I couldn't remember the exact numbers when I was writing my question and had already closed the Elvenar window, so I was guessing at what I had put up in the Trader, just knew it was some ridiculous number. The point is, I seriously have found little use for my magic dust. I have 3 buildings and only have them at a level 3, like kayleegirl says, there seems to be no reason to waste my resources upgrading them, or taking up space, when they aren't really serving me any purpose. People would much rather have my steel and scrolls. I was just asking, at some point...I was hoping, that would change. Maybe at the Faerie level? And the reason I was asking was, do I or don't I, bother to upgrade them? I'm not a mathematician and don't really understand the whole "Ratio" thing (which explains why I don't understand a single, solitary thread in the Battle forums) just was hoping someone could tell me if I can come up with a better strategy to dispose of the dust and get the things I need.
The ratio is this : 100 Dust=400 scrolls=1600 steel. Or at least, that's the 'fair' rate as far as the trading goes.
The problem is that if one maxes out all the factories and you look at the yield/square, the tier 1 factories don't even come close to producing an amount / square that is the same as the tier 3 factories, even when my tier 1 are higher level than the tier 3 factories, the tier 3 factories still outproduce them.
In my opinion this is a grossly unbalancing factor in the game. If one sets the fair value at 1-4-16 then the factories should, when maxed out, produce about the same value and they do not.
This leads to many people setting up only, or almost only, tier 3 factories.
Apart from that, the goods aren't in equal demand. Of the tier 1 goods marble seems to be in much higher demand than both other goods.
Tier 2 seems a bit more balanced, with sometimes crystal and sometimes scrolls in higher demand as you progress through the chapters, yet silk seems to be in less demand.
Tier 3 elixer is by far the most wanted, then gems, and dust least of all.
Once again, I think this is a very unbalancing factor.
All of the goods of a single tier should be in about the same demand to keep the game balanced. And the proper ratio, based on the production is more like 1-4-10. That way, people would be more inclined to place some of all their boosted factories instead of only tier 3.
But even if one would decide to focus on only one boosted good, there wouldn't be a problem if the yield per factory was in accordance with the value of the goods.
@Mykan
Sorry, but that just is not true. In all the worlds I have played and all 3 I now am active, it is exactly the same. Dust just is not in high demand. Elixer is.
Marble is in all those worlds the tier one good that's getting the best price.
When it happens in all worlds it's not happenstance but structural. So I'd put up the thesis that your situation of getting good prices for dust are the exception