Mabinomics 101 [InProgress]

• Eyeoftiger wrote on 2012-09-29 03:38
  [FONT="Courier New"][SIZE="3"]Mabinomics 101
  Ever wonder where all your money went?[/SIZE][/FONT]

  
  No, it's not the newest update featuring invisible money-snatchers, nor is it hackers. If you need somewhere to point the blame, I would like you to look here. Now that we have the blame assigned, what happened? How did this happen? That, my student, is why you are at my course. Don't worry, I'll make you go from a drop-out to a knock-out!
  
  [Index]
  [spoiler]
  Unit 1: Introduction to Mabinomics
  Lesson I: Value, Fluidity, and Smart Shopping
  Lesson II: Total Worth and Liquid Worth and Storage
  Lesson II: NETs and Frenzy Behavior[/spoiler]
  
  A Scenario
  
  You wake up with one thought on your mind, today you are going to hit your goal of 1 million total gold. It's been hogging up all of your time, consuming you like the last season of the Wire. You fire up Mabinogi, and lower the curtains to block out that peppy cacophony of idiocy that is nature. It's Saturday, and you begin to rerun the mission you have grown so used to, Shadow Warrior Int. When that final gold reward shows up, and you run to the bank and you see the gold hit those famous seven digits, well, you can't contain yourself! After you clean up, you mozy on down to Dunbarton, talking with the other pros, yes that's right, you're a pro now, and browsing the wares of these mongrels that are selling junk in the Dunbarton square. After finishing your morning Barley Tea made fresh by your new whore, Glenis, you notice something. A Lava Cat Robe, in all the right colors. All for the low price of 500k! Wait, isn't that a little high? Nah.... You immediately buy it, put it on, and speak with your fellow pros about how terrible high school is, how your parents don't understand you, and how much metal you listened to yesterday. You wake up on Sunday, and realize your bow has gone down to 0 durability! That's no good, can't be a pro with no bow. That LLB was getting old anyways, so instead of doing the unpro thing, you peruse the wares of the mongrels in Dunbarton square. You find a beautiful new LLB for the low price of 350k! Wait, a huge amount of my remaining gold just for a colored bow that is worse than your current one, isn't that kind of bad? Nah.... and you go about your daily activities with your new bow and talk to your fellow pros about how you totally found a date to the Fall dance.
  
  I don't think I need to say any more. The point is, you can't throw your money around like a hacky sack, it has to both be grown and maintained.
  
  1. Introduction to Mabinomics, Lesson I
  
  For our first lesson, you must understand two concepts, Value and Fluidity. Value is the proposed, blank market value of an item. Value may change, and may not always indicate how much an item sells for. Fluidity is an item's ability to be sold or traded, Fluidity and Value can change together, but do not go hand-in-hand. Value may lower, but Fluidity may increase and vice versa. There are three essential levels of Fluidity, solid, liquid, and gaseous. A solid is an item, all items are solids. A liquid is a check or actual gold in an inventory. Gaseous only includes gold in banks that can be directly transferred.
  
  When doing most forms of transaction the preferred method is through a solid-liquid trade, where the seller has the solid and the buyer has the liquid. When you are paying in liquid, you are much more capable of altering the price by large margins. Say your trying to trade a Lava Cat Robe for a Hebona Robe, let's just say, you're coming up short, but you have no gold and the only other item you have is a Grim Reaper Robe. You see where the fluidity of solids pale in comparison to the fluidity of liquids? Maybe someone just offered you 500k for a 1m gold item, if they had their items Liquidated then they could have made a nice transaction. Even so, Value will nearly always trump an item's fluidity.
  
  Liquidation is the most important thing to do while performing mercantile work. In nearly all cases Liquidated assets are the best assets, and will boost your mercantile fluidity tremendously. Mass Liquidation is the process of selling a large amount of items in a small amount of time in order to get the highest efficiency of gold:speed. Mass Liquidating is for the impatient merchant who does not wish to deal with Investing or Cross-Fluidity-Conversion (explained later,) and while not really that profitable it is the most effective method if you need cash now. Long term scale Liquidation is for the more patient merchants, who will sell each item in their own time, looking for just the right buyer.
  
  Conservative Buying, I don't care about your political views, it's always best to be conservative with money early in your career in Mabinogi. Keep risks and most of the time profits low, until you get enough money to perform more risky, but profitable trades. Shiny new robe just released from the Gachapon? Don't buy it! Frenzy behavior and a lack of supply means high prices for something that will probably be Value-sniped by Nexon. Have an item that will be of use in a coming update, and the demand for it because of other preemptive buyers hasn't risen? Buy it and sell it either before or after the update. Updates are the shock wave discoveries that can happen in real life, like the recent discovery of large Russian diamond fields. Of course, you don't have De Beers shooting up diamond prices faster than a heroin addict, but this example will suffice. You can stay ahead of the game by paying attention to the updates in other regions and Nexon announcements, it may sound tacky, but it's the smart thing to do. Vigilance is key, be your own informant, and always take speculation from the default position; curious skepticism.
  
  Comprehension and Application
  Please answer the following questions in you head, then check your answers. Did you miss anything? Why?
  1. While Fluidity does determine how easy it is to sell an item in a solid-liquid trade, Value is still the most important aspect in total of your trade. True or False?
  2. Nexon is releasing a use for Desert Dragon Blood, used in the new craze, making a Dragon Toga. While purely Aesthetic and non-repairable, many people are now camping Desert Dragon spawns. You happen to have a large reserve of Desert Dragon Blood, and they are selling at a high price despite the fact they are going to be used relatively little when people realize the Togas look terrible. Should you begin to Mass Liquidate the DDB or wait for the update to occur?
  3. You have a large quantity of Beam Swords. Your news sources are saying that a new, more powerful, sword is being released in the next patch but it was recently nerfed in Korea, to the point the Beam Swords are still superior, but people are still trying to get rid of their Beam Swords in anticipation of the new update. Should you get rid of your Beam Swords now, or risk the update to catch the potential rebound of Beam Sword prices?
  [spoiler]
  1.TRUE
  2. Mass Liquidate. Not only would the value of the Dragon Togas most likely be value-sniped by Nexon, you are anticipating that the appeal will drop dramatically after everyone has one. Sell, sell, sell! Better to fuel the frenzy for lots of profit than try to beat a dead horse.
  3. Sell after the update. Most likely there will only be a few number of people with a marketable quantity of Beam Swords, sell after the update to make a nice profit. But, do not risk buying more Beam Swords, because Nexon may not properly nerf the new swords to your advantage.[/spoiler]
  
  In Progress Note
  Comment, hate, appreciate, whatever. All feedback is good feedback. Have a fabulous day!]Mabinomics 101
  Ever wonder where all your money went?
• Knightmehre wrote on 2012-09-29 05:16
  Props for just the scenario, made me lmao.
• Mentosftw wrote on 2012-09-29 06:11
  Your scenario has a fatal flaw that you overlooked.
  
  Shadow Warrior does not give any gold as a reward.
  
  You are already broke.
• Eyeoftiger wrote on 2012-09-29 06:36
  1. Introduction to Mabinomics, Lesson II
  
  Total and Liquid Worth
  In Lesson I, we learned basic Fluidity, Value, and smart shopping. Now we'll learn about the terms Total Worth and Liquid Worth, along with storage. Your Total Worth is the cumulative Value of all of your items. This does not include concepts such as Fluidity, etc. Your Liquid Worth is only the amount of worth you have at the moment that is liquid. Total Worth is always higher than Liquid Worth, but Liquid Worth is generally a better indication of how well off you are.
  
  To calculate Liquid Worth, simply locate any astray checks, and add all the individual sums of gold.
  To calculate Total Worth, take your Liquid Worth and add it to the basic market value of everyone of your items. This, of course, follows the exception shown in Lesson I; as the value decreases to below 100 gold, it has lost nearly all fluidity and therefore value.
  
  [color="green"]Liquidated Assets Storage
  
  Storage in Mabinogi is very basic, it's centered around individual inventory areas of varying sizes. Different items take up different squares of contiguous space. The first place you should store Liquidated assets are in your Bank. The Bank can hold 5 million Gold per character on your account. I used to think that the Yellow Jindo was more efficient at holding Gold than a new character on your account, but then I had a run-in with a radical follower of Zoroastrianism that changed my views.
  
  You see, even with the player inventory and additional bank space of an alternate character, the player still only has a NX to Gold ratio of 1:10,000, while the Yellow Jindo has one of 1:13,333. So why is it better? Because if you add Advanced Play and Inventory Plus, you get a Checkmule from heaven. Inventory Plus allows for you to use various storage bags to maximize the player inventory, the most efficient setup in the game right now is 15 devCAT bags, giving you 960 individual squares of inventory space, which can hold 240 Checks. That changes the NX to Gold ratio to 1:150,000, that's 1,125% of the Yellow Jindo! By adding Advanced Play, we allow for a steady supply of items that can be sold for a great amount of Liquidated Assets.
  
  Making another account altogether is free, and if you use a Human you can get 15 million bank storage and a free storage of 45 Checks from the two free Elf and Giant cards. Besides all of this, if you need to store 40 million gold and only have 3k NX left, it may be best to simply get a Yellow Jindo (and alternate characters can't wag their cute tails.)
  
  Comprehension and Application
  
  1.You should add every single item you own into your Total Worth calculations, even if it exhibits the phenomenon of having so little Value it is stagnate. True or False?
  2. The equation I used to formulate NX:Gold storage efficiency was the following
  e = 5000000h / c
  Where e is efficiency, h is the maximum amount of checks held, and c is the cost in NX of the pet/character card. Explain how this equation works, such as how it performs the necessary task.
  3.If a pet was released that held an additional check but cost 2k more Nexon than the Yellow Jindo, would it be more efficient than the Yellow Jindo?
  [spoiler]
  1.False
  2.The equation functions because each check holds 5 million gold (thus 5000000h,) and when I divide by the cost of NX I'm finding the individual value of each NX when the pet is used as a check mule.
  3.No. It would have a NX to Gold ratio of 1 NX : 9000 Gold, 67% of the efficiency the Yellow Jindo has.[/spoiler][/color]
  
  In Progress Notes
  

  Quote from Mentosftw;957019:

  Your scenario has a fatal flaw that you overlooked.
  Shadow Warrior does not give any gold as a reward.
  You are already broke.

  
  
  I was hoping someone would catch that:whisper:
  
  Anyways, I'm planning on releasing this all as one big document/pdf once it's done, until then, I'll just use the original post to link to individual Lessons. Thanks for the comments guys!
• Eyeoftiger wrote on 2012-09-29 19:15
  1. Introduction to Mabinomics, Lesson III
  
  Non-Erinn Technicalities (NETs)
  
  So far, you may have heard me discuss events such as Value-sniping and Updates. These are Nexon-oriented actions. However, this is not the limit to things that can happen to effect the Mabiconomy, and these events are called Non-Erinn Technicalities.
  
  There are five layers in the Mabiconomy. The first is the individual player, you, and all your material assets, along with all other players in your server. The second is NPCs, which are the same across all servers (with rare exceptions.) The third is the Server boundaries, dividing Mari, Tarlach, Ruairi, and Alexina, these block out most cross-player transactions (well, the non-TOS-violating ones, at least.) The fourth is Gameframe Manipulation, whenever the servers change physically or digitally that effects the Mabiconomy. The fifth and final layer is the corporation Nexon itself, Nexon processes changes to the fourth layer, and if Nexon shuts down, it would occur on the fifth and final layer.
  
  NETs occur whenever changes are made to any layer above 1. Whenever a layer changes, all the layers below it are affected. Layer 1 ([COLOR="blue"]L1 henceforth,) is special in that it has two sub-layers, the Player (You) and the Population (Everyone, including you.) Are you not affected by changes in the mentality of the Mabinogi populace? You could still run Ciar for experience when Shadow Missions were released, but the upper part of L1 wasn't doing that anymore. Because of that, you experienced the domino effect of a L5 change.
  
  NETs can be malicious or beneficial, depending on who it affects and what the person does to get by. For instance, you may rely solely on Holy Water for money early in the game, but then Nexon releases a Holy Fountain Event where people only need to go into the Holy Fountain at each town to get all of their items blessed. This obviously would put a damper on your money making plans, but thankfully it is in the Short-term effect category. NETs can be Short-term, Long-term, or Permanent.
  
  A Short-term NET would include an event that does not drastically alter the supply or demand for an item for an extended period of time. Short-term NETs generally have the highest amount of Frenzy activity, so their great for selling high-demand resources.
  
  A Long-term NET would include events that introduce a large quantity of items useful to players, such as Beam Swords or a new event enchant. Eventually, however, these items will deteriorate and disappear due to lack of supply.
  
  A Permanent NET is any form of Update, such as the addition of Courcle, the addition of Bard skills, etc. A Permanent NET has frenzy behavior in the beginning, but eventually stabilizes and becomes a regular part of both the game and Mabiconomy. When Nexon Value-snipes an item, it is a Permanent NET. Value-sniping is when Nexon decreases the value of rare and valuable items by injecting them into the Mabiconomy through Gachapons, events, new missions, etc.[/color]
  
  Frenzy Behavior and the First Layer
  
  Frenzy behavior is onset by a NET, and is pretty much self explanatory. Everyone's in a rush to get certain objects, resources, or commodities. Frenzy behavior mostly occurs before or after a L5 NET, where Nexon implements a new event or Update, this either increases, or decreases, demand, or supply, for certain items.
  
  Think of it as a frantic rush, after all this time of a certain item maintaining it's certain niche in the economy, Nexon comes in and gives it a use. This pales in comparison to the Desert Dragon Blood example in Lesson I, because the Desert Dragon Blood had no niche. It wasn't being actively circulated through the Mabiconomy, and the spike in demand because of the Permanent NET was a drastic change, since no one (except for a rare few), had any! This is an extremely rare and highly profitable example of Frenzy Feeding.
  
  The ability to feed a Frenzy is one of the most valuable tools under your belt, comparative to being able to buy at low prices. You don't want to miss the Frenzy, nor do you want to be part of the Frenzy. Remember, never put off getting an item that you suspect may be in high demand soon. By feeding the massive Frenzy, you're in a business person's wet dream. You literally cannot have enough of a particular item to feed the Frenzy, it's a bottomless pit specialized in spitting out money.
  
  Comprehension and Application
  1. It's always best to wait a Short-term NET Frenzy out because people will just keep on buying the Frenzy item. True or False?
  2. Give an example of a L2 Permanent NET that could increase Holy Water supplies.
  3. The Tarlach and Mari servers are slated to be merged. The Tarlach server has a noticeable lack of Beam Swords, with only a rare few in circulation, and you own a large quantity in Mari. Should you be prepared to Mass Liquidate them or use a Long-term Liquidation method?
  [spoiler]
  1. False. It's called a Short-term NET Frenzy because it won't last.
  2. If Holy Water PTJ rewards were increased by 150%, supply would increase for all Holy Water, and the price for it would drop (not significantly, of course.) Be prepared, as people may try to sell massive amounts of Holy Water before the Update, and in the process sell for less than the Holy Water will stabilize at.
  3. Mass Liquidation[/spoiler]
  
  In Progress Notes
  How are you guys liking the Comprehension & Application sections? I'm also thinking of color-coding important vocabulary for Lessons. Give me your thoughts, concerns, comments, hate, everything! Have a great day!
• Yoshi18 wrote on 2012-09-29 23:09
  I love these, but I don't know why.
  
  Comments:
  
  Lesson 1: I enjoyed the scenario very much. It was quite entertaining.
  
  Lesson 2: I had never thought about the efficiency of the different methods of storing money. I don't think storing money on a pet would have much application, in the form of 5m checks, until you really start getting into merchanting (i.e. 10m+ transactions). I think you're also leaving out the amount of utility gained by creating another character, rather the utility gained from the 100 spaces of inventory (assuming you pay for premium service).
  
  Lesson 3: NET sounds so financial. Just saying. The concepts explained were also well articulated (i.e. 5 layers to the mabi cake, Fenzy, etc).
  
  I love comprehension and application! It really helps tie everything together.
• Eyeoftiger wrote on 2012-09-29 23:13
  1. Introduction to Mabinomics, Recap
  
  Lesson I: Value, Fluidity, and Smart shopping
  
  In this Lesson, we learned the two most important aspects of an item in Mabinomics, Value and Fluidity. We also learned about Smart shopping, and conserving your money for when the time is right.
  
  [color="green"]Lesson II: Total Worth, Liquid Worth, and Storage
  
  In this lesson we talked about your Total and Liquid Worth. Total Worth is the combined value of all your items (not including those who's value is so minuscule they cannot be traded,) while Liquid Worth is the amount of Liquidated assets you have.
  
  We also learned how to calculate storage using the formula e = 5000000h / c
  Where e is efficiency, h is the maximum amount of checks held, and c is the cost in NX of the pet/character card. Using this we figured out the Yellow Jindo was the most efficient pet for storing Checks.
  
  Lesson III: NETs and Frenzy Behavior
  
  In this Lesson we learned about Non-Erinn Technicalities, happenings that change the Mabiconomy. We also learned about the three types of NETs, Short-term, Long-term, and Permanent. We also learned about the 5 Layers of the Mabiconomy, starting with the Playerbase and ending with Nexon.
  
  We also discussed Frenzy behavior, the tendency for there to be a spike in demand/supply of certain items before or after NETs. We re-discussed an example from Lesson I, and how to efficiently use Frenzy Fueling to your benefit.[/color]
  
  Unit 2: Solids and Circulation
  
  A Scenario: Part 2
  
  You exit the classroom, the door to the University of Mercantile Excellence, a recently reconverted Alchemy lab, spraying the fumes of learning outside. As the cacophony resumes, you look at the papers in your hands. All you see are big fat Fs. You paid the rest of your gold for the tuition! How could this happen!? Why do you feel like a disgrace to Merchants everywhere?! Oh wait, you don't. That stupid class was probably just a scam. Screw it, you'll just sell that Grim Reaper Robe you got during the Roulette Bingo Event. You put a party and immediately one of your pro friends jumps on the offer. "Dude ill give u lik 4m for that!" Wow! You don't know what to say! Four million! You immediately take his Check stored on his [SIZE="1"]inferior[/SIZE] Snowy Owl and trade away that crappy looking robe!
  
  ಠ_ಠ Do I even need to say anything?
  
• Eyeoftiger wrote on 2012-09-30 04:09

  Quote from Yoshi18;957248:

  I love these, but I don't know why.
  
  Comments:
  
  Lesson 1: I enjoyed the scenario very much. It was quite entertaining.
  
  Lesson 2: I had never thought about the efficiency of the different methods of storing money. I don't think storing money on a pet would have much application, in the form of 5m checks, until you really start getting into merchanting (i.e. 10m+ transactions). I think you're also leaving out the amount of utility gained by creating another character, rather the utility gained from the 100 spaces of inventory (assuming you pay for premium service).
  
  Lesson 3: NET sounds so financial. Just saying. The concepts explained were also well articulated (i.e. 5 layers to the mabi cake, Fenzy, etc).
  
  I love comprehension and application! It really helps tie everything together.

  
  
  Thank you very much for your comments! For Lesson 2, I was aiming for what someone who just wanted something to hold their checks would need, and I think the Yellow Jindo's low cost, easier accessibility on your main character, and the fact you can buy two and have spare NX instead of getting a Character card is exactly what someone who's just overflowing with Gold needs. But yes, I do see how the utility of another character can balance it out, especially if a player has Inv+. I was aiming for NET to sound financial xD
  
  Also; General Plan of Units
  
  Unit 1 : Introduction to Mabinomics
  Unit 2 : Solids and Circulation
  Unit 3 : Gold Sinks and Fountains
  Unit 4 : Ethics and Etiquette
  Unit 5 : Basic Merchanting
  Unit 6 : Personal Finances
  Unit 7 : Advanced Merchanting
  Unit 8 : Income and Niches
  Unit 9 : Commerce and the Ducat
  Unit 10 : Advanced Mabinomic Concepts
• Aubog007 wrote on 2012-09-30 05:21
  Char has more potential to hold more gold than a jindo does. Who would use a char card for JUST bank space is beyond me.
  
  
  
  Lets see. Advanced play. 8x12 bank space. 6x10 inventory. Increased with bag space.
  
  
  All of my mules' advanced play has PAID for themselves at least 10 fold right now.
  
  
  And if you are talking about being on the cheap end. Make alternate accounts. Store checks there, that is what every single one of my economic savvy friends do because alternate accounts are free.
  
  Pets have such inferior potential space compared to actual mules, everything i have on pets are different gear. All of my materials are in my bank tabs or stored on a mule.
  
  
  /very anti pet.
• Eyeoftiger wrote on 2012-09-30 05:37

  Quote from Aubog007;957375:

  Char has more potential to hold more gold than a jindo does. Who would use a char card for JUST bank space is beyond me.
  Lets see. Advanced play. 8x12 bank space. 6x10 inventory. Increased with bag space.
  All of my mules' advanced play has PAID for themselves at least 10 fold right now.
  And if you are talking about being on the cheap end. Make alternate accounts. Store checks there, that is what every single one of my economic savvy friends do because alternate accounts are free.Pets have such inferior potential space compared to actual mules, everything i have on pets are different gear. All of my materials are in my bank tabs or stored on a mule.
  /very anti pet.

  
  
  I was just thinking about this, I was completely focused on the bank space that I forgot about the player's actual inventory. The advanced play was also something I was thinking about, since I've never used any form of Premium I didn't really know how useful it really is. The alternate accounts were going to be covered later, but I should most likely cover that in the area for Storage. Thank you very much for the different perspective and comments!
• Eyeoftiger wrote on 2012-09-30 06:14
  2. Solids and Circulation, Lesson I
  
  Item Types
  
  The different items of Mabinogi can be economically divided into four categories. These are [COLOR="blue"]Resources, Commodities, Objects, and Seals. Each item type has their own qualities, but they have one thing in common; no matter their Fluidity they are still Solids. Mabinomics is based on Solids, because that's the end result all buyers want.
  
  Resources are raw materials used in Life Skills or for NPC Part time jobs/quests. This includes already processed materials, such as Fine Firewood or Braids. Resources are generally best bought in bulk due to their nature of being quickly used up and essentially "converted" into Skill Experience.
  
  Commodities are items that make certain parts of Mabinogi easier. This can include High Speed Gathering Potions, Letters of Guarantee, Tradeable Shadow Crystals, etc. Commodities are usually bought on a whim by players, or in large amounts by impatient people.
  
  Objects are items that have an immediate functional use. This can range from weapons, aesthetic clothing, high Value potions, etc. Objects are usually high priced, in comparison to Resources or Commodities, and tend to be bought with one specific purpose in mind. Because of this Objects are not as marketable as Resources, but can be just as profitable in the long run.
  
  Seals are items completely locked to the player or that experience the Value-Fluidity-Stagnation phenomenon. These items cannot, or in the case of VFS' are very hard to, be exchanged for Liquidated assets or other items. Seals would include Brionac, an Ego, HP 10 Potions, etc.
  
  Circulation
  
  Circulation is the movement of an item through the hands of players. As an item circulates, it is sold for different prices, either giving the seller a profit or a deficit. The four item categories are a general indicator of how much a certain items may circulate.
  
  Seals have no circulation whatsoever, they reach the hands of the Original Owner and stay there. Resources and Commodities may circulate a small bit (maybe 1 or 2 transfers), but most of the time are used by the Original Owner. An Object will most likely circulate, and can circulate many times.
  
  One of the most-well known methods of making a profit is buying a large amount of Resources or an Object for a lower amount of money than it's Value is, then selling it for more than it's Value. This occurs during Circulation, making it one of the cornerstones of the Mabiconomy, by being a complete packrat you're helping no one.
  
  Comprehension & Application
  
  1. It's always best to buy Resources in bulk, regardless of Fluidity. True or False?
  2. There is currently Frenzy behavior going on, the items in demand are White Kiwi Feathers, used to make a new bow. Previously these were Seals, but they could now be classified as what?
  3. Explain why being a hoarder with items doesn't help you.
  [spoiler]
  1. False, because of a low Fluidity a Resource with high Value could be hard to sell. This would be the case in instances where an item is extremely rare, but it's also extremely rare that a player should need it.
  2. Resources
  3. Circulation is one of the main ways of increasing your Total Worth, by just hoarding Solids and regarding on other means, you're wasting storage and potential trades from having all of your assets locked in Solids.[/spoiler][/color]
  
  In Progress Notes
  As seen in Aubog's post, I do make mistakes! Please, please, please post mistakes you find, or points you find debatable! Thank you very much for reading, and have a fantastic day!
• Aubog007 wrote on 2012-09-30 08:28

  Quote from Eyeoftiger;957388:

  I was just thinking about this, I was completely focused on the bank space that I forgot about the player's actual inventory. The advanced play was also something I was thinking about, since I've never used any form of Premium I didn't really know how useful it really is. The alternate accounts were going to be covered later, but I should most likely cover that in the area for Storage. Thank you very much for the different perspective and comments!

  
  You sir, understood my criticism as constructive.
  
  
  That deserves a rep, also well done on incorporating it.
• Eyeoftiger wrote on 2012-09-30 19:35
  [COLOR="red"]2. Solids and Circulation, Lesson II
  
  New Vocabulary
  Mercantile System - This is a method a Player employs to receive a profit
  Opportunistic Profiteering - The most well known Mercantile System in Mabinogi, where a Player uses the low prices of Mass Liquidators to their advantage.
  Circulation Paths - The progress of an item through the hands of players, starting with the Original Owner/Supplier and ending with the Consumer.
  Original Owner / Supplier - These are the people who start the Circulation Path of an item, either keeping the item or selling it to a Distributor or Consumer.
  Distributor - People who buy an item from a Supplier or another Distributor and then sell the item to a Consumer or another Distributor.
  Consumer - The final holder of an item, bought from a Distributor or Supplier, the item ends it's Circulation Path here.
  
  Opportunistic Profiteering
  
  As items in Mabinogi go through Circulation, they are traded for Gold. How much gold you get for an item changes based on the seller and the buyer, thus a change in the amount of Gold people have. This is what makes the Mabiconomy, wealth flowing between players. The first type of Mercantile System we will learn about is Opportunistic Profiteering.
  
  Opportunistic Profiteering generally follows the traditional "Buy Low, Sell High" mind-set of most Merchants, except it doesn't hold the paradox of "How can I buy low if everyone's selling high!" You see people sell things for different prices for different reasons. Someone who is Mass Liquidating their assets may sell on the cheap, while someone who's been keeping a Material Investment (explained later,) may want to sell a little higher. Someone who is operating an Opportunistic Profiteering system will most likely look for Mass Liquidators and sell their items at market value in exchange for a little time.
  
  Remember, everyone has a goal in mind. An Opportunistic Profiteer is essentially a middle-man between Circulation Paths, they abuse the Mass Liquidators impatience or lack of time and use their ability to sell at market value to turn a profit. While a Mass Liquidator may be selling a large quantity of items for a quick quantity of gold to buy from another Mass Liquidator so they can use Opportunistic Profiteering.
  
  Attainment, Distribution, and Consumption
  
  Circulation Paths are vital to the Mabiconomy, if we couldn't transfer items we wouldn't have much of an economy. An item will go through three main periods on their Circulation Path, Attainment, Distribution, and Consumption. Why were these terms not in the New Vocabulary? Because when an item is in the hands of a Player, the Player is now classified as either a Supplier, Distributor, or Consumer, for that certain item.
  
  Attainment occurs when the Supplier receives an item from a Non-player source. This is includes getting a new sword from the Gachapon, dropping a Hebona Robe from Alby Advanced HM, buying a Caldabog from a Trading Imp, tailoring a new dress, etc. If an item is a Seal then it has no Circulation Path whatsoever, so the Original Owner is both Supplier and Consumer
  
  Distribution occurs when an item is sold by a Supplier to a Distributor. Distributors do not plan on keeping an item, and wish only to turn a profit, this does not, however, mean that a Distributor will not keep an item for an extended period of time. Opportunistic Profiteers are always Distributors, but not all Distributors are Opportunistic Profiteers. Generally speaking, Objects go through the longest periods of Distribution, with Resources coming in at a close second.
  
  Consumption occurs when an item lands in the hands of a Player and stays there. It will go through no further Circulation Transfers and the only chance of it moving to a new Player would be through Donation (a trade that has one party giving absolutely nothing.) Consumers can usually save money by buying directly from Suppliers.
  
  Comprehension and Application
  
  1. Mass Liquidators are always impatient idiots who'll never turn a profit. True or False?
  2. Why is it that Consumers can save money by buying from Suppliers instead of Distributors, most of the time?
  3. Describe the most likely Circulation Pathway for Holy Water.
  [spoiler]
  1. False, a Mass Liquidator could need to get a quick amount of cash to perform an Opportunistic Profiteering venture, or they could have been informed of a potential NET that would decimate the prices on the items they're selling.
  2. Because generally Distributors are trying to use Opportunistic Profiteering to sell at or above Market Value to turn a profit from the usually Mass Liquidating Supplier. It's most of the time cheaper to just buy the products being Mass Liquidated.
  3. After Attainment of the item by the Supplier, they will most likely sell in large quantities at Market Value to most of the time Consumers. However, if they are Mass Liquidating the Holy Water, Distributors will probably swoop in and try to turn a profit from the cheap Holy Water.[/spoiler][/color]
  
  In Progress Notes
  Comments, I love them. I'll caress them. I'll give them tuition for college.
  If you post them.blue
• frozenwilderness wrote on 2012-10-01 19:29

  Quote from Aubog007;957375:

  All of my mules' advanced play has PAID for themselves at least 10 fold right now.

  
  
  with adv play as it is now, it'd take you about 5 years before adv play can pay for itself 10 fold
  
  the only thing that's actually decent to sell from adv play are dye amps/metal dyes.. and assuming that's about a 1/10 chance, it'd take you at least 6-7 months to recover the cost of one character in mabi gold
  
  not to mention, you have to log on to every single character to collect the adv play.. i dont even bother anymore, not with the current system.. i actually didn't even bother with the previous system when i had 20 characters and a set of fixed items each day, except on dye day
• radionoise wrote on 2012-10-01 20:23

  Quote from frozenwilderness;958015:

  with adv play as it is now, it'd take you about 5 years before adv play can pay for itself 10 fold
  
  the only thing that's actually decent to sell from adv play are dye amps/metal dyes.. and assuming that's about a 1/10 chance, it'd take you at least 6-7 months to recover the cost of one character in mabi gold
  
  not to mention, you have to log on to every single character to collect the adv play.. i dont even bother anymore, not with the current system.. i actually didn't even bother with the previous system when i had 20 characters and a set of fixed items each day, except on dye day

  
  
  Here you just need an alt to get 12 regular dyes out of adv play to pay for itself.
  
  16 regular dyes in a month pay for the premium service for that given month as well.