What's causing all the inflation?

I personally dislike merchanting because I'd rather the item just go to someone that wants/needs it, and I don't like struggling to find something because merchants have bought it out. It adds extra steps to the producer/consumer relationship that are unnecessary and serve no purpose other than to shuffle the item around from person to person until the buyer that actually needs or wants it has to pay 3-4times more for it than he originally would.

Middle men exist in any economy where profit can be made from the difference between what sellers are willing to sell for and what buyers are willing to pay. Middle men make transactions easier. lern2economics

I'm not even bothered by the inflation right now. I'm satisfied with the equips I have and I don't really care about money unless I need it to improve my training ability or pay for pots.

I feel like spreading "Ditch the Glitch" all over again..

So all we can do is sit tight and wait for Doomsday? Or will there really be a peak to this chaos?

Now, there is a peak to this inflation and I'm sure you can all calculate it given the rates, so I don't need to tell you too much about that. =)

I personally don't think a 30% scroll can reach 200m-meso's worth, let it be spear or claw. Then again, the economy is prone to be brought down way before that.
If there is anything I'm sure of, it's the meso sellers' role in this play. Sure they won't want Maple to go down so quick unless they really are in a hurry to harvest their hard work before a certain unknown event takes place. Otherwise, call me ignorant but I think the economy will be spared for further benefits of the mastermind behind this.
So to speak, no one would kill their golden-egg laying goose.

I'd sit tight and see where this will go to. If there's nothing I can help with, last thing I want to do is worsen the situation, even by just 0.00001%.

R > DitchTheGlitch bandwagoners?

~Snip~

Beautifully said; I completely agree. I was talking with several local friends who don't play MS but will be studying Economics at Princeton and the University of Chicago next year, and they fully grasp the nature of what's going on and confirm that everything you've explained is logical for a market in this state. I'd say more, but you covered everything, and I would hope people would be wise enough to read what you said in order to understand things more clearly.

Knowledge is power; the knowledge of how an economy works allows one to take advantage of any situation it may be in, and the knowledge of future inflation allows one to take enormous strides to increase their personal fortunes. If you don't believe me, take a look at your signatures; half of you who are pissed off at merchanters for what they did with GFA publicly announce how many diamonds and other Maker materials you have stockpiled. You're using your insider information to create a cache before inflation sets in so you can sell the items at the inflated rate. Oh, wait a sec - that's exactly what iCollect said in this last post, only about GFAs. Substitute Diamonds into the equation and you have what all Maker stockpilers are currently doing.

Middle men exist in any economy where profit can be made from the difference between what sellers are willing to sell for and what buyers are willing to pay. Middle men make transactions easier. lern2economics

I'm not even bothered by the inflation right now. I'm satisfied with the equips I have and I don't really care about money unless I need it to improve my training ability or pay for pots.

Exactly the point. Understand how economics work and that middle men, or people passing around products to make a profit, will ALWAYS exist in a capitalist market.

So long as the demand is there, people will buy the product. My friend learned of the huge value of PS3 prices the week they were first introduced into the North American market via retail stores. At the time, the console systems were selling for up to $3000 on Ebay, though the retail price was around $600. My friend expertly took advantage of the situation by bringing his family to Best Buy on opening day, each purchasing a system for $600, 6 in all = $3600 spent. He then sold and shipped all but 1 within the week for $3000 per = $15,000 gain. $15,000 - $3,600 = $11,400 profit, plus a leftover PS3 for his own use.

Stories like this occur all the time. It's knowing when and how to take advantage of an economic situation, and then actually carrying THROUGH with the plan, that allows people to make money like this. Again, knowledge is power.

U.S. History 101:

 Spoiler

Keep in mind too that insider trading is illegal in the real world; that's why Martha Stewart was imprisoned a few years ago. Monopolies are also illegal in the United States for the very reasons many of your are currently upset: back at the turn of the 20th century, the railroads, the oil companies, the steel companies, etc., were all owned by powerful figures: Carnegie, Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan. Because the average American couldn't afford to do much of anything under the prices set and owned by these individuals, the U.S. Government created several anti-trust laws to break up such competitive and unfair business practices. Be thankful that you cannot have market situations like these in GMS legally in real life.

Final quick-tip for all average MS players: knowledge is power, and the key to understanding economics actually rests in the chemical principle of Le Chatelier. Summarized in a general sense for application to all equilibira, whether chemical, finanical, or whatnot, the principle states that when a system at equilibrium experiences change, it will naturally shift to counter-act the change.

Understanding the application of this principle to financial markets is the first major step to understanding the inner workings of an economy at large.

Middle men exist in any economy where profit can be made from the difference between what sellers are willing to sell for and what buyers are willing to pay. Middle men make transactions easier. lern2economics

That doesn't mean you have to like them. They cause the seller to make less money, and the buyer to spend more. It also devalues actually working for money (hunting monsters, doing quests etc.) because when prices inflate, the monsters don't start dropping more money.


As for buying mesos, if you realize that the vast majority of their mesos are not earned in legitimate ways, and that by buying them you directly support their hacking + the general inflation, then ok. I don't think it's good for the game's health to go outside it and pay a hacker to make it easier, but whatever floats your boat.

That doesn't mean you have to like them. They cause the seller to make less money, and the buyer to spend more. It also devalues actually working for money (hunting monsters, doing quests etc.) because when prices inflate, the monsters don't start dropping more money.

How does it devalue working for money? Hunting for low-priced scrolls is still work too. Also, middlemen provide a service to the customer - create a one-stop shop for everything the customer wants. It's additional convenience for additional cost. If you want to hunt for those low-cost scrolls like they do, be my guest, but you'll pay more time for the meso you're saving. In the end, it all evens out.

It's the same principle for those people who "B> SCROLLS@@@@" in the FM. The person selling the scroll gains the convenience of getting quick mesos and the person buying the scroll gets those cheap scrolls he wants. It's a win-win for both parties.

@ FrozNLite: Comparing GFAs right now to people's Maker stockpiles is the same as likening insider trading to your PS3 example. On the one hand, we have a small group of people who used their inside knowledge of their plan in order to profit immensely, compared to your PS3 guy, who used previous knowledge of system launches and information available to the public (Maker is not insider information like you say. The information on Southperry and other forums is available to anyone willing to look. We aren't a locked in, private community) to profit immensely. In the end, yes, the two activities are similar. But, the distinction in methodology is what has people angry.

I would call what iCollects did a plantain move, but I wouldn't call for him to be punished or ostracized for it. It's rather impressive, actually.

Well, I can easily say get those side-characters going and do all those scroll quests before it is too late.

There are two sides to the inflation story. For those that are able to get items to sell is has been a real boon. I don't ever remember making money this fast before in my life.

I spent all my mesos during the Maple Event buying stuff (and blowing it up ) and then just yesterday I spent almost my entire mesos on the lvl 70 pig for my Priest, and now two days later I have over 40 mil mesos and I haven't really even started trying to sell my stuff yet. Its kind of crazy.

Am I the only one with enough mesos to buy half of the FM but is too lazy to take advantage of this situation?

Am I the only one with enough mesos to buy half of the FM but is too lazy to take advantage of this situation?

No but you're the only one to brag about it.
I don't keep that level of mesos on hand generally - I put it to work helping my friends get the things they need and appreciate. Even with billions available this economy disgusts me just because it's a gigantic circle jerk of buying just to inflate further.

I either have to inflate all my products and services to compensate for everyone else's inflation, or sell at a loss out of principle because I find it ridiculous to be charging more than they realistically have a value for. So I choose to sit it out.

Am I the only one with enough mesos to buy half of the FM but is too lazy to take advantage of this situation?

u should stop buying mesos with RL money (LOOOL) and lern2leech

u should stop buying mesos with RL money (LOOOL) and lern2leech

Yeah, because a Night Lord can sell leech SOOOOOOOOOO successfully... >_>

Not everyone buys their mesos. Some people actually earn their spot in the game. Please, for the sake of having a brain, be quiet and let the people who know what they're talking about discuss this topic.

@ FrozNLite: Comparing GFAs right now to people's Maker stockpiles is the same as likening insider trading to your PS3 example. On the one hand, we have a small group of people who used their inside knowledge of their plan in order to profit immensely, compared to your PS3 guy, who used previous knowledge of system launches and information available to the public (Maker is not insider information like you say. The information on Southperry and other forums is available to anyone willing to look. We aren't a locked in, private community) to profit immensely. In the end, yes, the two activities are similar. But, the distinction in methodology is what has people angry.

I would call what iCollects did a plantain move, but I wouldn't call for him to be punished or ostracized for it. It's rather impressive, actually.

Excellent point. So then, are you upset that people are angry? Do you want to change that? If you don't care then my next point has no merit. If you do care, then I ask how you would have wanted the merchants to go about their plan with a methodology more "morally sound," per say. Would you have liked them to tell everyone, "Hey, check out the deflating prices for meso. We know the market is about to inflate, so we're going to inflate it first."? Then the information would be out there, just like Maker or global PS3 sales, but would it help? Not in this case, because what can the average GMS player do but sit and watch the market inflate; not everyone can buy out an FM of GFAs.

I definitely see where you're coming from but I'm unsure of how else they could have informed the population. Hell, it's quite logical that people would try to make money off inflation, and since several non-marketers noticed meso selling price drops weeks ago on publicly accessible websites, can't you then also argue that the information of an impending inflation was just as public?

Just trying to play the devil's advocate . You make a great point, though.

No but you're the only one to brag about it.
I don't keep that level of mesos on hand generally - I put it to work helping my friends get the things they need and appreciate. Even with billions available this economy disgusts me just because it's a gigantic circle jerk of buying just to inflate further.

I either have to inflate all my products and services to compensate for everyone else's inflation, or sell at a loss out of principle because I find it ridiculous to be charging more than they realistically have a value for. So I choose to sit it out.

Welcome to capitalism, as I'm sure you know more than me about. But what I'm disgusted to see is how many people are giving up because of moral convictions or hopelessness due to their inability to keep up with the current rate of inflation. Fine. Go ahead and crucify yourselves like thousands did at the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s. Choose to lose because you're so overcome with negative emotion that you won't keep trying, keep fighting, keep hoping and thinking for how to remain true to yourself and make it through the storm. There's always a way to stay true to your moral beliefs and successfully survive in any environment; it just takes more creativity over a larger length of time to figure it out.

Believe me, I hate the idea of monopoly, of middle men, of inflation for personal gain, but in a captialist system you have to accept that these are things that will always exist in a globalized marketplace.

Yet that doesn't mean you have to accept participation in this particularmarketplace.

I mentoined coming up with ideas to remain true to yourself and still successfully survive; here's one: create a micro-economy with your guild where all products and services the members of your guild have are regulated within your own economy instead of being introduced into a failing one. Don't want to do such a plan with your guild? Insert any group in place of guild then: Horntail Squad, Zakum group, legits of *insert server*, buddy list, etc. If you don't like the way something is in real life, you protest or you create something new. I'm 100% for protest as it actually works out there, but in a game completely run by Nexon, it does diddly-squat. That leaves creating something new.

Always do SOMETHING about a predicament, never nothing.

If you want to hunt for those low-cost scrolls like they do, be my guest, but you'll pay more time for the meso you're saving. In the end, it all evens out.

I pay more time and end up with nothing because they got there first If it weren't for resellers it would be easier to find cheap scrolls. I'd rather not have an equip at all than pay FM1 merchant prices. I don't even look in the first FM room on channel 1.

Maple is going to pomegranate now, you might as well quit and play a new game.

No matter how hard you try to be the best, there will always be someone better.

It's all a status ****fest. Usually the people who actually have something to brag about don't go on a public forum and start talking about it.

All I am saying-

If there is a Meso Exploit out, and those people with the exploit are selling to these sites and getting real $, and the sites are making 100mil worth lunch money, what is the point of even trying to "take advantage" of the economy. There is no point in trying to make billions of mesos, when none of it will be worth pomegranate anyways. Everyone will have godly equips, no one will have anything to brag about on the forum, and then all your e-penors will eventually shrink and you will have nothing to talk about. So then Maple will die, and you will leave the game $1000 poorer from all the NX u spent.

Maple is going to pomegranate now, you might as well quit and play a new game.

No matter how hard you try to be the best, there will always be someone better.

It's all a status ****fest. Usually the people who actually have something to brag about don't go on a public forum and start talking about it.

All I am saying-

If there is a Meso Exploit out, and those people with the exploit are selling to these sites and getting real $, and the sites are making 100mil worth lunch money, what is the point of even trying to "take advantage" of the economy. There is no point in trying to make billions of mesos, when none of it will be worth pomegranate anyways. Everyone will have godly equips, no one will have anything to brag about on the forum, and then all your e-penors will eventually shrink and you will have nothing to talk about. So then Maple will die, and you will leave the game $1000 poorer from all the NX u spent.

Nobody would have godly gear because mesos would be worthless, actually. It'd be more of a "reduced to the barter system" thing than anything else.

Eventually Nexon would have to do something about it, or increase the tradable meso cap, or what I said will be true, because theres only a certain max amount, and a certain amount of trust.

People will want to sell 15 attk SCG for more then 2.1, and they won't be able to because of the trade cap, unless they want to get scammed.

So basically everything I said will be true. You can only go so far.

And the only way to increase the meso cap is to remake Maple in a 64 bit format.

Which I don't see happening anytime soon.

trade with apples as a workaround of max meso cap

Excellent point. So then, are you upset that people are angry? Do you want to change that? If you don't care then my next point has no merit. If you do care, then I ask how you would have wanted the merchants to go about their plan with a methodology more "morally sound," per say. Would you have liked them to tell everyone, "Hey, check out the deflating prices for meso. We know the market is about to inflate, so we're going to inflate it first."? Then the information would be out there, just like Maker or global PS3 sales, but would it help? Not in this case, because what can the average GMS player do but sit and watch the market inflate; not everyone can buy out an FM of GFAs.

I definitely see where you're coming from but I'm unsure of how else they could have informed the population. Hell, it's quite logical that people would try to make money off inflation, and since several non-marketers noticed meso selling price drops weeks ago on publicly accessible websites, can't you then also argue that the information of an impending inflation was just as public?

Just trying to play the devil's advocate . You make a great point, though.

I'm kinda relishing the lulz, personally. My daily FM check is the most exciting part of the Maple day now.
You're right about meso seller's prices being public, touche. I guess my only retort is that I don't know anyone that keeps up with that in comparison to information about future releases. Personally, I've glazed over advertisers for months, and never actually been to one of their sites except the one posted earlier in this thread. To the angry people in question, I would imagine meso selling sites are essentially another planet.

As for the methods, like I said, I feel it's a plantain move from my own set of ideals, but my set of ideals backs them up in a sense that there's no reason they should give away their information or make any effort to warn the public.
Like on a plane, put your own oxygen mask on before helping anyone else. It's not something I'd do, but I don't blame them for doing it, to simplify.