Research and Bauxite

I think some imbalances in the game are growing due to the structure of pay for play items. Research equipment is one of those.

Mary has been around long enough that retail market saturation is the limiting factor to growth of some product lines. This is especially true for lines that do NOT require pay to play resources. An example would be Electronics. All the items that do NOT require copper can be made from raw material to finished product by anyone without investment of real money. As such, the limiting factor for these items is retail market saturation.

Aluminum requires the pay to play resource of bauxite. As such, anything based on aluminum becomes limited by the number of people willing to pay real money for bauxite mines. There is nothing wrong with this state of affairs, but some problems can arise.

Research is part of the Newbie game. As such, it should not become difficult for the new player to at least dabble in it. Measuring Instruments are the equipment for research labs and they require aluminum. The prices are very high, especially for a brand new player. If one looks at the possibility of making one's own devices, there is the real possibility of the high price of bauxite pricing any new player out of the device market, too.

A new player is going to have some difficulty making a go of it with Q 38 devices starting at $80,000.

I think management should consider introducing a line of instruments that do NOT require aluminum.

For whatever reasons, these problems do not seem to exist on Lien. As such, I think new players who try both Mary and Lien realms will enjoy the play on Lien more. I am one of them. I have pretty much quit Mary except to make sure I don't lose money each turn.

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31.08.2013, 20:14

MOPKOBHA9I CTPAHA

РЕГУЛЮМ

1. After recalculation it is a lot of devices of poor quality Yes

2. Aluminium and bauxites is in the market So-so

3. The market of electronics empty Again

http://virtonomics.com/mary/main/globalreport/marketing/by_trade_at_cities/1517/ ...
4. The market of raw material empty Again

http://virtonomics.com/mary/main/globalreport/marketing/by_products/1485/ ...
http://virtonomics.com/mary/main/globalreport/marketing/by_products/1479/ ...
http://virtonomics.com/mary/main/globalreport/marketing/by_products/1476/ ...

What's the problem ? It is surprised

1.09.2013, 00:21

1. Here is the Instrument market at this time:
90,955 Q38.17 @ $84,265
122 Q12.63 @ $88,163
84,855 Q39.14 @ $140,183
206 Q41.52 @ $300,189

The adjective 'poor' is subjective, but a new player with Science Qualification of 1 is going to have a hard time using what is available.

2. There is, at this time, 1 source of bauxite for sale Q1.00 @ $25,000. Since it takes 2 bauxite to make 1 aluminum, that sets a floor on new aluminum at $50,000. Since it takes 1 aluminum to make 1 instrument, that sets a floor for new instruments at $50,000. People may sell aluminum or instruments for less, but it won't last long unless the price of bauxite comes down via new supply.

3. Your idea of 'empty' is clearly not the same as my idea of empty.

There is no problem. It is a game. Maybe the developers want all new players to play on Lien. Maybe the developers are hoping players on Mary will purchase bauxite mines. Maybe new players will find the situation to be a challenge and flock to Mary. I don't think so, but I could be wrong. It is a suggestion.

1.09.2013, 01:57

mort100

Mo corp

Mo Industries

You are looking at the market at the worst possible time. It's always least equipment available just before the update.

For this update specifically, I pretty much cleaned up the sub-$80k market when I equipped 3 new level 4 labs.

Regarding the bauxite price: why would anyone sell it cheaper when car production can add so much value to it? Try to exploit it instead, by using the aluminium on the market to make instruments cheaper than the $50k floor.

1.09.2013, 03:27

mort100

Regarding the bauxite price: why would anyone sell it cheaper when car production can add so much value to it?

I am not complaining about the price of bauxite. Nor am I complaining about bauxite as a pay to play resource.

mort100

Try to exploit it instead, by using the aluminium on the market to make instruments cheaper than the $50k floor.

There are a couple of problems with that thought.

Why would the makers of instruments want to sell them cheaper than what the market will bear? Nobody is in this for charity.

That there is aluminum available for less than the $50k floor is a failure of arbitrage. Yes, that is an opportunity for someone. I suspect that someone will grab it. At that point, what does the new person at the margin looking for aluminum do?

I don't care about the aluminum market or the bauxite market or the electronics market. However, the bauxite market is acting as a choke point for research. It is not impeding my research, but it likely will impede research by a new player.

If the developers are happy with the way things are going, they need not do anything. I am merely making a suggestion that they separate research from the vagaries of the bauxite market.

This situation does not exist on Lien. Maybe it will in a few years. I am telling the developers that the game on Lien is more fun than the game on Mary. Maybe I am the only player with that opinion. Or maybe newer players prefer more options that are viable.

Didn't you recently try to convince another player in another thread to come to Mary from Lien? Maybe that new player was on Lien and not on Mary for a reason other than L precedes M in the alphabet.

1.09.2013, 12:56

MOPKOBHA9I CTPAHA

РЕГУЛЮМ

At the moment nothing prevents researches. And here sale of technologies is prevented by old players. The price of 18-19 technologies of 10-25 billion!!! I try to force down such prices up to 1-5 billion but if in the market 2 sellers of technology with such prices - I am powerless. And qualification in a science only 45.
Here it also is major problem.

1.09.2013, 16:29

mort100

Mo corp

Mo Industries

I would be happy to offer cheap tech licenses for instrument factory to anyone interested. I can offer up to level 16 at the moment for $1000.

1.09.2013, 16:39

As of this time, the Instrument market on Mary is much healthier. By healthier, I mean there are signs of competition and the barriers to entry in research are low. If every morning looks just like this morning, then nobody needs to do anything different.

When I wrote the original post, it was not the first time I observed the state of affairs. I suspect it won't be the last due to the reasons I gave in earlier posts.

This was not a complaint. It was not a rant. The Sun will rise tomorrow morning regardless of what happens in the Instrument market. I am giving the developers feedback. They are free to act as they see best for their interests.

1.09.2013, 22:26

MOPKOBHA9I CTPAHA

РЕГУЛЮМ

mort100
I would be happy to offer cheap tech licenses for instrument factory to anyone interested. I can offer up to level 16 at the moment for $1000.

It is not necessary to trade at a loss, it is necessary to know when to stop!

1.09.2013, 22:28