6th Year Economist Bonus

So what, exactly, would be a fair price?

Note - there is no such thing. What you'd think would be a fair price could be far too cheap for the person next to you, and far too expensive for the next person down.

dun murder me for bringing up other games, but let me compare GW "veteran rewards" to similar incentives on WoW and Aion.


Veteran Rewards
WoW: Nothing at all

Aion: Unlocks preset rewards for every month you are subscribed. Yes these items DO have gameplay utility but it's nothing with OP stats that you "couldn't" get by playing normally. What you get from veteran rewards is preset, everyone who has played for 12 months gets the same thing (for example.)


Minipets
WoW: A wide variety of ways to get them ranging from in-game vendors to drops off foes, and promo/preorder codes.

Aion: In-game vendor, in-game events, NCsoft store, and veteran rewards (but note that everyone gets access to the same pets.)


The reason the economy and "power trading" is so rampant in GW is because of the lack of a universal price check (a.k.a. auction house.) It's all too easy to scam/be scammed. Rather than blame the sellers or buyers (or power trades, although I'd like to) ... it's the way the system was set up by anet.

At least all of this stuff is cosmetic and the threshold for being "geared" and "high level" enough to do stuff in-game is very low compared to other games.

I'm just gonna wait a couple of months, check my own characters that turn 6 in june, and see how much prices have dropped.
Good thing is that the older Asura/Norn/Charr tonics are also dropping in price because of the cooler Vekk/Jora/Pyre tonics ^^
And it's cosmetic, so I don't care a lot. If I have spare gold, I'll buy whichever I fancy the most, and leave it at that, and just continue enjoying the game untill GW2 is out.

Never ever buy new stuff the moment it's introduced.
Bought a Gwen Doll undedicated mini last weekend for 50e, and last month those were like 65~80e. Last year those were even more expensive, and I can't even remember what those cost the day they were introduced... So just wait untill you feel the price is acceptable, and then buy whatever you like.

You answered your own point. For the most part, people are just paying for skins and shiny things because the max stuff you need to play the game is easy and cheap for all to get.

As for the OP's question...why shouldn't they be tradeable?

Look, it is exactly like minis when they first come out. Yes, it does kinda stink if you don't have a character that was around at launch, as you will ALWAYS be screwed over when it comes to minis/tonic prices.

Complaining about this now is silly, when you should have been complaining about this as soon as the very first birthday mini pets came out as it is the same principal.

At this point, it's too late to do anything about it.

This, plus the fact that if it were untradeable, you'd have vets complaining how they have this useless tonic clogging up their inventory....

Prices are player-set based on supply (low) and demand (high). I don't see how you can blame ANet in this case. Tradeable or untradeable, either way, you wouldn't be getting one right now.

To be fair, WoW has time-limited feats of achievement that kind of have the same function as a nontransferable minipet.

Wait ..... What?

My main character is 67 months old and DEFINITELY not rich, I cant even afford obsi + vabbi armors because I hate grinding.

In 5 months time I get myself a nice everlasting tonic, and as much as I would love to get a kuunavang, I doubt I will and I'll probably just get a lame hero tonic.

If I dont like the one I get, I can sell it for a nice amount and put it towards my obby armor.

And people have some kind of a problem with this? If the tonics werent tradable, far more people would be whining that they cant buy one, and people that get one that they dont want will be whining that they cant sell or trade it for another.

Its a free gift for any 6 year old character, and you can keep it or sell it. Big frigging deal! People will just find absolutely anything to whine about over something as petty as an ingame birthday gift.

PRobably just used tonics rather than minis to make the minipet section of HoM an actual worry to people. Less new minis would hopefully slow the increase in minipet prices as well.

This is not the single player game you are looking for.

this is how it has always been. i don't understand what the problem is.

The lack of economic knowledge displayed by some here is just staggering.

Only surpassed by the sense of entitlement.

ELs are pretty, but pretty useless too at this point. I wouldn't want to be stuck with them.

Remember how they rethought the armor system and decided to open all armor skins and styles to whichever attributes the player wanted?

Well couldn't they let people with anniversary gifts choose what they get? Turn 6, click the present, a menu opens and lets you choose the non-tradeable tonic of your choice.

EDIT:

"The lack of economic knowledge displayed by some here is just staggering.

Only surpassed by the sense of entitlement."

Try explaining yourself if you're going to bother insulting people?

Untradeable tonics royally screw over people who didn't start playing Guild Wars in the first year, Guild Wars 2 will be here by the time they get their 6th gift and it's possible that they'll have moved on and will never use one.

Tradeable tonics give those people who have a 6 year old character a tonic for free but also allow those who have put a lot of play into the game over a short space of time the opportunity to own a tonic too.

My point being tradeable tonics reward people who have old characters AND those who have logged a lot of hours over s shorter span. Untradeables only reward the former, and maybe not even them considering some people will get a tonic they're unhappy with and wouldn't be able to trade for another.

It did reward me for playing a long time. I either have tonics I like and will use, or I have tonics that I can sell for considerable profit....

Seems to be a win-win for me.

So everysingle person with a 6 year old character could have a Kuunavang, Mad King or Gwen tonic?

That is a seriously ridiculous idea. All it is is an ingame graphic / skin, how can you be so bothered over potions that simply change your avatar's appearance?

Well, neither is that staggering if you've been here for long enough.

Seriously. Demand drives up prices. So does low supply. Common guys, the secret is to bang the rocks together.

I'm actually really fascinated by the economy of this game, so if you wanted to elaborate...

It's only worth what someone will pay for it OP. 200e is small potatoes compared to what contest winners in recent years get for their prizes on the open market.