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    Your Elvenar Team

Where have all the Steel players gone?

Erivan

Member
Wondering if anyone else has noticed a scarcity of Steel? Wondering if the game has a way to monitor activity or lack there of by different players?

I know the most common grumbling I've heard from Steel members in my FS is lamenting the devaluation of their boosted goods by the Moonstone Libraries (Scrolls, Dust). I can understand, and don't understand why buildings aren't just +0, +1, or +2 to help keep the economy balanced? It seems like this could be changed quickly and easily immediately, by changing the Libraries to Boosted Plus...??

I know this has been a topic I've seen floated multiple times, but don't know why the game is being allowed to fall apart because of an imbalanced economy? My old AM has even expressed the desire to quit and start over again, hoping to have different boosts.

Anyone else seeing/hearing this? It can't just be in my FS..?
 

DeletedUser29287

Guest
Its not just your FS, the previous event with the pilgrim set created a need for steel with a large chunk of players not acquiring the last piece the forge it create more of a need for steel in the trader than marble or planks since with the set they will get a large amount of those goods especially planks. My original account was plank boosted and it took multiple attempts to roll into a steel boost in the correct world.

The game really needs to stop making imbalances in the game. The steel shortage is also going on in beta.
 

Enevhar Aldarion

Oh Wise One
I think Inno is just waiting for enough players to have started after the Library Set was changed to one per person, which will slowly balance the goods out more, depending on your neighborhood, of course. If you and all your neighbors started playing after that, or shortly before, then no one is going to be making tons of extra scrolls and the balance will be fine. But if you are in a neighborhood with lots of older cities that have several sets, plus past event buildings that give lots of tier 1 goods, then the trading issues may never balance out.

As for a steel shortage in general, there are only nine sets of boosted goods combinations in the game, and of the three that include scrolls, two of them are also steel. So when scrolls players quit, they take their steel with them.
 

Darielle

Chef, Scroll-Keeper, and Buddy Fan Club Member
Wondering if anyone else has noticed a scarcity of Steel? Wondering if the game has a way to monitor activity or lack there of by different players?

I know the most common grumbling I've heard from Steel members in my FS is lamenting the devaluation of their boosted goods by the Moonstone Libraries (Scrolls, Dust). I can understand, and don't understand why buildings aren't just +0, +1, or +2 to help keep the economy balanced? It seems like this could be changed quickly and easily immediately, by changing the Libraries to Boosted Plus...??

I know this has been a topic I've seen floated multiple times, but don't know why the game is being allowed to fall apart because of an imbalanced economy? My old AM has even expressed the desire to quit and start over again, hoping to have different boosts.

Anyone else seeing/hearing this? It can't just be in my FS..?
I have noticed a serious shortage of Steel on Sinya Arda, at least in my neck of the woods. Which server are you on?
 

juniperknome

Well-Known Member
i have no issues buying steel. its just few big players will over supply then under supply when they leave so its just at a whim on who is active and absent
 

qaccy

Well-Known Member
Once players are advanced enough to produce sentient (and now ascended) goods, that can somewhat help to fill any voids in production. Each new sentient and ascended good unlocked effectively allows production of the basic version of that good as well via the decay mechanic. It's indirect, sure, but at least goods decay back into goods, unlike other resources which simply poof!
 

ajqtrz

Chef - loquacious Old Dog
Except for scrolls, trading works to resolve imbalances in my region. My FS has plenty of steel. Silk is our tightest good.

Same her on K in my neck of the woods. Silk is always short and was before the library set was offered. In any case, as a steel/scrolls/dust boosted player I find the shortages okay as long as all three aren't in overabundance or short supply. I just make what's in the shortest supply (dust and steel at the moment) and trade them for crystal and silk as needed. Of course if you are in a restricted trading fellowship that says you can't trade cross tier without their permission, that might be a problem. Just another reason to find an Open Trading fellowship, I guess.

AJ
 

Erivan

Member
I have noticed a serious shortage of Steel on Sinya Arda, at least in my neck of the woods. Which server are you on?

I'm on Harandar. In a FS with a good number of older players. And my AM and some of our other big steel producers have quit... Source of their grumblings: Moonstone Libraries and the devaluation of their boosted goods.

I sympathize and it makes complete sense.. In a game that is largely held together by trading and producing boosted goods, players want to quit when their advantage (parity) is taken away.

There are players in my FS with 6-8 Moonstones, and millions of scrolls.. And it's not their boost!

I would have hoped the Devs would have heard the cries by now and fixed it. Make the Moonstones boosted +something and balance is immediately (for the most part, except for players who have already quit) restored.

And yet, instead of hoping the game would have learned by not having building specific boosts like in the Pilgrim event, the same pattern is pursued..

I'm not trying to be overly harsh or negative, but this is serious, and I don't know that the game is realizing the issue that has been created, until it's too late.
 

SimplyNoble

Active Member
Steel and scrolls are my boosts and I play daily. No shortages where I live that I can see. I check regularly for trades asking but I don't see that many before someone else gets them. My steel manus are usually idle since I have over a million on hand. Scrolls are in storage since most of my FS has plenty and my moonstone sets make enough for my needs and for taking any reasonable trades that come up. Makes space for sentient productions.

I play in Eclysandir
 

Dew Spinner

Well-Known Member
Steel and scrolls are my boosts and I play daily. No shortages where I live that I can see. I check regularly for trades asking but I don't see that many before someone else gets them. My steel manus are usually idle since I have over a million on hand. Scrolls are in storage since most of my FS has plenty and my moonstone sets make enough for my needs and for taking any reasonable trades that come up. Makes space for sentient productions.

I play in Eclysandir
I think this is exactly it! Some players don't develop stategies to deal with the problem, like you would with any other challenge in the game. Several Forum posters are now using the BTG and Wholesaler to rid them of their over abundance of scrolls, as a stategy to impact the negative influence on their cities, others stop having scrolls factories when it is their boosted goods and heavily make other goods. I know players shouldn't have to do a workaround but workarounds do exist. I believe that INNO believed limiting the Moonstone Library set to 1 each was good enough, afterall data shows late game players don't spend money. So if late game players quit then INNO isn't out much and new/newer players limited to one will spend money when CCs are in short supply, when they are already their biggest revenue source. Never forget INNO is a business 1st and foremost, If YOU aren't making them money, they could care less about YOU!. They follow the same path as other gaming companies, when 1st starting out they are trying to attract players, so they "care" about them. Once they have attracted enough players, they only care about the players that spend money. THEN, they do their very best to milk those players and once those players get into later chapters and stop spending as much money, it's I don't care if you leave time. Newer players will make up for what they lose in older players quitting and they have already milked the older spending players and don't want to waste their efforts on them anymore, seeing they aren't spending very much money. Get the money, toss out the old crop and get a new crop in spending money! That is why you hear sooooo much complaining on the forum, players have spent money up to the later chapters and INNO could now careless about them because their spending has either ceased or slowed considerably. Let The Buyer Beware!
 
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ajqtrz

Chef - loquacious Old Dog
I've often felt that the development of new chapters will come to a halt because the number of paying players at that level will be so small it doesn't pay to make yet another chapter. I expect we'll see it all end development between chapter 20 and 25. It would be interesting, and I'm quite sure Inno has done this and continues to do so, to see what percentage of accounts go dormant in each chapter. I'm betting that only 20% or less of those who started are playing by about chapter 10 and by chapter 17 it's probably down to less than 5%. What will it be by chapter 20? Probably less than 1%. and those will be players able to win enough diamonds that they don't have to spend them. I've gained in diamonds to the point where I'm at nearly 20,000 and nothing to do with them that I think worth the spending. I've pretty much mastered the game at chapter 17 (though I do keep learning, of course), and thus, my expectations are that I'll just keep coasting along until I get to whatever chapter I decided to be my last and then slowly lose interest until I'm not here anymore. Maybe a year or two at most.

So it's the level of attrition among the paying crowd that is the most important number for Inno over the long run. And the paying crowd isn't in chapters 16 or so, and above, I wouldn't think. Nor is it in chapter 5 and below either.

AJ
 

Velite-Id

New Member
Wondering if anyone else has noticed a scarcity of Steel? Wondering if the game has a way to monitor activity or lack there of by different players?

I know the most common grumbling I've heard from Steel members in my FS is lamenting the devaluation of their boosted goods by the Moonstone Libraries (Scrolls, Dust). I can understand, and don't understand why buildings aren't just +0, +1, or +2 to help keep the economy balanced? It seems like this could be changed quickly and easily immediately, by changing the Libraries to Boosted Plus...??

I know this has been a topic I've seen floated multiple times, but don't know why the game is being allowed to fall apart because of an imbalanced economy? My old AM has even expressed the desire to quit and start over again, hoping to have different boosts.

Anyone else seeing/hearing this? It can't just be in my FS..?
I have noticed it too. Steel has been very scarce in my FS and neighbourhood for a very long time.
 

Enevhar Aldarion

Oh Wise One
I've often felt that the development of new chapters will come to a halt because the number of paying players at that level will be so small it doesn't pay to make yet another chapter. I expect we'll see it all end development between chapter 20 and 25.

I am sure that was part of the idea behind the new Merchant mechanic in chapter 18. We are able to get Ascended goods we need without help from any other players, it just takes a long time the natural way or lots of time boosters or diamonds to do it more quickly. And I have been surprised at the number of players who were ready to start chapter 18 when it released.

Also, they keep track of the number of players in each chapter. There was one chapter that was delayed two months from the usual 6 month time between new chapters, probably because not enough players were ready to start it. It was for one the three new sentient goods, but I don't remember which one now.

And yeah, no clue what they will do after chapter 20 and the 3rd Ascended good is added. I can tell they have some plans until at least chapter 22, though. Chapter 18 adds the 4-star version of three troops, so that needs four more chapters, at three each, to have 4-star versions of all 15.

Also, the current city grid, only has enough unassigned expansions left for chapter 19. With chapter 20, the grid will have to be expanded again or something else will have to be done.
 

qaccy

Well-Known Member
All that assuming they follow the same pattern...history indicates that it's more likely it comes even more slowly than that. I'm surprised not only that Inno is letting us promote units past 3*, but also that they gave us three of them to start off. That's pretty generous for development that's started giving us building upgrades one level at a time now instead of unlocking multiple at once.
 

Lemon Wren

Well-Known Member
I have two cities on Sinya (I created a second account when I left a lovely, noncompetitive FS for a competitive one, but missed them terribly after I left) and Silk is the shortage for both.
 

BrinDarby

Well-Known Member
There are 3 main reasons for the majority of global imbalances ( basic goods , maybee sentient too )

1) attrition as mentioned of xxxx bosted players
2) any non + bldgs/sets , such as Moonestone or ManorSet , as mentioned.
3) "no cross tier trades"

#1 and #2 are self explanitory pretty much, but #3 is self imposed
by the players.... Thats right, the age old BS of "no cross tier" actually
makes matters worse, and here's why...

Lets say ya got a Steel/Scrolls/Dust boosted player ... Scrolls is mostly
worthless, Dust won't be is as much demand, and then there's Steel ...
A player notice'n this, and wants to shift to steel but cannot....

Thats right the player can't focus on his most in-demand, boosted good
because he can't trade up for T2/3... all cause of the BS "no cross trade"
rules most FSs have ....

Perhaps if more FSs eliminated that bogus rule, even if they kept the
2/3star only rule ( since inno determines the ratios ) more balancing
might actually take place .....:eek:
 

Sir Squirrel

Artist EXTRAORDINAIRE and Buddy Fan Club member
I think a lot of FS's have become more relaxed with the Cross tier trades since they changed the ratio of the goods. At least I am seeing lots of them and don't have a rule against them in my FS. Also most players will take trades of lower tier for higher tier as you getting more for what you give. It becomes expensive to accept to many trades the other way (higher for lower) too often though as you are giving more for less.
 
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