How have you prepared for Maker?

So you guys are pretty much saying "Sell diamonds before patch" ?

That's what a lot of us are getting screwed over with. The extremely frustrating thing is that it's not just diamonds - literally ever Maker jewel except for Advanced stat crystals are unsold at ridiculously low prices. GMS is the first version to experience something like this, considering those of us stockpiling beforehand were going off the knowledge that in every other version opening week of Maker changed FM prices drastically.

What do I blame? Nexon releasing Knights of Cygnus simultaneously. Equally at fault is what they did to increase hype - every single character logging on having to watch a 30 second clip and then given the option to warp immediately to Ereve to make a KoC with a free character slot. In comparison, there was a lot of big hype for pirates, but you never saw as many as you see KoC walking around now. EVERYONE has made one, and pretty much no one has focused on Maker.

So what happens? The few who cared about Maker throw all of their stockpiles in the FM. Opening day allows for some item smegas of Reverse Weapons, which builds a little hype, but is nothing when compared to the behemoth of insanity surrounding KoC. So those of us trying to sell things fall into Great Depression mode - everyone trying to sell their stocks, no one buying, prices crashing, and fortunes of potential billions vanishing like smoke.

The worst thing is that there's almost no way to build up hype for Maker now since everyone is so preoccupied with KoC. They're fun, fast to level, and have benefits both from and for main characters. What does Maker have to offer? Boring quests and the price tag of materials, measured both in finances and time. The lowest requirement of Monster Crystal for an item is 20. Twenty monster crystals for one item? If you need 100 ETC items to make a crystal, that just became 2000 ETC items you need - just to make, what, an Olympus?

2000+ ETCs per equip, along with the restriction of one specific Gem per equip, and you understand the failure of Maker in GMS. This version is filled with people who would never spend the time it takes to get the Monster crystals necessary for an item, and thus would rather buy Maker'd ones. Which means only a select few people will be buying Gems to make Maker. If you had thousands of Diamonds or whatnot before the patch, and only a select few people buy them every few days, you soon discover why you can't sell anything.

Farmers used to dump perfectly good crops and milk into ditches when their neighbors were starving during the Depression since it was more economical than transporting them into town for sale. In the same sense Diamonds are becoming the same; if you can't afford to appraise them, it's almost better to just drop them and go on with your life.