP over L10 because it's the only card available. There's no inherent need or long-term gain to sell anything here, like in the real retail market.

the opposition to this is that because it's a game, gouging people for success doesn't hurt people like it does in real life, where billionaires and corporations are bleeding folks dry. i'd much rather capitalism in a harmless place like a game

[usa_hank]

Originally Posted by cwhitman

the opposition to this is that because it's a game, gouging people for success doesn't hurt people like it does in real life, where billionaires and corporations are bleeding folks dry. i'd much rather capitalism in a harmless place like a game

The opposition to this is the reality that we often mimic our real world desires/behavior in the virtual world. You do you.

Regardless, this has gotten off topic.

[atomzero]

Paying through the nose for a perfect card is one thing...
Paying 30k+ for any diamond card needed for a mission is another thing...
But when gold cards disappear from the market for days at a time, that is not a sign of a healthy game economy, and it has gotten worse and worse every month.

I don't mind the whales. What the whales spend makes it easier for us. The guys that gouge have the same motivations as anyone else who plays, so I don't blame them. OOTP wants us to have fun, so I don't credit them with any malice, but there is a problem.

The job of a good user is to give feedback, and the brain dead replies in here asking the users to solve the problem are comically unhelpful, but if I were to take a stab at it, I'd say that the main issue is the number of new cards that are released every week. The rarity levels might not change, but as more and more cards enter the pool, the likelihood of pulling a particular card necessarily increases.

I don't blame anybody. OOTP want this to be a fun game for all players. I'm sure they realize that we all bought the game, so none of us are actually "F2P." That said, when I gladly and unreservedly shell out my saved up points for a perfect card I have no use for, and still have to wait 12 more hours to complete a mission because they are no Hank Thompsons (an 81 gold card) available anywhere at any price, it is a disappointing user experience.

Sincerely, a longtime lover of the game and the company.